IBM Tivoli IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager for Microsoft Host Integration Server Agent KB Notes and HOW TOs
CONTENTS Contents... 2 1 Overview... 3 1.1 Introduction... 3 1.2 Version History... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.3 Terms and abbreviations... 4 1.4 User Guides... 4 2 HOW TOs... 5 2.1 How to configure the agent startup?... 5 2.2 How to reconfigure the Agent?... 7 2.3 How to check whether prerequisites are fulfilled and Agent can be installed on the System?... 8 2.4 How to seed Agent support to remote ITM?... 9 2.5 How to generate IDML book from Agent DLA?... 10 2.6 Does the Agent support in Cluster Environment? If yes then provide the steps for configuration... 11 2.7 How to enable maximum trace logs?... 12 2.8 How to bundle logs for L3 team?... 13 2.9 How to run Parameterized Take Action Commands?... 14 2.10 Can Non-Administrator user run the monitoring Agent?... 16 2.11 Does the Agent Support Windows Server 2012 OS?... 17 2.12 How to Start or stop all pre-defined Situations?... 18 2.13 How to change Data Collection interval?... 19 3 Problems, Symptoms, Solutions... 20 3.1 HIS Agent doesn t display new perfmon objects.... 20 3.2 Two instances of HIS agent are displayed in AMS workspace.... 20 3.3 Two Agent Name displayed in Situation Editor or HDC... 20 3.4 Navigator items and workspace titles are labeled with internal names like in a format Kxx:KXX0000... 21 3.5 The hover help for Full Name attribute in Availability Group displays some text 21 3.6 Historical data collection is unavailable... 22
1 Overview 1.1 Introduction This document lists and provides solutions to common problems faced by customers of IBM Tivoli Microsoft Host Integration Server Agent during setting up/monitoring of the product in their Host Integration environments. The intended audience of the document is Level 2 personnel for IBM Tivoli Microsoft Host Integration Server Agent and the customers of the product.
1.2 Terms and abbreviations 1 BTU: Basic Transmission Unit 2 CICS: Customer Information Control System 3 DDM: Distributed Data Management Architecture 4 DRDA RA: Distributed Relational Database Architecture Application Requesters 5 ELM: Enhanced Listener Mode 6 FDDI : Fiber Distributed Data LANs 7 HIP: Host Initiated Processing 8 HIS: Host Integration Server 9 IMS: Information Management System 10 LUA: Logical Unit Applications 11 OLE DB: Object Linking and Embedding Database 12 PU: Physical Unit 13 RU: Response Unit 14 SDLC: Synchronous Data Link Control 15 SIS: Session Integration Server 16 SME: Session management exit 17 SNA: Systems Network Architecture 18 UDA: Universal Data Access 19 WIP: Windows Initiated Processing 20 SDA: Self Describing Agent Note: Please follow the below link to have complete list of acronyms and abbreviations used with HIS. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa771441%28bts.10%29.aspx 1.3 User Guides Provide the links for UG s online links
2 HOW TOs 2.1 How to configure the agent startup? By default the Agent is installed and running by Local System account which have administrative Privileges over the System. If any other specific credentials required other than the default Local System Account, then right click on agent service and select Change Startup. The options are displayed as in the image below, provide the username and the password of the user configured which has appropriate rights/privileges to various groups. Once done, click OK.
Recycle the Agent to take the configuration effects
2.2 How to reconfigure the Agent? We need to reconfigure the agent when we want to establish its connection with a TEMS (Monitoring Server). 1 Right-click on Agent, and select Reconfigure option. 2 Provide the TEMS machine IP Address or Hostname. 3 The changes will be reflected when the agent is recycled.
2.3 How to check whether prerequisites are fulfilled and Agent can be installed on the System? The Install Prerequisite checker feature makes it possible to identify many issues where agent installations can fail due to environment/machine setup prior to agent installation. Predefined checks provided by Install Prerequisite Checker: Physical Memory availability Storage availability User admin rights OS version, level, architecture and configurations Availability & version of application to be monitored by agent. Install prerequisites are not common across all component installations, some agents require specific prerequisite checks based on the application/system they are monitoring. Agent can use required predefined checks respective to the agent or can implement agent specific checks those are not available in predefined checks. Prerequisite checks can be different for different versions of the agent. Install prerequisite can be executed in two ways. 1. Remotely through tacmd command: Prerequisite bundles are automatically gets selected for agent when we add that agent s bundle files. tacmd addbundles i <image path> -t <product code> To execute prerequisite of required agent command is tacmd checkprereq h <target m/c> -u <user name> -w <password> -t <product code> This command will give result in tacmd getdeploystatus. If prerequisites are not fulfilled, log file is created in CANDLEHOME\logs\checkprereq_results folder describing failure reasons (location of logs is same for UNIX machine). 2. Local Standalone execution: Install prerequisite checker can be executed locally on a machine. To execute install prerequisite checker untar prerequisite tar file on a local m/c or use the file from ITCAMMA installer s windows\prereqchecker folder by copying to a temporary folder. Traverse to the prereqchecker\windows folder and execute the command.
prereq_checker.bat "<Product Code1> [product version1],[ <Product Code2> [product version2]]..." [detail] [debug] [PATH=<Agent install path>] Ex. prereq_checker.bat "KQH" detail PATH=<CANDLEHOME> Result of this command is displayed on command prompt. Result.txt gets created in the prereqchecker folder. Multiple product codes can be given to check those all agents prerequisites on the target m/c. It will check prerequisite for all agents specified in the product code list. Product version specifies for which agent version prerequisite checks will be performed. Readme file is a help file available for Local Standalone execution. 2.4 How to seed Agent support to remote ITM? The self-describing agent (SDA) feature, introduced in ITCAMMA v6.3, makes it possible for the agents to become operational after installation, without having to perform additional product support installation steps on ITM side. The self-describing agent feature must be enabled on the following IBM Tivoli Monitoring components: Hub Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Server. Tivoli Enterprise Portal Server. Self-describing agent supported agents. The Default state of SDA for HIS agent is Enabled. Any Remote Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Server the agent is connected to. The SDA feature can be enabled for TEPS & TEMS by changing an environment variable in ENV File. For example: TEPS_SDA=Y KMS_SDA=Y
SDA feature is supported by Agent Framework v623+. So, you can upgrade the Agent framework with ITM or OS Agent installer v623+. Once the SDA is enabled, support will get seeded remotely on TEMS & TEPS, once agent is successfully installed and configured to proper TEMS. 2.5 How to generate IDML book from Agent DLA? DLA (kqh_tmsdla.xml) comes with Agent s TEPS support and is present in the location C:\IBM\ITM\CNPS\tmsdla. OS Agent DLA (knt_tmsdla.xml) is prerequisite for HIS Agent DLA. To generate IDML book run the command: C:\IBM\ITM\CNPS\tmsdla.bat
2.6 Does the Agent support in Cluster Environment? If yes then provide the steps for configuration SQL Backend used in HIS server deployment supports Clustered Environment for user load balancing. Also multiple secondary HIS servers can be configured under primary HIS server for load balancing purpose. But HIS Agent needs to be installed on each Server Role machine to view data for respective role services.
2.7 How to enable maximum trace logs? The Host Integration Server Agent generates a set of logs while it runs. It logs some steps in its execution. These logs are helpful to trace the working of the HIS agent in case of a failure or if the agent is not working as expected. The logging has certain levels to it and for the maximum coverage the logging has to be set to the maximum. Follow the steps mentioned below to enable the perfmon counters. Step 1) Launch the IBM Tivoli Monitoring application Step 2) Right click the agent name and click Advanced and then Edit Trace Parms Step 3) Select / set the options as in the image below and click OK
2.8 How to bundle logs for L3 team? The logs generated by the agent are trace marks about the working of the agent. These logs contain vital information about the steps the agent executed. The logs generated by the agent are located at the path C:\IBM\ITM\TMAITM6\logs (in case the agent is installed on another drive, the path would start with that drive letter, and C:\IBM\ITM\TMAITM6_x64\logs in case of 64 bit OS). ZIP the logs folder entirely to be sent to the L3 team. You can use the pdcollect tool to collect the most commonly used information from a system. This tool gathers log files, configuration information, version information, and other data. For more information about using this tool, see the "pdcollect tool" in the IBM Tivoli Monitoring Troubleshooting Guide. For information about working with IBM Software Support, see IBM Support Portal Service Requests and PMRs (http://www.ibm.com/support/entry/portal/open_service_request/software/ Software_support_(general)).
2.9 How to run Parameterized Take Action Commands? Most Take Actions don t take any user inputs and perform a single specific operation like starting or stopping a service. However a parameterized Take Actions take parameters provided by user to perform an operation. For example, HIS Agent has Take Actions Start Link Service and Stop Link Service. There are two ways in which you can use these Take Actions effectively 1. Provide the service name, as parameter to Take Action, which you want to start or stop. 2. Right-click on the service in Availability workspace, which you want to start or stop. Click Select under Take Action option. Select the desired Take Action and click Run.
2.10 Can Non-Administrator user run the monitoring Agent? You can run the monitoring agent for Host Integration Server as a nonadministrator user; however, some Functionality is unavailable. To create a non-administrator user, create a new user (non-administrator) and set up registry permissions for the new user as follows: Full access to the CANDLE_HOME directory. Read access to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE directory Full access to the HKLM\Software\Candle directory for 32-bit agents Full access to the HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Candle directory for 64- bit agents If you define these permissions for a non-administrator user, data is displayed for all the WMI and registry-based attribute groups. See for a list of all the Perfmonbased attributes. The non-administrator user must be a member of the Performance Monitor Users and Performance Log Users groups. In Windows Server 2003 systems, the following attribute groups show data for users who are members of the Administrators group. SNA 3270 Response Time SNA Connections SNA Logical Unit Sessions TN3270 Server For users who are members of the Administrators group, the Availability attribute group shows the current data for all the services that are related to the Host Integration Server.
2.11 Does the Agent Support Windows Server 2012 OS? No. The latest version of monitored application, i.e. MS Host Integration Server 2010, is not supported on Windows Server 2012 OS or MS SQL Server 2012.
2.12 How to Start or stop all pre-defined Situations? On ITM Portal, right-click on Microsoft HIS node, and select Manage Situations. Either click on Select All or select the required situations. Now click Start or Stop button place on top-left side of the window. Starting Situation window will pop up, click yes to continue.
2.13 How to change Data Collection interval? Event Log workspace events are unfiltered, are not collected more than every 60 seconds, and are removed from the Event Log Views after 1 hour of being received. All events currently in the Application Event Log are sent to the Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Server when the agent starts. Environment variables that control the behavior of the Event Log Workspace are stored in the agent ENV file on the Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Agent where the agent is running. These variables are stored: CDP_DP_CACHE_TTL This value is the minimum number of seconds before data (for a particular table) is collected again. By default this variable is present in the ENV file and the value is set to 60. CDP_NT_EVENT_LOG_GET_ALL_ENTRIES_FIRST_TIME This variable determines whether the agent sends all events currently in the Application Event Log to the Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Server when the agent starts. Legal values are YES and NO. By default this variable is present in the ENV file and the value is set to NO. CDP_NT_EVENT_LOG_CACHE_TIMEOUT This variable determines how long in seconds that events are displayed in the Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Server Event Log Views. By default, this variable is not present in the ENV file. A default value of 3600 (1 Hour) is used unless overridden by the presence of this variable in the agent ENV file. The minimum legal value is 300. To view or edit the agent ENV file on the Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring agent where the agent is installed, use Manage Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Services to select the agent. Right-click and select Advanced - Edit ENV File. The agent must be restarted to implement changes.
3 Problems, Symptoms, Solutions 3.1 HIS Agent doesn t display new perfmon objects. Problem: If you load or unload the HIS performance monitor objects while the agent is active, the HIS agent does not dynamically update the values and displays the previous values. Solution: Recycle the HIS agent. 3.2 Two instances of HIS agent are displayed in AMS workspace. Problem: If you change the HIS agent startup with a user that has domain administrator privileges in the Agent Management Services, and then recycle the HIS and OS agent, two instances of the agent are displayed in the Agent Management Services workspace. Solution: To resolve the issue, follow these steps: 1. Stop the OS agent. 2. Navigate to the \\TMAITM6\CAP folder. 3. Delete the pas.dat file. 4. Start the OS agent. 3.3 Two Agent Name displayed in Situation Editor or HDC Symptom(s): On the Tivoli Enterprise Portal, entries for the Microsoft Host Integration Server and the Microsoft HIS, are displayed in the Query Editor. However, no query is applicable for the Microsoft Host Integration Server navigator item. Possible Reason(s): It s the limitation of ITM framework. Solution(s):
Microsoft HIS is the valid navigator item. There is no solution for this problem. 3.4 Navigator items and workspace titles are labeled with internal names like in a format Kxx:KXX0000 Symptom(s): - Navigator items and workspace titles are labeled with internal names or agent IDs like Kxx:KXX0000 instead of the correct names (such as Communicator Web Access, Archiving), where XX and xx represent the two-character agent code. Possible Reason(s): - Agent Support might not get correctly installed on TEMS, TEPS and TEP client. Solution(s): Ensure that application support has been added on the monitoring server, portal server, and portal client. For more information about installing application support, see Installing and enabling application support in the IBM Tivoli Monitoring Installation and Setup Guide. 3.5 The hover help for Full Name attribute in Availability Group displays some text Symptom(s): - On the Tivoli Enterprise Portal, the hover help for the Full Name attribute in the Availability attribute group displays the following text for both services and processes: - The full name of the process including the path. - This description is valid only when the attribute name refers to a process. The description is not valid for a service because a service name does not display a path. Possible Reason(s): - This behavior is expected. The Tivoli Enterprise Portal is designed to display the same hover help for the Full name attribute, regardless of whether the attribute is a process or a service. Solution(s): - None.
3.6 Historical data collection is unavailable Symptom(s): - Historical data collection is unavailable because of incorrect queries in the Tivoli Enterprise Portal Possible Reason(s): - The Sort By, Group By and First/Last functions column are not compatible with the historical data collection feature. Use of these advanced functions makes a query ineligible for historical data collection. - Even if data collection has been started, you cannot use the time span feature if the query for the chart or table includes column functions or advanced query options (Sort By, Group By, First/Last). Solution(s): To ensure support of historical data collection, do not use the Sort By, Group By, or First/Last functions in your queries. See the IBM Tivoli Monitoring Administrator s Guide or the Tivoli Enterprise Portal online help for information about the Historical Data Collection function.