VCA 2.1.9.790 issues

[Aaron Vonstuben]

I have not been able to install the Version Control Agent for 7.9 on some servers. It says that the version is not supported for installation and even though it is a crtitical update on the servers, it does not install. Some servers are windows 2000 some are windows 2003. Is the only way to get the vca updated, to install the whole PSP? I have been successful with that. I have tried to install only the VCA on 2000 servers that are otherwise fully up to date and 2003 servers that warn about several components but have an error on the VCA saying that its critical to update it. Are there other components that are required to be installed before the version control agent is installed? Is 7.9 VCA compatible with 7.6 PSP for 2000? If the agent is going to show that it needs a crtitcal update, why not put the logic into the agent that it is not compatible unless you have xyz component installed as a dependency.

[Rob Buxton]

The recommendation has always been that you upgrade the entire PSP.
The reason for this is that they're tested bundles. If they're split then the results can be unpredictable.

PSP updates for W2000 stopped some time ago. I've left mine as per the last PSP for W2K.

[Aaron Vonstuben]

Is there some place I can recommend a feature be put in place for the agents involved? I would like to see the agent not alert if there is not a compatible update for the specific platform i.e if Windows 2000 is no longer going to be receiving updates then can that be detected and not throw a critical update notification? The same for a hardware platform. Can say a 5500 which is not supported by any PSP past 7.6 be told not to give a critical update notification to upgrade to the latest 2.1.9.790 agent? Is there a support matrix that I can look at for each server that tells me which PSP is fully supported for each hardware platform? At least that way I can set the PSP version for a collection of servers by model or OS and only allow my newest servers to notify of the newest versions of agents being released. I think this would be enormously useful.

[Rob Buxton]

If you've set a baseline it doesn't, it just compares it to what is in that particular baseline. It will then only alert you to items outside the baseline like firmware etc.

[Aaron Vonstuben]

Is there a way to set the VCA to a specific PSP at the collection level? Like all the 2000 OS's set to PSP 7.6 or do I have to click through to each agent and set the properties?

[David Claypool · Accepted solution]

Yes, set one the way you like it and the use 'Replicate Agent Settings' to distribute it to the collection of servers running Win2000.

[Steffen Pelzetter]

Hello,

I have the same problem with VCA 2.1.9.790 and w2k servers.

I think this is a bug which soonly should be fixed by the PSP- development team!

@David

Sorry but I can't find a 'Replicate Agent Settings' Button. Where can I find that?

[Aaron Vonstuben]

The replicate agent settings is on the Configure pull down menu at the top of the page in the Insight Manager UI. I have not previously used this feature but it worked well at setting all of the 2000 servers to a specified PSP (in this case the 7.6) It was curious to see that a newer version of some of the components was installed on the servers. As far as Windows 2000 is concerned, I have a lot of work to do rolling back several of the agents because HP's site says that the versions that I have installed are not supported for 2000. I was installing the newest version because SIM said it was out of date and warned as such but the is no logic behind the check. Apparently its only looking at the version number and does not take OS or the hardware supportability into consideration. Watch out for this!

[FrankW]

Even though it is correct that a baseline can still show "green" even when there is a major or critical update, the fact is that SIM will still send email alert messages for those systems that theoretically have such a component requiring an update. And in this case, VCA2.1.9.790 cannot apply to Windows 2000. I would have thought that the software components are supposed to be filtered by applicable Operating System version? They seem to be in other cases - perhaps someone missed a flag somewhere?

As an example, trying to create a new custom baseline in the version control repository, for Windows 2000, the VCA2.1.9.790 is listed as a selectable component - and this should not be the case.

[Bill Bolsover]

I'd also like to echo the sentiment made by Aaron. How do I supress these critical update notifications for a component that I can't install?