Upgrading to HP SIM from Compaq Insight Manager 5.20

[Kirstie Adams]

I have been advised that we should upgrade to HP SIM as later HP models will not work with CIM. We have a mixture of Compaq and HP servers

Can I do a straight upgrade from CIM 5.2 ?Is HP SIM backwardly compatible with the Compaq Management Agents already installed on our Compaq servers or will I have to upgrade them aswell ?

Thanks a lot

[David Ruska]

As I understand it, the last release of CIM was version 5.50.

The direct replacement is Insight Manager 7.

HP Systems Insight Manager includes:
* Insight Manager 7
* HP TopTools
* ServiceControl Manager

Released indpendently of IM 7, although bundled in the IM 7 download is the Insight Mangement Agents. These are now on version 7.0.0.0.

You can also get most of this in one bundle with the Proliant Support Pack 7.00A.

Regarding the backwards compatability, I would suspect the IM 7 will replace CIM, and upgrade the Insight Management Agents.

[Ken Henault]

The first response is confusing CIM (Compaq Insight Manager) with hpSIM (Systems Insight Manager). CIM is a client based application, where IM7 and SIM are client/server applications. You'll need to install SIM on a server, then access it through a web browser. There is no upgrade tools in the first version of SIM. I know the next release is supposed to have tools to upgrade from IM7 to SIM, I'm not sure about CIM.

[James Kennedy_4 · Accepted solution]

You can't directly upgrade CIM 5.2 to SIM on the server side. The architecture is way different. You can however export your CIM database and then import it right into SIM.

And yes, SIM is completely backward compatible with any version of the agents running on the servers, although you should upgrade them from time to time to enhance their performance and fix bugs (especially the bugs that mis-report failed devices)

I would definately recommend putting 6.3, 6.4 or 7.0 agents on all devices.

[David Ruska]

Here's the migration guide from CIM (Win32) to Insight Manager 7:
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/products/servers/management/cim7/cim7-migrate.pdf

I think what confuses things is the similarity and deviations in names.

We had Compaq Insight Manager (Win32) which went up to CIM 5.50, correct?

Then there was "Compaq Insight Manager 7", as mentioned here:
http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/management/cim-questionandanswer.html

It says "Compaq Insight Manager 7 represents the convergence of Compaq Insight Manager (Win32) and Compaq Insight Manager XE. Compaq Insight Manager (Win32 application) will continue to be available for download from the Compaq website".

It also says "Upgrading from Compaq Insight Manager (Win32) to Compaq Insight Manager 7 is a simple two-step process. First you should export a host file from Win32 console. Next, you should import the host file into Compaq Insight Manager 7. Once this is done, you will be able to manage the same set of devices that you had discovered and managed with Compaq Insight Manager (Win32)."

Somewhere bewteen Compaq Insight Manager 7 and now, it became "Insight Manager 7 SP2.3". The Compaq name went away.

And now we get to add "HP Systems Insight Manager" to the list:
http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/management/hpsim/index.html

It says "HP Systems Insight Manager combines the strengths of HP Insight Manager 7, HP Toptools, and HP Servicecontrol Manager to deliver a single tool for managing ProLiant, Integrity, and HP 9000 systems running Windows, Linux, and HP-UX."

So, that's how I put all of this together. If I have something confused, please set me straight!

One last comment:
> I would definately recommend putting 6.3, 6.4 or 7.0 agents on all devices.

Don't use the 6.40 (or 6.20/6.30 w/ SoftPaqs) Mangement Agents if you have a SAN tape library. There is a timeout issue that causes robotic hangs. That is fixed in the 7.0.0.0 Agents.

[Scott Shaffer]

Let me see if I can clear this up.

No, you can't do a straight upgrade from CIM5.2 to HP SIM. There is a document we're working on that describes how to do it but it isn't released yet to the web so I've included it below.

HP SIM will work with all of your existing agents - there isn't any need to upgrade them (unless you want to take advantage of new features such as Version Control.)

[Ali_21]

Scott:

Where can I find this "migration tool"?

I will be upgrading our IM7 SP2.3 to HP Systems Insight Manager 4.0 this Sunday. It will simplify the process if I could export the devices using the "migration tool" you have described.

//Ali

[Rob Buxton]

The Migration tool is not yet available.
If you're moving this Sunday then you will not be taking the historical data with you.

4.1 is the release that is scheduled to have the Migration tool included. I don't know if there's a frinate release dat as yet.

[Peter Davidse_1]

HP SIM 4.1 is scheduled for 24 th of May.

This was stated by a HP employee this week.