===================================================================== IBM Electronic Service Agent for Linux on xSeries™ Version 3.2 - Standalone README Information ===================================================================== Table of Contents ================= 1.0 Introduction 1.1 What's New in Release 3.2 1.2 Security 1.3 Supported Machines 2.0 Prerequisites 2.1 Director Agent requirements 2.1.1 Getting Director Agent 2.2.2 Determining the version of Director Agent 2.2 System requirements 2.3 Network requirements 3.0 Installation 4.0 Known Issues 5.0 Support 6.0 Notices 6.1 Trademarks & Service marks 1.0 Introduction ================ Electronic Service Agent is a "no-charge" software tool that resides on your IBM xSeries systems to monitor events and transmit system inventory information to IBM. 1.1 What's New in Release 3.2 ----------------------------- - Support for Linux® is provided. - Problem Management Report (PMR) history has been expanded. - Inventory filter capability has been added. - The list of supported machines has been expanded. - Director Agent must be installed before you can install Service Agent. See section 2.1 "Director Agent Requirements." 1.2 Security ------------ - Managed systems communicate with the Gateway by using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) to encrypt the data stream. - No unique customer data is ever accessed. - No inbound calls are allowed. - Electronic Service Agent communicates with IBM using an IBM Certified Secure Network structure. - Installation and deinstallation of Electronic Service Agent is restricted to users with root authority. Access to programs providing control over Electronic Service Agent requires the use of a special user account esadmin. 1.3 Supported Machines -------------------- Machine Type Brand Name 8478 xSeries 200 8480 xSeries 205 8645 xSeries 220 8647 xSeries 225 8654 xSeries 330 8656 xSeries 340 8658 xSeries 230 8664 xSeries 240 8669 xSeries 342 8670 xSeries 345 8671 xSeries 235 8673 xSeries 305 8675 xSeries 330 8676 xSeries 335 8682 xSeries 350 8684 rxe-100 8685 xSeries 255 8686 xSeries 360 8687 xSeries 440 8837 xSeries 336 8840 xSeries 346 8841 xSeries 236 8861 xSeries 365 8862 xSeries 365 8870 xSeries 445 2.0 Prerequisites ================= 2.1 Director Agent Requirements ------------------------------- 2.1.1 Getting Director Agent --------------------------------- - Director Agent is available from the following web site: http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/xseries/systems_management/xseries_sm/dwnl.html - Select IBM Director, latest version, and click Submit. - Download required drivers (LM78 and SMBUS for this version) and the appropriate version of Director Agent for Linux. - Install the drivers before installing Director Agent 2.1.2 Determining the Version of Director Agent ----------------------------------------------- - From a command prompt: - cd /opt/IBM/director - more version.key - codebase_version must be 4.20 AND build date must be at least 2004-10-05 - This is version.key for 4.20.2 (the one you want) 420141005 420141005 DAR component=IBM Director Agent version=4.20 builddate=2004-10-05 buildnum=d0498 codebase_version=4.20 prodversion=DAR - This is version.key for 4.20 (the one you don't want: the date is earlier than 2004-10-05) 420140713 420140713 DAR component=IBM Director Agent version=4.20 builddate=2004-07-13 buildnum=d0498 codebase_version=4.20 prodversion=DAR 2.2 General Requirements ------------------------------- - Electronic Service Agent requires that IBM Director Agent version 4.20.2 (or higher) is installed and running. Before you install IBM Director Agent, make sure that you have installed all necessary device drivers. This might require installing service processor device drivers or the IBM LM78 and SMBus device drivers for Linux. (see Chapter 6. Installing IBM Director Agent of IBM Director Installation and configuration Guide) - Ensure that all monitored servers have correctly configured machine type, model and serial number. - Ensure the person installing Electronic Service Agent has root authority. - Create ServiceAgent group and user: type the following commands as root: #groupadd esa #useradd -m esadmin -p welcome - Make sure the Cron daemon is running: From a command prompt, type the following command as root: # /etc/init.d/crond status If the Cron daemon is running the output would be similar to this: crond (pid 1603) is running... If the Cron daemon is not running, issue the following command to start it: # /etc/init.d/crond start - Ensure the Gateway machine and all monitored servers are under warranty or an IBM Service agreement. - Ensure that you have supplied accurate contact information when configuring Electronic Service Agent. - It is particularly important that you configure the location details of your Gateway and managed systems accurately. If you record your Gateway location details incorrectly, IBM's service delivery will be delayed. Similarly, if you record your managed systems' location details incorrectly, IBM service representatives will not be dispatched to the correct site location after a hardware problem has been reported. 2.3 System Requirements ------------------------------- - One of the following Operating Systems - Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS, version 3.0, for Intel x86 - Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES, versions 2.1 and 3.0 - SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server 8 for x86 (Service Pack 3 required) - - Microprocessor (speed) - Data Collector: Pentium (300 MHz) - Gateway: Pentium (300 MHz) - RAM Memory - Data Collector: 128 MB - Gateway: 256 MB minimum; 512 MB recommended - Disk Space - Data Collector: 43 MB for all Linus OSs - Gateway: 110 MB + 2 MB for each Data Collector Note: Microprocessor speed, RAM, and disk space are IN ADDITION TO whatever resources are necessary for the software already installed on the system. - Monitor: Super VGA monitor with the screen resolution set to at least 800 x 600, small fonts setting, and 256 colors for Red Hat. For SUSE, resolution needs to be 800 X 1027 for GUI to function. - Connectivity - Data Collector: LAN - Gateway: Internet access 2.4 Network Requirements -------------------------------- - The Data Collector systems and Gateway communicate with each other using a Local Area Network (LAN). Normally the host names of the systems will be obtained using a Domain Name Server (DNS). It is a requirement that all systems running Electronic Service Agent and communicating with each other be able to resolve the system hostnames. - For auto discovery, the Gateway and Data Collectors should be on the same subnet. See the User's Guide for more information (Chapter 3 - Network Requirements section). - If the customer is using a proxy server, the recommended time out setting should be at least 4 minutes to allow two-way communication with IBM. If the setting is less than 4 minutes, the communication may time out before a response can be delivered from IBM. 3.0 Installation ================ The Electronic Service Agent is available from the following web site; http://www.pc.ibm.com/qtechinfo/MIGR-40870.html Download the following files to a temporary directory; - 5639-n89-32.bin (this is the installation file) - The User's Guide (print this for general and configuration information) - Make sure you have user esadmin and group esa on the machine and that the Cron daemon is running. (see 2.1 General Requirements for more information) The Gateway machine must be installed before the Data Collectors. Execute the installation file 5639-n89-32.bin 4.0 Known Issues ================ The following is a list of problems/issues associated with Electronic Service Agent: 1. Once in awhile during installation of Electronic Service Agent, the install program will hang on a panel after the files have been copied to your system. As part of the installation process, an uninstall program is created, and this step takes longer than the steps that download files to your system. Give the installer an adequate amount of time to complete its actions. If you are sure the installation program is in a 'hang' state, you can go to the window that you launched the product in, and type Ctlr+C. Or close the terminal window. The installation is complete. 2. If you are unable to start the Installer or the Configuration Program and get the following error: Can't connect to X11 window server using ':0.0' as the value of the DISPLAY variable. OR Xlib: connection to :0.0 refused by server Xlib: No protocol specified The application is unable to run in graphical mode. You need to allow connections to your X server from your local machine. The X11 security mechanism does not allow users other than root to connect to your desktop. To give permission to any user on your local machine, execute the following command as root: # xhost + If you prefer to restrict the access only to specific users on the local machine or a given host, please refer to the "xhost" command manual. 3. If a Data Collector is permanently removed, you can remove the reference to a nonexistent system on the Gateway with the following command: esaUtil -removeDa -saSystemId For example: - open a command window. - cd /esa/bin - enter "./esaUtil -removeDa -saSystemId DAf4c1bf727a-78353653" (without the quotes) 4. If a proxy server is used, the recommended time out setting should be at least 4 minutes to allow two way communication with IBM. If the setting is less than 4 minutes then the communication may time out before a response can be delivered from IBM. 5.0 Support =========== If you encounter problems or have technical questions regarding Electronic Service Agent, you should call your nearest IBM support center. You can obtain support center contact details that are appropriate for your country/region from the following web site: http://www.ibm.com/planetwide/ If you are a resident of the United States, contact support at 1-800-IBM-SERV (1-800-426-7378) and select hardware support. You should have your machine type and serial number ready to give to the IBM support staff. Your machine type is identified by a four-digit number. Web Sites IBM xSeries Support and Information http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/support/xseries/index.html IBM Support Center contact information http://www.ibm.com/planetwide/ 6.0 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. 6.1 Notices and Trademarks ---------------------------------- Please see Appendix D. Notices and Trademarks in the User's Guide. Note to U.S. Government Users Restricted Rights -- Use, duplication, or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp.