IBM Tivoli NetView Version 7.1.5 Fix Pack 04 Readme

Date: April 1, 2009

Name: 7.1.5-TIV-NVD-{OperatingSystem}-FP0004

Component: IBM Tivoli NetView Version 7.1.5

PTF Number: U825508 (UNIX) or XR23294 (Windows)

Note: Before using this information and the product it supports, read the information in the Notices section at the end of this document.

About this fix pack

This section provides general information about this fix pack. It is strongly recommended that you read this entire document before you install this fix pack.

Fix pack contents

This fix pack consists of five packages, one each for RS6000 AIX(R), SUN SPARC Solaris, Linux Intel(TM), Linux for S/390 (31 bit), and Microsoft(R) Windows(R). You need to use the appropriate package on each platform on which an IBM(R) Tivoli(R) NetView(R) native server or client has been installed.

Patches superseded by this fix pack

None.

Because the IBM Tivoli NetView program does not produce patches, no patches are superseded by this fix pack. However, all test fixes for the IBM Tivoli NetView 7.1.5 program that are covered in the APARs corrected in this fix pack section of this readme are superseded.

Supported operating systems

This Fix Pack supports exactly the same operating systems as are supported for the initial installation of NetView Version 7.1.5. For information about installing, upgrading, and configuring the Tivoli NetView product, including information about system requirements, refer to the IBM Tivoli NetView for UNIX and Linux Installation Guide, GC32-1842-00, and the IBM Tivoli NetView for Windows User's Guide, SG32-1852-00.

New in fix pack 04

APAR PJ35850 adds some new function to NetView for Windows only. Previously, due to system resource concerns on Windows machines, netmon was limited to 256 interfaces as the maximum number of interfaces that could be discovered per node. In fix pack 04, a new option has been added to allow netmon to disciover up to 1000 interfaces per node. To utilize this new function the user must edit the \usr\ov\conf\netmon.conf file as follows:

1. Add these lines to \usr\ov\conf\netmon.conf

   # The variable allows for changing the maximum number of interfaces per node.

   # The value can be 8 - 1000. The default maximum number is 256.

   # NetView for Windows version only.

   #NV_SET_MAXIFACES_PER_NODE=256

2. Remove the # from the flag and change the maxIface from 256 to a larger number (can be up to 1000).
3. Then re-start netmon.

Note that users who utilize this new function should observe netmon's workload schedule with the netmonaction commands and tune the polling interval as needed for the devices with a large number of interfaces discovered.

New in fix pack 03

APARs IZ13086 and IZ14447 add some new function regarding how traps with unprintable characters are handled by trapd and the TEC adapters in nvserverd (UNIX) and tecad_nv6k (Windows). Previously trapd would only dump an octet string to hex if more than half of its characters were unprintable, but hex nulls (x'00') were a special case. Octet strings containing those were always dumped to hex. And the TEC adapters would always dump any string containing unprintable characters to hex. This inconsistent behavior has been changed. Now hex nulls are treated just like any other unprintable characters and the two TEC adapters now work the same way that trapd does. They will only dump to hex if more than half of the characters in the string are unprintable.

The user may override this behavior and force strings containing unprintable characters to always be dumped to hex by setting the environment variable TRAPD_STRICT_HEX_FORMAT before starting the NetView daemons. On UNIX and Linux, this can be done by editing or creating /usr/OV/bin/netnmrc.pre and adding the line

export TRAPD_STRICT_HEX_FORMAT=TRUE

export TRAPD_STRICT_HEX_FORMAT=

To set the variable on Windows, the user must first use Server Setup to stop all the daemons and then go to the Service tab and stop the NetView Service. To add the TRAPD_STRICT_HEX_FORMAT environment variable, use the Control Panel:

Control Panel --> System --> Advanced --> Environment Variables

Add a New system variable (bottom group)

Variable Name: TRAPD_STRICT_HEX_FORMAT

Variable value: True, TRUE, true, 1 or in fact any value.

"OK" your way out.

New in fix pack 02

There are no new items in IBM Tivoli NetView 7.1.5 Fix Pack 02.

New in fix pack 01

There are no new items in IBM Tivoli NetView 7.1.5 Fix Pack 01.

Fix pack notes

• APAR IZ44226 adds a technical note correcting the usage of the NetView Programming APIs

  Add to the following Publications:

  • Version 7.1.5 IBM Tivoli NetView for Unix and Linux Programmer's Guide, in Chapter 6. Understanding the Tivoli NetView user interface, in the subsection Registering for Events, on page 59.
  • Version 7.1.5 IBM Tivoli NetView for Unix and Linux Programmer's Reference, in Chapter 2. Reference Pages, in the subsection OVwAddCallback(3), under the haedingImplementation Specifics on page 556.

  Technical note: It is important to understand that OVw applications which communicate with the NetView GUI utilize the OVw messaging subsystem. This subsystem allocates memory for use with each callback and this memory is not freed until the user's application issues OvwDone(). This imposes design restrictions on a user application which invokes OVwAddCallback.(). Such an application must be launched from the GUI by explicit user action, such as selecting an object or objects on the map and launching the application via a pull-down menu pull-down or a right-click context menu. Eventually it needs to issue OvwDone() and exit after performing its function. It cannot be left running in the background like a daemon or it will simply grow in size with each successive callback. Examples of successful OVw applications are shipped with NetView and can be found in /usr/OV/prg_samples/ovw_examples. Users are urged to compile and test these samples, and then use them as prototypes before designing their own applications.

• APAR PJ34215 corrects a documentation error in the Version 7.1.5 IBM Tivoli NetView for Windows Programmer's Reference,with regard to the oprions available on the netmon daemon. The -l (lowercase l) option is not available in NetView for Windows and all references to it should be ignored.

• APAR IZ17684 corrects documentation errors in the Version 7.1.5 IBM Tivoli NetView for Unix and Linux Installation Guide, regarding the installation of language packs on the Solaris 10 platform. On Solaris 10, the language packs have to be installed separately from the NetView base product.

  In Chapter 1. Planning for installation, in the subsection Language pack requirements, on page 7 it reads:

  • Tivoli NetView for UNIX and Linux, version 7.1.5, English language product

  You can install a language pack at the same time that you install the English language product, or you can install the language pack separately after you install the English language product.

  The above section will be changed to the following:

  • Tivoli NetView for UNIX and Linux, version 7.1.5, English language product

  For the Solaris 10 platform, you should install the language pack after you install the English language product. For all other platforms you can install a language pack at the same time that you install the English language product, or you can install the language pack separately after you install the English language product.

  In Chapter 2. Installing or upgrading the Tivoli NetView program, in the subsection Installing or upgrading to version 7.1.5, on page 22 it reads:

  Notes:

  a. Use the -l option with or without the -k option to install a language pack.

  The above section will be changed to the following:

  Notes:

  a. For all platforms other than Solaris 10 use the -l option with or without the -k option to install a language pack. For the Solaris 10 platform the -l option should be used after installing with the -k option.

  In Chapter 2. Installing or upgrading the Tivoli NetView program, in the subsection Command syntax for the instalnv script, on page 24 it reads:

  -l locale Installs the specified language pack on the server or client, where locale is one of the following values:

  • ko_KR (Korean)
  • ja_JP (Japanese EUC)
  • AIX systems only: Ja_JP (Japanese SJIS)
  • zh_CN (Simplified Chinese)
  • Red Flag Intel systems only: zh_CN.GB18030 (Simplified Chinese)

  The above section will be changed to the following:

  -l locale Installs the specified language pack on the server or client, where locale is one of the following values:

  • ko_KR (Korean)
  • ja_JP (Japanese EUC)
  • AIX systems only: Ja_JP (Japanese SJIS)
  • zh_CN (Simplified Chinese)
  • Red Flag Intel systems only: zh_CN.GB18030 (Simplified Chinese)

  Note: For the Solaris 10 platform do not use the -l option with the -k option. Install with the -k option first, then install the language pack with the -l option.

• APAR PJ32885 corrects a documentation error in the Version 7.1.5 IBM Tivoli NetView for Windows User's Guide. In Appendix A: System performance considerations for large networks it erroneously states that one can use the Edit facility of perfmon to add NetView NETMON:PingsBehind and NETMON:SNMPsBehind counters to what it monitors. Since the Edit facility of perfmon was removed by Microsoft, this is no longer possible. But the user can still find out that information by using the netmonaction command. Appendix A will be changed to read as follows:

  As the size of the network grows, the default Polling and SNMP options might cause the netmon daemon to become back-logged with ICMP and SNMP requests. The Network Monitor Activity bars located at the bottom right of the Tivoli NetView graphical user interface and the Network Monitor Workload indicator in the Options --> Polling dialog indicate the current workload for netmon. The Polling Options dialog also indicates when the next scheduled Configuration poll and New Node polls should occur. If either of these values have fallen behind or are overlapping with each other, consider scheduling these activities to occur at different times of the day. For example, the default value for Poll to Discover New Node is set to occur at automatic intervals; changing this value to an absolute daily time (late night or early morning) can prevent excessive simultaneous system and network activity.

  To determine how far behind in sending ICMP messages the netmon daemon is at a given instant, issue the command netmonaction 12 in a command window and examine the output in \usr\ov\log\netmon.trace. There you will find the ping list, which will look something like this:

    ---------- pingList [0x1045038] ----------
    ** 80 elements on the IF list **
      3: 9.27.144.42 (abc.ibm.com) list = 0x1045038
     21: 9.27.144.7 (9.27.144.7) list = 0x1045038
     68: 9.27.144.166 (dyn9027144166.ibm.com) list = 0x1045038
    102: 9.27.144.180 (dyn9027144180.ibm.com) list = 0x1045038
               (etc)
    ------------- end pingList ----------
  

  The number before the colon at the beginning of each line tells how many seconds remain before the next poll. If this number is negative, then netmon is behind schedule.

  Similarly, to determine how far behind in sending SNMP messages the netmon daemon is at a given instant, issue the command netmonaction 16 in a command window and examine the output in \usr\ov\log\netmon.trace. There you will find the SNMP list, which will look something like this:

    ---------- snmpList [0x104504c] ----------
    ** 72 elements on the NODE list **
     13: dyn9027144165.ibm.com (9.27.144.165) numif = 1 onlist = 0x104504c
     67: xyz.ibm.com (9.27.144.11) numif = 1 onlist = 0x104504c
    228: dyn9027144170.ibm.com (9.27.144.170) numif = 1 onlist =0x104504c
    342: dyn9027144138.ibm.com (9.27.144.138) numif = 1 onlist = 0x104504c
                (etc)
    ---------- end snmpList ----------
  

  Once again, the number before the colon at the beginning of each line tells how many seconds remain before the next poll. If this number is negative, then netmon is behind schedule.

  If you determine that netmon is falling behind with pings (ICMP messages) and the Discovery Ping Spray option is enabled, select Options --> Server Setup --> Discovery to disable ping spray until netmon catches up; the cached information might be temporarily exceeding its storage limits. Ping spray can be resumed when netmon has caught up.

  The values for Ping Timeouts can also affect the ability of the netmon daemon to keep up with the requested workload, so be sure that these values are reasonable with respect to the network load and performance.

• APAR IY96977 provides a Japanese Language Pack for use on AIX. This is located elsewhere in the FixPack CD and must be installed separately. It will not be installed automatically when the FixPack installs.

  The previous language pack for Ja_JP does not need to be uninstalled if it is already installed, nor does the previous language pack need to be installed first if it is not already installed.

  To install the new language pack:

  1. Extract the install files with the command

  tar -xvf IY96977.AIX.V715.tar

  2. Execute the installation script with the command

  ./instalnv -l Ja_JP

• APAR IZ04210 provides a new netnmrc file which sets the DISPLAY variable. If the DISPLAY variable is not set, or is set to the wrong DISPLAY, at the time when the webserver is started (especially at reboot by netnmrc), then the UpdateInstaller will not run properly and the webconsole cannot retrieve update packages from the server. As part of the FixPack installation, the new netnmrc file will be copied into the directory /usr/OV/newconfig/OVMIN. Users will need to manually copy /usr/OV/newconfig/OVMIN/netnmrc to /etc/init.d/netnmrc for Solaris and Linux and to /usr/netnmrc for AIX.

• APAR IY92493 fixes some flaws in the new snmp command (called "wsnmp" on Windows), which provides a command line interface for querying devices using SNMPv2 as well as SNMPv1. The UNIX man page has been updated to match, as have the usage notes. But the shipped documentation has not been updated.

  Also the Windows version of the command, wsnmp, was incorrectly documented in the Windows Programmer's Reference as "snmp" rather than "wsnmp". The syntax is also incorrect in that the optional version number must be specified before the function with the other optional parameters. The correct syntax is as follows:

  wsnmp [-d [level]] [-v 1 | 2 ][-h dest] [-p port] [-c community] [-t timeout]

  [-r retries][-n non-rep][-m max-rep] function [variable [type][value] […]]

  Everything else is otherwise correct but the examples leave a lot to be desired. Users can view the new examples and the completed page in DCF # 1253630.

• NetView for AIX, Version 7.1.5, no longer adds entries to the ODM database read by lslpp. However, it turns out that some additional products which require NetView to be installed are querying the ODM database and will not install unless a set of nv6000 entries are found. The fix for APAR IY94076 addresses this problem by providing an install script which will create the /usr/lpp/nv6000 directory and add stanzas to the lpp, product, and history classes of the ODM. Since no currently shipped NetView product code is affected, this fix is not included in this fix pack. Users who require this support must obtain the temporary fix from NetView Level 2 and install it.

• APAR IY95668 addresses the issue of the new IPv4 Address field not being added to existing interface objects when an update install is done from IBM Tivoli NetView version 7.1.4 to version 7.1.5.

  To resolve this problem for users after the migration, a new netmon conf flag is introduced to provide a one-time fix that does not require much user effort to implement. Users should Add the following line to netmon.conf:

  NV_NETMON_FIXUP_IPV4FIELD=TRUE

  and then restart netmon.

  At start up, the missing IPv4 Address field will be added for interface objects that were created by the earlier version of NetView. An exception to this is that no IPv4 Address field will be added for interfaces with an IP address of 0.0.0.0, such as unnumbered interfaces and compoundPort interfaces.

  Note: This is a one-time effort needed to fix the problem of missing new object field due to the migration. Users can turn the netmon flag to FALSE at the next netmon recycle. It won't hurt if the flag remains TRUE at the next netmon restart; however, this will cause some redundant processing while netmon looks through the ovwdb and topology databases for interface objects which are missing the IPv4 Address field.

APARs corrected in this fix pack

The following customer-reported problems have been resolved in the Tivoli NetView version 7.1.5 program by this fix pack, Fix Pack4.

The following customer-reported problems have been resolved in the Tivoli NetView version 7.1.5 program by Fix Pack3. These are also resolved in Fix Pack4 as well.

The following customer-reported problems have been resolved in the Tivoli NetView version 7.1.5 program by Fix Pack2. These are also resolved in Fix Pack4 as well.

The following customer-reported problems were addressed in the Tivoli NetView version 7.1.5 program by Fix Pack1. Included in this list are problems reported in version 7.1.4 which are addressed in version 7.1.5 with Fix Pack1. All of these are also resolved in Fix Pack4 as well.

The following APARs have been resolved but are not included in any Fix Pack. Users desiring a fix for them should obtain a temporary fix from NetView Level 2.

Installation and configuration

Prerequisites

If you have Framework 4.1.1 installed, you need to apply Framework patch 4.1.1-TMF-0003 to provide backward compatibility with NetView 7.1.5. Trying to install NetView 7.1.5 on Framework 4.1.1, without Framework patch, installation will abort.

To install IBM Tivoli NetView V7.1.5 Fix Pack 04 on a system, you must meet the following prerequisites:

• You must download the appropriate package for that platform and make it available to the system on which it is to be installed.

• You must be logged into the system with the same user account that performed the original Tivoli NetView version 7.1.5 installation (the root account on UNIX).

• The system must already contain a Tivoli NetView Version 7.1.5 installation.

• The system on which the fix pack is to be installed must have enough free space to do the following:

  • Store and extract the fix pack package during its installation
  • Accommodate the updated Tivoli NetView files that are copied into the /usr/OV directory on UNIX or the \usr\ov directory on Windows in addition to the original set of Tivoli NetView files that are backed up into the /usr/OV/service/V715/FixPack4 directory on UNIX or the \usr\ov\service\V715\FixPack4 directory on Windows.
  The free space required for the first prerequisite is temporary and is returned to the system after the fix pack has been successfully installed. The space required to update the Tivoli NetView installation remains in use until either the fix pack is backed out or a new version of the Tivoli NetView program is installed.

  Installations that contain a previous Tivoli NetView fix pack might recover most of the space used by that fix pack by deleting the /usr/OV/service/V715/FixPackX directory on UNIX or the \usr\ov\service\V715\FixPackX directory on Windows prior to installing this fix pack. Please note, however, that doing so removes the ability to back out the previous fix pack, as well as the ability to install code fixes that require the previous fix pack for installation.

  The following table describes the amount of space that is required on each platform for each of the space requirements described above.

  Operating System	Space Required During Installation1	Space Required for Upgraded Product2
  RS6000 AIX	330 Mb	227 Mb
  SunOS Solaris	234 Mb	159 Mb
  Linux Intel	243 Mb	150 Mb
  Linux 390	225 Mb	150 Mb
  Windows	131 Mb	70 Mb
  1This space is required in whatever location the user places the fix pack installation package. 2This space is required in /usr/OV on UNIX or in \usr\ov on Windows.

  Installation instructions

  Installation instructions for fix packs.

  Shut down all NetView applications and daemons prior to installing the fix pack.If you encounter any errors during the installation (regardless if the installation process itself reports success), complete the following steps:

  1. Run the backout script (ignoring any errors).
  2. Correct any problems reported during the installation.
  3. On Windows, reboot the computer.
  4. Restart the installation from the beginning.

  Installation instructions for NetView 7.1.5 Fix Pack 04

  1. If you are installing the fix pack on a Tivoli NetView for UNIX client, ensure that the client is disconnected from the Tivoli NetView server by completing the following steps:

     1. Run the Client Setup application.

     2. Click Configure -> Remove Server.
     3. Type the Tivoli NetView server name in the Server Hostname field.
     4. Click Apply.

  2. Open a new window, copy the package into a local subdirectory on the operating system on which the fix pack is to be installed, and change directories to that subdirectory.

     Prior to copying the package, ensure that the space available in this subdirectory is larger than the space required for installation of the IBM Tivoli NetView 7.1.5 Fix Pack 04 on this operating system.

  3. Perform the actual installation by executing one of the following

     • For a NetView native server or native client installation on a UNIX platform, type

     • zcat 7.1.5-TIV-NVD-{OperatingSystem}-FP0004.tar.Z | tar -xvf - install
       

        ./install
       

     • For a NetView native server installation on a Windows platform, type

     •  7.1.5-TIV-NVD-Win32-FP0004.exe
       

        .\install
       

     • For a NetView native client installation on a Windows platform, type

     • 7.1.5-TIV-NVD-Win32-FP0004.exe
       

        .\install -a noversioncheck
       

     When installing the fix pack on a native NetView client installation, the installation process reports a set of errors that certain files (such as, nvexportd.jar, nvexportd.lrf, and notfoundhandler.class) could not be copied. These files are not necessary for a client installation, and you can ignore the errors.

     If you encounter any other errors during the installation (regardless if the installation process itself reports success), complete the following steps:

     1. Run the backout script (ignoring any errors).
     2. Correct any problems reported during the installation.
     3. On Windows, reboot the computer.
     4. Restart the installation from the beginning.

  4. On Windows, if a standalone Web Console is installed, but not installed on the C: drive, additional steps are required for the automatic update installer to work:

     • Open a command window.
     • Go to the disk where the web console is installed (e.g. D:)
     • Create a D:\temp directory (where D: is the drive on which the web console is installed).
     • set TMP=D:\temp
     • Start the web console from the command prompt. It will be something like this: \"Program Files"\"Tivoli Systems"\"Tivoli NetView Web Console"\bin\nvwc.bat
     • Then the Fix Pack will be applied automatically when you connect to the server.

  5. Restart the Tivoli NetView daemons on UNIX either by rebooting the machine or by running the netnmrc script (/etc/netnmrc on AIX, /etc/init.d/netnmrc on Solaris or Linux). Restart the Tivoli NetView daemons on Windows by rebooting the machine and either running the netview command or by clicking on the Tivoli NetView icon.

     Note: If the Tivoli NetView installation is using a SQL database on Windows, restart the SQL server before you restart the Tivoli NetView daemons.

  6. If you applied this fix pack to a NetView client installation, use the Client Setup application to reconnect the client to the appropriate NetView server.

  Backout instructions

  As a part of the fix pack installation, a copy of each file that is replaced during the installation is saved in the /usr/OV/service/V715/FixPack4 subdirectory on UNIX or the \usr\ov\service\V715\FixPack4 subdirectory on Windows.

  For Unix, to uninstall fix pack 04, you must change directory to /usr/OV/service/V715/FixPack4, then use relative path form of the backout command "./backout" from within the directory.

  For Windows, to uninstall fix pack 04, you must change directory to \usr\ov\service\V715\FixPack4, then use the relative path form of the backout command "backout" from within the directory.

  The system returns to the state that it was in prior to the installation of the fix pack 04.

  Note:To backout a fixpack from the WebConsole you must manually select Tools-->Updater-->Select Rollback option. This is not done automatically.

  Note:Any Tivoli NetView fixes installed on the system after the fix pack is installed must be backed out prior to backing out the fix pack.

  Note:After uninstalling ITSA/Switch Analyzer, run following commands to remove ITSA menu options from WebConsole.

  • ovstop webserver
  • securityconsole.bat --upgrade
  • ovstart webserver

  Known defects and limitations

  Installation issues

  • Manipulation of the Korn shell history file from a .kshrc file is not recommended. Several of the installation mechanisms used by the Tivoli NetView program expect the standard history file to be set. If it is not set, the prerequisite checking and the actual Tivoli NetView installation fails.

  • Some users have encountered difficulties when using the stand-alone Tivoli NetView installation on a system that has the Tivoli Management Framework installed in a customized location. To avoid these difficulties, it is recommended that if you want to retain the Tivoli Management Framework in the environment, install the Tivoli NetView program using the standard Tivoli Management Framework installation. If the Tivoli Management Framework was installed to only support the Tivoli NetView program and is no longer wanted, complete the following steps:

    1. Back up the Tivoli NetView installation using the backup function in the Server Setup application.
    2. Remove both the Tivoli Management Framework and the Tivoli NetView program from your system.
    3. Install the Tivoli NetView program from the command line using the update option.

  • Sometimes when installing and backing out the Tivoli NetView Version 7.1.5 Fix Pack 04, especially on a system where the Tivoli NetView program has been migrated from a previous version, the NetView GUI fails to start with an error message of "Error retrieving mapdb field info: Null field value." To recover from this error when it occurs, perform the following steps:

    1. Run the ovobjprint -s mapdb command to get the object ID of the mapdb object.
    2. Run the ovwdbdmap -d objid command, where objid is the object ID from step 1.
    3. Run the ovstart ovwdb command to restart the ovwdb daemon.
    4. Run the mapadmin -i command to recreate the mapdb object.

  Windows issues

  • IBM Tivoli NetView for Windows does not support and will not work correctly if installed or executed with Microsoft Remote Terminal Services.

  • In the Tivoli NetView for Windows program, admin down interfaces (status USER1) can incorrectly change to a critical status when the interface is unmanaged and then managed again due to the use of the ICMP ping by the netmon daemon. The admin down status of the interface is not picked up again until the next configuration check or demand poll. To prevent the admin down interfaces from being reported as critical in this situation, configure the router with the admin down interfaces to use SNMP Status poll instead of ICMP poll in the netmon seed file.

  • On the Tivoli NetView for Windows program on Windows 2003, attempting to send a message to a client or server (Server Setup -> Client/Server -> Send Message tab) might result in a pop-up with a "NO MESSAGE" error. This might be due to the Windows Messenger service not being enabled. The default is to leave the service disabled after installation on Windows 2003. To enable the Messenger Service, complete the following steps:

    1. Click My Computer -> Manage -> Services and Applications -> Services.
    2. Right-click Messenger.
    3. Click Properties.
    4. From the drop down list for Startup type, select Automatic.
    5. Click OK.
    6. Right-click Messenger.
    7. Click Start.

  • If a Tivoli NetView for Windows installation was migrated from a previous version, then the NetView.exe executable locks up when using "Find by Other Properties" under the simple tab of the find dialog due to the /usr/ov/conf/c/finddialog.conf file having a <CR><LF> changed to just a <CR>.

    To fix the problem, load the finddialog.conf file into the Windows Wordpad program and then save the file. WordPad changes a <CR> to <CR><LF>. Note: The Windows Notepad program does not work.

  Linux and zLinux issues

  • A problem has been found in the State Correlation Engine of the NetView/TEC Integration adapter on the zLinux (System 390) versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advance Server 3.0 and SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 9.0. The nvserverd daemon will core on those platforms if the tecint.conf file specifies UseStateCorrelation=YES due to an unresolved internal conflict between the State Correlation Engine and the X11 libraries used for the events display. For this reason, the State Correlation Engine was disabled (by changing the value of the UseStateCorrelation statement to "NO" in the tecint.conf file) during NetView 7.1.5 installation on zLinux; events sent to TEC from these platforms will not contain an fqhostname field, nor will these platforms produce and send Service Impact events.

    All zLinux users of NetView/TEC Integration, even on earlier versions of zLinux, particularly SLES 8.0 systems, must specify "BufferEvents=NO" in their configuration to avoid the same problem.

  • Due to the way signals are handled on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 9, the UNIX nslookup command might core during NetView startup. This core is located in the /usr/OV/PD/cores/ovspmd/core file. In spite of this core, the Tivoli NetView program starts and runs without problems.

    Note: If you run the ovstop followed by running the ovstart or /etc/init.d/netnmrc command, the nslookup might core again.

    To determine whether a /usr/OV/PD/cores/ovspmd/core is due to this problem, run the following command on the core file:

    strings core | more
    

    If the string nslookup appears in the output, you can ignore the core.

  • Due to a quirk in the Linux operating system and the formatting of the Tivoli NetView for UNIX man pages, the man pages do not display properly on Linux systems unless the Linux terminal window is greater than 80 characters wide. To correct the formatting, enlarge the terminal window by using your mouse to drag the right border of the window farther to the right.

  • Due to Linux security limitations, non-root users whether they belong to the specified group (e.g., "news") or not, cannot open the default map after issuing the following command: ovwperms -a -G -l -m 664 -u root -g news. Linux users should issue instead ovwperms -a -G -l -m 775 -u root -g news

  • On some Linux platforms, the operating system might not properly shut down some of the threads of the Tivoli NetView for UNIX Java daemons, occasionally resulting in problems restarting the NetView daemons. A "force" option has been added to the nvKill command to shut down all rogue Tivoli NetView daemons and threads and clear out the sockets. This enables the daemons to be restarted properly if this situation arises. If the Tivoli NetView daemons appear to be hung (the restart has lasted longer than 10 minutes), enter the following command at the command prompt:

    /usr/OV/service/nvKill -f

    Then run the netnmrc or the netview command to restart the daemons in the usual manner.

  netmon issues

  • For installations with large enterprise networks, change the nvsetup->Discovery->Discover Using Ping Spray option from Yes to No. Choosing to "Discover Using Ping Spray" seriously degrades the performance of discovery for large enterprise networks.

  • Use the netmon -n flag to receive critical notifications about failures in an unmanaged Wide Area Network (WAN).

    Assume that there is an outsourced MPLS WAN that connects two sites. Normally, when a failure in the WAN occurs preventing access to the remote site, the Tivoli NetView program reports that the entire remote site is Unreachable and issues Network and Router Unreachable events. Because the events are non-critical events, the problem does not get the attention it deserves from the operators.

    You can configure the Tivoli NetView program to issue a critical event for the remote border router, which will draw the attention of the operators to the WAN. To do this, follow these steps:

    1. Set the -n switch for the netmon daemon.
    2. Select a subnet that is connected to the remote border router and unmanage it.

       Because unmanaging a network prevents other end node devices from being managed, it is better to unmanage a subnet that represents a serial link. Unmanaging a network does not affect the managed state of the router interfaces.

    Here is an explanation of what is happening with router fault isolation to make this work. The goal is to make the remote MPLS border router go Critical instead of Unreachable when the MPLS route fails.

    Router fault isolation judges the state of an interface by two factors:

    • The status as determined by ping or SNMP (whichever is configured)
    • Whether the network where the interface is located is unreachable.

    The state of the router itself is based on the propagation of all the interface states.

    For a router to be unreachable, every interface must be down AND each network must be unreachable or unmanaged. If the netmon -n switch is set, then an unmanaged network is treated as reachable. For a router to be down, no interfaces can be up AND at least one interface must be down in a reachable network. The other interfaces can be unmanaged and, therefore, are ignored.

    Now when the route through the WAN fails, the router interface is down and its unmanaged network is considered reachable. This is enough for router fault isolation to issue a Router Down event for this router.

  • If the tdwdaemon is not registered (or will not be used), edit the netmon.conf file and modify the line for TDWAVAILABILITY to read:

    TDWAVAILABILITY=FALSE
    

  • Nodes with "Discover Node(s) Managed" unchecked using the xnmsnmpconf application (UNIX) or due to the settings in the oid_to_type file that are discovered when the native NetView console is running, show up on the map as Unknown rather than as Unmanaged.

    The workaround (documented in APAR IY58520) is to make sure the native NetView console is not running when these nodes are being discovered or to unmanage the nodes manually from the GUI when they show up on the map as Unknown. In addition, if the user wants to manage the node, the user must first unmanage it and then manage it.

  Web Client and Java issues

  
  

  • Regular expressions provide a way to search for specific strings from a set of character strings. For the Web Console on UNIX systems, the search is case-sensitive. On Windows systems, the search is not case-sensitive.

  • UNIX users who use the Web Console with a large NetView database, should follow these steps:

    1. Change NETVIEW_LARGE_DB=FALSE to NETVIEW_LARGE_DB=TRUE in the /usr/OV/conf/NetViewLargeDb.conf file.
    2. Additionally you can add IS_TOOLS_TIP_OFF=TRUE in the /usr/OV/conf/NetViewLargeDb.conf file to disable Web Console Tool Tips to get better performance.
    3. Save the file.
    4. Stop any NetView consoles and the netviewd daemon.
    5. Restart the netviewd daemon and any NetView consoles.

  Language Pack issues

  • When installing a standalone NetView Language Pack on a NetView UNIX installation, the NVenvironment script must be sourced using the command

    $ . /usr/OV/bin/NVenvironment

    in the command window in which the installation will be performed.

  • The Windows and AIX Web Consoles do not connect to a Solaris NetView server when double-byte characters are used in the user ID. However, a Solaris 8 Web Console can connect to a Solaris NetView server when double-byte characters are used in the user ID.

  • When using the Japanese language pack, the default value of a map snapshot name (such as, Snapshot 1), is not displayed in the snapshot menu of the Server Setup Window. The created snapshot is displayed when you select File -> Map Snapshot -> Open. The snapshot can also be viewed when you run the ovmapsnap command.

  Other issues

  
  

  • If after installing the NetView ITM agent, the configuration step fails, with the message "file not existing:/opt/IBM/ITM/config/.nd.rc", then that means that other ITM agents were installed prior to this one. These other agents will have been ITM version 6.2 agents while the NetView ITM agent is version 6.1. The solution is to remove the other agents, reinstall and configure the NetView agent, and then reinstall the other agents.

  • When a new object (for example an interface, network, segment, or node) that belongs to a Smartset is discovered while the Smartset is open on the NetView console, the new object is displayed with a generic computer symbol. Closing the Smartset and reopening it displays the proper symbol.

  • When a SmartSet submap is opened in the Tivoli NetView for UNIX program, the collmap application overrides any user-customized labels for generic symbols with the selection name for the object. A workaround is to configure and use a nongeneric symbol for the object.

  • In a NetView client/server environment with security enabled, to log off a client user from the NetView server, you must first logout the user on the client machine.

  • When the servmon daemon is set up to discover all the services on a large network, the NetView server might run out of memory.

  • Problems with the Tivoli NetView and SNMPv3 agent daemons

    The Tivoli NetView program might have discovery and status updating problems for machines that are managed by the Tivoli NetView program and are running SNMPv3 agent daemons. These problems can be eliminated by ensuring that the SNMP daemon of the managed machines are linked to an SNMPv1 daemon and not linked to an SNMPv3 daemon.

  • When you attempt to run the nvColToSQL command, you might get the following error message:

    Database Server is not present or not enough disk space for log files, temp files and rollback segment or table does not exists in the database

    This message can occur if there are too many snmpCollect files to process (usually more than 500). If you get this message, you can use the following script to process the files. This script processes each file one at a time and saves the output to the log file.

    #!/bin/sh
    LOG=/usr/OV/log/nvColToSQL.log
    date > $LOG   # CREATE NEW LOG EACH TIME
    # Loop all files that do not have ! or archive in name
    for file in `ls /usr/OV/databases/snmpCollect | grep -v "\!" | grep -v "archive"`
    do
    

    nvColToSQL -f $file -m 64 >> $LOG 2>> $LOG RC=$ ? echo "* FILE <$file> Return Code <$RC>" >> $LOG

    
    done
    

  Documentation updates

  Tivoli NetView version 7.1.5 documents can be found at the following Web site:

  http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/tivihelp/v3r1/index.jsp?toc=/com.ibm.itnetview.doc/toc.xml

This documentation has not been updated for this fix pack. Please see Fix pack notes for documentation which has changed as a result of this fix pack.

Contacting IBM Software Support

If you have a problem with any Tivoli product, refer to the following IBM Software Support Web site: http://www.ibm.com/software/sysmgmt/products/support

If you want to contact IBM Software Support, refer to the IBM Software Support Guide at the following Web site: http://techsupport.services.ibm.com/guides/handbook.html

The guide provides information about how to contact IBM Software Support, depending on the severity of your problem, and it provides the following information:

• Registration and eligibility
• Telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, depending on the country in which you are located
• Information you must have before contacting IBM Software Support

Notices

Created/Revised by	Date of Creation /Update	Summary of Changes
JRS	2009/04/01	Create Initial Version.

This information was developed for products and services offered in the U.S.A. IBM might not offer the products, services, or features discussed in this document in other countries. Consult your local IBM representative for information on the products and services currently available in your area. Any reference to an IBM product, program, or service is not intended to state or imply that only that IBM product, program, or service might be used. Any functionally equivalent product, program, or service that does not infringe any IBM intellectual property right may be used instead. However, it is the user's responsibility to evaluate and verify the operation of any non-IBM product, program, or service.

IBM may have patents or pending patent applications covering subject matter described in this document. The furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents. You can send license inquiries, in writing, to:

IBM Director of Licensing
IBM Corporation
North Castle Drive
Armonk, NY 10504-1785 U.S.A.

For license inquiries regarding double-byte (DBCS) information, contact the IBM Intellectual Property Department in your country or send inquiries, in writing, to:I

IBM World Trade Asia Corporation
Licensing2-31 Roppongi 3-chome, Minato-ku
Tokyo 106, Japan

The following paragraph does not apply to the United Kingdom or any other country where such provisions are inconsistent with local law:

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION PROVIDES THIS PUBLICATION "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Some states do not allow disclaimer of express or implied warranties in certain transactions, therefore, this statement might not apply to you.

This information could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the information herein; these changes will be incorporated in new editions of the publication. IBM may make improvements and/or changes in the products and/or the programs described in this publication at any time without notice.

Any references in this information to non-IBM Web sites are provided for convenience only and do not in any manner serve as an endorsement of those Web sites. The materials at those Web sites are not part of the materials for this IBM product and use of those Web sites is at your own risk.

IBM may use or distribute any of the information you supply in any way it believes appropriate without incurring any obligation to you.

Licensees of this program who wish to have information about it for the purpose of enabling: (i) the exchange of information between independently created programs and other programs (including this one) and (ii) the mutual use of the information which has been exchanged, should contact:

IBM Corporation
2Z4A/10111400 Burnet Road
Austin, TX 78758 U.S.A.

Such information may be available, subject to appropriate terms and conditions, including in some cases payment of a fee.

The licensed program described in this document and all licensed material available for it are provided by IBM under terms of the IBM Customer Agreement, IBM International Program License Agreement or any equivalent agreement between us.

Information concerning non-IBM products was obtained from the suppliers of those products, their published announcements or other publicly available sources. IBM has not tested those products and cannot confirm the accuracy of performance, compatibility or any other claims related to non-IBM products. Questions on the capabilities of non-IBM products should be addressed to the suppliers of those products.

All statements regarding IBM's future direction or intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only.

Trademarks

IBM, AIX, S/390, NetView, zSeries, Tivoli, and Tivoli Enterprise Console are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries or both.

Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, and the Windows logo are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States, other countries, or both.

UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other countries.

Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries, or both.

Intel, Intel Inside (logos), MMX, and Pentium are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.