Systems Director Management Console

The information in this Readme contains fix list and other package information about the Systems Director Management Console.

• Systems Director Management Console (SDMC) V6.730.0 Media
• SDMC V6.730.0 Appliance
  • Terminology differences between SDMC and HMC
  • Functional differences between SDMC and HMC
  • General requirements
  • Web browser requirements
  • Restrictions and limitations
  • Known issues in SDMC V6.730.0
  • Hardware configuration
• SDMC supported Power Systems
• Supported firmware and software
• SDMC for Power Blades support
• Useful References
• Package Information
  • Hardware appliance
  • Software appliance
  • Mandatory Fix or PTF
  • SDMC version information
• Installing the hardware appliance
• Installing the software appliance
• After the setup wizard is displayed
• Installing mandatory SDMC fix MF53082

This readme information represents the recovery media for SDMC V6.730.0 Hardware Appliance (Product ID - 5765-MCH) or media for SDMC V6.730.0 Virtual Appliance (Product ID - 5765-MCV) along with the mandatory PTF MF53082. The hardware appliance base image can be ordered as PTF MF55752 on media only. The software appliance VMWare ova image can be downloaded or ordered as PTF MF54684 on media.

This mandatory PTF is required. It is already installed from manufacturing on the Hardware Appliance, but must be installed as an update to the Software Appliance SDMC V6.730.0.

SDMC V6.730.0 provides Power Systems Management functionality similar to HMC V7R7.3.0

Terminology differences between SDMC and HMC

SDMC introduces new synonyms for standard Power terminology to better align with the cross-platform nature of IBM Systems Director.

For more details, refer to the following SDMC Infocenter article:

Terminology differences between HMC and SDMC

Functional differences between SDMC and HMC

SDMC introduces some functional differences between SDMC and HMC. For more details, refer to the following SDMC Infocenter link:

Comparing HMC and SDMC features

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General requirements

• If you are also using an HMC to co-manage any systems, you must install the HMC V7R7.3.0 to keep the management consoles at the same functional level prior to attaching the SDMC to the managed system.
• SDMC requires the managed system firmware to be at a supported level prior to attaching the SDMC to the managed system. Refer to Supported Firmware and Software.
• When downloading updates from Fix Central, ensure that you specify "SDMC" as the Product Group and Product.
• The supported maximum number of management connections (HMC and SDMC) per Server is two.
• Supported deployment topologies include:
  • SDMC can manage zero or more POWER6 or POWER7 systems.
  • SDMC can manage an HMC which indirectly manages supported systems, including POWER5 systems. The SDMC can also manage supported systems directly.
  • An HMC and SDMC can co-manage the same POWER6 or POWER7 system.
  • Two SDMCs deployed redundantly can manage the same POWER6 or POWER7 systems.
  • Two SDMCs deployed in a high availability (HA) configuration can manage the same POWER6 or POWER7 systems.
  • A global IBM Systems Director can manage multiple HMC or SDMC systems that are indirectly managing Power systems. However, the advanced managers VMControl, Active Energy Manager and Network Control are not yet supported with SDMC.

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Web browser requirements

• Supported web browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 7.0 and 8.0), and Mozilla Firefox (version 3.0, 3.5 and 3.6). Other versions of these browsers might work, but are not officially supported. The JavaScript language and cookies must be enabled.
• If Firefox rejects a self-signed certificate and does not offer any option to add an exception directly in the alert box, you can use the following steps to add the exception:
  1. Select Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Encryption -> View Certificates to open the Certificate Manager panel. On this panel, the Servers tab should be selected and the Certificate Name for the Systems Director Management Console should be highlighted.
  2. Click Add Exception to open the Security Exception panel.
  3. Verify the information in the Location field, and then click Confirm Security Exception.

Internet Explorer

1. Select Tools -> Internet Options
2. Select the Privacy tab, and then select 'Advanced'
3. If not checked, check 'Override automatic cookie handling' and check 'Always allow session cookies'
4. To handle First-party Cookies and Third-party Cookies, you can choose either block or prompt or accept. Prompt is preferred, in which case you are prompted every time a site tries to write cookies. It may be a little annoying, but it is the safe thing to do. Some sites need to be allowed to write cookies.

Firefox

1. Select Tools -> Options.
2. Select the Privacy tab.
3. Select the 'Allow sites to set cookies' check box.
4. If you want to allow only specific sites, select 'Exceptions', and then you can add this SDMC to the list.

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Restrictions and limitations

• SDMC does not support POWER5 servers. Refer to SDMC supported Power Systems for a list of currently supported servers.
• SDMC does not support CEC concurrent maintenance on POWER6 systems.
• SDMC and HMC dual management side-by-side requires the latest HMC version V7R7.3.0. Refer to Supported Firmware and Software.
• SDMC supports accessing managed systems in two ways:
  • SDMC directly discovers managed systems via the service processor (FSP).
  • SDMC accesses managed systems by discovering the HMC or IVM that is attached to them.
• SDMC does not support both scenarios for the same managed system. That is SDMC cannot be used to discover the managed system natively, and also discover an HMC/IVM that manages the same system.
• For a list of supported LDAP servers, see the Systems Director Infocenter.
• Installing Advanced Managers such as VMControl, Active Energy Manager, Network Control or using other IBM Systems Director add-in features, such as those that require additional driver downloads into IBM Systems Director, are not supported on the SDMC appliance.
• DVD-RAM media is not supported as a dump or backup device.
• Supported file system formats for backup/restore using a USB device are fat32, ext3, and ext4.
• Hardware Inventory collection and transmission for IBM i partitions are not supported by SDMC in V6.730.0 release. That information will be missing from SDMC-generated inventory viewed on the electronic service agent Web site. This also implies that SDMC-created system plans will not contain any I/O devices such as disk drives, tape, DVD, etc., for IBM i virtual servers (partitions). Server level hardware inventory, including COD billing information, is sent to the electronic service agent Web site.
• Copy dump to USB is not supported for dumps 4GB or greater.
• Copy dump to remote server is not supported from the graphical user interface. Command line support is available.
• Backup and restore for multiple consoles in an active/passive High Availability configuration is not supported. This only affects the active/passive High Availability configuration. Backup and restore is fully supported in the more common redundant management configuration.
• Configuring the SDMC as a DHCP client is not supported. In the SDMC setup wizard, you will be able to configure a network interface as a DHCP client and obtain the address for the SDMC network interface automatically.
• The size of hardware appliance backups can vary depending on the amount of appliance usage and the amount of time the appliance has been running since last boot. The minimum size of a backup is approximately 4 GB, while the maximum can be over 140 GB. It is recommended you use a 64 GB USB key, or external USB hard drive.
• USB devices should not be plugged into the HW appliance while doing a reinstallation.
• If you use the High Availability configuration wizard and y specify the optional "Network Status IP address, you must specify an IPv4 address. This same limitation applies if you use the "smcli configureHA" command and use the "- tiebreaker-addr" option to specify an IP address. If you specify an IPv6 address for the network status IP address in either of these cases, then High Availability Failover will not work correctly.

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Known issues in SDMC V6.730.0

This package has the following known issues.

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Hardware configuration

Hardware appliance

Software appliance

You can also provide your own hardware on which to install and run the SDMC software appliance. The SDMC software appliance requires:

An IBM System x x86-based server with a minimum configuration of:

• 2.53 GHz Intel® Xeon® E5630, Quad Core processor
• 4 virtual processors (NOTE: The underlying host should have at least 4 physical processor cores).
• 6GB available memory (NOTE: The underlying host needs more than 6GB of physical memory).
• 500GB of available storage.
• One (1) or more network interfaces.
• Hypervisor - one of the following options:
  • RHEL 5.5 or later, plus the latest yum updates for base and KVM (kvm-83-164.el5 recommended) virtualization
  • VMWare ESX4/ESXi 4 or later (ESXi level should be 4.01 to use USB)

Note that systems based on POWER5 processors are not supported by the SDMC, including POWER5 I/O Frames connected to a POWER6-based server.

The firmware for a managed system should be at a supported level before the system is connected to the SDMC. The following table lists SDMC supported firmware and software levels.

A Power blade can be managed in the same way that a rack-mounted Power Systems server is managed from SDMC. That is, the blade server is managed directly through the Flexible Service Processor (FSP).

By default, the FSP is not available on the network. From the AMM, select Blade Tasks -> Configuration -> Management Network Configuration. Enable the FSP on your network.

For additional details, refer to Managing POWER blades in the SDMC Information Center.

For more information on the SDMC, refer to the following:

• SDMC Redbook
• SDMC Developerworks forum
• SDMC Developerworks Wiki
• SDMC Information Center

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SDMC version information

Run the lsconfig -V command to get version information. Before applying the mandatory PTF, the output of this command is:

After applying the mandatory PTF MF53082, the output of this command is:

This installation process can take approximately 1.5 hrs.

Note: The hardware appliance arrives pre-installed from manufacturing. Follow these instructions only if you need to reinstall the hardware appliance.

1. Insert DVD1 and boot from the DVD drive. The installer copies DVD1 onto the system. (Approximately 30 minutes) Follow these steps:
   1. Select "Install SDMC", and then press Enter.
   2. If SDMC was previously installed, you are asked if you want to erase all existing data on disk. Select [Y]es.
   3. The installer lists the available disks to install the DVD. Select the appropriate device number corresponding to the drive to start the installation, for example, 0) /dev/sda (size : 5000107 MB)
2. After DVD1 is copied, press Enter when you see the "Press Enter to shutdown the system" prompt.
   
   This operation can take several minutes. If the screen power saver causes the screen to go blank, do not use the Enter key to wake up the screen. Instead use the Space bar. Otherwise, you could inadvertently power down the appliance.
3. After has system is powered off, turn the system back on and immediately remove DVD1 from the drive to complete the installation. (Approx. 10 minutes)
   
   It is important to remove DVD1 as soon as the appliance is powered on to avoid a boot of DVD1 from the DVD device.
4. When prompted, insert DVD2, and then press Enter.
5. When prompted, insert DVD3, and then press Enter. After DVD3 is copied, the system reboots, and then you are prompted to configure the keyboard. This operation takes time. Do NOT reboot the SDMC until the login prompt is displayed.
6. After the setup wizard is displayed in the console refer to After the setup wizard is displayed for the remaining setup steps.

For more details, refer to Installing the SDMC hardware appliance in the SDMC Information Center.

This installation process can take approximately 1.5 hrs.

Note: The following directions are for installing SDMC on a VMWare virtual machine using the CLI ovftool. For information on installing SDMC on a KVM virtual machine, or using another VMWare mechanism, please see the following SDMC Infocenter article: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/director/v6r2x/index.jsp?topic=/dpsm/dpsm_installing/dpsm_installing_installing_configuring_hypervisors.html

To accomplish the deployment, this system must have network access from the ovftool system to the target ESX server.

OVA file

Before you can install SDMC, you must assemble the OVA file from the parts found on the DVDs.

Step 1. Combine DVDs into an installable OVA

You need a separate x86 Linux or Windows system to run the ovftool command, and then deploy the SDMC appliance to the hypervisor.

1. Copy all files from the 1st disk (DVD 1) to a temporary directory
2. Copy all the files from the 2nd disk (DVD 2) to the same directory (from the previous step)
3. On Linux, from the temporary directory, set the execution permissions on the CreateSDMCova.sh command script. Run the script CreateSDMCova.sh to combine the parts
   chmod 755 ./CreateSDMCova.sh
   ./CreateSDMCova.sh
4. On Windows, from the temporary directory, run the CreateSDMCova.bat command.
   CreateSDMCova.bat
   CreateSDMova builds the OVA image based on the specification from the .ovf file. The resulting OVA file can be deployed using ovftool. Refer to the Deploying section.
5. Compare the checksum of the resultant ova against the files sum or md5sum (depending on which algorithm chosen) on DVD 1

Step 2. Installing the ovftool

1. Download and install the ovftool utility. Windows and x86 Linux versions are available from the VMware® at this location
   • Open Virtualization Format
   
   Free registration for a VMWare account is needed for the first time user
2. Copy the OVA file to the machine where the ovftool is installed.

For more information on how to install and use the ovftool see http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/ovf/ovf10/ovftool_10_userguide.pdf

Deploying

When you are ready to deploy, run the ovftool to deploy the driver. The ovftool command creates a VM instance on the target ESX server.

1. Run the following ovftool command (enter the command as a single line):
   
   ovftool --name=[name_of_ vm] --powerOn -ds=[name_of_datastore] [name_of_the_ova_file] vi://[user]:[password]@[name_of_the_esx_host]
   
   where
   [name_of_ vm] - Name for the virtual instance on which you deploy the driver
   [name_of_ datastore] - A datastore must be available in the esxserver. If you have only one datastore in the esx server, you can skip this option. The SDMC Software Appliance requires 490 GB of free disk space in the virtual machine datastore. While it is possible to use thin provisioning for the disks, it is not recommended.
   
   Example
   ovftool --name=myVM --powerOn -ds=VM_datastore ova_file_name.ova vi://root:passw0rd@destiny
   
   Note: Alternatively, you can follow the VMWare instructions to install an ova file by means of the VMWare Infrastructure Client.
   
   Disk progress should be indicated on the command line.
2. On the VMWare vSphere Client, you can also monitor the status of the task named "Deploy OVF template"
3. Power on the VM that was just deployed (if you did not select the power-on option during deployment).
4. After the file is deployed, you should see the setup wizard from the VMWare Client Console view.
5. After the setup wizard is displayed in the console refer to After the setup wizard is displayed for the remaining setup steps.

1. The setup wizard prompts for a locale. Set the locale to en_US.
   English is the only language supported for this level of the driver
2. A License panel is displayed. You must accept the license to continue.
3. Leave the firewall setting to the default.
4. For the IBM Systems Director Agent Manager screen, enter the userid of your choice, along with a password. The IBM Systems Director agent user will be used in future SDMC functionality. It is not used in any functionality of the current level SDMC.
5. After the configuration is completed, click "Close". The remaining installation steps are then completed and the SDMC is started.
6. Finally, the wizard displays summary page. Click "Finish".
7. On the confirmation dialog, click "Continue".

The initial startup of SDMC may take up to 30 minutes.

Note: The hardware appliance is pre-installed with this mandatory fix. You only need to perform this step if you have re-installed the hardware appliance.

Using SDMC with an Internet connection

1. Log in to the SDMC Console using the sysadmin credentials.
2. Select Inventory -> View and Collect Inventory in the left hand navigation area
3. From the displayed tab, choose "Browse" next to the Target systems dropdown box
4. From the Target systems table, select the target of Operating System type corresponding to the hostname of your SDMC
5. Select "Add", and then OK to return to View and Collect Inventory.
6. Select "Collect Inventory", use the defaults in the Task Launch Dialog, and then select OK.
   A message is displayed indicating that inventory collection has started.
7. Select "Display Properties", and then wait until Status is Complete. Close the tabs for Active and Scheduled Jobs and View and Collect Inventory.
8. Select Release Management -> Updates in the left hand navigation area, and then choose Check for updates.
9. In the Check for Updates displayed, expand the SDMC node under "Available update types". Select "All", then "Add", and then OK.
10. Use the defaults in the Task Launch Dialog, and then select OK.
    A message is displayed, indicating that check-for-updates has started.
11. Select "Display Properties", and then wait until Status is Complete.
12. Close the Active and Scheduled Jobs tab to return to the Check for Updates tab, or just switch to the Check for Updates tab.
13. Choose "Browse" next to the "Selected systems" dropdown box
14. In the Systems table displayed, select the target of Operating System type corresponding to the hostname of your SDMC
15. Select "Add", and then OK
16. Select "Show Needed Updates"
17. You should see the PTF MF53082 in the table showing the updates needed by your SDMC. Select this PTF, and then choose "Install" to bring up the Install Wizard.
18. Select "Next" in each page of the wizard until you reach the Summary page, and then select Finish. Keep all default selections unchanged, making sure "Automatically install missing required updates" is checked on the Options page.
19. A message is displayed indicating that update installation has started. Select "Display Properties", and then wait until Status is Complete.
20. Select Welcome in the left hand navigation area
21. Go to the Settings tab
22. Under the desired task, choose either Shut down or Restart IBM Systems Director Management Console.
23. Select OK in the popup dialog
24. Use the defaults in the Task Launch Dialog, and then select OK to restart the Appliance. Log out.
25. Upon reboot, your appliance will be at the latest level.

Using Fix Central and manually downloading the fix

1. Go to the Fix Central website.
2. Select 'Power' as Product Group.
3. Select 'Firmware, SDMC and HMC' as Product.
4. Specify your Machine type-model and click 'Continue'.
5. Select 'SDMC Code. Obtain SDMC Update Images, Service packs, Interim fixes, and required Director updates.' and click 'Continue'.
6. Select '6.730.0' as the SDMC firmware release level and click 'Continue'
7. Select 'MF53082' and click 'Continue'.
8. Review the licenses and Select 'I agree'.
9. Select the way you want to obtain the package and click 'Continue'.
10. After the download is complete, copy the mandatory fix to your USB key and follow instructions below in section 9.2.1

Applying Mandatory Fix with USB Key

Execute this procedure while running as user: sysadmin

Software appliance users must ensure that the USB device is available to the SDMC virtual machine.

The hardware appliance comes pre-installed with the mandatory fix. You only need to perform this step if you have re-installed the hardware appliance.

1. Attach the USB key to the appliance
2. Identify the mount point
3. Execute the command: lsmediadev
   Sample result
   device=/dev/cdrom,mount_point=/media/cdrom,type=1,description=CD/DVD
   device=/dev/vdh1,mount_point=/media/vdh1,type=3,description=USB flash memory device
4. Mount the USB key using mount_point from the previous command
5. Execute the command: mount /media/vdh1
6. Execute the command: ls /media/vdh1
   Verify that you see the list of files you've copied previously.
7. Create an update directory and copy the USB contents to the update directory by running the following commands:
   mkdir -p updates
   cp /media/vdh1/ * updates/
   umount /media/vdh1
8. Install the mandatory updates by executing the following commands:
   SYSNAME=`smcli lssys -t OperatingSystem -w "OSType=23"`
   echo $SYSNAME
     (The result should be the hostname of your SDMC appliance)
   smcli collectinv -n $SYSNAME -p "All Inventory" -v
   smcli importupd -v /home/sysadmin/updates/
   smcli installupd -n $SYSNAME -v -u MF53082
   smshutdown -t now -r