IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide Version 6.2.1 ppt

The function available forCommon-Agent managed systems variesbased on operating system and hardware,and includes the following tasks: discoversystems; collect comprehensive platformand o

About this publication ix

Conventions and terminology ix

Publications and related information ix

Web resources xii

How to send your comments xiv

Terminology changes xv

Chapter 1 Overview of IBM Systems Director 1

Accessibility 1

License information 1

IBM Systems Director technical overview 4

IBM Systems Director components 5

Manageable resource types 9

Manageable systems and system types 9

User interfaces 11

Base function and extensible plug-ins 11

Upward integration 19

I'm a 5.20 user How do I use 6.x? 19

Why am I starting at the Welcome page? 20

What can I do with the rest of the interface? 32

How do I discover my systems? 34

How do I view my systems and groups? 37

How do I view my inventory? 52

Where are my tasks? 54

How do I start tasks? 55

How do I create a hardware event action plan? 55 Chapter 2 Using the IBM Systems Director Web interface 59

Logging into IBM Systems Director Server 59

Logging out of IBM Systems Director Server 60

Enabling multisession support 60

Navigating the Web interface 60

The Web interface 60

Customizing the Web interface 62

Managing and closing open pages in the Web interface 63

Viewing help in the Web interface 64

Navigating IBM Systems Director by way of the Welcome page 64

IBM Systems Director Welcome page 64

System severity states 72

Starting work in IBM Systems Director 72

Learning about the product 73

Checking IBM Systems Director readiness 73

Viewing updates 74

Viewing tutorials 74

Viewing the IBM Systems Director Server summary 75

Finding and navigating resources 76

Resource views 77

Finding systems and other resources 88

Viewing resources in the topology perspective 89

Working with tables 91

Working with topology maps 99

Working with properties 106

Setting navigation preferences 107

Renaming a resource 109

Removing a resource 109

Managing groups 110

Groups 110

Creating a criteria-based dynamic group 115

Creating a static group 117

Editing a group 118

Deleting a group 119

Adding a resource to an existing group 119

Exporting a group 120

Importing a group 120

Finding and starting tasks 121

Launched tasks and the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program 121

Finding a task 122

Starting tasks 122

Starting the IBM Systems Director Launched Tasks program 123

Using External Application Launch 135

Using Advanced External Application Launch 151 Scheduling tasks 152

Noninteractive tasks 152

Jobs and job instances 152

Scheduling a task 152

Scheduling a task from a selected system 154

Viewing active and scheduled job information 155 Viewing information about scheduled jobs 156

Determining target systems that are affected by a job 157

Viewing job-instance records 157

Viewing job-instance logs 158

Copying a scheduled job 159

Editing a scheduled job 159

Running a scheduled job immediately 160

Suspending and resuming a scheduled job 160

Canceling a running job 160

Deleting a job 161

Managing auditing 161

Audit records 162

Setting server-auditing preferences 164

Viewing the audit log 165

Deleting the audit log 165

Encrypting interprocess communication 165

Encryption 165

Enabling encryption 167

Disabling encryption 167

Changing the encryption algorithm 167

Resending the encryption key to systems 168

Creating a new encryption key 168

Chapter 3 Discovering systems and

collecting inventory data 169

Discovery 169

Getting started discovery 169

System discovery 170

Discovery protocols 176

Choosing which discovery to use 177

Viewing the discovery manager summary 179

Renaming discovered systems automatically 181

Performing getting started discovery 182

Discovering systems with system discovery 183

Performing a system discovery 183

Discovering systems that use a mirrored image 185 Viewing system discovery results 188

Managing discovery profiles 190

Creating a discovery profile 191

Editing, copying, and deleting discovery profiles 191 Permanently excluding IP addresses from discovery 192

Collecting and viewing inventory data 194

Inventory data and collection profiles 194

Creating an inventory collection profile 195

Managing inventory collection profiles 196

Collecting inventory 197

Viewing inventory 199

Exporting inventory data 200

Connecting to IT Registry and Context Menu Service databases 200

External connections with IT Registry and Context Menu Service databases 202

Chapter 4 Configuring systems 203

Configuration settings 203

Configuration templates 203

Predefined configuration template 205

Configuration plans 205

The Automatically deploy feature 205

Predefined configuration plans 206

Configuration-setting license entitlement 206

Monitoring the deployment of configuration plans and configuration templates 207

Managing system configuration 208

Viewing configuration settings 208

Editing configuration settings 208

Saving configuration settings as configuration templates 209

Saving configuration settings to a configuration plan 210

Managing configuration templates 210

Creating configuration templates 210

Creating a configuration template from an existing one 211

Viewing configuration templates 212

Editing configuration templates 213

Adding configuration templates to a configuration plan 214

Deploying configuration templates 214

Viewing deployed targets 215

Exporting a configuration template 215

Importing a configuration template 216

Deleting configuration templates 216

Managing configuration plans 216

Creating configuration plans 217

Creating a configuration plan from an existing one 218

Deploying configuration plans 218

Viewing configuration plans 219

Viewing deployment history 219

Editing configuration plans 220

Exporting a configuration plan 220

Importing a configuration plan 221

Deleting configuration plans 221

Chapter 5 Monitoring system status and health 223

System status and health 223

Viewing the status manager summary 225

Viewing the performance summary 226

Using the Health Summary task to view the status of your environment 227

Scoreboard 228

Dashboard 229

Health summary 229

Using the scoreboard to identify issues 229

Adding a graphical monitor to the dashboard 232 Removing a graphical monitor from the dashboard 232

Adding systems to the health summary 233

Removing a group from the health summary 235 Using Resource Explorer to view the status of a specific resource 235

Scenarios: Using custom monitor views, thresholds, and event automation plans 235

Scenario: Using a custom monitor view in an event automation plan to report disk data by using drive letter names 236

Scenario: Using a custom monitor view in an event automation plan to report cluster drive data using drive letter names 238

Monitors and thresholds 241

Monitor views 242

AIX Monitors view 242

All Monitors view 245

Column Management Monitors view 245

Common CIM Monitors view 245

Common Monitors view 247

SNMP Monitors view 248

VIOS Monitors view 248

Virtualization Monitors view 251

Managing monitors 256

Viewing a monitor 256

Creating a monitor view 257

Editing a monitor view 258

Deleting a monitor view 259

Graphing a monitor 259

Managing thresholds 260

Viewing a threshold 260

Creating a threshold 260

Editing a threshold 261

Activating a threshold 261

Deactivating a threshold 262

Deleting a threshold 262

Managing status set entries 262

Viewing a specific status set entry 263

Viewing status set entries for a specific resource 264 Viewing status set entries for a group of resources 264

Activating a status set entry 265

Deactivating a status set entry 265

Deleting a status set entry 266

Managing the event log 267

Viewing events 267

Deleting an event 268

Changing event log preferences 268

Creating an event filter from an event 269

Viewing SNMP device attributes 269

Managing MIB files 270

Compiling a MIB file 270

Loading MIB files into memory 271

Managing process monitors 271

Viewing process monitors 271

Creating and configuring a process monitor 271

Removing process monitors 272

Recording resource-monitor statistics 272

lsresmonrec 272

mkresmonrec 272

rmresmonrec 272

stopresmonrec 273

Chapter 6 Automating tasks 275

Events, filters, and actions in event automation plans 276

Events 276

Event filters 277

Event actions 280

Monitoring operating-system specific events 292

Viewing the automation manager summary 293

Managing event automation plans 294

Copying an event automation plan 294

Creating an event automation plan 295

Deactivating and activating an event automation plan 304

Deleting an event automation plan 305

Editing an event automation plan 305

Suspending and resuming event automation plans 306

Viewing event automation plans associated with a resource 306

Viewing event automation plan properties 307

Managing event actions 307

Creating an event action 307

Editing an event action 308

Copying an event action 308

Testing an event action 309

Deleting an event action 309

Saving and not saving an event-action history 310 Viewing an event-action history 310

Refreshing entries in an event-action history log 312 Deleting entries from an event-action history log 312 Viewing event action properties 313

Event-data-substitution variables 313

Managing event filters 316

Creating, editing, or copying an event filter 317

Editing an event filter 320

Copying an event filter 320

Viewing event filter properties 321

Viewing predefined filter criteria 321

Deleting an event filter 322

Exporting and importing event automation plans, event filters, and event actions 322

Using command automation 323

Creating or editing a command definition 323

Running a command definition 324

Restricting anonymous command execution 325

Chapter 7 Updating systems 327

Planning to update systems 328

Supported update tasks 328

Supported updates and systems 329

Version considerations for updating IBM Director and IBM Systems Director 331

Update considerations for specific operating systems and platforms 332

Determining the installed IBM Systems Director version 339

Starting to monitor and update systems 339

Configuring update manager 340

Getting started with updates 341

Changing update settings 342

Updating IBM Systems Director 345

Using advanced actions for updating IBM Systems Director 346

Downloading IBM Systems Director updates without an Internet connection 347

Acquiring and installing updates 348

Acquiring and installing updates with the IBM Systems Director Web interface 348

Acquiring and installing updates with the installneededcommand 375

Keeping systems in compliance 378

Compliance policies 379

Adding updates to a compliance policy 379

Changing compliance policies 380

Identifying systems that are out of compliance 381 Resolving compliance issues 382

Chapter 8 Remotely accessing systems and resources 383

Remote access facilities 383

Distributed Command 383

File management 384

Hardware command line 384

Launch Web browser 384

Remote Command Line 384

Remote control tasks 385

Remote Xen Console 386

Serial Console 386

Running remote access functions 387

Using the Distributed Shell 387

Managing files on a remote system 390

Using the hardware command line 390

Establishing command-line access to a remote

system 391

Launching a Web browser 392

Configuring Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Connection 393

Establishing Remote Desktop Connection 393

Establishing Virtual Network Computing communications 394

Establishing IBM BladeCenter or RSA communication 394

Launching the Hyper-V Virtual Machine Connection Tool 394

Launching a VMware ESX or ESXi hypervisor virtual machine connection 395

Establishing a remote Xen console session 395

Using the serial console 395

Chapter 9 Managing agents 399

Common agent services 399

Resource manager 399

Agent manager 400

Common agent 401

Logging Platform Agent 402

Importing agent packages 408

Installing agents using the Agent Installation Wizard 409

Restarting agents 412

Restarting Common Agent 412

Restarting Platform Agent 413

Setting the agent manager for IBM Systems Director Server 415

Viewing the agent manager properties 415

Adding a new agent manager 415

Setting the active agent manager 417

Deleting an agent manager 417

Using a remote agent manager with IBM Systems Director 418

Managing the agent manager used by a Common Agent 420

Viewing the agent manager configuration 423

Securing Common Agent managed systems 424

Changing the agent registration password 424

Migrating common agents to a different agent manager 427

Binding Platform Agent to specific IP addresses 427 Disabling IBM Systems Director agents 428

Chapter 10 Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x systems 429

Supported IBM BladeCenter products 429

Service processor communication 429

In-band communication requirements 429

Out-of-band communication requirements 430

Out-of-band communication and the standard TCP Command Mode protocol 432

Out-of-band communication and the secure TCP Command Mode protocol 433

Out-of-band communication and the standard CIM protocol 434

Out-of-band alert-forwarding strategies 434

Service processors and resource types 435

Viewing the IBM BladeCenter and System x management summary 436

Downloading and activating BladeCenter I/O module plug-ins 437

Configuring integrated management modules 438

Integrated management module task support and features 439

Changing the integrated management module IP address by way of the Server resource 440

Changing the network port on an integrated management module 440

Configuring integrated management module security 440

Configuring the Try DHCP setting for integrated management module 441

Enabling Secure Sockets Layer after discovery 441 Enabling Secure Sockets Layer before discovery 442 Discovering scalable systems that have multiple nodes 442

Discovering a scalable BladeCenter system with multiple nodes 442

Discovering a scalable System x system 443

Changing the password for the Remote Supervisor Adapter or management module 443

Managing power state settings on IBM BladeCenter and System x servers 444

Power On/Off task support using out-of-band communication 444

Power On/Off task support using Wake on LAN technology on System x 445

Power On/Off task support by way of the operating system on System x and blade servers 445 Changing the power state on System x and IBM BladeCenter hardware 446

Enabling collection of SNMP-based inventory by way of management modules 446

Using hardware-log information from System x service processors and IBM BladeCenter products 447 Hardware-log information using out-of-band and in-band communication 447

Viewing hardware-log information 448

Refreshing hardware-log information 449

Clearing the hardware-log information 449

Providing hardware-log information 450

Using locator LED settings on IBM BladeCenter and System x servers 450

Locator LEDs and out-of-band and in-band communication 451

Identifying hardware with the locator LED 451

Solving hardware problems using light-path-diagnostic LEDs on IBM BladeCenter and System x servers 452

Light-path-diagnostic LED information 452

Viewing light-path-diagnostics status 454

Viewing detailed light-path-diagnostics information 455

Changing the resource for viewing light-path-diagnostics LED information 455

Configuring templates 455

Password security levels for IBM BladeCenter

management modules and System x service

processors 456

Configuring the boot sequence for a blade server in an IBM BladeCenter chassis 458

Configuring an IBM BladeCenter management module 459

Configuring network resources for IBM BladeCenter blade servers 474

Configuring SNMP agent community information 475

Configuring the IP address pool for IBM BladeCenter systems and System x servers 476

Configuring System x service processors 477

Configuring switch protocol information 488

Configuring switch virtual LAN information 492 Configuring users and passwords for an IBM BladeCenter chassis 495

Managing network-configuration information 495 Managing system-account information 497

Setting asset information 500

Chapter 11 Managing IBM Power Systems 505

New terms for Power Systems users in IBM Systems Director 505

Managing Power Systems running AIX 507

Managing Power Systems running IBM i 507

Managing systems controlled by HMC and IVM 508 Viewing the Power Systems Management summary 509 Monitoring for IBM i message queue events 510

Managing power state settings on IBM Power systems 512

Power On/Off task support by way of the operating system on IBM Power systems 512

Changing the power state on IBM Power systems 513

Chapter 12 Managing IBM System z systems 515

System z virtualization 515

Basics about the z/VM operating system 515

z/VM manageability access point and agent 518

Viewing the System z Management summary page 519 Discovering systems and collecting inventory data for System z 520

Managing power state settings for Linux on System z servers 521

Power On/Off task support by way of the operating system on System z servers 521

Changing the power state on System z servers 521 Chapter 13 Managing and configuring storage 523

Storage management in real time and using configuration templates 523

Managing SMI-S providers 523

SMI-S providers for IBM Systems Director 523

Installing SMI-S Providers 527

Configuring SMI-S providers 532

Discovering and collecting inventory for storage devices 535

Running Discovery and unlocking storage devices using SMI-S providers 536

Running Direct Connection discovery and unlocking storage devices using SMI-S providers 536

Running System Discovery for multiple SMI-S providers using multicast and broadcast 537

Working with external storage applications 539

Installing and configuring external storage applications 539

Launching an external storage management application 542

IBM Systems Director Storage Control 4.2.1 545

Viewing storage devices 545

Storage Management Summary 545

Viewing storage systems using storage groups 548 Displaying attached storage for a given system 548 Viewing storage volumes 549

Viewing the health and status of storage devices 549 Storage topology perspective 550

Managing storage in real-time 551

Creating storage system pools 551

Managing IBM BladeCenter and System x storage devices 551

Adding IBM BladeCenter Integrated Storage devices to a server 555

Provisioning storage from an existing storage subsystem 556

Managing storage volumes in real time 556

Configuring iSCSI components in real time 560

Configuring IBM BladeCenter SAS zone connectivity in real time 564

Managing storage with configuration templates 566 Viewing storage configuration templates 566

Changing storage configuration templates 567

Creating a configuration template for a storage volume 567

Managing IBM BladeCenter SAN configuration mapping 567

Configuring iSCSI components using configuration template 571

Managing IBM BladeCenter SAS zone configuration 576

Chapter 14 Managing virtual environments 581

Virtual systems 581

Platform managers 581

Virtual farms 582

Hosts 583

Virtual servers 584

Guest-operating-systems 585

Virtualization groups 585

Viewing the Virtualization Management summary 586 Viewing resources in virtualization perspectives 586 In the Virtualization Basic perspective 586

In the Virtualization Common perspective 586

In the Virtualization Detail perspective 586

Viewing resources in the Platform Managers and

Members view 587

Viewing resources in the Virtual Servers and Hosts view 587

Viewing virtualization properties 588

Configuring virtual resources 589

Configuring Power Systems platform managers 589 Configuring storage resources 594

Managing host systems 596

Entering maintenance mode 596

Exiting from maintenance mode 596

Starting the virtualization service on a host 596

Stopping the virtualization service on a host 597

Managing virtual farms 597

Adding a host to a virtual farm 597

Creating a virtual farm 597

Deleting a virtual farm from IBM Systems Director and VMware VirtualCenter 599

Removing a virtual farm from IBM Systems Director 599

Editing a virtual farm 600

Removing a host from a virtual farm 600

Starting the virtualization service on a farm 600

Stopping the virtualization service on a farm 601 Viewing virtual farms 601

Managing virtual servers 602

Connecting to a platform manager 602

Disconnecting from a platform manager 602

Creating virtual servers 603

Creating a virtual disk for Xen 617

Deleting a virtual server permanently 617

Editing host resources 618

Editing virtual servers 618

Accessing the Xen remote console 620

Managing power operations on virtual servers 620 Relocating virtual servers 623

Launch VMware ESX Manager User Interface 631 Launch VMware VirtualCenter Console 631

Launch VMware Infrastructure Client 632

Launch Microsoft Virtual Server Console 632

Chapter 15 Security 633

Authenticating users to IBM Systems Director 634

User authentication 634

Users and user groups in IBM Systems Director 635 Authenticating IBM Systems Director users stored in the local operating system 636

Authenticating IBM Systems Director users stored in the Microsoft Active Directory domain 637 Authenticating IBM Systems Director users stored in LDAP 638

Editing user properties 641

Authorizing users to IBM Systems Director 641

User authorization 641

Roles 642

Permissions and roles required to run smcli commands 644

Authorizing users to manage resources 648

Assigning a role to a user or user group 648

Copying a role to another user 649

Creating a role 649

Managing roles 650

Ending the session for another user 651

Changing the time interval between consecutive resynchronize calls 652

Managing user groups in IBM Systems Director 652 Managing credentials in IBM Systems Director 653

Managing shared credentials 654

Managing mappings 659

Configuring the authentication registry 661

Managing targeted credentials 662

Managing access 666

Accessing a secured system with request access 666 Accessing a secured system with configure access 667

Configuring access to CIM using X509 certificates 668

Revoking access to a secured system 669

Managing access to agentless managed systems 669 Accessing a managed system with configure system credentials 669

Communication protocols and supported encryption algorithms 670

Encrypting passwords for database configuration 670 Appendix Accessibility features for IBM Systems Director 673

Accessibility options in IBM Systems Director 673

Keyboard navigation in IBM Systems Director 674

Using a screen reader with IBM Systems Director 675 Notices 677

Trademarks 678

Glossary 681

About this publication

This publication provides instructions for using IBM®Systems Director forsystems-management tasks IBM Systems Director consists of the following tools tomeet your systems-management needs:

v IBM Systems Director Web interface is the graphical user interface (GUI) for IBMSystems Director Server Using IBM Systems Director Web interface, you canconduct comprehensive systems management using either a drop-and-dragaction or a single click

v IBM Systems Director command-line interface (dircli) is the command-lineinterface for IBM Systems Director Server You can use a command-line prompt

to access, control, and gather information from IBM Systems Director Server.This documentation also provides planning and implementation information forevent management

Conventions and terminology

These notices are designed to highlight key information:

Note: These notices provide important tips, guidance, or advice

Important: These notices provide information or advice that might help you avoidinconvenient or difficult situations

Attention: These notices indicate possible damage to programs, devices, or data

An attention notice appears before the instruction or situation in which damagecan occur

Publications and related information

You can view the same content in the IBM Systems Director Information Center asPDF documents To view a PDF file, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can

be downloaded for free from the Adobe Web site at http://get.adobe.com/reader/

Information centers and topic collections

v IBM Systemshttp://publib.boulder.ibm.com/eserver/

View the IBM Systems information center landing page, which providesintegrated information for multiple IBM Systems products

v IBM Systems Directorhttp://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/director/v6r2x/index.jspUpdated periodically, the IBM Systems Director topic collection contains themost up-to-date documentation available for IBM Systems Director

v IBM Systems Director plug-inspublib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/systems/index.jspView the IBM Systems information center for information about how to installand use plug-ins that extend the functionality of IBM Systems Director

v IBM Systems Director Upward Integration Modules (UIMs)

publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/systems/topic/uims/fqs0_main.htmlRead the IBM Systems Director Upward Integration Modules (UIM) topiccollection to learn about how to install and use upward integration modules andmanagement packs that enable non-IBM workgroup and enterprise-managementproducts to interpret and display data that is provided by Common Agent andPlatform Agent.

v IBM Systems Director API Licensinghttp://www.ibm.com/vrm/4api1View the license information regarding use of IBM Systems Director APIs andtheir associated documentation Fill out the form to request API access Afteryour information is reviewed, you will be contacted with additional informationregarding access to and use of the APIs

Publications

APAR Readme 6.2.0

Provides information about APARs fixed in IBM Systems Director version6.2.0

Release Notes ® 6.2.0 and Release Notes 6.2.1

Provides information about hardware requirements for running IBMSystems Director components, supported IBM Systems Director hardware,operating systems, databases, and workgroup and enterprise

systems-management software

Hardware and Software Support Guide

Provides information about hardware requirements for running IBMSystems Director components, supported IBM Systems Director hardware,operating systems, databases, and workgroup and enterprise

systems-management software

Planning, Installation, and Configuration Guide for AIX ®

Provides detailed instructions to install and configure each component ofIBM Systems Director on system running AIX using the standard

installation option

Planning, Installation, and Configuration Guide for IBM i

Provides detailed instructions to install and configure each component ofIBM Systems Director on system running IBM i using the Standardinstallation option

Planning, Installation, and Configuration Guide for Linux on Power Systems ™

Provides detailed instructions to install and configure each component ofIBM Systems Director on system running Linux for Power Systems usingthe Standard installation option

Planning, Installation, and Configuration Guide for Linux on x86

Provides detailed instructions to install and configure each component ofIBM Systems Director on system running Linux for System x® using theStandard installation option

Planning, Installation, and Configuration Guide for Linux on System z ®

Provides detailed instructions to install and configure each component ofIBM Systems Director on system running Linux for System z using theStandard installation option

Planning, Installation, and Configuration Guide for Windows

Provides detailed instructions to install and configure each component ofIBM Systems Director on system running Windows using the Standardinstallation option

Systems Management Guide

Provides detailed instructions for using the Web interface and managingsystems and resources in your environment

Troubleshooting Guide

Provides information about problems and how to solve them, and

strategies for troubleshooting common problems

Events Reference

Provides information about IBM Systems Director events, including theevent type, description, severity, and extended details

Commands Reference

Provides detailed information about the systems management

command-line interface (smcli) commands, and other commands that can

be run directly from the command line, including configuring the database,and starting and stopping IBM Systems Director

Hardware Command Line User's Guide

Provides information about installing and using the Hardware CommandLine (formerly known as the IBM Management Processor Command-LineInterface) Command output in this release might vary from commandoutput in previous releases

White papers and briefs

v IBM Systems Director

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/common/ssi/sa/wh/n/xbw03006usen/

XBW03006USEN.PDF

This paper provides a detailed overview of the changes in IBM Systems DirectorV6.1, including the new Web interface, security features, operating systemagents, integrated plug-ins and additional plug-ins that can be separately

docview.wss?uid=nas7cd6a96f49d05f608862577420075ca9a&aid=1Provides information about how to plan, implement, configure, and use an IBMSystems Director Server to manage a large configuration with optimal

performance The Performance Tuning and Scaling Guide also containsinformation about the following topics:

– Running IBM Systems Director plug-ins, such as IBM Systems Director ActiveEnergy Manager®and IBM Scalable Systems Manager

– Integration with Tivoli® products– Implementing High Availability (HA)

Implementing IBM Systems Director 6.1

Tip: Be sure to note the date of publication and to determine the version of IBMSystems Director software to which the Redbooks publication refers

Tip: To locate the information that you need, enter Systems Director in the

Search field and click Search You can then narrow your results by document

type or product category, or use additional search terms

v For white papers, technotes, tips, and other documents related to IBM SystemsDirector, see the Techdocs Web site at http://w3.ibm.com/support/techdocs/atsmastr.nsf/Web/Techdocs

Tip: To locate the information that you need, either select the categories that youwant to search or select UNMARKED to search all categories Then enter

Systems Directorin the for: field and click Search.

v For solutions to all types of situations that other customers have encountered,see the IBM Systems Director customer forum at www.ibm.com/

developerworks/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=759

Web resources

Listed here are the Web sites and information center topics that relate to IBMSystems Director

v IBM Systems Director Downloads

www.ibm.com/systems/management/director/downloads/

View the IBM Systems Director Downloads Web site on ibm.com which provideslinks to download code IBM Systems Director, IBM Systems Director plug-ins,and IBM Systems Director upward integration modules

v IBM Systems Director Documentation and Resources

www.ibm.com/systems/management/director/resources/

View the IBM Systems Director Documentation and Resources Web site onibm.com which provides links to product documentation, redbooks, redpapers,white papers, and learning modules related to IBM Systems Director, IBMSystems Director plug-ins, and IBM Systems Director upward integration

v IBM Systems Director Best Practices Wiki

Forums

v IBM Systems Director

www.ibm.com/developerworks/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=759

View the IBM Systems Director forum Web site on ibm.com to discuss

product-related issues pertaining to IBM Systems Director, IBM Systems DirectorUIMs, and IBM Systems Director extensions This Web site includes a link forobtaining the forum using a Rich Site Summary (RSS) feed

v IBM Systems Director SDK

www.ibm.com/developerworks/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=1852&start=0View the IBM Systems Director SDK forum Web site to discuss issues pertaining

to the IBM Systems Director Software Development Kit (SDK) This Web siteincludes a link for obtaining the forum using a Rich Site Summary (RSS) feed

v IBM Systemswww.ibm.com/developerworks/forums/dw_esforums.jspView the IBM Systems forums Web site on ibm.com to learn about variousforums that are available to discuss technology-related and product-relatedissues pertaining to IBM Systems hardware and software products This Web siteincludes a link for obtaining the forum using a Rich Site Summary (RSS) feed

How to send your comments

Your feedback is important in helping to provide the most accurate and highestquality information

If you have any comments about this book or any other IBM Systems Directorpublication, go to the IBM Systems Director information center Web site athttp://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/director/v6r2x/index.jsp There youwill find the feedback page where you can enter and submit comments

Terminology changes

Several terms have changed between IBM Director v5.x and IBM Systems Directorv6.x

Deprecated terms New terms Description

IBM Director Agent Common Agent Common Agent provides a rich set of

security, deployment, and managementfunction The function available forCommon-Agent managed systems variesbased on operating system and hardware,and includes the following tasks: discoversystems; collect comprehensive platformand operating system inventory data;monitor health and status; manage alerts;remotely deploy and install CommonAgent; perform remote access, includingtransferring files; perform powermanagement function; additional eventsupport; monitor processes and resources,and set critical thresholds that sendnotifications when triggered; manageoperating system resources and processes.IBM Director Core

Services

Platform Agent Platform Agent provides a lighter footprint

and fewer management functions than theCommon Agent The function available forPlatform-Agent managed systems is limited

to the following tasks, and varies based onoperating system and hardware: discoversystems, collect limited platform inventorydata, monitor health and status, managealerts, remotely deploy and install CommonAgent, perform limited remote access, andperform limited restart capabilities

Level-2 managedobject

Common Agentmanaged system

A system on which Common Agent isinstalled

Level-1 managedobject

Platform Agentmanaged system

A system on which Platform Agent isinstalled

Level-0 managedobject

Agentless managedsystem

A system that does not have an agentinstalled but can be discovered by IBMSystems Director using Secure Shell (SSH),Distributed Component Object Model(DCOM), or Simple Network ManagementProtocol (SNMP)

The function available toAgentless-managed systems is limited to thefollowing tasks, and varies based onoperating system and hardware: discoversystems, collect limited operating-systeminventory data, remotely deploy and installCommon Agent and Platform Agent,perform limited remote access, and performlimited restart capabilities

Deprecated terms New terms Description

Managed object System A hardware endpoint that can be discovered

and managed by IBM Systems Director Forexample, storage devices, network devices,physical servers, virtual servers, and virtualfarms are systems

Extension Plug-in Free or for-fee software that is downloaded

and installed on top of IBM SystemsDirector to provide additional function.Job activation Job instance A specific occurrence of a job that is

running or has completed running

Event action plan Event automation

plan

A user-defined plan that determines howIBM Systems Director automatically handlescertain events An event action plan

comprises one or more event filters and one

or more customized event actions

Hardware controlpoint

Platform manager Software that manages one or more host

systems and their associated virtual serversand operating systems Platform managerscan be started from the IBM SystemsDirector Web interface For example,BladeCenter Management Module, IBMHardware Management Console (HMC),IBM Integrated Virtualization Manager(IVM), and VMware VirtualCenter areplatform managers

Configuration profile Configuration plan A collection of templates used to configure

hardware and operating systems

Component Template A stored version of definition parameters

for the configuration of a specific system.Remote session Remote command

line

A command-line interface to a remotesystem

Chapter 1 Overview of IBM Systems Director

This section provides an overview of IBM Systems Director, including supportedhardware and software requirements, technical overview, web resources, and what

is new in this release

Note: For technical details about the accessibility support in IBM Systems Director,see the Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs) You can request VPATsfrom the Web at http://www.ibm.com/research/accessibility/requests/

accvpat.nsf/bidxjs?OpenForm

License information

Before deploying this product, ensure that you have the necessary licenses

IBM Systems Director

The IBM Systems Director program contains Management Server (Manager)components, Agent components, and application programming interfaces (APIs), asfurther described in the documentation

You are authorized to use Management Server and Agent components only on IBMmachines

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the IBM Systems Director program includes alicense for up to 20 installations of the Agent component on non-IBM x86 systems.These 20 licenses for non-IBM x86 systems are not transferable and cannot becombined or aggregated For example, if you buy two IBM machines and installthe IBM Systems Director program on only one of them, you are entitled to installthe Agent component on only 20 non-IBM x86 systems If you install the IBMSystems Director program on both IBM machines, your entitlement is limited tomanaging 20 non-IBM x86 systems To install additional Agent components onnon-IBM x86 systems, you must obtain additional Agent component licenses fromIBM

Authorization for IBM Systems Director for IBM Power Systems

Processor is a unit of measure by which the IBM Systems Director for IBM PowerSystems program can be licensed Processor (commonly called a processor core orCPU) is a functional unit within a computing device that interprets and executesinstructions A processor consists of at least an instruction control unit and one or

more arithmetic or logic unit With multi-core technology, each core is considered aprocessor Authorization for the IBM Systems Director for IBM Power Systemsprogram is based on the total number of activated processors (including anytemporary processors) on the machines running the IBM Systems Director for IBMPower Systems program and the total number of activated processors (includingany temporary processors) on the machines being managed by the IBM SystemsDirector for IBM Power Systems program.

Authorization for IBM Systems Director for IBM x86 servers

Server is a unit of measure by which the IBM Systems Director for IBM x86 serversprogram can be licensed A Server is a physical computer that is comprised ofprocessing units, memory, and input/output capabilities and that executesrequested procedures, commands, or applications for one or more users or clientdevices Where racks, blade enclosures, or other similar equipment is beingemployed, each separable physical device (e.g., a blade or a rack-mounted device)that has the required components is considered itself a separate Server

The IBM Systems Director for IBM x86 servers program uses a per Server chargingmetric An authorization is required for each server running the IBM SystemsDirector for IBM x86 servers program and for each server being managed by theIBM Systems Director for IBM x86 servers program

Authorization for IBM Systems Director for Linux on System z

Processor is a unit of measure by which the IBM Systems Director for Linux on System z program can be licensed Processor (commonly called a processor core,

CPU, or engine) is a functional unit within a computing device that interprets andexecutes instructions A processor consists of at least an instruction control unitand one or more arithmetic or logic unit With multicore technology each core isconsidered a processor Authorizations for the IBM Systems Director for Linux onSystem z program must be acquired for all activated processors available for usefor the server

In addition to the authorization required for the IBM Systems Director for Linux

on System z program directly, you must obtain authorizations for this programsufficient to cover the processor cores managed by the program For IBM System zmachines, the authorization required for the IBM Systems Director for Linux onSystem z program is based on the following:

1 When the IBM Systems Director for Linux on System z program is installed on

or managing engines with the Integrated Facility for Linux (IFL) feature, youmust acquire an authorization for each activated engine with the IFL feature onthat machine

2 When the IBM Systems Director for Linux on System z program is installed on

or managing general purpose engines, you must acquire an authorization foreach activated general purpose engine on that machine

Terms applicable to API use

The IBM Systems Director program includes APIs called Representational StateTransfer (REST) APIs and Advanced External Application Launch (AEAL) function.The IBM Systems Director REST APIs and AEAL function are described in thedocumentation, available through the IBM Systems Director Information Center.You may develop applications using the Program's REST APIs and/or AEALfunction solely for testing and deployment within your Enterprise and only in

connection with your internal business purposes An Enterprise is any legal entity(such as a corporation) and the subsidiaries it owns by more than 50 percent Youmay not rent, lease, loan, sell or otherwise distribute applications or derivativeworks created using the IBM Systems Director REST APIs and/or AEAL function

to third party end users external to your Enterprise unless you have entered into awritten contract with IBM for this purpose

Warranty

The Specified Operating Environment for the IBM Systems Director program may

be located in the Planning section of the IBM Systems Director Information Center.The IBM Systems Director program contains Upward Integration Modules (asdescribed in the documentation) for third party system management products tomanage IBM hardware platforms with IBM Director Agent components There is

no warranty or support service available for the Upward Integration Moduleswhen you use a third party system management product

Special terms for the Software Update component

When you use the Software Updates navigation link of the IBM Systems Directorprogram to request software updates, the Management Server component collectsinformation about the release level of certain software products installed on yourmachine ("Software Information") and electronically sends that Software

Information to IBM Software Information does not include business data such asyour financial, statistical and personnel data regarding your business You agreethat IBM (including subcontractors and consultants under contract to IBM) maystore and use Software Information for purposes of software maintenance andsupport, and that such Software Information (including any contact informationprovided by you) may be transferred to such entities in any country whether ornot a member of the European Union

Software Updates Licensee receives are covered by this Agreement If any

additional or different terms apply to any such Software Update, such terms will

be included with the Software Update

The following applies to use of IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V 9.7

Use Limitations: Use by Principal Program

"Use by Principal Program" means that neither you nor any application,program, or device external to the Principal Program is authorized todirectly use or access the services of IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V9.7 in any way The IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V 9.7 program isprovided exclusively for use by the Principal Program You may accessIBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V 9.7 only to perform administrativefunctions, such as backup, recovery, and authorized configuration but maynot directly use the IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V 9.7 program forany productive use

IBM provides the IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V 9.7 program withoutobligation of support and "AS IS," WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,

EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THEWARRANTY OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT OR NON-INTERFERENCE ANDANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITYAND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if you purchase an authorization to the IBMSystems Director Storage Control 4.2.1 (5765-ASM) product, the terms of the "IBMInternational Program License Agreement", including this License Information, willthen apply to your use of the IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V 9.7 program.

IBM Systems Director technical overview

IBM Systems Director is a platform-management foundation that streamlines theway you manage physical and virtual systems across a heterogeneous

environment By using industry standards, IBM Systems Director supports multipleoperating systems and virtualization technologies across IBM and non-IBM x86platforms

Through a single user interface, IBM Systems Director provides consistent viewsfor viewing managed systems, determining how these systems relate to oneanother, and identifying their statuses, thus helping to correlate technical resourceswith business needs A set of common tasks included with IBM Systems Directorprovides many of the core capabilities required for basic management, whichmeans instant out-of-the-box business value These common tasks includediscovery, inventory, configuration, system health, monitoring, updates, eventnotification, and automation across managed systems

IBM Systems Director's Web and command-line interfaces provide a consistentinterface focused on driving these common tasks and capabilities:

v Discovering, navigating, and visualizing systems on the network with thedetailed inventory and relationships to the other network resources

v Notifying users of problems that occur on system and ability to drill down tothe source of the problem

v Notifying users when systems need updates and distributing and installingupdates on a schedule

v Analyzing real-time data for systems and setting critical thresholds that notifythe administrator of emerging problems

v Configuring settings of a single system and creating a configuration plan thatcan apply those settings to multiple systems

v Updating installed plug-ins to add new features and function to the basecapabilities

v Managing the lifecycle of virtual resourcesIBM Systems Director is designed to manage simple and complex environments,with multiple operating systems and platforms, up to 5 000 managed systems Itsupports the management of a variety of IBM and non-IBM hardware drivingcommon tasks through the following platform management plug-ins and virtualresources The systems supported include:

v IBM Power Systems management– HMC, IVM, and VIOS appliances– Power servers, Power blades, and LS41 and QS21 blade servers– AIX , IBM i, and Linux on POWER®operating systems

v IBM BladeCenter and System x management– IBM BladeCenter chassis components, such as switch modules and serverblades

– System x systems and blade servers– VMWare, Microsoft Virtual Server (MSVS), and Xen virtual servers– Windows and Linux operating systems on System x

v IBM System z management

– z/VM hypervisor

– Linux on System z operating system installed on z/VM®virtual servers– Linux on System z running on a partition without z/VM

v IBM System Storage®management

– Integrated RIA controller (such as LSI)

– Network storage, such as DS3000, DS4000®, DS 5000, and DS6000™

– Storage switches, such as IBM BladeCenter SAS, Brocade, QLogic, Nortel, andCisco

v IBM System Storage management

IBM Systems Director integrates with robust workgroup and enterprise

management software from IBM (such as Tivoli software), Computer Associates,Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, NetIQ, and BMC Software

IBM Systems Director components

IBM Systems Director includes IBM Systems Director Server and two

operating-system agents: Common Agent and Platform Agent

IBM Systems Director Server provides a central point of control for aggregatingand managing discovered systems based on a service-oriented architecture It can

be installed on one or more systems, called management servers Systems that

connect to the IBM Systems Director Web interface on the management server

through a Web browser are called browser systems.

The operating-system agents serve as the control point for accessing operatingsystem and host information that might not be accessible through an out-of-bandinterface (such as remote supervisor adapter (RSA), Baseboard Management

Control (BMC), and BladeCenter Management Module) These agents run on

operating-system-based and hardware-based endpoints, called systems, that can be

discovered and managed by IBM Systems Director The level of system

management depends on the agent that is installed on the system: Common Agent

or Platform Agent Each agent provides a different footprint size, level of

performance, and set of management functions

IBM Systems Director can discover and manage some systems on which neither ofthese operating-system agents is installed, but the level of management is limited.This figure shows where the IBM Systems Director Server and operating-systemagents are installed in a basic IBM Systems Director environment

Management server

The management server is a system that has IBM Systems Director Server installed.

It provides a central point of control for aggregating and managing discoveredsystems based on a service-oriented architecture

IBM Systems Director Server stores data about discovered systems, their attributes,and their relationships to other resources in a relational database You can accessinformation that is stored in this database even when the managed systems are notavailable IBM Systems Director Server includes a default database, Apache Derby,although you can choose to use any supported database (including the

high-performance DB2 database)

IBM Systems Director Server includes two interfaces that the system administratorcan use to manage their environment: a Web user interface and a command-lineinterface The system that you use to interact with these interfaces is called the

- IBM Systems Director Server

- IBM Systems Director Web interface

- Command-line Interface

- Common Agent

SNMP devices

Agentless managed systems

- no IBM Systems Director

de installed co

Platform managed systems

- Platform Agent installed

on each

Common managed systems

- Common Agent installed

on each HTTPS TCP/IP Various protocols

FQM0501-0

Agentless managed systems

- no IBM Systems Director code installed

C

Figure 1 Software in an IBM Systems Director environment

Tip: When you install IBM Systems Director Server, the Common Agent is

installed automatically on that system The Common Agent provides a rich set ofsecurity, deployment, and management function

version 6.x or the older Level 2: IBM Director Agent version 5.20

The functionality that is available for Common Agent managed systems variesbased on the operating system and hardware in an environment, and includes thefollowing functionality:

v Discover systems

v Collect comprehensive platform and operating system inventory data

v Monitor health and status

v Manage alerts

v Remotely deploy and install Common Agent

v Perform remote access, including transferring files

v Perform power management function

v Additional event support

v Monitor processes and resources, and set critical thresholds send notificationswhen triggered

v Manage operating system resources and processes

For information about resource managers and agent managers, see “Commonagent services”.

Platform Agent

Platform Agent is well suited for environments that require a smaller footprintwithout sacrificing a high level of manageability It provides a subset of CommonAgent function used to communicate with and administer the managed systems,including hardware alerts and status information

Platform Agent is available for all IBM Power, System x and IBM BladeCenter, andSystem z, IBM System Storage systems, and some non-IBM systems

For IBM i, Platform Agent is part of the IBM Universal Manageability Enablementfor i Licensed Program Product that ships with the base operating system

Platform Agent 6.1.x is the upgrade replacement to Level 1: IBM Director CoreServices version 5.20.3 IBM Systems Director Server 6.1 and 6.1.x support systemsrunning either IBM Director Core Services version 5.20.3 or Platform Agent 6.1.x.Common Agent 6.1.1 supports systems running Platform Agent 6.1.x

Note: The version level of Platform Agent might not match the version levels ofIBM Systems Director Server or Common Agent

The function available for Platform Agent managed systems is limited to thefollowing tasks, and varies based on operating system and hardware

v Discover systems

v Collect limited platform inventory data

v Monitor health and status

v Manage alerts

v Remotely deploy and install Common Agent

v Perform limited remote access

v Perform limited restart capabilitiesFor a detailed list of function that is supported by Platform Agent managedsystems, see the Planning information in the information center at

Agentless managed systems

IBM Systems Director provides a set of manageability functions for managedsystems that do not have Common Agent or Platform Agent installed These

Agentless managed systems are best for environments that require very small

footprints and are used for specific tasks, such as one-time inventory collection,firmware and driver updates and remote deployment

Agentless managed systems must support the Secure Shell (SSH) or DistributedComponent Object Model (DCOM) protocol, or the Simple Network ManagementProtocol (SNMP) interface IBM Systems Director discovers Agentless managedsystems by verifying the IP addresses on your network and scanning the ports ofthose addresses using the SSH or DCOM protocols By default, IBM SystemsDirector uses the range of addresses that are in the IP domain of the managementserver You can discover a specific IP address or range of IP addresses using theIBM Systems Director Web interface

When an Agentless managed system is discovered, it is locked by default You canunlock the system by requesting access to it through IBM Systems Director

Agentless managed systems are well suited for one-time collection of inventory,and can be used for updating firmware and drivers, and remotely deploying andrunning it via SSH or DCOM services.

Note: No persistent data is stored on Agentless managed system

The function available to Agentless managed systems is limited to the followingtasks, and varies based on operating system, platform, and hardware

v Discover systems

v Collect limited operating-system inventory data

v Remotely deploy and install Common Agent and Platform Agent

v Perform limited remote access

v Perform limited restart capabilities

For a detailed list of function that is supported by Agentless managed systems, seethe “Planning for IBM Systems Director” section in the information center atpublib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/director/v6r2x/topic/

com.ibm.director.plan.helps.doc/fqm0_r_planning.html

Manageable resource types

A resource is a generic term for anything that IBM Systems Director can manage.

For example, systems, slots, cards, groups, and updates are all resources

From the Web interface, you can use the Find a Resource task to find resources anduse the Resource Explorer task to view and work with these resources

Manageable systems and system types

A system is one type of resource that IBM Systems Director manages It is an

operating-system-based or hardware-based resource that has an IP address andhost name and can be discovered and managed by IBM Systems Director From theNavigate Resource page in the IBM Systems Director Web interface, you can viewthe All Systems group to work with all discovered systems

Operating-system-based systems

Operating-system-based systems (referred to as operating systems) consist

of the operating system image, agent, drivers, applications, andconfiguration settings From the Navigate Resource page in the IBMSystems Director Web interface, you can view the All Operating Systemsgroup to work with these types of systems

Hardware-based systems

Hardware-based systems are the physical and virtual systems, such asservers, virtual servers, storage systems, and network devices Physicalsystems can host multiple operating systems and virtual servers, either byusing a dual-boot feature or by way of a hypervisor From the NavigateResource page in the IBM Systems Director Web interface, you can use theAll Network Systems, All Storage Systems, or All Systems groups to workwith the physical aspects of a system, determine how many virtual servers

a physical system contains, and determine how many operating systemsare running on a physical system

To view the relationships between systems, view the topology map view for a

system by selecting the system and then clicking Actions > Topology Perspectives.

A submenu of applicable perspectives is displayed

To view resources associated with a system, select the system and then click

Actions > Related Resources A submenu of applicable related resources is

Server A single node computer system such as a desktop, mobile device, or

NetPC The Server class type is derived from the ComputerSystem classtype

Tip: Virtual servers running on IBM systems are often referred to as logical

partitions or virtual machines.

After IBM Systems Director discovers a physical server, it continues the discoveryprocess to find all associated virtual servers Each IBM system offers virtualizationtechnologies to help you consolidate systems, optimize resource utilization, andimprove IT flexibility and responsiveness

transferred between the Web browser and Web interface through HTTPS

The system on which you logged in to the IBM Systems Director Web interface is

referred to as the browser system You log in to the IBM Systems Director through a

supported Web browser using this URL:

http://System_Name:Port_Number/ibm/console

where System_Name is the name of the system on which IBM Systems Director Server is installed and Port_Number is the first (lower) of two consecutive port

numbers that you specified for the Web server to use The default ports for the

Web server are 8421 and 8422 If you use port 8422, make sure that you specify

https to indicate a secure port

Command-line interfaces

You can use the systems management command-line interface interactively using

the smcli utilities This command-line interface (CLI) is an important primary

interface into IBM Systems Director and can be used either as an efficient way toaccomplish simple tasks directly or as a scriptable framework for automatingfunctions that are not easily accomplished from a graphical user interface Forsecurity reasons, the CLI runs only on the management server

The command-line interface follows the GN/POSIX conventions

Base function and extensible plug-ins

Base plug-ins in IBM Systems Director provide core function to manage the fulllifecycle of IBM servers, storage, network, and virtual servers Plug-ins that

provide advanced function or function tailored to a particular environment can bedownloaded and installed on top of IBM Systems Director

Basic user interface, security, and agent management functions include:

v Finding and viewing resources and resource information, including relationshipsand properties

v Organizing logical sets of resources into groups

v Starting, stopping, and scheduling tasks in IBM Systems Director

v Integrating third-party management software and other programs into the IBMSystems Director Web interface

v Managing auditing

v Encrypting interprocess communication

v Managing Common Agent registration and authentication

v Authenticating users through a configured user registry available from theoperating system, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), or domaincontroller

v Creating roles and authorizing users and user groups to access certain systems,groups, and tasks

v Managing credentials to support single sign-on authentication, even whenservices span different systems

v Installing, upgrading, and promoting agents

Discovery manager

Discovery manager performs physical and virtual system discovery and inventory

of related resources on the network

You can use the discovery manager plug-in to:

v Discover systems and other resources (such as physical and virtual servers,storage systems, and network devices) in a heterogeneous environment Discoverresources by using a single IPv4 or IPv6 address, a single host name, a range of

IP addresses, or use a discovery profile to discover systems of different typesacross multiple subnets

v Collect inventory data about hardware and software that is currently installed

on systems Inventory data is information about physical, logical, and virtual

hardware (such as virtual systems, virtual servers, and farms), softwareapplications, operating systems, middleware, firmware and BIOS, diagnosticinformation, and network

v Manage inventory profiles that you can use to discover a group of resources orcollect inventory data based on a set of criteria

v View systems, inventory data, and relationships among systems in the networkusing Navigate Resources

v Request access to manage security credentials for discovered systems

Status manager

Status manager provides an at-a-glance view of the health of your managed

resources (including systems, operating systems, applications, processes, and

security)

The status of discovered systems is automatically retrieved and displayed, and thisdisplay can be customized in several ways—using one of the system status andhealth tasks, navigating to a specific resource, or using the command line interface.You can use the status manager plug-in to:

v Use the Status Manager Summary page to view the status of discovered systemsand a summary of tasks that will help you manage the status, problems andevents for systems

v Determine the health, compliance, and performance of managed systems in your

environment using the health summary, scoreboard, and dashboard The health

summary shows the overall health of your managed systems The scoreboard

summarizes the hardware state, event state and compliance state for all

managed systems The dashboard shows performance information for specific

managed systems

v View the event log

v Identify problems and find the root cause by viewing detailed information aboutthe problems and inspecting the event log

v Monitor dynamic properties of resources by defining monitors and thresholds

v Monitor applications on a specific system by defining process monitors

v Automatically send notifications when devices and services on a specific systemreach or exceed a particular setting by defining thresholds

Configuration manager

Configuration manager is used to integrate new hardware into your environment,configure systems after installation, or do one-off configurations for problemresolution Configuration manager leverages a set of well defined templates thatcan be applied to servers, storage, and network resources even if the resources arecomprised of very different technologies

You can use the configuration manager plug-in to:

v Use the Configuration Manager Summary page to view system configurationstatus and a summary of tasks that will help you configure your systems

v Initially configure one or more systems (hardware and operating systems) to apoint where they can be deployed, allocated, and powered on

v Automatically configure newly discovered systems using the automatic-deploycapability of a configuration plan

v Reconfigure systems to prepare for redeployment, reallocation, or

re-provisioning (for example, as a result of an event or as part of a workflowthat the configuration needs to be support)

v Manage configuration templates and plans A configuration template is a collection

of settings and values that define the configuration of a system A configuration plan is a set of templates that can be applied to one or more systems in a specific

order

Automation manager

Automation manager provides tools to notify an administrator or run a predefinedtasks automatically when a certain event occurs

You can use the automation manager plug-in to:

v Use the Automation Manager Summary page to view the status of jobs andautomation plans and a summary of tasks that will help you automate tasks

v Create custom event-automation plans used to automate tasks and other

responses to situations that occur in your environment

v Create and manage event filters that allow the event automation plans to targetspecific events

v Create and manage event actions that identify tasks or commands to run ornotifications to send The types of actions include starting a noninteractive task

or program on the management server or the system on which the event wasgenerated or sending an email notifications over the Internet or to a mobilephone

Update manager

Update manager provides tools for maintaining current versions of operatingsystems, device drivers, firmware and BIOS, and IBM Systems Director agent andserver code on managed systems without an upgrade or migration of the installedproduct

You can use the update manager plug-in to:

v Use the Update Manager Summary page to view update status and a summary

of tasks that will help you manage updates on your systems

v View update history and status of targeted systems

v Identify updates available for your systems

v Create customized update groups for your company's certified list of updates

v Detect and view out-of-date systems

v Get a notification when systems are in need of updates and which updates areneeded

v Download, distribute, and install available and requisite updates in a singlerequest without repackaging or performing each step in the process separately

v Download and review update information, such as prerequisites, readmes,Release Notes, content letters, and associated collateral

Remote access manager

Remote access manager provides tools that support running and monitoringapplications and services running on remote systems

You can use the remote access manager plug-in to:

v View and interact with applications on a system remotely by displaying thescreen image of the system using remote control tools, including VirtualNetwork Computing (VNC), Remote Desktop (RDP), and web-based remotecontrol for IBM BladeCenter and RSA

v Run command-line programs through a remote session The remote sessioncreates less network traffic and uses fewer system resources than the remotecontrol applications and, therefore, is useful in low-bandwidth situations

v Run hardware management commands from the hardware command line, whichconnects to the service processor of the target system

v Manage files on a remote system

v Open console windows to one or more POWER managed systems

v Execute a command on one or more managed systems in parallel

You can use the virtualization manager plug-in to:

v Work with virtualized environments and tools, including Hardware

Management Console (HMC), Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM),

Microsoft Virtual Server, VMware, and Xen virtualization

v View topology that shows the connections between physical and virtual

resources, which can vary dynamically across time

v Track alerts and system status for virtual resources and their resources to easilydiagnose problems affecting virtual resources

v Create automation plans based on events and actions from virtual and physicalresources, such as relocating a virtual server based on critical hardware alerts

v Create, delete and manage virtual servers and virtual farms for several

virtualization technologies in the industry

v Relocate virtual servers to alternate physical hosts

Note: For the full set of virtualization support, it is recommended that you useIBM Systems Director VMControl See the Virtualization Management summarypage for more information

Network Management

Network Management provides management functions for network devices,including discovery, inventory, health and status monitoring, and configuration.You can use Network Management to:

v Discover network devices in your environment

v Review your network device inventory

v Monitor the health and status of network devices

v View network device configuration settings, and apply templates to configuredevices

v Run network diagnostics tools like ping and traceroute

IBM BladeCenter and System x management

IBM BladeCenter and System x management provides lifecycle management ofyour modular System x and IBM BladeCenter systems and related resources,including discovery, health and status monitoring, configuration, updates, andvirtualization It also provides platform-specific functions

You can use the IBM BladeCenter and System x management plug-in to:

v Change power settings

v Manage hardware logs

v Identify hardware using the locator LED

v Turn off light-path diagnostic LEDs

IBM System z management

IBM System z management provides the capability to discover System z hostedvirtual servers, and to access status information about them

This plug-in provides functions to discover, monitor status, configure, and updatethese virtual servers It also generates information used in the Welcome panelsummary view and includes support for Linux on System z and z/VM systemsrunning on IBM System z mainframes

IBM Power Systems management

IBM Power Systems management provides lifecycle management of your IBMPower systems, and platform managers such as Hardware Management Console(HMC) and Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM) platform managers, including

discovery, health and status monitoring, configuration, updates, and virtualization.

It also provides platform-specific functions

You can use the IBM Power Systems management plug-in to:

v Manage the following Power Systems environments that might include serverswith any supported processor versions running AIX , IBM i, or Linux:

– Power Systems managed by the Hardware Management Console– Power Systems managed by the Integrated Virtualization Manager– A Power Systems server with a single image (a nonpartitioned configuration)– A Power Architecture®BladeCenter server under the control of a BladeCentermanagement module

v Perform management tasks on systems that are under the control of HMC andIVM, including managing power, creating virtual serves, editing virtual serverresources, and relocating virtual servers between host systems

v Perform management tasks that are available from the IBM Systems DirectorWeb interface for supported versions of AIX and IBM i

For additional information about managing the virtualization and consolidation onPower systems using IBM Systems Director, see the Managing IBM Power Serverswith IBM Systems Director 6.1 white paper on the Web at: www.ibm.com/

common/ssi/fcgi-bin/ssialias?infotype=SA&subtype=WH

&appname=STGE_PO_PO_USEN&htmlfid=POW03011USEN

&attachment=POW03011USEN.PDF

IBM System Storage management

IBM System Storage management provides lifecycle management of your physicaland virtual storage systems, including discovery, health and status monitoring,configuration, updates, and virtualization It also provides platform-specificfunctions

You can use the IBM System Storage management plug-in to:

v Add storage systems to IBM Systems Director using a proxy provider

v Configure storage systems

v Manage storage devices

v Update a SAN configuration profile

v Launch storage management applications

v Use integrated SCM features to manage integrated RAID Controllers,BladeCenter SAS modules, and BC-S RAID SAS modules

v Use embedded management interfaces for DS3000, DS4000, and DS6000, andTotalStorage Productivity Center (TPC) to manage SAN Volume Controller(SVC), DS8000®and ESS storage devices

v Support for automation plans based on events and event actions from storageresources

v Support for IBM System Storage Area Network products

Additional IBM Systems Director plug-ins

Additional IBM Systems Director plug-ins can be downloaded and installed on top

of IBM Systems Director to provide advanced function or function tailored to aparticular environment

For a complete list of available plug-ins and for information about how todownload and install the plug-ins, see the IBM Systems Director Web site atwww.ibm.com/systems/management/director/plugins/

Active Energy Manager plug-in

The Active Energy Manager plug-in helps you to monitor and manage the powerand cooling needs of IBM servers and IBM BladeCenter systems Non-IBM systemscan also be monitored using metering products, such as power distribution units(PDU), sensors, and integration with facility software You can use Active EnergyManager to:

v Allocate less power and cooling infrastructure to your IBM servers

v Reduce power usage on select IBM servers

v Plan for the future by viewing trends of power usage over time

v Determine power usage for all components of a rack

Active Energy Manager is a licensed plug-in that supports Windows, Linux onPower Systems, and Linux on System x platforms

BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager plug-in

The BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager plug-in helps you to quickly replace andrecover blades in your environment You can use this plug-in to:

v Pre-assign MAC and WWN addresses, as well as storage boot targets for up to

100 chassis or 1400 blade servers

v Create addresses for blade servers, save the addresses to a configuration file, anddeploy the addresses to the blade slots in the same chassis or in up to 100different chassis without any blade servers installed in the chassis

v Automatically replace a failed blade from a designated pool of spare blades

BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager is a for-fee plug-in that supports all platforms

that IBM Systems Director supports

Service and Support Manager plug-in

The Service and Support Manager plug-in, which includes the Electronic ServiceAgent™tool, identifies and reports hardware problems and service informationautomatically to IBM for service and support All information sent to IBM is stored

in a secure IBM database and used for improved problem determination You canuse Service and Support Manager to:

v Place service calls to IBM automatically if the system is under a service

agreement or warranty

v Collect and send scheduled system inventory and diagnostic inventory to anIBM database This inventory information is available to IBM support

representatives when they are solving your problem

v Communicate with IBM using a secure Internet connection using encryption andauthentication

Service and Support Manager is a free plug-in that is supported on the following

operating systems when installed on the IBM Systems Director managementserver:

v Windows for 32–bit and 64–bit systems

v Linux on System x for 32–bit and 64–bit systems

v Linux on Power Systems

v Linux on System z

v AIX

IBM Systems Director Network Control plug-in

The Network Control plug-in provides facilities to discover, inventory, and monitornetwork devices, launch vendor applications for configuration of network devices,and see groups of network devices

Note: IBM Systems Director Network Control V1.1 is not supported on IBMSystems Director When you install or upgrade to IBM Systems Director V6.2, the

Managepage displays Network Management in place of IBM Systems DirectorNetwork Control

IBM Systems Director Storage Control 4.2.1

The Storage Control plugin lets you manage an expanded set of storagesubsystems and Fibre Channel switches

You can use Storage Control to discover and collect inventory, and monitor devicehealth These subsystems include the IBM DS8000 family (DS8100, DS8300, DS8700,DS8800), the SAN Volume Controller, and the IBM Storwize V7000, as well as theBrocade Fibre Channel switches

Important: You must use IBM DB2 Enterprise Edition v 9.7 (GA version only; fixpacks are not supported) as the local database application for Systems Director touse Storage Control That is, the correct version of IBM DB2 must be installed onthe same system as Systems Director Migration from other databases withinSystems Director to IBM DB2 is not supported

For more information about Storage Control, see this topic: IBM Systems DirectorStorage Control 4.2.1

IBM®Systems Director Transition Manager for HP®Systems Insight Manager™ plug-in

The Transition Manager for HP®Systems Insight Manager™plug-in enables you todiscover systems that are being managed by HP Systems Insight Manager andsmoothly make the transition to managing the systems in IBM Systems Director.Transitioned systems can be either IBM and non-IBM hardware After the transition

is complete, you can manage the systems using IBM Systems Director which canprovide superior systems-management features for IBM hardware Additionally,you can still manage the systems using HP®Systems Insight Manager™

IBM Systems Director VMControl plug-in

The VMControl plug-in is designed to simplify the management of workloads inyour IT environment Use IBM Systems Director VMControl Express®Edition, IBMSystems Director VMControl Standard Edition, and IBM Systems Director

VMControl Enterprise Edition to manage virtual servers, virtual appliances,workloads, and system pools across multiple hardware platforms andvirtualization environments from one location

IBM PowerVM™ Workload Partition Manager for AIX plug-in

IBM PowerVM Workload Partition Manager for AIX (WPAR Manager) is a plug-infor IBM Systems Director that provides a centralized point of control for managingworkload partitions (WPARs) across a collection of managed systems running AIX Workload Partition Manager can manage heterogeneous environments of

managed systems at different AIX technology levels However, to exploit fullmanagement capabilities, the Workload Partition Manager agent should beupdated to the latest version The following features are supported on all AIXtechnology levels: Cross-system management of WPARs, including lifecyclemanagement Global load balancing with application mobility Web-basedadministration of basic WPAR operations and advanced management tasksMonitoring and reporting of WPAR performance metrics.

Upward integration

IBM Systems Director lets you to make the most of your existing enterprisemanagement structure by upwardly integrating with many workgroup andenterprise-management products

IBM Systems Director upward integration modules (UIMs) and management packsenable non-IBM workgroup and enterprise-management products to interpret anddisplay data that is provided by Common Agent and Platform Agent IBM SystemsDirector UIMs and management packs provide enhancements to the

enterprise-management products that you can use to collect inventory data, viewIBM Systems Director event notifications, and for some UIMs, distribute IBMSystems Director software packages

With the IBM Systems Director UIMs and management packs, you can use yourenterprise-management software to manage systems that have Platform Agent orCommon Agent software installed on them

You can use Platform Agent software to:

v Gather detailed inventory information about your systems, including operatingsystem, memory, network adapters, and hardware

v Track your systems with features such as power management, event log, andsystem monitor capabilities

Platform Agent uses some of the latest systems-management standards, includingCommon Information Model (CIM), Web-Based Enterprise Management (WEBM)and Extensible Markup Language (XML), to provide compatibility with yourexisting enterprise-management software

For more information about upward integration modules, see IBM SystemsDirector Upward Integration Modules in the IBM Systems information center onthe Web at publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/director/v6r2x/topic/

com.ibm.director.uims.helps.doc/fqs0_main.html

You can also configure IBM Systems Director Server to forward alerts (such asSNMP) to higher-level enterprise managers, including CA Unicenter NSM, HPOpenView NNM, HP OpenView Operations for Windows, Tivoli Netview, TivoliManagement Framework, Microsoft Systems Center Operations Manager, andMicrosoft Systems Management Server

I'm a 5.20 user How do I use 6.x?

You know what you need to do in IBM Director 5.20, now use this section to learnhow to do it in IBM Systems Director 6.x After you become accustomed to thisinterface, you'll be able to see the status of your systems management environmentquickly and more easily than ever before

Meeting customer demand for a Web-based interface, IBM Systems Director 6.xdelivers cutting-edge usability built on industry-accepted Web-interface standards.Use these topics to find answers to some of the questions you might have aboutIBM Systems Director 6.x.

Why am I starting at the Welcome page?

In IBM Director Console version 5.20, limited status information was displayedalong the bottom of the window This information included the number ofmanaged objects that had critical, warning, or information alerts; the status of IBMDirector; the host and login information for IBM Director Server; and the number

of managed objects in the Group Contents pane In the IBM Systems Director Web

interface, the Welcome page gives you at-a-glance status information

The Welcome page gives you information about all of your systems with fast-pathoptions to detailed information and tasks The Welcome page lets you start yourwork with a clear picture of your current systems-management environment

IBM Systems Director Welcome page

Use the IBM Systems Director Welcome page to complete first-time setup steps,make sure IBM Systems Director and its plug-ins are setup and configured,manage your environment from plug-in summary pages, and access informationcenter topics and tutorials to expand your skills with IBM Systems Director

The following links are available at the top of the Welcome page:

I'm a 5.20 user; how do I use 6.x?

Opens the IBM Systems Director information center to provide informationthat describes how to use IBM Systems Director 6.x compared to the tasks

in IBM Director version 5.20 This information is specifically designed forIBM Director version 5.20 users that want to understand how to completefamiliar tasks using the new IBM Systems Director Web interface

About

Displays the version of your IBM Systems Director installation

Figure 2 The Welcome page displaying the Start, Manage, and Learn tabs

Web resources

Displays other information resources that are available on the Web

Update IBM Systems Director Server

Checks for and displays any updates that are available from the IBM Website that are required by IBM Systems Director Server

The Start page:

Provides the tasks to perform getting started discovery (also called initial

discovery) in your systems-management environment, request access to yourdiscovered resources, and collect inventory from your resources Then, use the nextsteps provided on this page to make IBM Systems Director more productive Auser must have the AllPermission permission to view this page; otherwise, it is notdisplayed For more information, see “Security.”