HP BladeSystem Management Pack version 1.0 for Microsoft System Center Essentials Troubleshooting Assistant Part Number 465399-001 November 2007 (First Edition)
Copyright 2007 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. Confidential computer software. Valid license from HP required for possession, use or copying. Consistent with FAR 12.211 and 12.212, Commercial Computer Software, Computer Software Documentation, and Technical Data for Commercial Items are licensed to the U.S. Government under vendor s standard commercial license. Microsoft, Windows, and Windows NT are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Windows Server 2003 is a U.S. trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Audience assumptions This document is for the person trained in network software administration and who understands concepts like TCP/IP, NTP, NFS, DNS, directory services (such as Active Directory and LDAP), and asynchronous serial communications.
Contents Overview... 4 About this guide... 4 Troubleshooting... 5 Introduction... 5 Installation issues... 5 Identifying installed components of HP BladeSystem Management Pack... 5 Identifying imported HP BladeSystem Management Packs... 6 Reviewing installation requirements... 6 Installing the kits to a remote System Center Essentials console environment... 6 Deleting the management packs manually...6 Enclosure Monitor Management issues... 6 System Center Essentials is not discovering HP BladeSystem c-class enclosures... 7 System Center Essentials is not alerting HP BladeSystem c-class enclosures... 7 Authoring issues... 7 Adding custom information to HP Management Packs by adding a custom task to an HP class and overriding a parameter to HP rules... 8 Operational and usage issues... 8 Monitor Manager is unable to connect to the monitor service... 9 The details pane in the Monitor Manager is not updated automatically... 9 A critical state displays in the Monitor Manager for the monitor service... 9 A critical state displays in the Monitor Manager for a managed enclosure... 9 The default internet browser is not used when opening the Onboard Administrator web page... 9 Add managed enclosure does not allow adding an unverified enclosure... 9 Update Enclosure Login wizard does not allow updating unverified enclosure... 10 A newly added enclosure displays in the tree pane, but no information is available in the details pane... 10 Downgrade of Onboard Administrator firmware is not supported... 10 Modifying the secondary Onboard Administrator IP information... 10 Updating the Onboard Administrator password... 10 Displaying HP events as alerts on the System Center Essentials console... 10 Researching state monitoring... 11 An HP b-class Blade Server is not displayed in the HP BladeSystem Enclosure Group... 11 Expected associated classes are not displaying in the Enclosure State View or the Health Collection View 11 Event View and Performance View are empty... 11 Tasks cannot be launched from the Health Explorer properties page or the Product Knowledge page... 12 Alert Descriptions in the Alert Properties view are truncated... 12 The Enclosure Diagram view shows folders named by initials... 12 State icon or alert state appears gray... 12 A fan or power supply displays when there is no fan or power supply installed on the bay slot... 12 Active alert view displays only one alert when there are multiple device state changes... 12 Technical support... 13 Before contacting HP support... 13 Technical support contact information for the HP BladeSystem Management Packs for System Center Essentials... 13 HP contact information... 14 Contents 3
Overview About this guide This guide is intended to help users of the HP BladeSystem Management Packs for Microsoft System Center Essentials troubleshoot issues during installation and initial operation. This guide is designed for system administrators who use the HP BladeSystem Management Pack for Microsoft System Center Essentials and other HP applications and tools to manage the operations of HP BladeSystem enclosures within a System Center Essentials environment. You should be familiar with the configuration and operation of Microsoft Windows and Microsoft System Center Essentials. Because of the potential risk of data loss, only individuals who are experienced with using this software should implement the procedures described in this guide. HP assumes that this level of expertise is available to customers using the HP BladeSystem Management Packs for Microsoft System Center Essentials Troubleshooting Assistant. If the information included in this guide seems overly complex, HP recommends further review of the Microsoft product documentation and the HP BladeSystem Management Packs for System Center Essentials product documentation. IMPORTANT: Before proceeding, access the HP website (http://www.hp.com/servers/integration) to verify you are using the current version of the HP BladeSystem Management Packs for Microsoft System Center Essentials Troubleshooting Assistant. Use the part number and the date on the title page to determine which version you are using. The contents of this guide are updated frequently and newer versions are placed on the HP website. Download and open the updated file to use the current HP BladeSystem Management Packs for Microsoft System Center Essentials Troubleshooting Assistant. Overview 4
Troubleshooting Introduction The following information is designed to help resolve some common installation, setup, and operating problems that might occur when you install, implement and use the HP BladeSystem Management Packs for System Center Essentials. To begin, select one of the following: Installation issues (on page 5) Enclosure Monitor Management issues (on page 6) Authoring issues (on page 7) Operational and usage issues (on page 8) Installation issues The following sections provide troubleshooting information for installation issues with the HP BladeSystem Management Packs for System Center Essentials. Identifying installed components of HP BladeSystem Management Pack (on page 5) Identifying imported HP BladeSystem Management Packs (on page 6) Reviewing installation requirements (on page 6) Installing the kits to a remote System Center Essentials console environment (on page 6) Deleting the management packs manually (on page 6) Identifying installed components of HP BladeSystem Management Pack To identify which version of the HP BladeSystem Management Pack for System Center Essentials kit is installed: 1. Select Start>Control Panel>Add or Remove Programs. 2. Select HP BladeSystem Management Pack for System Center Essentials. 3. Click Click here for support information. The Version fields appear in the dialog box. 4. Click Close. 5. Check the version with the release notes or the HP Server Integrations with Microsoft System Center Products Support Matrix before requesting support. Troubleshooting 5
Identifying imported HP BladeSystem Management Packs To identify imported HP BladeSystem Management Packs and their versions on System Center Essentials 2007: 1. Open the System Center Essentials console. 2. Select the Administration tab. 3. Click Management Packs. 4. Find the Management Packs that begin with "Hewlett-Packard". The version field appears for each HP Management Pack. 5. Verify the imported Management Pack with the release notes or the HP BladeSystem Management Pack for System Center Essentials User Guide before requesting support. Reviewing installation requirements See the HP Server Integrations with Microsoft System Center Products Support Matrix for installation configuration and environment requirements. The HP BladeSystem Management Pack for System Center Essentials 2007 kits require prior installation and configuration of the HP ProLiant Server Management Pack for System Center Essentials 2007 kits. Installing the kits to a remote System Center Essentials console environment The kits do not support installation on a remote System Center Essentials console environment. Deleting the management packs manually The management packs can be deleted manually from the System Center Essentials operator console. If the purpose of deletion is to completely remove HP BladeSystem Management Pack for System Center Essentials 2007 kits from the system, then remove the kits using the Add or Remove Programs menu in the Control Panel after manually deleting the HP BladeSystem Management Pack from the operator console. If the purpose of the deletion is to correct a mis-operation or if you are refreshing the environment, then from the Add or Remove Programs menu in the Control Panel, click Change, and then click Repair. Enclosure Monitor Management issues The following sections provide troubleshooting information for administrative issues with the HP BladeSystem Management Packs for System Center Essentials. System Center Essentials is not discovering HP BladeSystem c-class enclosures (on page 7) System Center Essentials is not alerting a HP BladeSystem c-class enclosures ("System Center Essentials is not alerting HP BladeSystem c-class enclosures" on page 7) Troubleshooting 6
System Center Essentials is not discovering HP BladeSystem c-class enclosures Every HP BladeSystem c-class enclosure must be registered with the HP BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Manager. Verify the monitored states by using the HP BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Manager to look at each monitored state. If a Process state displays, use the Refresh action to update the screen with recent data until it shows an OK or a Failed state. If a red state displays, resolve the issue and update the enclosure registration information from the HP BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Manager. The updated registration information displays immediately in the HP BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Service. The service shows the monitoring progress in the HP BladeSystem's NT Event Log. However, the System Center Essentials discovery process does not occur immediately. The discovery results will not display on the System Center Essentials operator console until after the next discovery cycle. Along with the registration, the following actions must be performed on the HP Onboard Administrator Web console: Check that a monitor account exists and verify that the account has managing permission to each managed component. To see the user settings, click Enclosure Information>User/Authentication>Local Users or Directory Groups, and select a user or a group. Check the HP BladeSystem's NT Event Log. Look through the Error and Warning entries that can cause a monitoring issue. Launch the HP BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Manager to resolve any registration issues. Check all current Active Alerts in the domain of System Center Essentials 2007. Resolve all active alert issues and close Active Alerts. Check the Operation Manager's NT Event Log. Look through the Error and Warning entries that can cause issues with the system. These issues should be reported to Microsoft. System Center Essentials is not alerting HP BladeSystem c-class enclosures SNMP Settings on the HP Onboard Administrator Web console must be set up to enable SNMP Trapbased Alerts. To see and update the SNMP Settings, click Enclosure Information>Enclosure Settings>SNMP Settings. Verify that the IP address of the System Center Essentials system is registered with a community string. To test the SNMP trap connectivity, update the enclosure name from the HP Onboard Administrator Web console and verify that the HP BladeSystem's NT Event log captures the enclosure name update information. Authoring issues The following section provides troubleshooting information for authoring issues with the HP BladeSystem Management Packs for System Center Essentials. Adding custom information to HP Management Packs by adding a custom task to an HP class and overriding a parameter to HP rules (on page 8) Troubleshooting 7
Adding custom information to HP Management Packs by adding a custom task to an HP class and overriding a parameter to HP rules Adding custom information such as company knowledge, custom tasks, and overriding rules to HP Management Packs will create a dependency from the custom management pack to the HP Management Packs. HP Management Packs are sealed and protected from any modification, so the custom task is stored in an external management pack. Creating a new custom management pack for custom information management specific to HP Management Packs is recommended as this will ease future upgrades and migration paths. Operational and usage issues The following sections provide troubleshooting information for operational issues with the HP BladeSystem Management Packs for System Center Essentials: Monitor Manager is unable to connect to the monitor service (on page 9) The details pane in the Monitor Manager is not updated automatically (on page 9) A critical state displays in the Monitor Manager for the monitor service (on page 9) A critical state displays in the Monitor Manager for a managed enclosure (on page 9) The default internet browser is not used when opening the Onboard Administrator web page (on page 9) Add managed enclosure does not allow adding an unverified enclosure (on page 9) Update Enclosure Login wizard does not allow updating unverified enclosure (on page 10) A newly added enclosure displays in the tree pane, but no information is available in the details pane (on page 10) Downgrade of Onboard Administrator firmware is not supported (on page 10) Modifying the secondary Onboard Administrator IP information (on page 10) Updating the Onboard Administrator password (on page 10) Displaying HP events as alerts on the System Center Essentials console (on page 10) Researching state monitoring (on page 11) An HP b-class Blade Server is not displayed in the HP BladeSystem Enclosure Group (on page 11) Expected associated classes are not displaying in the Enclosure State View or the Health Collection View (on page 11) Event View and Performance View are empty (on page 11) Tasks cannot be launched from the Health Explorer properties page or the Product Knowledge page (on page 12) Alert Descriptions in the Alert Properties view are truncated (on page 12) The Enclosure Diagram view shows folders named by initials (on page 12) State icon or alert state appears gray (on page 12) Troubleshooting 8
A fan or power supply displays when there is no fan or power supply installed on the bay slot (on page 12) Active alert view displays only one alert when there are multiple device state changes (on page 12) Monitor Manager is unable to connect to the monitor service The Monitor Manager displays an error message indicating that it failed to connect to the Monitor Service. Click Computer Management>Services, and verify that the HP BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Service is running. The details pane in the Monitor Manager is not updated automatically The user must click the Refresh button to force an update in the Monitor Manager details pane. The details pane is automatically updated after the Add Managed Enclosure, Remove Managed Enclosure or Update Enclosure Login wizard runs. A critical state displays in the Monitor Manager for the monitor service The Monitor Manager has an issue communicating with the Monitor Service. Click Computer Management>Services, and verify that the HP BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Service is running. If the service is not running, restart the Monitor Service. Verify that the HP BladeSystem's event log does not contain any error messages for the Monitor Service. A critical state displays in the Monitor Manager for a managed enclosure Monitor Manager displays an error message indicating that the Monitor Service has an issue communicating with the managed HP BladeSystem enclosure. Verify that the network connection and login credentials are properly configured. The default internet browser is not used when opening the Onboard Administrator web page Monitor Manager always uses Microsoft Internet Explorer to open the Onboard Administrator web page. Add managed enclosure does not allow adding an unverified enclosure The Add Managed Enclosure wizard verifies the IP address, login credentials, and the firmware version on the enclosure's Onboard Administrator before adding the enclosure to the Monitor Service. Only valid enclosures can be added to the Monitor Service. Troubleshooting 9
Update Enclosure Login wizard does not allow updating unverified enclosure The Update Enclosure Login wizard verifies the IP address, login credentials, and the firmware version on the enclosure's Onboard Administrator before updating the enclosure login information to the Monitor Service. You must update the login credentials in the enclosure's Onboard Administrator before using the wizard to update the Monitor Service. A newly added enclosure displays in the tree pane, but no information is available in the details pane After adding a new managed enclosure to the Monitor Service, the added enclosure displays immediately in the tree pane. However, it takes the Monitor Service a few minutes to collect the inventory information. You must manually refresh the screen to view the updated details. Downgrade of Onboard Administrator firmware is not supported The supported Onboard Administrator firmware versions are 2.04 and above. Do not downgrade the Onboard Administrator firmware on enclosures that have been added and are currently managed. Modifying the secondary Onboard Administrator IP information To add a secondary Onboard Administrator module to be managed by the HP BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Service, remove the managed enclosure using the Monitor Manager. Add the same enclosure again by providing the information required in the Add Enclosure wizard with the secondary Onboard Administrator s IP address. Updating the Onboard Administrator password If the Onboard Administrator password has been changed, you must update the password to the HP BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Service in the Monitor Manager. Launch the Update Enclosure Login wizard from the Monitor Manager. You can update the login and password information for the enclosures managed by the HP BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Service. The new login information will be updated for all enclosures selected in this wizard. Information is not saved to the HP BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Service until you complete the wizard. Displaying HP events as alerts on the System Center Essentials console If HP events do not appear as alerts on the System Center Essentials console, verify that the following conditions exist: The Windows Event Log is not full. If the Windows Event Log is full, it can prevent new events from being recorded. Troubleshooting 10
The HP BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Service class instance is discovered and displays properly on the Monitor Service State view. Researching state monitoring HP BladeSystem Enclosures are monitored in two ways after initially importing the HP BladeSystem Management Pack: Discovery and state monitoring Event monitoring The discovery and state monitoring provides the latest HP BladeSystem inventory and state results to the System Center Essentials console. This monitoring displays a near real-time state of the HP BladeSystem c- Class enclosure, and provides the state down to HP Health Component level. HP Health Components present detailed component level information. However, they do not display diagnostic level information for each component. To get the detailed information, launch the HP Onboard Administrator Web console task. If there are yellow or red states in HP BladeSystem classes, HP recommends working through the HP Onboard Administrator Web console after initially starting the management of HP BladeSystem c-class enclosures. The event monitoring provides the best possible information for failed descriptions and failed components. If the event monitoring generates an alert on the System Center Essentials console, it requires a swift resolution to the event. Events are generated only once. If a state change was observed, check the Active Alerts view to find detailed information for the issue. An HP b-class Blade Server is not displayed in the HP BladeSystem Enclosure Group HP b-class Blade Servers are not supported by this product. Expected associated classes are not displaying in the Enclosure State View or the Health Collection View By default, the Enclosure State View and the Health Collection State View do not display the expected associated class instances. The layout of the view can be different according to the installation order of the management packs, the discovery results, and the user's console operation. To include the associated classes and properties you want to see in each view, open the Personalize View dialog box and select the associated class and properties to be included. Event View and Performance View are empty The HP BladeSystem Management Pack does not have data collection rules for events or performance. Though the Event and Performance views are accessible from HP Classes, data does not display on these views. To view an NT Event, launch the Computer Management task, and view the Event Viewer folder under System Tools. Events from the HP BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Service are stored in the HP BladeSystem event log. Troubleshooting 11
Tasks cannot be launched from the Health Explorer properties page or the Product Knowledge page The link to the HP BladeSystem Enclosure Monitor Manager displays in the Alert Properties view on the Health Explorer properties page and the Product Knowledge page. Clicking the link will not launch a task. Use the link in the Actions panel to launch a task, or right-click the HP BladeSystem Enclosure, and select a task. Alert Descriptions in the Alert Properties view are truncated This is a Microsoft System Center Essentials issue. To see the full description, go to the Alert Context tab. The Enclosure Diagram view shows folders named by initials System Center Essentials groups the health components of the HP BladeSystem Management Pack into sub-folders, and only displays the initial letters of the first and last health component names within the folder. Expand the folders to view the entire health component of the HP BladeSystem Management Pack for a specific health collection. State icon or alert state appears gray System Center Essentials displays a green check to indicate a healthy state, a yellow exclamation point to indicate a warning, and a red X to indicate an error. When one of these icons appears gray instead of its normal color, the managed server has lost connection with System Center Essentials. To verify that the network connection is working, click Administration>Agent Managed, and right-click on the target system. Click Repair, and follow the instructions to reset the server status. A fan or power supply displays when there is no fan or power supply installed on the bay slot If a bay slot is empty, but a fan or a power supply is needed in the bay slot in order to maintain enclosure total health, a fan or power supply displays on the Diagram and State views with a yellow or red state icon. After a configuration change is made to the enclosure, it can take up to one hour to reflect the exact state on the Diagram and State views. The properties of an empty bay slot's fan or power supply will not display the proper information other than bay number. Active alert view displays only one alert when there are multiple device state changes The event processing rules of the HP BladeSystem Management Pack are designed to consolidate similar events and to not repeat issues. For example, if two fans in an enclosure are in degraded state, and two SNMP trap events have been generated, only one alert is reported. However, if two SNMP trap events of fan degraded state are generated from different enclosures, two alerts are displayed. The consolidated status is displayed by enabling the Repeat Count property in the Active Alert view settings. If events are consolidated, the alert description in the Alert Details pane will show the latest event only. Troubleshooting 12
Technical support Before contacting HP support Before contacting HP for support, review the following steps and collect the necessary system information to help expedite a resolution: 1. Review the troubleshooting information found in this guide. IMPORTANT: Before proceeding, access the HP website (http://www.hp.com/servers/integration) to verify you are using the current version of the HP BladeSystem Management Packs for Microsoft System Center Essentials Troubleshooting Assistant. Use the part number and the date on the title page to determine which version you are using. The contents of this guide are updated frequently and newer versions are placed on the HP website. Download and open the updated file to use the current HP BladeSystem Management Packs for Microsoft System Center Essentials Troubleshooting Assistant. 2. See the HP website (http://www.hp.com/servers/integration) for product updates. 3. If you cannot resolve the problem with the information contained in this guide, have the following information about your System Center Essentials environment available: o o o o o o o Microsoft Windows operating system version and patch levels The HP BladeSystem Management Packs for Microsoft System Center Essentials version installed The versions of Insight Management Agents as associated plug-in tools (such as Version Control Agents and Insight Diagnostics) HP server type and models HP server serial number Screen prints of any error messages received Detailed description of the problem Technical support contact information for the HP BladeSystem Management Packs for System Center Essentials For technical support for System Center Essentials, contact Microsoft support. For technical support for the HP BladeSystem Management Packs for System Center Essentials, e-mail HP support (mailto:momintegrationpack.support@hp.com). See "Before contacting HP support (on page 13)" for a list of information to include in your e-mail. Be sure to include a contact name and e-mail address. Technical support 13
For technical support for HP products, excluding the HP BladeSystem Management Packs for System Center Essentials, see "HP contact information (on page 14)." HP contact information For the name of the nearest HP authorized reseller: In the United States, see the HP US service locator webpage (http://www.hp.com/service_locator). In other locations, see the Contact HP worldwide (in English) webpage (http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/wwcontact.html). For HP technical support: In the United States, for contact options see the Contact HP United States webpage (http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/contact_us.html). To contact HP by phone: o Call 1-800-HP-INVENT (1-800-474-6836). This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For continuous quality improvement, calls may be recorded or monitored. o If you have purchased a Care Pack (service upgrade), call 1-800-633-3600. For more information about Care Packs, refer to the HP website (http://www.hp.com). In other locations, see the Contact HP worldwide (in English) webpage (http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/wwcontact.html). Technical support 14