SIM 7.0 - Software Status Polling doesn't update status

[shereepdx]

Hi all,

My software status polling runs, and everything comes back green in Task Results.  I go back to the list, and it's not updated.  I log out/back in, still not updated.

Any ideas?

[shocko]

I think this might be a bug in SIM 7.0. Others are having the same issue on this forum.

[jim goodman]

I didn't have a sw status show up either - I did use the new track and manage baselines feature, set my baseline and recieved an expected status after a software status poll. From what I can tell from the docs, should still get it via VCA/VCRM connection.

[Mark Harwood - UK]

I think theres 2 seperate system now, VCA. and the GEN8 software updates process.

Hence why in an enclosure list thw icon of the SW coloumn takes you to the baseline. but on a server page the SW link takes you to the appropriate VCA.

[shereepdx]

Now that I've had a bit more time to play with (and get very frustrated with) SIM, I'm thinking that it's because it was a fresh install.  I actually replicated it with 6.3 on a fresh install.

In my experience, out-of-the-box installs chew up RAM until the server becomes unresponsive, usually within a day.  The clients try to poll the (unresponsive) VCRM, and when they can't connect, they put a "can't connect to VCRM" entry in their log, which SIM picks up and displays.  So you see the same list of white "information" icons and figure nothing happened.

So, if it's going to be like that, how do I force my clients to poll the VCRM once it becomes available again?  I don't see anywhere to configure a polling frequency.

[shereepdx]

(I got it all working again by logging on to each client manually and forcing it to poll.  Is there an automated way to do that?

[jim goodman]

I don't understand the chewing up RAM, I install SIM full time for a living in extremely large environments and I never "chew up" RAM to any crippling degree unless I am violating good installation practice and pre-reqs. You'll have to fill in some blanks for me.

If one of you have an active case with HP for the Status Polling problem being discussed please pass that on to me so I can pass it on. I have replicated my incedent internally and it is being looked at by lab.

[Bart_Heungens]

I installed SIM 7 also last week in a quite large environment and find it correctly working, compared to 6.3, except for the software status polling task...

Effectively software status updates do not come thru, tried all the possible ways...

Think that I will open up a case also...

Kr,

Bart

[jim goodman]

Here is the official bottom line

SIM7 doesn't provide SW Status the way we are use too - I was told it did, but had a developer set me straight. The SW Status comes from the Track SW and FW Tool no longer from the VCA.

The tool will poll the VCRM for baselines and custom baselines so nothing is lost there.

This is a positive change from my perspective and a long asked for enhancement to get away from the VCA. Positive change, poorly communicated and poorly documented but has now been brought to product management attention.

So, all of my grief was needless it all is working just as it is supposed to oy vey :/

The changing of technology and how the new management methodology will flesh itself out but it is going to take awhile to get a solid knowledge base set internally and with our external customers. Thanks for bearing with us through this turning of the page. I work with this stuff everyday and if it isn't communicated adequately I find out about it along with the rest of you as I run into it.

[Bart_Heungens]

James,

OK if it is not the VCA status anymore, thought already that it would be something like that...

However if it is reflecting the attached baseline, even then there should be a regular check running (software status polling) that checks that there is something updated or not...

Now I attached a baseline to a server which reports yellow, I update the server component so that the server in the VCA ends up green but the SW column with the baseline stays yellow...

There must be some kind of trigger to use...

Kr,

Bart

[jim goodman]

Working on getting answers to that and some other points in need of clarification. I'll be blogging it and providing an answer here if someone doesn't beat me to it.

[shocko]

The VCA has been useful in the past but is also a pain (we've all had the SMH timeout message when VCA is running ;) ).

What in wondering , in light of what's been said here, is how exactly do we poll our servers for SW status now?

[jim goodman]

VCA provides nothing to SIM7x so my thinking is unless the "click and install" of components via the VCA UI is important to you I'd say remove it from your build.

1. SW Polling collects data.
2. The Collected result is stored in the SIM db
3. A Calculation takes place comparing the db info against the selected baseline in SIM7 (also in the db) and bang, a SW Status.

All of that would explain why SW Status Polling seems to take so much longer than in the past when all it did was retrieve a status from the VCA, now the tool actually has work to do.

I am still trying to get some questions answered around the VCRM Statistics and Reporting - after removing my VCA the VCRM still retains the VCA baselines and has not taken on the baseline set in SIM7 and it may not, but I am concerned about the dirty information being visible to anyone who looks at it. Reporting in SIM displays the new and correct information.

Bart raises an interesting question regarding the update to the SW Status displayed in SIM after uprgrading the SPP to the baseline which the VCA sees as green but the SIM displayed status stays yellow even after SW Status Polling is (assumed) run. Seems reasonable there is another factor in the collection or calculation - the VCA will pretty much only update the baseline to the traditional PSP whereas the SIM vantange point is looking the baseline through the SPP process which would include components not accounted for in the VCA. Curious did update to the baseline via the VCA or SIM? or did you just install the component the VCA told you was missing?

[Bart_Heungens]

Have several questions/strange behaviours...

Server with VCA in yellow. I apply a baseline which also states yellow. Now I update the server manually (it was just a firmware update). VCA on the server locally appears green now. Fine so far. When I check the baseline in SIM, it states yellow. I initiate a software polling task manually and wait some minutes, baseline stays yellow...

So there must be something different to trigger an update for the baseline.

Second: 5 identical servers in a blade enclosure. Discovery runs fine on all of them. When I attach a baseline, it works fine for 4 of them, the fifth stays with a blue bullet and ?. No way to get it recognized. SMH and VCA runs fine on all 5 servers...

Update to baseline: I cannot select (like with VCA) individual componebts to update? Only option is Run Now or schedule a deployment... Any idea how to update some components and not the whole baseline in 1 time?

Kr,

Bart

[jim goodman]

Bart,

After updating the SW you'll need to run Options --> Data Collection against the target to update the target so far I only tried Overwrite which updated the SW Status in SIM. I knew Data Collection was a part of it but wasn't included in a description of the sw status process given to me yesterday. I just verified it on another install I am remoted into, and yep needed to do a Data Collection.

As far as individual components it is all done via Install Software/Firmware task

[Bart_Heungens]

Hi Jim,

Will try that one for sure... First have to finish importing my 28 enclosures with all belonging devices in my new SIM before continue playing around with the details like software updates...

In 2 weeks I get also the Gen8 blades, have to figure out also that new ILO4 integration... Busy times!

Kr,

Bart

[jim goodman]

Busy times with really cool new toys!

Have fun,

Jim

[TrevorT]

I want to throw in my $0.02 here...

I have a new HP SIM 7.1 server.  I'm preping it to take over for our ancient 5.2 server.  Most of the clients have old agents.

I have two clients that I setup for discovery via snmp, they have the snmp agent, not the wbem provider: serverone and servertwo, same hardware, same OS, somewhat differeing software versions. After updating them to be able to use the new sim server (configured snmp to accempt packets from new sim server) and setting up their SMH to trust the new sim server, I reran the discovery.  Everything looked good - but no SW info.

So - clients with SNMP, no SBEM, setup and communicating - no SW info in hp sim.

I configured VCA on both clients.  Trust by certificate. This includes importing the client certs into the VCRM SMH.  ServerOne now has SW status in HP SIM, ServerTwo does not.  Both servers VCA is working - from the SMH on each server I can go into VCA and see all available software, what's missing, etc.  

I reconfigure ServerTwo to use user authentication. Rerun software discovery several times during troubleshooting. Reset it back to trust by certificate.  Finally got it working after removing ServerTwo's cert from the VCRM's SMH and reimporting it.  I assume that's what got it to work...

SNMP agents were not populating HP Sim's SW version.

After getting VCA working, SW version populated.

I have a couple servers with the WBEM provider - the SW version info worked on them without configuring VCA, and without setting up the SMH trust (just provided my sign-on dredentails for the discovery).

So - the comment that VCA does nothing with the new HP SIM may not be correct.  It is possible that something else got servertwo working .... but I troubleshot it for a long time, and it was not working.  As soon as I fixed the VCA trust it started working.  ServerOne wasn't reporting it's SW version until I got VCA working, but it started working immediately with no issues. It may be significant that I didn't use 'certificate' trust for the VCA on serverone, the VCA was too old and I couldn't use 'trust by certificate' for it.

[TrevorT]

Separate issue, but it results from the work I did in the previous post.  I may create a new topic / thread for this...

Now that serverone and servertwo are reporting, I see some big differences between the SW reported in HP SIM and the software reported in the local server's VCA.

On the VCA page, it looks more or less like I expect.  Some of the software is very old.  It shows updated versions of the software in the "psp" column.  In the "latest" column there is software listed that's even more up to date than the PSP for some items.

serverone and servertwo are the same hardware, same OS, somewhat differeing software versions.

In the HP SIM software tab for the server, there are some issues:

• for servertwo (has newer vca agent, I had issues getting it working) - the 'latest version' column shows newer software than PSP column - which seems correct.
• for serverone (older VCA, easier to get it working) - the 'latest version' column shows the same version as the PSP column.  wrong.
• for both servers, HP SIM lists no software available for the HP System Management Homepage. The homepage is version: 3.x on serverone, 7.1.0.17 on servertwo.
• no updates for online rom flash updates (that may be a limitation of SIM, SIM can't push them maybe?)

I did create a new post for this.  See here

[shocko]

VCA Agent is 'kind of' deprecated in SIM 7.1. Now they haev the concept of software basleines. basically, you set a baseline against a server and hpsum,exe runs on the SIM servers and checks the remote machie to see if it meets the baseline.

[TrevorT]

According to Jim Goodman, VCA is no longer needed. The baseline is a way of accessing the VCRM and doing comparisons to it, and from there being able to update software.  HPSIM now apparently has SUM built into it - as such, it doesn't need VCA.  It uses SUM to deploy software, and it uses the agents on the servers to get software information.

The point of my post is to show that it may be needed, specifically for SNMP agents, for showing software version.  It can still probably use SUM to deploy.  I don't fully understand SUM.

It looks like Jim wrote a blog about this:

http://worldofinsight.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/hpsim7-setting-baselines-and-software-status/