Abstract: The Electronic Service Agent (ESA) is an application program that operates on a NAS Gateway 500 and monitors it f

Abstract: The Electronic Service Agent (ESA) is an application program that operates on a NAS Gateway 500 and monitors it for hardware errors. It reports detected errors, if they meet certain criteria, to IBM for service with no customer intervention. ESA version 2.5 is preloaded in your NAS Gateway 500. The latest version (R3.0) is now available for download.

If you have installed and configured version 2.5 on your NAS Gateway 500, there is no need to uninstall that version before you upgrade to R3.0. All your 2.5 settings will be updated and transferred during the install. If you are starting from a new install of R3.0 (i.e. R2.5 not installed), you will have to make sure all the prerequisites are met for R2.5 before you continue with the installation.

Note: The client information will not be updated during an upgrade. As a precaution, you should export your gateway and client code and then import them after the upgrade. (Go to the Import/Export menu and enter H for help on how to import and export the ESA database)

What’s new: Release 3.0 of ESA now gives you the capability to use your existing Internet connectivity and/or a modem phone line connection to IBM.

Resolution:

Upgrading from ESA R2.5 to R3.0 on the NAS Gateway 500

Obtaining Electronic Service Agent

The latest level of Electronic Service Agent is available from an IBM web site using your browser or using File Transfer Protocol (FTP).

Note: In these instructions, ESA is the directory or folder name used in which to save or transfer the Electronic Service Agent program.

Obtaining Service Agent using a browser

You may transfer the ESA R3.0 file to the target NAS GateWay 500 by downloading the package file to an intermediate AIX system or a Windows workstation. Then, use ftp to transfer the file to the target NAS GateWay 500.

Complete the following steps to obtain the Service Agent program using a browser:

1. Using your browser, type in this URL: http://www.ibm.com/servers/storage/support/download.html.

2. Search for "5198"
under "Compose a search query (*required) .. Enter search terms" field.

3. Select "NAS Gateway 500 ESA R3.0" from the found items list.

4. Save the file svcagent.tar on your local system and make a note of the directory where you saved it.

5. Transfer the file saved, “svcagent.tar”, from your local system to NAS 500 GateWay into the ESA directory using ftp.

· Log in the target NAS GateWay 500 with a root user id.

· Type cd/ESA to access the ESA directory on the target.

· Use FTP to transfer the saved file, “svcagent.tar”, from the local system to the target NAS GateWay 500 in binary format.

6. You have successfully obtained the Service Agent program.

Obtain Electronic Service Agent using FTP

Complete the following steps to obtain the Service Agent program using FTP:

Note: If the Service Agent Gateway server is behind a firewall, you will need to be able get through the firewall in order to perform some of the following steps. If you cannot gain access, please use the “Obtaining Service Agent using a browser” directions in order to obtain the Service Agent program.

1. Log in as root on the NAS Gateway 500 machine that will be used as the Electronic Service Agent gateway server.

2. Type cd /ESA to access the ESA directory.

3. Type ftp ftp.software.ibm.com .

4. Type anonymous as your login name (user ID).

5. Type your e-mail address as your Login password.

6. Type bin to set the file transfer type to binary.

7. Type cd /storage/nas/5198/hardware/esa to access the path where the ESA code is stored.

8. Type get svcagent.tar to retrieve the Electronic Service Agent code.

9. Type quit to end your FTP session.

10. You have successfully obtained the Electronic Service Agent program

Installing ESA on your NAS Gateway 500

1. Log in as root on the NAS Gateway 500 machine that is the Electronic Service Agent gateway server.

2. Type cd /ESA to access the ESA directory.

3. Untar svcagent.tar (tar -xvf svcagent.tar). This will put the following four packages in the sa dir, which are needed for installation.

i. svcagent.client Service Agent Client Package

ii. svcagent.server Service Agent Server package

iii. svcagent.cm Service Agent Connection Manage

iv. Svcagent.help.en_US Service Agent Help

4. Change to the sa directory (cd sa)

5. You can either use the System Management Interface Tool (SMIT) to install these four ESA packages or use the cmd line to install the packages.

a. If you are using SMIT, then:

i. Type smit installp

ii. Select Install Software

iii. Enter: /ESA/sa (command is case sensitive) in the INPUT device/directory for software field.

iv. Press Enter.

v. Enter svcagent.* in the Software to install field

vi. Select ACCEPT new license agreements? If this field is set to no, Press PF4 and select yes

vii. Press Enter.

viii. Press Enter to continue past the ARE YOU SURE? Prompt.

ix. Once finished, select Exit to exit out of the System Management Interface Tool

Note: You should see SUCCESS in all the fields of the installation summary. (If use a hyperterminal session you may need to scroll up slightly) Sometimes the svcagent.cm may not load successfully. If the svcagent.cm package fails to apply successfully, rerun the svcagent.* in the Software to install field.

b. If you are using the command line, then:

i. Type installp -acYXd . all (case sensitive) on the cmd line

Note: Check the installation summary message result column to ensure that it indicates SUCCESS. Sometimes the svcagent.cm may not load successfully. If the svcagent.cm package fails to apply successfully, retype installp -acYXd . all on the cmd line and run again.

6. You have successfully installed the Electronic Service Agent program

Configuring ESA on your NAS Gateway 500

Before configuring the Electronic Service Agent on the NAS Gateway 500, you need to decide how you are going to configure the Service Agent Connection Manager (SACM). The SACM can communicate with IBM using Internet or the modem topology. The SACM can handle input from multiple configured ESA gateway machines. So a single Internet connection or modem is all that is needed to support a complex ESA configuration. Redundancy can be achieved by using the secondary SACM as backup. So a primary Internet connection to IBM could be backed up with a secondary dial setup.

Note: This is not done automatically. Manual intervention is required to switch between IP and modem connection to IBM. If existing TCP/IP allows connection to the Internet, then the modem may not be needed.

1. Log in as root on the NAS Gateway 500 machine that is the Electronic Service Agent gateway server.

2. Type smit (in lowercase) to activate the System Management Interface Tool.

3. Select Problem Determination.

4. Select Service Agent (revision level).

5. Select Manage Service Agent Connection Manager

6. Select Configure Service Agent Connection Manager

Ÿ You need to verify the default configuration of SACM to the hostname and secure port 1198 if the SACM is on the ESA Gateway server.

Ÿ The Listening hostname will be blank on initial startup. If left blank, the SACM port 1198 will listen on all network interfaces.

Ÿ If account requires connection to listen to only one TCP/IP interface then insert the correct IP or hostname that points to the correct interface. This will configure the SACM to the correct interface and port. If you changed the Listening hostname, you will need to change the CallController URL to SACM to match (This can be done later in the configuration). This URL will also have to reflect your choice for mode, secure or unsecure. If secure is selected the URL must start with https://; if unsecure is selected the URL must start with http://.

7. Press Enter.

8. Select Cancel twice when action is completed and to return back to Manager Service Agent Connection Manager menu to do other steps.

9. Select Start Connection Manager

10. Press Enter. The SACM install is completed

11. Select Cancel twice when action is completed and to return back to ESA menu to do other steps

12. Select Manage Service Agent Gateway

13. Select Configure ServiceAgent Gateway. If not already filled out, you need to provide the gateway Machine Type, Model and Serial number in this panel.

Note: The default hostname of the ESA gateway server will be the default configured hostname. Do not use dashes or spaces when typing the serial number. Enter any alpha characters in these fields in UPPER CASE only

14. Press Enter

15. Select Cancel twice when action is completed and to return back to Manager Service Agent Gateway menu to do other steps

16. Select Start Service Agent Processes

17. Press Enter

18. Select Cancel twice when action is completed and to return back to ESA menu to do other steps

19. Select Select Service Agent User Interface

a. If this is the first time you are installing ESA or you are starting from a clean install (i.e. ESA 2.5 not installed), you need to select Select Basic Text User Interface and perform the basic setup. The Basic Electronic Service Agent Configuration in the IBM TotalStorage NAS Gateway 500 Administrator’s Guide contains instructions on how to configure ESA 2.5. There are two new menus were added to that you will not see in the Admin Guide. They are CallController and ConnectionManager.

Correction to the IBM TotalStorage NAS Gateway 500 Administrator’s Guide (First Edition February 2004): In the Administrator’s Guide, on page 141 in “Chapter 28. Call home”, under “Serial Port Configuration” in step five, there is a statement which indicates to ensure that “login enable is enabled” which should have been “login enable is disabled”. If this option is enabled, ESA will give a message similar to the following when attempting to call home:

“2004/07/22 12:42:31 : Failed : ConnectionManager:
Ping:ReturnCode = 55, ReasonCode = 0, RequestId = null,
ReturnText = Dialer problem”

If the tty option is set to disable, the call home goes through fine. Please ensure that the login enable is disabled.

Attention: Some instructions may be different and some menus may look different between ESA 2.5 and 3.0. This tech tip demonstrates and explains some of these changes (i.e. Configuring ESA on your NAS Gateway 500) between these releases.

When you get to the CallController menu, a.The item that needs to be verified and updated on this property template is the Primary URL to Connection Manager field.

Note: This defaults to localhost, which is appropriate if the SACM Listening Host Name was left blank. If the SACM host is a different host or if listening hostname is unique to a communications adapter, then the URL must be updated to reflect the correct hostname. The URL will alsohave to reflect your mode selection, secure (https://) or unsecure (http://). The hostname and mode that Connection Manager is using was configured during step 6 of Configuring ESA on your NAS Gateway 500. Also if port was not default 1198, then correct the port number. If Proxy is required to connect to Connection Manager, then you must update the Proxy fields. The proxy must be able to pass port 443 to allow proper connection.

When you get to the ConnectionManager menu, the first item, Connect to SDR using Dialer, determines the way that Connection Manager communicates with IBM. If you are going to use an existing Internet connection, this field must be set it to false.

Connect to SDR using Dialer = false

If you are going to use a modem connection, this field must be set it to True.

Connect to SDR using Dialer = true

If you update this field, remember to enter S at the User Input prompt to save the changes before leaving the panel.

b. If you are updating from ESA 2.5 to 3.0, you should select Select Advanced Text User Interface

i. Enter the password. The default password is password.

ii. Enter the Contact Information

iii. Verify your settings were updated during the upgrade.

iv. Add your client to the gateway to monitor (Read Adding Clients to a ESA gateway for more information on how to do this).

v. Decide and configure how you wish to connect to IBM;

1) If you wish to continue using your Modem to communicate to IBM, you are finished with your ESA 3.0 upgrade and you now need to enroll your NAS Gateway 500 with IBM.

a) To enroll the systems;

i) Select Administration

ii) Select Enroll

iii) Enroll your machine(s) with IBM (R and # associated with the machine you wish to enroll)

b) You have enrolled your NAS Gateway 500s with IBM.

2) If you wish to use the Internet to communicate to IBM;

a) Select Network

b) Select the Gateway host

c) Select Connection Manager. (read about Connection Manager and Call Controller above)

d) Select Connect to SDR using Dialer

e) Select false and hit Enter

f) Enter S (Save)

g) Enter T (Top Menu) to return to user interface

h) Enroll your NAS Gateway 500 with IBM (See instructions above)

20. You have successfully upgraded and enrolled your NAS Gateway 500.

Adding Clients to a ESA gateway

Electronic Service Agent typically installs the Electronic Service Agent client code on the monitored machines during configuration of the Electronic Service Agent gateway server. Electronic Service Agent uses FTP or remote commands to push its client code to machines that you want to monitor. The client code attempts to use the selected “Type of Install”, when you identify that machine using the “add machine” function. The automatic FTP process requires the Electronic Service Agent to use the root password or a root-authorized password.

If your network security configuration does not allow root FTP access to machines or RSH or DSH access, you can manually install the Electronic Service Agent client code using one of the following methods:

1. Install Service Agent Client using SMIT

2. Install Service Agent Client from command line

Before you add clients to your ESA gateway server, you must:

Ensure that the Electronic Service Agent program is installed on the machine that you intend to use as your Electronic Service Agent gateway server. (This should be done if you followed the previous instructions in this section.)
Add the monitored machine or machines to the Electronic Service Agent gateway database. For the monitored machine On Demand Server to function, it must first be defined in the Electronic Server System database. To add a machine (FTP method), refer to the “How to add a machine” section of the IBM TotalStorage NAS Gateway 500 Advanced Configuration and Problem Determination Guide.
Select one of the installation methods:

Ÿ ESA client using SMIT

Ÿ ESA client using command line

Manually installing Electronic Service Agent client from SMIT

Log on to the ESA client you wish to monitor as root.
Type cd /ESA to access the ESA directory
Create a sa directory in the ESA directory
Change to the sa directory (cd sa)
Obtain and store svcagent.client and svcagent.help.en_US in the sa directory.

Note: You can obtain the svcagent.client and svcagent.help.en_US files on the ESA gateway (it is stored at: /ESA/sa).

Enter: inutoc /ESA/sa (command is case sensitive).
Enter: smit (in lowercase) to activate the System Management Interface Tool.
Select Software Installation and Maintenance.
Select Install and Update Software.
Select Install Software.
Enter: /ESA/sa (command is case sensitive) in the INPUT device/directory for software field
Press Enter.
Press PF4 to bring up a list of software to install.
From the Software to install list, select svcagent.client and svcagent.help.en_US
Press Enter.
Press Enter to continue past the ARE YOU SURE? Prompt.
Select Cancel after the Electronic Service Agent client installs.
Select Exit to exit out of the System Management Interface Tool.
You have successfully installed Electronic Service Agent client.

Manually installing Electronic Service Agent client from the command line

1. Log on to the ESA client you wish to monitor as root.

2. Type cd /ESA to access the ESA directory

3. Create a sa directory in the ESA directory

4. Change to the sa directory (cd sa)

5. Obtain and store svcagent.client and svcagent.help.en_US in the sa directory.

Note: You can obtain the svcagent.client and svcagent.help.en_US files on the ESA gateway (it is stored at: /ESA/sa).

6. Type installp -acYXd svcagent.client all on the cmd line

7. Type installp -acYXd svcagent.help.en_US all on the cmd line

8. You have successfully installed Electronic Service Agent client

Configuring and starting a ESA client

Log on to the ESA client as root

2. Type smit (in lowercase) to activate the System Management Interface Tool.

3. Select Problem Determination.

4. Select Service Agent (revision level).

5. Select Manage Service Agent Client

6. Select Configure ServiceAgent Client.

If not already filled out, you need to provide the client hostname. You also need to enter the password to match the ESA gateway password. The Primary gateway (required), Secondary, and Tertiary server hostname also need to be defined. (This should be the same as the ESA gateways setting). If not already filled out during the auto discovery process, you need to provide the client Machine Type, Model and Serial number in this panel. This machine may also be placed under a Department heading by entering the desired department name that is defined in Electronic Service Agent gateway database.

7. Press Enter

Note: If the Machine Type, Model, Serial number and the password are entered correctly, the ESA database will be updated by the client process. The default password is "password". If not this information has to be added manually using the ESA User Interface on the ESA gateway.

8. Select Cancel twice when action is completed and to return back to Manager Service Agent Gateway menu to do other steps

9. Select Start Service Agent Processes

10. Press Enter

Select Exit to exit out of the System Management Interface Tool

Un-Installing ESA on the Gateway machine

Using SMIT is only way to remove Electronic Service Agent from the NAS Gateway 500.

Removing Electronic Service Agent program using SMIT

1. Log in as root on the NAS Gateway 500 machine that is the Electronic Service Agent gateway server.

2. Type smit

3. Select Software Installation and Maintenance.

4. Select Software Maintenance and Utilities.

5. Select Remove Installed Software.

6. Enter svcagent* in SOFTWARE name field.

7. Set PREVIEW to no and press Enter.

Note:

This command deletes the Electronic Service Agent program from the gateway server. You should first delete all the monitored machines within the User Interface prior to removing the ESA gateway code. Otherwise, you will need to go to each monitored machine and remove the code individually using the SMIT process.

Un-Installing ESA on the Monitored machine

Removing Electronic Service Agent client using SMIT

1. Log in as root on the client server.

2. Type smit or smitty

3. Select Software Installation and Maintenance.

4. Select Software Maintenance and Utilities.

5. Select Remove Installed Software.

6. Enter svcagent.client in SOFTWARE name field.

7. Set PREVIEW to no and press Enter.

Remove Electronic Service Agent client only using the Advanced Service Agent configuration

1. Log in as root on the NAS Gateway 500 machine that is the Service Agent Gateway server

2. Bring up Service agent User Interface (Smit =>Problem Determination => Service Agent => Select ServiceAgent User Interface => Select Advanced Text User Interface)

i. Enter the password. The default password is password.

3. Expand the Administration property

4. Click UnInstall

5. Select the monitored machine to uninstall.

6. Click UnInstall.

7. Complete the remainder of the prompts.

If you use the FTP protocol, the Enter the User ID and Password window appears. Type the

password for root. If you can not use root and the root password, you can change the User Id

field to a root-authorized user ID and use that ID’s password.

To ensure the uninstall process is successful, monitor the window that appears with messages.

Note: This process leaves the monitored machine in the Electronic Service Agent database but removes the Electronic Service Agent program from the monitored machine.