File Name: ssm412_readme.txt **************************************************************** | | | IBM(R) Scalable Systems Manager Version 4.12 | | | | Part number 90P2952 | | | | (C) Copyright International Business Machines Corporation | | 2003, 2004. All rights reserved. | | | | Note to U.S. Government Users Restricted Rights -- Use, | | duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule | | Contract with IBM Corp. | | | | Note: Before using this information and the product it | | supports, read the general information under "NOTICES" | | in this document. | | | | Updated 16 March 2004 | **************************************************************** CONTENTS 1.0 About this readme file 1.1 Product overview 1.2 Compatibility with IBM Director 1.2.1 Discovery of eServer(TM) xSeries(R) 455 servers 1.2.2 New scalable partition states 1.2.3 Recovery of deleted scalable partitions 1.3 Compatibility with xSeries servers 2.0 Change history 3.0 Installation 4.0 Known problems and workarounds 5.0 Corrections to the documentation 5.1 Installation and User's Guide (ssm411_users.pdf) 5.2 Help system 6.0 Support Web sites 7.0 Notices 1.0 ABOUT THIS README FILE --------------------------- This readme file provides information about Scalable Systems Manager 4.12. You can obtain the latest version of this readme file from the IBM Support Web site. 1.1 Product overview --------------------- Scalable Systems Manager is an extension to IBM Director that communicates out-of-band with the service processor in supported xSeries servers to create and manage hardware partitions. The console component of Scalable Systems Manager provides the following subtasks in IBM Director Console: o Scalable Systems Configuration o Scalable Systems Discovery o Scalable Systems Validation The following publication is available on the IBM Support Web site and is applicable to Scalable Systems Manager 4.12: o "Scalable Systems Manager 4.11 Installation and User's Guide." This guide is in Portable Document Format (PDF) and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it. Additionally, Scalable Systems Manager includes a help system that you can access from the Scalable Systems Configuration user interface. 1.2 Compatibility with IBM Director ------------------------------------ Scalable Systems Manager 4.12 is supported for use only with IBM Director 4.12. Scalable Systems Manager 4.12 is not supported for use with IBM Director 4.11. IBM Director 4.12 contains static partitioning changes that apply to users of Scalable Systems Manager 4.12. These changes are explained in the following sections. 1.2.1 Discovery of eServer xSeries 455 servers ----------------------------------------------- eServer xSeries 455 servers can be discovered as physical-platform managed objects, which are referred to as "scalable nodes" in Scalable Systems Manager. After a scalable node is unlocked, IBM Director interrogates the NVRAM of the service processor in the server, which could result in the automatic creation of a scalable system and a scalable partition that contain its corresponding scalable nodes. IBM Director 4.12 incorrectly identifies scalable systems that are created for xSeries 455 servers with the manageable scalable system icon. You cannot configure or manage these view-only scalable systems with Scalable Systems Manager 4.12. For more information about view-only scalable systems, see the information in Chapter 3, "Scalable objects," of the "Scalable Systems Manager 4.11 Installation and User's Guide." 1.2.2 Changed and new scalable partition states ----------------------------------------------- IBM Director 4.12 contains one changed state and two new states for scalable partitions. However, Scalable Systems Manager 4.12 is not aware of these changes and does not display them within the Scalable Systems Configuration graphical user interface. When a scalable partition has one of the changed or new states, Scalable Systems Configuration displays "null or unknown" as the state. The following paragraphs describe how scalable partition states are displayed in IBM Director Console and describe the changed and new scalable partition states. From IBM Director Console, right-click the managed object for a scalable partition; then, click "Open" to display general attributes for that scalable partition. The scalable partition state is displayed under the general attribute "State." Additionally, when you use the Status association in IBM Director Console, the Scalable Partition Power Status folder in the Group Contents pane includes a new category for scalable partitions whose state is unavailable. The following list describes the changed and new states for scalable partitions in IBM Director 4.12: Null or unknown The scalable partition exists, but the definition of that scalable partition has not been written to the NVRAM of the service processor on the primary scalable node. The definition is written to NVRAM while the scalable partition is being powered-on. Unavailable The scalable partition state cannot be obtained from the service processor on the primary scalable node. The unavailable state can occur when the service processor of the primary scalable node is locked, but it also can occur when other problems prevent communication with the service processor. Alternate The scalable partition definition in Scalable Systems Manager does not match the partition definition in NVRAM of the service processor on the primary scalable node. The partition definition in NVRAM either represents the currently powered-on scalable partition or the last scalable partition that was powered-on. The alternate state occurs when all these conditions are met for a particular scalable partition: o Another scalable partition contains a scalable node that is also configured for use in this scalable partition. o The other scalable partition is powered-on or was the last scalable partition to be powered-on. 1.2.3 Recovery of deleted scalable partitions ---------------------------------------------- IBM Director 4.12 can recover a deleted scalable partition whose definition is currently written to the NVRAM of the service processor on a scalable node. This partition descriptor was written to NVRAM when the scalable partition was last powered-on from Scalable Systems Manager. Complete the following steps to recover a deleted scalable partition: 1. From IBM Director Console or Scalable Systems Configuration, remove the affected scalable objects: a. Delete the scalable system that contained the scalable partition. b. Delete any remote I/O enclosure that is attached to the scalable nodes that were in the scalable partition. c. Delete the scalable nodes that were part of the scalable system. 2. To rediscover the scalable nodes using IBM Director Console, click "Tasks" -> "Discover Systems" -> "Physical Platforms". 3. From IBM Director Console, in the Group Contents pane, right-click the scalable node and click "Request Access" to unlock the scalable node. When the scalable node is unlocked, IBM Director interrogates the NVRAM of the service processor. If it contains a partition descriptor that was stored by Scalable Systems Manager, IBM Director can create a scalable partition from this partition descriptor. IBM Director also creates a scalable system from the partition descriptor, but the recovered definition of that scalable system contains only information about the scalable nodes that are used by the recovered scalable partition. Use Scalable Systems Configuration or Scalable Systems Discovery to properly update or complete the scalable system. Interrogation of partition descriptors in IBM Director 4.11 could discover only scalable partitions and scalable systems that were stored by the Configuration/Setup Utility program (in the BIOS code). In Scalable Systems Manager, the creation-type property identifies the method that was used to create a scalable partition or scalable system. However, Scalable Systems Manager 4.12 is not aware of these recovered scalable objects. Instead, Scalable Systems Configuration incorrectly indicates that these recovered scalable objects were created from BIOS-created partition descriptors. 1.3 Compatibility with xSeries servers --------------------------------------- Scalable Systems Manager 4.12 supports the following xSeries servers: o 16-way configurations of xSeries 440 servers with only display features o xSeries 445 servers with all features o xSeries 455 servers with only display features 2.0 CHANGE HISTORY ------------------- 23Mar2004 - Provides installation and uninstallation changes that support IBM Director 4.12. 31Oct2003 - First release of the Scalable Systems Manager product. 3.0 INSTALLATION ----------------- The installation program installs the Server and Console portions of Scalable Systems Manager as applicable. There is no Agent component to Scalable Systems Manager. If you are currently using Scalable Systems Manager 4.11 with IBM Director 4.11, you must first upgrade to IBM Director 4.12 before you upgrade to Scalable Systems Manager 4.12. All scalable objects that were created with Scalable Systems Manager 4.11 will remain defined after you upgrade to Scalable Systems Manager 4.12. Installation instructions, including other system requirements, are provided in the "Scalable Systems Manager 4.11 Installation and User's Guide." 4.0 KNOWN PROBLEMS AND WORKAROUNDS ----------------------------------- The following known problems exist: o (16-way xSeries 445 with Remote Supervisor Adapter II-EXA option running VMware ESX Server Version 2.0.1 and earlier only) Scalable Systems Manager displays the following incorrect scalable node state for these types of unassigned scalable nodes and secondary scalable nodes in a scalable system: "Booting operating system" This scalable node state occurs even though the secondary scalable node has successfully loaded the device driver for the Remote Supervisor Adapter II-EXA and it can be seen by the Remote Supervisor Adapter II-EXA in the primary scalable node. This problem does not affect configuration or power management operations of the affected scalable node. o Scalable Systems Manager 4.12 does not support scalable partitions that include only one scalable node with a remote I/O enclosure that is configured with both expansion kits enabled. For scalable partitions on 4-way and 8-way servers, you must change the configuration of the remote I/O enclosure that IBM Director has discovered. For scalable partitions on 16-way servers, you must make sure that you do not change the configuration such that it becomes unsupported. For specific details about remote I/O configuration in a scalable partition, see the "Scalable Systems Manager 4.11 Installation and User's Guide." o Information about various problem symptoms and suggested solutions is provided in Chapter 9, "Solving Scalable Systems Manager Problems," of the "Scalable Systems Manager 4.11 Installation and User's Guide." 5.0 CORRECTIONS TO THE DOCUMENTATION ------------------------------------- Information that is applicable only to IBM Director 4.12 is provided in section "1.2 Compatibility with IBM Director" in this readme file. It is not included in the PDF file or help system that comes with Scalable Systems Manager 4.12. 5.1 Installation and User's Guide (ssm411_users.pdf) ----------------------------------------------------- There are no corrections at this time. 5.2 Help system ---------------- The help system does not indicate the unsupported scalable partitions that include certain configurations of remote I/O enclosures. For configuration limitations, see the "Scalable Systems Manager 4.11 Installation and User's Guide." 6.0 SUPPORT WEB SITES ---------------------- The following Web pages provide resources for understanding, using, and troubleshooting IBM Director and systems-management tools: o Personal computing support http://www.ibm.com/pc/support/ This is the IBM Support Web site for IBM hardware and systems- management software. For systems-management software support, click "Systems management". o IBM Systems Management Software: Download/Registration http://www.ibm.com/pc/us/eserver/xseries/systems_management/ dwnl.html Use this Web page to download IBM systems-management software, including IBM Director. o Systems Management: xSeries, BladeCenter and e325 http://www.ibm.com/pc/ww/eserver/xseries/systems_management/ xseries_sm.html This Web page presents an overview of IBM systems management and IBM Director. Click "IBM Director 4.1" for the latest information and publications. o IBM ServerProven(R) page http://www.ibm.com/pc/us/compat/index.html This Web page provides information about IBM hardware compatibility with IBM systems-management software. 7.0 NOTICES ------------ INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION PROVIDES THIS PUBLICATION "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Some jurisdictions do not allow disclaimer of express or implied warranties in certain transactions, therefore, this statement may not apply to you. This information could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the information herein; these changes will be incorporated in new editions of the publication. IBM may make improvements and/or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this publication at any time without notice. The following terms are trademarks of the IBM Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both: the e-business logo eServer IBM ServerProven xSeries Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.