HP VCRM setup

[lakshmana1]

Hi Andrew, I've downloaded HP Version Control Agent for Windows x86 (cp026910.exe) from the given link and ran the exe which has upgraded VCA current version 2.2.0.820 to 7.3.5.0 post that VCA is able to communicate with VCRM. Similarly we need to update VCA on all other physical servers. Is there any HP tool/script to automate this task? Thank you so much!! Regards, Lakshmana

[Dennis Handly]

>it's not getting attached when i click on add attachment after selecting file through browse.

How big is it?  What it its extension?  Only known ones can be attached.  Or attach a .zip file.

You can attach to existing posts using Post Options > Edit Reply.

[Andrew_Haak]

Hello,

You would need a tool that can deploy the VCA without the use of the VCA itself. So SIm is nog an option.

You could use HP SUM to push the new VCA or if you have any other deploy tool. Depending on the tool you're planing to to use some explanation could be needed.

The HP SUM can be used to update a bundle of servers from one place using Windows credentials form one server.

[lakshmana1]

Hello Andrew,

Can HP SUM be installed on same server which has SIM,SMH and VCRM already running?

Can VCRM installation be transported from one server to other server without reinstallaing?

[Andrew_Haak]

Hello again,

The HP SUM package is a separate download you can start on any server so also the SIM server. The HPSUM does not interfear with the SIM installation. If you want to move the VCRM you need to do the install of the VCRM on the new server and create a trust so you can use it in SIM. You can copy the repository to the newly created repository directory. In SIM you can point to the new VCRM and use it on any server.

[lakshmana1]

Thanks for the update.

I see the following messages on VCA and VCRM respectively.

Overall Software Status: ? "The Version Control Repository Manager is busy"

Under Report statistics "VCA's connected to VCRM is Zero"

Any idea how VCA is not able to communicate with VCRM suddenly.

[Andrew_Haak]

How many SPPs do you have loaded ? I've seen problems when you have a big repository. I've disabled the automatic download and just unpacked the latest 3 baselines (SPPs). This seems to work just fine. You can do a reindex or restart the VCRM. Depending on the size of the Repository and performance of your server this could take a while. You could also see if your Virusscanner scans the Repository. These can be a lot of things slowing you VCRM down ..

[lakshmana1]

Only one i.e. HP Service Pack for Prolient Version 2015.04.0 and repository size is ~20GB. Restarted the VCRM service and server as well. Is it necessary to exclude repository folder from virus scan? Anyhow, looks like issue has been resolved automatically and able to see 2 VCA's connected to VCRM now under reports tab of VCRM console.

Moreover, what is the criteria for choosing particular reference support pack from the list while pointing VCA to VCRM? Is it necessarry to install all recommended updates which has warning (yellow) symbol on VCA server?

[Andrew_Haak]

Hello,

I would think depending on your platform you want to have as little as possible SPPs for your servers. If you can install one SPP for your OS this would be de prefered way i would like to see an enviroment. Installing the same baseline (SPP) on your servers will give you a more predictable envioment. I would always install all the SPP baseline files. The SPP is a package of drivers/firmware and agents that HP supports in combination with each other. Skipping a component could give problems like not updating the Teaming agent but still updating the nic driver.

There could be a reason why you can't update all or update just one part but you would need a realy good reason. This could be security (Open SSL) or combinations of a HBA driver/firmware and the levels of your storage setup.

[lakshmana1]

Hello,

Not sure about the impact after installing all these warning updates and rebooting the server since HP not clearly telling go ahead and install the latest version of these updates unlike in case of major updates.check the message on the warning symbol in the below screeshot. Hope you can see the inserted image?

 

Moreover, how to find out which are the firmware related updates from the list in case if would like to proceed with installing firmware updates only?

[Andrew_Haak]

To be simple firmwares need reboots to be activated, drivers like nic drivers will give impact, teaming software if used will also create downtime. HBA drivers will disconnect your SAN drives so i would expect outage there also.

Agents and management should be rather painless as you don't interrupt production on your servers only possible monitoring. If you only update the firmware and "forget" the drivers you will also run into problems. Drivers can have a problem with underlying hardware if the firmware is updated. So my advice would be create maintenace windows and update the whole server if possible. If this is not an option don't change a working server....

[lakshmana1]

As of now requirement is upgrading the firmware through VCRM. Anyhow, will check the mentioned risk of not updating the drivers after updating the firmware.Thanks for the advice.

[lakshmana1]

Is it necessary to select reference support pack while pointing VCA to VCRM? what will be the impact if none selected?

[Andrew_Haak]

If you connect to the VCRM without selecting the baseline it only compares the installed software to the latest version available in the VCRM repository.

[lakshmana1]

I think that could be recommended configuration instead of selecting some support pack as baseline because there might be a new version in the repository than the version of support pack selected as reference support pack.

[Andrew_Haak]

Sure could be an option, if you don't have legacy hardware this should work. If you have old hardware you could install a version of the WBEM agent or SNMP agent that does not work for older hardware.

[lakshmana1]

Hello,

I see HP SUM software for Linux only. Can you share the link for Windows?http://h17007.www1.hpe.com/us/en/enterprise/servers/products/service_pack/hpsum/index.aspx

[Andrew_Haak]

The ftp link worked so here it is ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib2/software1/pubsw-windows/p991570621/v102485

[lakshmana1]

ftp link didn't work, any http link?

[Andrew_Haak]

New try   http://h20564.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/swd/public/detail?sp4ts.oid=4194639&swItemId=MTX_06344ed833c145c79539278025&swEnvOid=4064 

[lakshmana1]

Yes, this worked.Thanks!

[lakshmana1]

Looks like HP SUM cannot run on VM server?

[Andrew_Haak]

Hmm never tried that, i will run a test on a vm server tomorrow and let you know..

[lakshmana1]

Ok. I came across VCRM service hung issue and service is not getting started even after server reboot. Is there any way to bring the service back up without reinstalling VCRM application?

[Andrew_Haak]

I always download the spp's i need and leave the update/ download options to manual. Can you still access the config options?