SMART Plug-in for
IBM's DB2 Universal Database
Version 03.80
Release Notes
For use with
HP Operations Manager for Windows, UNIX or Linux
December 2009
Version 03.80 of the DB2SPI, available today for all three HP Operations Manager products (on the UNIX and the Windows platforms) is primarily a consolidation and maintenance release.
The key improvements are:
· New DB2 platform supported: AIX 6.1
· New HP OM platforms supported: HP OM for Linux, HP OM for UNIX 9
· Native installation package for Solaris platform
· Support for remote databases
· Process monitoring supports multi-threaded Architecture
· Metric 261 connect retry parameter are configurable
· Command line tool to change and distribute atop configuration
For a complete overview of supported platform combinations of HP OM for the DB2SPI and its required software, see the current support matrix in the Support Matrix interface – SUMA:
http://support.openview.hp.com/selfsolve/document/KM323488
We are supporting Operations Manager for UNIX and Linux versions 9 with this release, and Operations Manager for Windows version 8.10 and later on all hardware platforms supported by HP, with all patches currently available.
DB2SPI 03.80 requires HTTPS agents (version 8.60.1 or later) to operate.
Since HP Agent 8.53 has an issue, please use agent version 8.60.1 or later for proper operation of the SPI.
Patches for HP Operations for Windows 8.10, UNIX and Linux are available from HP.
The latest versions currently available from IBM, i.e, DB2 version 9.7, and the former DB2 9.5 and 9.1 versions are supported.
For V9 Fixpacks FP1-5 are supported. Please note that Fixpack 3 has been withdrawn by IBM and replaced by Fixpack 3a. Withdrawn and unsupported Fixpacks are not supported by the DB2SPI.
Please note that Fixpack 3 will not work with the DB2SPI!
Please ensure it has been replaced by Fixpack 3a or later.
The platform matrix for the management servers and managed nodes (DB2 servers) has been updated / extended; see the current support matrix in the Support Matrix interface – SUMA:
http://support.openview.hp.com/selfsolve/document/KM323488
All primary processing scripts are written in Perl. This makes it necessary to have Perl available on the managed nodes as a prerequisite, and we still go with the version that is installed by the OM agent. We can operate with both versions, 5.6.1 from the older agents and 5.8.8 as provided by HP.
Please note that the OM agent Perl 5.6.1 for AIX is not functional for all HP Agents prior to agent version 08.5x. With 08.50, HP changed to a functional Perl 5.8.8.
For older agents, a working copy (original IBM Perl 5.6.1) can be downloaded from the NiCE Customer Portal at https://portal.nice.de/Portal/login.jsp
The DB2SPI User's Guide for version 03.80.has been updated to include the new or changed features. It is now split into several documents designed for specific aspects:
· Concepts Guide
· Administration Guide
· Operator Guide
The DB2SPI Reference Guide has been revised to cover the new or modified metrics we are providing with this release. It has been extended to cover tools and tool groups as well as HP PM graphs.
The DB2 SPI does not use any Open Source or Third-Party components.
With 03.80, you will need to install new runtime license keys on your management server.
New licenses have been made available on the NiCE customer portal for all customers with valid support contracts as soon as the DB2SPI version 03.80 has been available to the public:
The installation of DB2SPI 03.80 is possible on new systems or on such that had a DB2SPI installed already
If you have installed an older package and want to use 03.80 now, please see the "Upgrade" section below.
Install the new package as described in the DB2SPI 03.80 Install Guide.
Deploy the instrumentation, configure DB2SPI and then deploy policies to the managed nodes.
On all nodes where the SPI is currently acting, you should disable the SPI activities with the help of the OM application “DB2SPI Disable”.
The following steps should be taken on the management server for a successful upgrade:
· Remove all policies from the managed nodes (DB2 servers).
If you have adapted or changed any policies, make sure to save them and reapply your changes after the update
· Delete the DB2SPI configuration items from the OM configuration manually before installing the new DB2SPI package.
This consists primarily of policies and policy groups, tools and tool groups as well as node groups. Be sure to remove any nodes from the node groups before deleting them!
You may leave the user profiles related to DB2 monitoring.
· Delete the "DB2" service tree entirely, as this will be reconstructed at run time with the new entities that are being monitored.
When done, you also have to uninstall earlier versions of the DB2SPI as described in the DB2SPI User's Guide.
On the OM Management Server, simply install the package as if it was a new one.
For customers with a valid support contract new 03.80 licenses are available on the NiCE Customer Portal.
Please download them with your customer account and install them on the OM management server using the "License Add" tool, as described in the DB2SPI User's Guide.
Before deploying the new policies and instrumentation to a managed node you should make sure that the SPI has been disabled there.
This can either be achieved by the "DB2SPI Disable" tool from the OM GUI, or by running
db2s_start db2s_db2spi.pl OFF
from the command line.
Now these steps remain:
· Deploy the new instrumentation and policies using the “Force” option.
· Bind DB2SPI to DB2 databases
All DB2 databases defined are bound to the new access functions of the DB2SPI with the help of the OM tool “Rebind DB2SPI”.
· If integration of DB2 performance data into OVPA/SCOPEUX is also desired or had been defined in the former configuration, you may also run the corresponding update tool for this integration:
db2s_start db2s_updateparm.pl
· When done successfully, the DB2SPI simply needs to be re-enabled again:
db2s_start db2s_db2spi.pl ON
from the command line, or use the "DB2SPI Enable" tool from the GUI.
You may also run the "Svctree Update" tool to enforce an immediate update of the service tree.
The following problems are known to us today:
· Installation of the DB2SPI package on Windows 2008 management server
Symptom:
If the DB2SPI package is installed under a user account other than "Administrator" (but as a member of the local or domain admin group), a User Account Control popup window appears stating that the program "atop_sc.exe" coming from an unidentified publisher requests attention.
Reason:
Windows 2008 User Account Control mechanism.
Workaround:
Allow the application "atop_sc.exe" to be executed.
The installation should then terminate successfully, but the "ATOP" service is not started.
Open the services control window (via "Administrative Tools"), locate the entry with the name "ATOP2 Server" and start the service manually.
· Removal of the DB2SPI package from Windows 2008 management server
Symptom:
If the DB2SPI package is removed under a user account other than "Administrator" (but as a member of the local or domain admin group), a User Account Control popup window appears stating that the program "atop_sc.exe" coming from an unidentified publisher requests attention.
Reason:
Windows 2008 User Account Control mechanism.
Workaround:
Allow the application "atop_sc.exe" to be executed.
The removal process should then terminate successfully, but the "ATOP" service is not stopped nor removed from the system.
Open the services control window (via "Administrative Tools"), locate the entry with the name "ATOP2 Server" and stop the service manually.
· Instruction text window opened only after long delay (ID: 661)
Symptom:
Requesting "Instructions …" from the OM/Unix message browser takes quite long sometimes.
Reason:
With a highly loaded OM management server the processing of the instructions repository (an XML file on the management server) takes pretty long.
Workaround:
Be patient. We are looking for performance improvements with the next release by splitting up this information in various files.
· Missing documentation about remote database configuration (ID: none)
Explanation:
Detailed documentation for remote database configuration is missing.
Correction:
Setup remote database support:
1.) Run "Config Setup" (as in the normal case)
2.) Use the "Entity Filter" tool to set username and password
3.) Bind the database collector to the remote database. This requires the following command to be run on the managed node (DB2 Server):
/var/opt/OV/bin/instrumentation/db2s_start db2s_bind2db2.pl
4.) Run Discovery manually or wait until the schedule policy for the discovery runs.
To run manually:
/var/opt/OV/bin/bin/instrumentation/db2s_start db2s_dbdiscover.pl -u
5.) Proceed with the standard configuration of the SPI (assign templates/Policies)
· Metric are invalid on DB2 V9 with AUTOMATIC setting (ID: 3332)
Explanation
Some DB2 configuration parameter may be set to “Automatic” in DB2 V9.x. This impacts DB2SPI metrics which use the configuration parameter for their calculation. This calculation is no longer valid and threshold monitoring is pointless.
Some other DB2SPI metrics are impacted to a lesser scale: they list the configuration parameter in their ASCII report where the relevant place will be left empty.
The following table shows which DB2 configuration parameter impact which DB2SPI metrics.
|
DB2 configuration parameter |
DB2 SPI metric |
|
FCM_NUM_BUFFERS |
0896 |
|
LOCKLIST |
0461 0471 0472 0481 0482 |
|
MAXAPPLS |
2071 |
|
MAXLOCKS |
0472 0481 0482 |
|
NUM_POOLAGENTS |
0440 |
The following table shows which DB2 configuration parameter impact which DB2SPI ASCII reports.
|
DB2 configuration parameter |
DB2 SPI metric |
|
APPLHEAPSZ |
0623 |
|
LOCKLIST |
0202 0222 0232 |
|
MAXAPPLS |
0800 |
|
MAXLOCKS |
0202 |
|
NUM_POOLAGENTS |
0560 |
Workaround
To continue monitoring the DB2SPI metric replace the “Automatic” setting by a valid number from the allowed range.
To switch off monitoring, remove the metric number from the collection schedule policy.
To find out which schedule policy contains a specific metric, please refer to the DB2SPI Reference Guide to find out the collection interval. The schedule policies each collect a subset of DB2SPI metrics at a specific interval.
· DB2SPI fails on DB2 Windows Server due to permissions issues (ID: 3361)
Symptom:
Setup and collection fail with the following entry in the log:
SQL1060N User "SYSTEM " does not have CONNECT-rights
Description:
If DB2 on Windows has its authorization groups assigned to Windows groups the SYSTEM account does not have enough permissions to connect/activate the database. For this at least SYSMAINT authorities are required.
Remark: authorities are assigned using the DBM to map the DB2 authorization groups to Windows user groups.
Workarounds/Solution:
1.) Assign the SYSTEM user to the according windows group
2.) Run the policies under a user account with sufficient permissions / authorizations.
For detailed steps, please contact support.
· Metcoll crashes on Windows 2008 (ID: 3639)
Symptom:
Metric collection policies report that the scheduled command failed.
Description:
Script dbmon reports 255 for the metcoll in spi.log and the event log is full with critical entries related to the metcoll.
Workarounds/Solution:
None.
· Sporadic errors from discovery component after upgrade (ID: 3622)
Symptom:
Sporadically errors may appear in the db2s_spi.log and are forwarded as messages:
db2s_discover - ERR - (91-81) file cannot be opened: Permission denied: /var/opt/OV/conf/db2spi/db2s_instances.cfg.lock
db2s_discover - CRIT - (93-12) could not load former instance configuration: /var/opt/OV/conf/db2spi/db2s_instances.cfg
db2s_discover - ERR - (91-84) file cannot be closed: No such file or directory: /var/opt/OV/conf/db2spi/db2s_instances.cfg.lock
db2s_dbdiscover.pl - CRIT - (91-97) system command failed: application failed with status '10'
Description:
No impact on functionality.
Workarounds/Solution:
None