HP Operations Agent
Release Notes

for the Windows®, HP-UX, Solaris, Linux, and AIX operating systems

Software version: 8.60

Publication date: December 2009

This document is an overview of the changes made to the HP Operations agent 8.60. It contains important information that is not included in books or Help. You can find information about the following in this document:

What's New in This Release?
Installation Notes
Obsolescence Announcements
Platform Support Policy
Known Problems, Limitations, and Workarounds
Documentation Updates
Support
Legal Notices

What's New in This Release?

The HP Operations agent 8.60 contains new features, feature enhancements, and other changes.

Support for New Platforms

You can install the HP Operations agent 8.60 on the following new platforms:

NOTE: Do not change the default SNMP port 161 on the Security-Enhanced Red Hat Enterprise Linux node.

Support for New Virtualization Environments

You can install the HP Operations agent 8.60 in the following virtualization environments:

NOTE:
[1] Before removing the HP Operations agent from a Global partition (on AIX), you must stop and remove the HP Operations agent from all shared-WPAR partitions.
[2] Remote installation of the HP Operations agent is not possible on vMA nodes.

Support for New Cluster Environments

You can install the HP Operations agent 8.60 in the following cluster environments:

Support for the Event Correlation Agent on New Platforms

You can use the event correlation agent on the following new platforms:

64-bit APIs on the 32-bit Operating Systems

You can use the 64-bit version of the agent APIs on the 32-bit AIX and Solaris operating systems. The following table presents the location details of the 64-bit API libraries on these platforms.

Location of the 64-bit API libraries on a node with the 32-bit operating system
Managed operating system Location of the 64-bit APIs
AIX /usr/lpp/OV/lib64
Solaris /opt/OV/lib64

Note: If you use the 64-bit APIs on the AIX 5.3 node, make sure that the xlc compiler version 8 (or higher) is installed.

New Configuration Variables

This version of the HP Operations agent introduces the following configuration variables:

OPC_ADVMON_POLICY_VERSION_CHECK

NOTE: If you use an HPOM for UNIX 8.x environment, set this variable to FALSE.

This variable helps the HP Operations agent to verify and compare the versions of monitor policies that use system performance metrics. These policies are brought to effect on the node only when the HP Operation agent determines that the versions of redeployed policies are higher than the existing versions. If you continue with the default value of this variable in an HPOM for UNIX 8.x environment, you must restart the agent every time you redeploy these policies. This variable should be added under the eaagt namespace.

Default: TRUE

RC_MAX_WORKER_THREADS

The maximum Number of threads that can be used by the Communication Broker component while establishing a Reverse Administration Channel.

Default: 1

RC_MIN_WORKER_THREADS

The number of threads that will always remain active on the node while the Communication Broker component establishes a Reverse Administration Channel.

Default: 0

RETRY_RC_FAILED_CONNECTION

Use this option to enable the HP Software server to retry a failed attempt to connect to a reverse channel proxy (RCP).

Default: FALSE

GENERATE_OVEVENT_FOR_FAILED_RC_NODES

Helps you send messages to the HPOM message browser when the status of an RCP node is FAILED.

Default: FALSE

Operations Agent Data Collection Tool

With this version of the HP Operations agent, you can use the Operations Agent Data Collector tool on the Windows nodes (available in the location %ovinstalldir%\support\ov_agt_data_collection).
On the UNIX (and Linux) nodes, the location of the tool is changed from <InstallDir>/contrib/opc to <InstallDir>/support/ov_agt_data_collection. For more information on the usage of the tool, see ov_agt_data_collection.README from the following location:

The old data collection script—itochecker_agt—is now obsolete.

Installation Notes

Pre-requisites for Windows 2008

For Windows 2008 Event Log monitoring, due to the Operating System and API limitations, users require Administrator privileges to monitor security event logs.

HPOM Management Server Requirements

You can use the HP Operations agent 8.60 with the following and higher versions of HPOM:

In an HPOM for UNIX 8.x environment, HPOM for UNIX 8.31 is the recommended server patch for use with the HP Operations agent 8.60 to avoid installation of different hotfixes on the HPOM for UNIX server.

HPOM for Windows Patch Requirements

In an HP Operations Manager for Windows (HPOM for Windows) environment, make sure that the patch OMW_00048 is installed on the management server.

Requirements for the High-Availability Cluster Setup

If you install the HP Operations agent on the high-availability cluster nodes, make sure to include appropriate entries in the /etc/hosts file for the virtual nodes and the management server. The DNS resolver must be able to resolve the virtual nodes.

Solaris Patch and Kernel Setting Requirements

On the Solaris node, make sure the following Solaris patches (or higher) are available before you install the HP Operations agent:

Solaris operating system patches
Solaris version Architecture Patch
9
SPARC
  • 111712-12 SunOS 5.9 64-bit shared library patch for C++
  • 112963-22 Linker Patch (32-bit)
  • 111722-04 SunOS 5.9 Math Library libm patch
10 x86/x64
  • 118345-03 SunOS 5.10_x86: ld & libc.so.
  • 119964-03 SunOS 5.10_x86 Shared library patch for C++_x86
  • 120754-01 SunOS 5.10_x86 libmtsk
SPARC
  • 117461-04 Linker
  • 120753-01 libmtsk
  • 119963-19 SunOS 5.10: Shared library patch for C++

Set the following minimum kernel parameter values for Solaris 9:
semsys:seminfo_semmni=30
semsys:seminfo_semmns=200
semsys:seminfo_semmsl=100

Requirements for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0 Nodes

Before you install the HP Operations agent 8.60 on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0 node, make sure to apply the libunwind update available from Red Hat (http://www.redhat.com/).

Requirements for AIX 6.1 Nodes

This version of the HP Operations agent supports only the TL2 type of AIX 6.1 systems. To avoid memory leaks for different agent processes, make sure the following libraries are present on the AIX 6.1 node:

If you want to use the HP Operations agent with a non-root user on the AIX 6.1 node, apply the TL3 for AIX 6.1 on the node.

Disk Space Requirement

The HP Operations agent 8.60 requires up to 300 MB of disk space, and up to 600 MB during the installation or upgrade.

Disk Space Utilization on Linux
Disk space utilization on Linux nodes when the agent is deployed from HPOM for Windows
Node architecture Disk space used by the directory
/opt/OV
Disk space used by the directory
/var/opt/OV
x86 150 MB 70 MB
x64 150 MB 70 MB
Itanium 150 MB 70 MB
Disk space utilization on Linux nodes when the agent is deployed from HPOM for UNIX
Node architecture Disk space used by the directory
/opt/OV
Disk space used by the directory
/tmp
Disk space used by the directory
/var/opt/OV
x86 150 MB 150 MB 60 MB
x64 150 MB 150 MB 60 MB
Itanium 150 MB 150 MB 60 MB
Disk space utilization on Linux nodes when the agent is installed manually
Node architecture Disk space used by the directory
/opt/OV
Disk space used by the directory
/var/opt/OV
x86 150 MB 70 MB
x64 150 MB 70 MB
Itanium 150 MB 70 MB

Support Matrix

You can find the Support Matrix for this product that lists all software and hardware requirements at this location: HP Support matrices.

Note: Most of the support areas require that you register as an HP Passport user and sign in. Many also require an active support contract. To find more information about support access levels, go to: Access levels.

To register for an HP Passport ID, go to: HP Passport Registration

 

Obsolescence Announcements

The HP Obsolescence Policy provides you with the guidelines about the obsolescence of this product. To see the published policy, go to:

http://support.openview.hp.com/pdf/obsolescence_policy_v4.3.pdf


Platform Support Policy

Future versions of the supported operating systems will be certified by the latest available version of the HP Operations agent.

For example, if HP-UX 11.ZZ is released when the version Y.YY is the latest available version of the HP Operations agent, HP-UX 11.ZZ will be supported by the HP Operations agent Y.YY only.

Known Problems, Limitations, and Workarounds

This release contains certain unresolved problems, some limitations, and there are workaround to help solve certain problems.

Documentation Updates

The first page of this release notes document contains the following identifying information:

To check for recent updates or to verify that you are using the most recent edition, visit this URL: HP Software Product Manuals

To retrieve a document, select the:

  1. Product name.
  2. Version list.
  3. Operating System.
  4. Preferred Language.
  5. Document title.
  6. Click Open or Download.

You must have Adobe Reader installed to view files in PDF format (*.pdf). To download Adobe Reader, go to the Adobe web site.

 

HP Software Support

This web site provides contact information and details about the products, services, and support that HP Software offers. For more information, visit the HP Support web site at: HP Software Support Online.

HP Software support provides customer self-solve capabilities. It provides a fast and efficient way to access interactive technical support tools needed to manage your business. As a valued support customer, you can benefit by being able to:

To access the Self-solve knowledge base, visit the Self-solve knowledge search home page.

Note: Most of the support areas require that you register as an HP Passport user and sign in. Many also require an active support contract. To find more information about support access levels, go to: Access levels.

To register for an HP Passport ID, go to: HP Passport Registration.

Legal Notices

©Copyright 2004–2009 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit (http://www.openssl.org/)

This product includes cryptographic software written by Eric Young (eay@cryptsoft.com)

This product includes software written by Info-ZIP (http://www.info-zip.org/license.html)

This product includes software written by Tim Hudson (tjh@cryptsoft.com)

Confidential computer software. Valid license from HP required for possession, use or copying. Consistent with FAR 12.211 and 12.212, Commercial Computer Software, Computer Software Documentation, and Technical Data for Commercial Items are licensed to the U.S. Government under vendor's standard commercial license.

The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.

Trademark Notices

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UNIX® is a registered trademark of the Open Group.