Sun Management Center 3.0 FAQ

Product Questions

1.1 What is Sun Management Center?

Sun Management Center is a Sun systems and application monitoring solution for Sun hardware and software. It simplifies the task of monitoring and managing Sun components by providing a single point of management. Sun Management Center is scalable, with add-on modules to monitor many enterprise components: hardware, operating systems, network devices and applications. Sun Management Center can be integrated with other management software and devices and computers running operating systems other than Sun Solaris.

1.2 What is Sun Enterprise SyMON?

Sun has renamed Sun Enterprise SyMON to Sun Management Center with the release of version 2.1.

1.3 What does Sun Management Center do?

Sun Management Center monitors the health of the Solaris operating system, hardware, and applications. It provides notification on the detection of problems based on user-defined alarm parameters and can be configured to take corrective or preventive action when necessary.

Sun Management Center's framework can be extended using other third party products, e.g. Halcyon PrimeAlert add-on modules to monitor databases, applications, integrate monitoring scripts and perform event-based actions such as SNMP trap forwarding and paging.

1.4 How does Sun Management Center work?

Sun Management Center framework has a three-tier architecture comprised of a Console, Server Layer, and Agent.

The Console is a portable, Java-based interface to Sun Management Center. It provides the user with a visual representation of the status of objects being monitored by Sun Management Center. When the alarm criteria for any object are met, the object's alarm status is instantly displayed on the console. Multiple consoles on different hosts can view the status of the object.

The Server Layer brokers Console - Agent communication and performs security functions and event logging. It manages users' views of the systems being monitored and acts as a repository for centralized alarm actions.

The Agent is a daemon installed on each host monitored by Sun Management Center that performs data-gathering, monitoring, and alarm notification. Agents can be dynamically configured to monitor hardware, operating systems, and applications, depending on the modules that have been loaded into it. Agents send alarm status to the Console and can be configured to take corrective action such as restarting a failed process.

1.5 What are Sun Management Center's hardware requirements?

The following system requirements are documented in the Sun Management Center datasheet which may be viewed at Sun Management Center hardware requirements.

For the Server, the minimum requirements are:

Solaris 2.6, 7 (32 or 64 bit), or 8
300 MB disk space in /opt
500 MB disk space in /var/opt
Ultra 60 w/dual CPU minimum
512 MB RAM minimum
200 MB dedicated swap space
Dedicated system recommended
Installation program will abort with less than 128 MB RAM
Requires a reboot

For the Console, the minimum and suggested requirements are:

Solaris 2.6, 7 (32 or 64 bit), or 8
Ultra 1 with 128 MB RAM (256 Recommended)
63 MB disk space in /opt

Window 98/ME/NT/2000
300 MHz Pentium with 128 MB RAM (256 Recommended)
63 MB disk space

For the Agent, the minimum requirements are:

Solaris 2.5.1, 2.6, 7 (32 or 64 bit), or 8
Any SPARC platform-based desktop and servers
24 MB disk space in /opt

To get better performance from both the Console and Server Layer running on systems that meet the minimum requirements, Halcyon recommends running the Console and Server Layer on different hosts.

1.6 What operating systems does Sun Management Center support?

For the latest information on supported platforms, visit www.sun.com/solaris/sunmanagementcenter/docs/.

Halcyon has announced the availability of Sun Management Center inter-operable PrimeAlert Agent for Microsoft Windows, PrimeAlert Agent for HP-UX and, PrimeAlert Agent for Linux

1.7 Where can I get Sun Management Center?

The Sun Management Center framework may be downloaded from www.sun.com/sunmanagementcenter. The framework is FREE for the Basic Pack which allows you to perform all hardware monitoring. Additional packs are available, namely the Advanced System Monitoring Pack and Premier Management Applications Pack which require licenses. These licenses may be purchased directly from Sun Microsystems or from Halcyon Monitoring Solutions Inc. (Sun Microsystems Reseller). See FAQ 1.17 for details on the various packs.

1.8 Does Sun Management Center integrate with other management tools?

Sun Microsystems Inc., has announced the integration of Sun Management Center with the products of leading enterprise system management vendors. Visit the Sun Partner Forum at www.sun.com/sunmanagementcenter/partner-forum for more information.

1.9 What kind of security does Sun Management Center offer?

Communication between the Server Layer and the Console is secured by authentication. By default, messages sent from the Console are authenticated by the Server Layer. To have the Console authenticate messages from the Server Layer, select the "strong" security scheme in the Login Window's "Options" dialog. Logins are validated with the password and group files on the Server Layer host.

NOTE: Selecting a strong security scheme will slow the display of data on the console.

Sun Management Center users that are listed in the 'esusers' file are considered general users, i.e. they are given permission to view data, trigger refreshes, and graph data but they may not create objects, set alarms, load modules, enable logging, etc. These administrative functions are limited to members of the groups esdomadm and esadm, as listed in the file '/etc/group'. Admin users also have all the privileges of general users.

NOTE: The '/var/optSUNWsymon/cfg/esusers' and '/etc/group' files must reside on the same host as the cfgserver server component.

All managed objects in a Sun Management Center agent have an Access Control List (ACL) and can be viewed by right-clicking on the object, selecting 'Attribute Editor', and clicking on the 'Security' tab. From here, administrators can change the ACL by adding or deleting users, groups, or SNMP communities from the list.

For further information about Sun Management Center security, please refer to the Sun Management Center documentation.

1.10 What processes are part of Sun Management Center?

On a SunMC server these processes are running:

   Agent process: esd - init agent -dir /var/opt/SUNWsymon
   Config server process: esd - init cfgserver -dir /var/opt/SUNWsymon
   Topology process: esd - init topology -dir /var/opt/SUNWsymon
   Trap process: esd - init trap -dir /var/opt/SUNWsymon
   Event process: esd - init event -dir /var/opt/SUNWsymon
   CST Service process: esd - init cstservice -dir /var/opt/SUNWsymon
   Metadata process: esd - init metadata -dir /var/opt/SUNWsymon

   Oracle processes:
      /opt/SUNWsymon/SunMCDB01/app/oracle/product/8.1.6/bin/tnslsnr smcdblistener -in
      ora_pmon_SunMC30
      ora_dbw0_SunMC30
      ora_lgwr_SunMC30
      ora_ckpt_SunMC30
      ora_smon_SunMC30
      ora_reco_SunMC30
      ora_s000_SunMC30
      ora_d000_SunMC30


Java Server process:

   /opt/SUNWsymon/jre1.1.6/bin/bin/sparc/green_threads/jre -DINTERFACE_PATH=/va

Agent host has the agent process running:

   Agent process: esd - init agent -dir /var/opt/SUNWsymon

And when a user starts a GUI this process will appear on that host:

   /common/jdk1.1.6/bin/bin/sparc/green_threads/jre com.sun.symon.base.console

Note: Path /common/jdk1.1.6... depends on the location of the jdk installation.

1.11 What modules are available for Sun Management Center?

The modules bundled with Sun Management Center differ depending on the pack under consideration. Three packs are available, the Basic FREE Pack, the Advanced System Monitoring Pack and the Premier Management Applications Pack. Each pack's modules are listed below:

Agent Statistics

monitors the health statistics of Sun Management Center Agents

Config-Reader

monitors hardware on the host including memory errors, board temperatures, power supply status, etc.

Simple Kernel Reader

monitors kernel statistics such as system load, CPU, file system usage, memory usage, swap usage, users logged in, and several other features

Simple MIB-II

displays information related to the systems and interfaces groups of MIB-II nodes

Data Logging Registry

displays information on all data being logged by the agent

Dynamic Reconfiguration

monitors the dynamic reconfiguration properties (only available for specific platforms)

Agent Statistics

monitors the health statistics of Sun Management Center Agents

Config-Reader

monitors hardware on the host including memory errors, board temperatures, power supply status, etc.

Directory Size Monitoring

monitors the size and growth rate of a directory and its subdirectories

File Monitoring

monitors the size, growth rate, and time of last modification of files

MIB-II Instrumentation

provides MIB-II data as per RFC 1213

Kernel Reader

monitors kernel statistics such as system load, CPU, file system usage, memory usage, swap usage, users logged in, and several other features

NFS Filesystems

monitors the disk space of NFS filesystems

NFS Statistics

monitors RPC and NFS statistics for the host

Simple MIB-II

displays information related to the systems and interfaces groups of MIB-II nodes

Solaris Process Details

monitors process statistics for the Solaris OS

Data Logging Registry

displays information on all data being logged by the agent

Dynamic Reconfiguration

monitors the dynamic reconfiguration properties (only available for specific platforms)

Health Monitor

monitors the health of the host and offers suggestions on corrective action when alarm conditions occur

Print Spooler

monitors the status of the printer daemon, print queue, and print devices on the local host

Process Monitoring

monitors process characteristics: Process Count, % CPU Usage, virtual size, resident set size, etc.

File Scanning

scans files for user-defined regular expressions. This can be any text file or Sun Management Center circular log file either user-defined or system.

HP JetDirect

monitors printers with the HP JetDirect card

MIB-II Proxy Monitoring

monitors MIB-II parameters for remote SNMP Agents

IPV 6

monitors Internet Procol Version 6 information

Hardware Diagnostics

pro-active online simulation of hardware devices to detect/test hardware.

Web Interface

performs a sub-set of the console's tasks through a standard web browser.

Group Operations

provides the ability to apply changes globally - across multiple monitored hosts.

Module Configuration Propagation

provides the ability to move Sun Management Center configuration files between monitored hosts.

Command Line Interface

provides the ability to manage Sun Management Center Server a command line interface.

Import/Export Data Functions

provides the ability to save and restore topology information.

Data Views

provide the ability to create custom windows of monitored objects.

Appendix C in the Sun Management Center documentation contains more specific descriptions of each module.

The Sun Management Center Partner Forum lists companies providing software which integrates with Sun Management Center.

Add-on modules that extend Sun Management Center capabilities are available from Halcyon Monitoring Solutions Inc. To see all of the add-on products currently available click here.

1.12 How can I use Sun Management Center to monitor my own applications?

To get you started, the Process Monitoring, File Scanning, File Monitoring and Directory Size Monitoring Modules can be loaded into an agent and used to monitor the health of your application or business processes. When loading each module, specify the module parameters and set the alarm criteria and actions appropriately.

Process Monitoring - Are your processes running? Does your application run processes that could indicate conditions of concern (state, size, CPU usage)?

File Scanning - Does your process/application log information or write files that can be scanned using regular expressions?

File Monitoring - Does your application use, manage, or work with files whose properties could indicate conditions of concern (size, growth rate, time of modification)?

Directory Size Monitoring - Does your application use, manage, or work with directories whose properties (size, growth rate) could indicate conditions of concern?

Users can also use the PrimeAlert ScriptRunner to integrate their own shell-scripts and C programs, etc. with Sun Management Center. Users can run their own scripts and parse the output they produce. The module can also be configured to display an alarm when particular expressions are detected in the output.

1.13 Where can I find more information about Sun Management Center?

Sun Microsystems's web site has a number of documents that may be downloaded from www.sun.com/sunmanagementcenter/docs. Sun's support policy is described in www.sun.com/sunmanagementcenter/. Some newsgroups occasionally post messages related to Sun Management Center, such as:

comp.sys.sun.admin
comp.sys.sun
comp.unix.misc
comp.unix.admin
comp.unix.solaris
comp.unix.questions

Halcyon also suggest you search on Deja.com (www.deja.com) for possible postings.

1.14 Where can I learn more about the Sun Management Center developers environment?

There is a Developers Environment FAQ at http://www.sun.com/software/sunmanagementcenter/developers/faqs/. That page also contains links to other Sun development information.

1.15 What are the new features in Sun Management Center 3.0?

1.16 Do I need to know Oracle to install Sun Management Center?

Sun Management Center installs Oracle as a block-box database. It is automatically installed as part of the Sun Managment Center installation.

1.17 How do I add non-Sun agents into the Sun Management Center topology for monitoring?

To add non-Sun hosts such as your Windows 2000, Linux or HP-UX boxes for monitoring in Sun Management Center follow the steps listed below:

Note: The example given below is for a Linux agent, the same steps apply to other agents including Sun agents running on non-default ports.

Using the Sun Management Center console, do the following:

1. In the main console window, select "Create Object... " from the "Edit" menu

2. Select the "Node" tab in the resulting dialog box.

3. Select "SNMP Ping" from the "Monitor Via" picklist.

4. Enter a label in the "Node Label" field, e.g. Molson (Linux)

5. Optionally enter a description in the "Description" field, e.g. Linux Host on 4th floor, main building

6. Enter the hostname in the "Hostname" field, e.g. molson

7. Optionally, enter the IP address in the "IP Address" field, e.g. 192.1.4.5

8. Enter the port number in the "Port" field. This is the port number you provided during installation of the PrimeAlert Agent for Linux. The default is 161.
161

Note: If it was necessary to install the PrimeAlert Agent for Linux on another port (e.g. because there was already an agent using UDP port 161), then specify the port you used.

9. Click "OK". A new node is inserted into the topology window.

10. Highlight the newly created node and right-click to select "Modify" from popup menu.

11. Select the "Node" tab in the resulting dialog box.

12. Select "Sun Management Center Agent - Host" from the "Monitor Via" picklist.

13. Click "OK".

1.18 Why are large tables in the Sun Management Center console not appearing properly?

Sun Management Center 2.1.1 has a problem displaying large tables that have more than 40 rows of data in multiply instantiable modules (modules that can be loaded more than once).

This has been fixed in the latest release of Halcyon modules for SunMC 3.0. If you are running a SunMC 2.1 console and would like to receive a patch to alleviate the problem, please contact Halcyon.

Note: This problem does not occur in the PrimeAlert WebPortal.

2.1 Can Sun Management Center agents be extended to alarm on the status of enterprise-specific MIB objects?

Sun Management Center Developer Environment provides the means to expand Sun Management Center to monitor other enterprise-specific MIB objects. Companies such as Halcyon can write custom modules to do this.

2.2 Does Sun Management Center support RMON (RFC 1757)?

No, Sun Management Center does not support RMON. Sun Management Center was designed to facilitate remote monitoring by MIB-II proxy monitoring and custom modules specifically designed to understand the MIB of remote objects and match their error levels to Sun Management Center's internal alarming model.

2.3 How does Sun Management Center handle alarms / thresholds / health monitoring type SNMP traps?

When alarm criteria are met, Sun Management Center agents generate a status trap to the trap handler. These traps are forwarded to all subscribers to the Server Layer. Here, SNMP traps are correlated against its cached jobs on behalf of all subscribing consoles. When matches are found, the SNMP job is fired, the value is acquired from the agent via SNMP get, and the value returned to the console via the Client API.

2.4 How do I override default alarm limits?

Default alarm limits in Sun Management Center are hard-coded. Although they may not be deleted, they may be edited so that they don't alarm. For example, if the default alarm limit of an object is 90%, it may be changed to 110% to avoid triggering an alarm.

2.5 Are user-defined alarm, threshold, severity parameters kept in persistent storage?

Yes. Alarm criteria (i.e. thresholds) are persistent, so that they remain after an agent or host is restarted.

2.6 How do I switch a Sun Management Center agent running on a host connected to multiple networks from one network to the other?

When installing an agent on a host with more than one IP address, the agent will use the IP address to which the hostname is assigned. To change the IP address used by the agent to the other, do the following:

1. Become root on the host.

2. Stop the agent using:

# /opt/SUNWsymon/sbin/es-stop -a

3. Change the agent's interface by editing /var/opt/SUNWsymon/cfg/domain-config.x

4. Locate and modify the "agentServer" parameter to the desired IP Address (or the hostname which resolves the proper IP Address)

5. Reseed the agent by running:

# /opt/SUNWsymon/sbin/es-run base-usm-seed.sh -s <secret> -p <public> -c agent

where <secret> is the esmaster seed and <public> is the espublic seed you used in the setup process for your other components.

6. Remove /var/opt/SUNWsymon/log/agentStatus.log

7. Start the agent using:

# /opt/SUNWsymon/sbin/es-start -a

Note: If you have any references to this agent in your topology they will have to be deleted and re-created (via discovery or manual create).

2.7 How do I view Sun Management Center log files using Sun Management Center?

Log files for all components running on a particular host are located in /var/opt/SUNWsymon/log. The log files are circular, and normally they must be viewed using special utilities. One option is to use the PrimeAlert FileBrowser module to display these log files from within the Sun Management Center console. This module also supports viewing of non-circular logfiles, and allows filtering and pattern matching to highlight conditions of interest.

Sun Management Center log files may also be viewed using the 'ccat' and 'ctail' utilities that are included in the distribution package. 'ccat' will display the entire file, while 'ctail' will display the most recent additions to the file (similar to the UNIX 'tail' command).

To execute 'ccat', type:

'/opt/SUNWsymon/sbin/es-run ccat <filename>'

To execute 'ctail', type:

'/opt/SUNWsymon/sbin/es-run ctail [ -f -l -n <number_of_lines> ] <filename>'

The options for 'ctail' are:

'-f' which monitors the growth of the file, printing new additions to the file to standard output

'-l' which prints absolute line number at the beginning of each message

'-n <number_of_lines>' which displays the user-specified number of lines, the last 15 lines are displayed by default

2.8 How do I view previously matched lines that have been alarmed on after the pattern match in alarm matches a new line?

After a matched line has triggered an alarm, the next time it matches a line, the Event Manager closes the old alarm before it opens the most recent one. You can still view the old alarms under the 'Alarms' tab in the 'Details' window, where you will see the matched line for all alarms displayed.

Though these older alarms are in a 'closed' state, they are considered 'unacknowledged', so you can tell the difference between alarms that you have viewed before (by acknowledging them as you see them) and these newer alarms.

Note that if you acknowledge the most recent alarm, the Module will not display any alarm status because the most recent alarm has been acknowledged, and the previous alarms are closed.

2.9 How do I plot an object's historical data to a graph?

To plot an object's historical data to a graph, you must turn on data logging to the memory cache. To do this:

1. Right-click on the object's value you want to plot.

2. Select "Attribute Editor...". This will launch the Attribute Editor.

3. Select the "History" tab.

4. Click on the "Save History in Memory Cache" under Memory Cache.

5. Change the "Max Size (sample)" value to the number of historical data points you wish to graph. The maximum number of data points that may be saved is 1500.

6. Click "OK"

Whenever an object's data value is graphed, the historical data is automatically graphed first. New data values will also be graphed.

Note: Although the agent's historical data is logged in the /var/opt/SUNWsymon/history.log file, this file is strictly used for archival purposes.

2.10 What is a remote server context?

A server context is defined as all agents that share the same trap handler. Each server layer has its own trap handler.

2.11 Where can I get the MIB for Sun Management Center agent and its modules?

Sun has a Developer Center webpage where more information on the Sun Management Center Developer Environment can be found.

2.12 The Java console seems to be slow. Any suggestion?

Some performance improvement has been noticed when using the Windows NT console. You could also try using the PrimeAlert WebPortal module which provides read-only access (plus alarm acknowledgement) using a standard web browser.

2.13 How can I monitor the server components and ensure they are always running

You need to run another server (secondary) on a different host which will monitor the first server (primary) and vice versa. In the secondary host add objects which will monitor the primary server components. Use 'Create Topology Objects' to create primary component objects. Enter the hostname and port number of the components (agent - 161, trap - 162, event - 163, topology - 164, config server - 165, cstserver - 167, metadata - 168, server - 2099). Now for each primary object add an alarm action (right click on the object and select 'Alarm Action...') - alarm notification through paging, email etc. Do the same for primary server. Now in case any of the server components on either the primary or secondary server goes down, you will get alarm notification.

2.14 Can standard rules be distributed over multiple machines running Sun Management Center agents?

Alarm rules are implemented as Tcl procedures. If you have customized rules, you can simply copy the .rul file to /var/opt/SUNWsymon/cfg directory on each host where the agent has the corresponding module loaded which refers to the customized rules.

2.15 What is the platform process?

When shutting down Sun Management Center you may notice that there is a message claiming that the platform process is not found. This process is only available on the SSP agent host for the E10000. The SSP has a platform agent running (platform process) in addition to the regular agent.

2.16 I moved an Agent to a different server context. How can I remove the remaining context information from the first server?

Sun provides an interactive script to manipulate context information, including removing entries (like when an Agent changes servers). The script is called es-servercontrol.sh and can be found in /opt/SUNWsymon/base/sbin. When you run the script as root you will be given a list of options to choose from. The one you want is:

   8) Remove a host:port from the Cfgserver Engines Table

This will remove the remaining cfgserver information from your initial server.

2.17 Does Sun Management Center support any of Sun's storage arrays? If so, how do I get array information from within my console?

Sun Management Center currently only supports the A5x00 series of arrays. Disk information will show up under Operating System -> Kernel Reader -> Filesystem Usage. The physical view can be accessed through the Hardware tab by selecting the socplus card, right-clicking, and selecting the "sena" option.

2.18 How can I use Sun Management Center to monitor other platforms?

The PrimeAlert family of products includes SunMC Agents for non-Sun platforms such as Microsoft Windows (SP5 and above), HP-UX and Linux (Intel).

2.19 I'd like to change the Sun Management Center SNMP community string to something other than "public". What do I have to do?

Halcyon recommends the following method especially if you have many agents:

1. Create a new Solaris user on your SunMC server host where the user name should be the new community string you want to use. The password doesn't matter.

2. Add the new username to the /var/opt/SUNWsymon/cfg/esusers file on the SunMC server host.

3. Log into a SunMC console using the new user. Then exit the console. (No additional configuration has to be done after logging in).

4. Delete/disable the user account on your SunMC server host. Do not erase the name from /var/opt/SUNWsymon/cfg/esusers though.

5. Change the SNMP community string from "public" to the name of the new user you created. You do this using the Attribute Editor, in the Security tab. Note: You need to log into SunMC as a user with SunMC administrator privileges to change security attributes.

Explanation:

2.20 How do I run multiple topology Agents?

Multiple topology Agents can be run to scale a SunMC server to support more hosts, but this is an advanced topic not intended for all installations. Please email info@HalcyonInc.com for more information.

3.1 Why doesn't Sun Management Center run my own script as an alarm action?

Sun Management Center will ONLY run files owned by root in this directory:

/var/opt/SUNWsymon/bin

This is a security feature. Even if somebody gains access to a Sun Management Center console with permissions to change alarm actions, they won't be able to execute arbitrary commands. They would still need root access to place the executables in the directory.

3.2 Why is the Health Monitoring Module always telling me that I need to add more swap?

This is a bug in the swap rule for the Health Monitoring Module in Sun Enterprise SyMON 2.0. This bug has been fixed in version 2.0.1. You should obtain the latest version of the Sun Management Center framework from Sun Microsystems.

3.3 Why is the Health Monitoring Module always telling me that I have too much swap?

This is a bug in the swap rule for the Health Monitoring Module in Sun Enterprise SyMON 2.0.1.

3.4 How can I use the File Scanning Module to scan for strings if I am uncertain when a file is created or destroyed?

Scanning such a file for strings can be achieved by leaving the module on continuously and disabling the alarm triggered when the file doesn't exist. This can be done by setting an invalid "Alarm Window" in the "Filename" field of the File Scanning Module.

1. Right-click on the Filename field and select "Attribute Editor".

2. Click on the "Alarms" tab.

3. Specify an active window that doesn't exist. For example, enter:

Time > 6:00:00 PM && Time < 6:00:00 AM

This means you will never trigger an alarm when the file doesn't exist, but the module is always enabled so it will scan for the patterns you want any time it does exist. Note: An active window of "Year equals 1970" would also work.

3.5 What is the difference between Matches and Total Matches in the File Scanning Module?

This depends on the scan mode you have selected. For any mode other than "Full", "Total Matches" is the matches found since the last scan, and "Matches" is matches since the module was loaded. If you have set the scan mode to "full", then there is no difference. (In "Full" scan mode, the entire file is re-scanned each time it is modified.)

3.6 Why does the Process Monitoring module report that a specific process is not running when I can see the process when I do a ps command?

Solaris 2.5.1 limits the process name up to 14 characters. The pattern used in the module should also be limited to 14 characters.

3.7 How does the HP JetDirect Module determine printer status alarm severity?

The alarm level is determined by reading the text status message that is received from the printer. The current HP JetDirect Module uses the following rules to determine event severity:

• Messages received from the printer beginning with "0", for example "00 Ready", are assigned an "OK" status.



• Messages that begin with a digit other than "0", for example "14 No Toner Cartridge" are assigned a "Warning" status.

3.8 Can I get MIBs for PrimeAlert Modules for Sun Management Center?

Please contact info@HalcyonInc.com for details.

4.1 What can I do to make Sun Management Center run faster?

Sun Management Center will run better if the Console and Server are run on separate hosts. This is especially true for users running Sun Management Center on hosts that do not meet the minimum requirements. For users running Windows NT/9x/2000, the Sun Management Center console can be installed and run locally.

In general, CPU and memory resources consumed by the Agent may be decreased by unloading unnecessary modules from the Agent. This can be done directly from the Console by selecting the module in the left hand side hierarchy pane, clicking right and selecting "Unload Module" from the popup menu.

Alternatively, the active module time window may be used to automatically disable modules when they are not required using the Attribute Editor. See Sun Management Center documentation for more information. Disabled modules do not consume CPU but still consume memory.

Note: Console updates (e.g. alarm status changes) may appear to be slow if Agents are not configured to send SNMP traps to the Server Layer host. In that case, consoles will only update on a polling basis, rather than updating asynchronously when traps are sent, e.g. when alarms occur. The Server Layer host is specified when installing the Agent.

The level of security used will also affect how quickly data appears in the console. Strong security will result in slower than usual console updates. Medium security is recommended for users looking to improve the speed of console updates.

4.2 What do I do if the Sun Management Center console doesn't appear on my Windows NT/9x/2000 desktop?

If you start a Sun Management Center console from Windows and the login window does not appear on your desktop, check the Taskbar at the bottom of you desktop for the Management Center task. Use this button to access the login window by maximizing it and resizing it accordingly.

4.3 What do I do if the console hangs during login?

The console will hang during login if the Server Layer is unable to resolve the host name of the host on which the console is being started. In this case, the Server Layer host's local /etc/hosts file or the map in NIS / NIS+ will have to be updated.

When editing the host database, the Server Layer must be restated for the change(s) to take effect.

In addition if you are using Windows console and the problem hasn't been solved edit the file "C:\Program Files\SyMON2.0\esymon\es-console.bat" on the console host to include its ip address.

Change the line:
"\Program Files\SyMON2.0\javasoft\bin\jre" -c ...
to
"\Program Files\SyMON2.0\javasoft\bin\jre" -Djava.rmi.server.hostname=<ip_address> -c ...
where <ip_address> is the address of the NT console host.

4.4 What do I do when I login and get the message "The specified user is not a Sun Management Center user. This user must be added to the "esusers" configuration file."?

The file 'esusers' contains a list of users that are allowed to use the Sun Management Center server. A user must be added to this file to use Sun Management Center. To add a user name to 'esusers', do the following:

1. Log in as root on the host running the Sun Management Center cfgserver component

2. Enter 'cd /var/opt/SUNWsymon/cfg'

3. Edit the file 'esusers'

4. Add the new user name to the list (user name must be a valid UNIX user name)

Note: This change may take a couple of minutes to take effect. Restarting the Console will cause the change to take effect immediately.

4.5 Why do I get the message "The server does not support the selected security scheme. Please select a different security option in the 'Options' dialog" when I log in?

The Server Layer can be configured for three different security schemes: weak, medium, and strong. This message appears if a scheme for which the Server Layer is not configured is selected. See the Sun Management Center documentation for information on how to configure the Server Layer security.

4.6 Why do I get the message "Cannot obtain the user session. The server is down or not accepting additional sessions" when I log in?

The server can be configured to limit the number of user sessions. To change this limit:

1. Log in to the host running the Server Layer as root

2. Enter 'cd /var/opt/SUNWsymon/cfg'

3. Edit server-config.x

4. Change the value for 'property:sessionLimit' to the desired value

4.7 What do I do when I login and get the message "The specified server host is invalid. Please verify the provided host information."?

Make sure the correct host name has been entered. If it is correct, you could be getting this message because the console host is unable to resolve the host name of the host running the Server Layer. If the console host is Solaris, add the host running the Server Layer to the local /etc.hosts file or the NIS/NIS+ hosts map. If the console host is Windows NT, you can add the Server Layer host to the local host file in \WINNT\system32\drivers\etc\HOSTS.

4.8 What do I do when I login and get the message "Could not connect to Server. Check Server status and verify it is using port number [xxxx]."?

This message is usually displayed when attempting to connect to the Server Layer using an incorrect port number. To check that the correct port number is being used, do the following:

1. Enter "cd /var/opt/SUNWsymon/cfg"

2. View the file "server-config.x"

3. Locate the line starting with "property:rmiPort". If it is commented out, the Server Layer is using the default port, 2099. If the line is not commented out, the value assigned to this variable is the port being used.

4. Restart the Console using this port number by entering: /opt/SUNWsymon/sbin/es-start -c -p <portNumber>

If the message "Could not connect to Server. Check Server status and verify it is using port number [xxxx]" is displayed, check if the Server Layer sub-components are running:

1. Enter 'ps -ef | grep esd'

2. The output should show five processes: "esd - init ", where is one of: agent, cfgserver, topology, event, trap. These are the agent and four sub-components of the server.

To check for the server itself, enter:

'ps -ef | grep INTERFACE_PATH'

The output should show the following:

/opt/SUNWsymon/jre1.1.6/bin/bin/sparc/green_threads/jre -DINTERFACE_PATH=/va./lm_ip -z \ /var/opt/SUNWsymon/db/eventmgr/log/ -u 200

If any of these six processes (server, agent and four sub-components) are missing, it is possible the port is already in use. To make sure, view the appropriate log file in /var/opt/SUNWsymon/log. These are circular files, so you will need to use 'ctail' or 'ccat' to view them (see Question 3.10 on viewing log files). The last line should show the termination of the process, and the line(s) proceeding may have an explanation.

For more information on changing ports, please refer to Appendix B of the Sun Management Center documentation.

4.9 What do I do when I get the message "Unable to load console info" when trying to open the details window for my Agent?

This is a symptom of a bug in Sun Management Center 2.x and 3.0 when the Agent is not running. Check to see if the Agent is running by entering "ps -ef | grep agent". There should be a process named "esd - init agent" If the Agent is not running, restart it:

1. Login as root on the Agent Host

2. Enter "cd /opt/SUNWsymon/sbin"

3. Enter "./es-start -a"

4.10 What do I do when I try to create an object or load a module and get the message "Insufficient security privilege..."?

To have sufficient security privilege to create objects, load modules, change alarm limits, and various other functions, users must be listed in the 'esadm' and 'esdoadm' groups. Do the following:

1. Log in as root on the host running the cfgserver Server Layer component

2. Edit the file /etc/group (or edit the NIS / NIS+ group map)

3. Locate the groups 'esadm' and 'esdoadm' and add user names accordingly. If these groups do not exist, add them using the following format:
4. <groupName>::<groupID>:<user1>, <user2>, <user3> ...

   This change may need a couple of minutes to take effect.

4.11 When trying to unload/disable a module I get the error "Insufficient security privilege to unload/disable a module" in the popup window. What do I do?

The Agent is in a different server context and server can't perform management actions on this Agent. If the Agent is in a different server context all requests from the foreign server go out as 'espublic', which doesn't have access to unload/disable modules. This sometimes happens if someone moves a Sun Management Center server but the Agent is still reporting to the old server location.

4.12 What do I do when I get the message "Cannot find agent process. Please check host/port." when I try to create a node for my Agent?

First, verify that the Agent process is running. Log in to the Agent Host and enter:

'ps -ef | grep agent'

The following should be returned:

esd - init agent -dir /var/opt/SUNWsymon

If the Agent is running, verify that the correct port is specified:

1. Log in to the Agent Host

2. View the file /var/opt/SUNWsymon/cfg/domain-config.x

3. Check the value of "snmpPort"

If the agent is not running, restart the Agent:

1. Log in as root

2. Enter 'cd /opt/SUNWsymon/sbin'

3. Start the Agent: './es-start -a'

If the Agent process is still not running, the Agent may be aborting execution. Enter 'ps -ef | grep agent' to confirm that the Agent is not running. If it is not, view the Agent log file to ascertain the reason. Sun Management Center log files are located in /var/opt/SUNWsymon/log. Since Sun Management Center log files are circular, 'ccat' or 'ctail' can be used to view their contents. See Question 3.10 for more information on viewing log files.

The last message in 'agent.log' should be "*** aborting execution ***". The previous line to this, should provide the reason for the abort. A common reason for aborting execution is that the port the Agent was attempting to use is already in use. To resolve this problem, kill the process using this port or change the port the Agent uses. Typically, the offending process is the Solstice Enterprise Agent (the process name is 'snmpdx'). See the Sun Management Center documentation for information on resolving SNMP port conflicts.

4.13 What do I do to start my Agent after modifying the Virtual Size (or Resident Set Size) Critical Alarm limit?

By default, the Agent will shut itself down when the Critical Alarm limit for the Virtual Size or Resident Set Size is exceeded. This may occur if many modules are loaded into an Agent. If this alarm limit has been modified so that it is exceeded during normal operation, the Agent will always shut itself down.

To fix this do the following:

1. Log in as root on to the Agent host

2. Enter 'rm /var/opt/SUNWsymon/cfg/agent-stats-d.dat'

3. Restart the Agent using "./es-stop -a" followed by "./es-start -a"

4.14 Why on some systems InstallShield setup is not adding a shortcut to the Start Programs menu (NT console)?

This is NOT an InstallShield problem. This problem is caused in part by a Dell-developed utility (Userhook.exe) that was installed on systems to solve a problem for software configurations that included Windows NT and factory-installed software applications. Updates to Windows NT and applicable software have corrected the problem and eliminated the need for Userhook. And Dell has developed a utility to remove Userhook.exe from customer's systems and correct the problem.

Following is a solution suggested in article Q101069 from InstallShield's Knowledge Base database:

1. Create a temporary folder on your system.
2. Download Uhfix.exe to your new temporary folder.
   Uhfix.exe is available from InstallShield's Knowledge Base database article Q101069(a self-extracting file) as well as from the Dell Web site (Uhfix.exe), FTP site, or BBS.
3. Start File Manager (Windows NT 3.51) or Windows NT Explorer (Windows NT 4.0).
4. On the left side, click on the new temporary folder.
5. Double-click on Uhfix.exe on the right side of Program Manager or Explorer. The file's contents will self-extract.
6. At this point, there should be a file named Uhff.exe on the right side of Program Manager or Explorer. Double-click on Uhff.exe to remove Userhook.exe from the hard drive and make the appropriate registry changes.
7. You should receive a dialog box that reads "SUCCESS!"
8. Click OK.
9. Reboot the system.

Note: the above steps should fix the problem. However, on some systems the shortcut remains in the Start Programs menu on package removal. In case this happens on your system, the simplest workaround is to open the C:/./Start Menu/Programs/Halcyon folder from File Manager(Windows NT 3.51) or Windows NT Explorer(Windows NT 4.0).

4.15 How can I see which alarms have been acknowledged?

This is a known problem. As soon as the alarm has been acknowledged it will disappear - the table cell will have no alarm color and the alarm icon will not be displayed.

To view acknowledged alarms:

1. Use the Alarms tab to see the listing of acknowledged alarms.
2. Tooltip the acknowledged alarm object and the tooltip will display:
   "Clear: <Alarm Message> Status Changed: ..."

Sometimes an acknowledged alarm will show up again in the alarms tab as being open and unacknowledged. This will happen if the Agent has been restarted since the alarm was acknowledged.

4.16 When I start my Agent, it immediately dies. The agent.log has error entries regarding "ip2host". What is wrong?

When an Agent starts up it first tries to do a reverse DNS lookup to find out its hostname. If this lookup fails the agent cannot start and it writes the error string to agent.log. To fix this problem you should have your system administrator fix your DNS system to allow correct IP -> Host lookup. Or on UNIX system you can make an entry in /etc/hosts like this:

IP HOSTNAME

i.e. "192.168.0.1 hostA"

On an NT system you can make the the same entry in the %SYSTEMROOT\Winnt\System32\drivers\etc\hosts file.

4.17 I've changed the IP address of one of my Agents. What changes need to be done in SunMC?

There are a few changes to be made. They are all simple, but make sure you perform them in the following order on the Agent host:

1) Shut down the Agent:

   On Solaris:

      /opt/SUNWsymon/sbin/es-stop -a

   On HP-UX:

      /opt/PrimeAlert/sbin/HALHPAgent-stop.sh

   On Linux:

      /opt/PrimeAlert/sbin/HALLinuxAgent-stop.sh

   On NT:

      -Navigate:
         Start->Settings->Control Panel->Services
      -Click on "Halcyon PrimeAlert Agent"
      -Click "Stop"

2) Edit the domain-config.x file. It can be found here:

   On Solaris:

      /var/opt/SUNWsymon/cfg

   On HP-UX and Linux:

      /var/opt/PrimeAlert/cfg

   On NT:

      C:\Program Files\Halcyon\PrimeAlert\cfg

Change the IP address or hostname (if it has changed) in the "agent" section. For example, say the old host had the IP 192.168.0.1, and you've changed it to 10.1.1.1. This would be in your original file:

   agent = {
      agentServer = "192.168.0.1"
      snmpPort = "161"
   }

....so you would change it to this:

   agent = {
      agentServer = "10.1.1.1"
      snmpPort = "161"
   }

3) Reseed the Agent:

   On Solaris:

      /opt/SUNWsymon/sbin/es-run base-usm-seed.sh -s SEED -c agent

   On HP-UX:

      /opt/PrimeAlert/sbin/HALHPAgent-seed.sh SEED

   On Linux:

      /opt/PrimeAlert/sbin/HALLinuxAgent-seed.sh SEED

   On NT:

      -Open a command window
      -"cd c:\Program Files\Halcyon\PrimeAlert\cfg"
      -"..\sbin\paAgent - tool usm-seed -s SEED -c agent

"SEED" is the private password you gave when you installed your SunMC server. If you've installed everything correctly you would have used the default seed string "maplesyr".

4) Restart your Agent:

   On Solaris:

      /opt/SUNWsymon/sbin/es-start -a

   On HP-UX:

      /opt/PrimeAlert/sbin/HALHPAgent-start.sh

   On Linux:

      /opt/PrimeAlert/sbin/HALLinuxAgent-start.sh

   On NT:

      -Navigate:
         Start->Settings->Control Panel->Services
      -Click on "Halcyon PrimeAlert Agent"
      -Click "Start"

5) Make a new entry for the host in your console. Login to your console and find the old icon that was representing the Agent on that host. Click on it once to highlight it, then select Edit -> Delete Object/Connection. Then create a new icon using Edit -> Create an Object.

That's it. Double-click on your new icon to insure you get the details window for that host. All your old modules, alarm limits, and corrective actions will remain intact.