HP OpenView Smart Plug-in for WebSphere Application Server

Release Notes

April 2005

This document provides an overview of the changes made to HP OpenView Smart Plug-in for WebSphere Application Server (WBS-SPI) for version B.03.61. It contains important information not included in the manuals or in online help.

In This Version
Installation Notes
Enhancements and Fixes
Known Problems, Limitations, and Workarounds
Support
Legal Notices

In This Version

WBS-SPI is a full-featured SPI that allows you to manage WebSphere application servers from an HP OpenView Operations console.

The following is a summary of the enhancements and fixes that have been made in version B.03.61 (more detailed information is available in Enhancements and Fixes):

Installation Notes

Installation instructions for the WBS-SPI are documented in the HP OpenView Smart Plug-in for WebSphere Application Server Configuration Guide provided in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. The document file is included on the product's CD media as:

\Documentation\SPI Guides\WebSphere_AppServer_Config.pdf

Software Requirements

Before installing the WBS-SPI, make sure that your managed node meets the following minimum requirements (Bold/red text indicates support new to this release):

The following are the minimum requirements for optional software (Bold/red text indicates support new to this release):

Installing the WebSphere Code Fix (for WebSphere Application Server Versions 4.0.2, 4.0.3, or 4.0.4)

Download the following WebSphere code fix:

  1. Go to http://www.ibm.com/software/webservers/appserv/support/.
  2. Select the Support & downloads tab.
  3. Select Downloads and drivers under "Support topics."
  4. For "Category:" select WebSphere.
  5. For "Sub-catagory:" select WebSphere Application Server.
  6. In the "Search within results:" box, enter PQ68219.
  7. Click Search.
  8. Click on the item that has PQ68219 in the title.
  9. Read the information and install the code fix.

Support Matrix

The following table lists the managed node OS and version and its supported WebSphere Application Server version(s).

Managed Node OS and Version WebLogic Application Server Version
HP
HP-UX 11.00 4.0, 4.1
HP-UX 11.11, HP-UX 11.23/PA-RISC 5.0, 5.1
Solaris
7 4.0, 4.1
9 5.0, 5.1
Windows
2000 Server 4.0, 4.1, 5.0, 5.1
2003/x86, 2003/IA-64 5.0, 5.1
AIX
4.33, 5L 5.1, 5L 5.2, 5.3 4.0, 4.1, 5.0, 5.1
Red Hat Linux AS/ES
2.1/x86 4.0, 4.1, 5.0, 5.1
3.0/x86 5.0, 5.1
Suse Linux ES
8 5.1

Enhancements and Fixes

The enhancements and defect fixes listed below all are preceded with a reference number that links to the HP Online Software Support web site. The first time you click a link, you must enter your HP passport information. To set up your passport profile, go to: http://support.openview.hp.com/support.jsp?fromOV=true

Enhancements

QXCR1000198149: Need to document which PMI modules we use.
QXCR1000138332: Add French server state strings to metrics xml.
QXCR1000202161: Allow other metrics to work if UDM xml is incorrect.

Fixes

QXCR1000158608: Verify detects problem with DSI2DDF version incorrectly on AIX.
QXCR1000217139: WBSSPI Configuration Application on the mgmt server fails to run on UNIX nodes.
QXCR1000223720: Collector script fails with "usage" error when > 1 WebSphere version.
QXCR1000158509: Monitoring WebSphere 5 creates orbtrc.*.txt files.
QXCR1000224816: Unable to connect if consecutive collections span a WebSphere 5.x restart.
QXCR1000224791: Authentication error logged when WebSphere 5 server is down.
QXCR1000222722: Metric 40 alarm message text incorrect.
QXCR1000220845: WebSphere 5 trace file when app servers are down.
QXCR1000219987: May get security errors if property, com.ibm.SOAP.ConfigURL is not set.
QXCR1000211153: WebSphere SPI does not load graph in browser when use OVPM 5.0.
QXCR1000207309: Units incorrect for WBS 5 metric 5 ASCII report.
QXCR1000137412: find command too broad.
QXCR1000218794: Document PMI counter IDs.
QXCR1000206419: Defects in Websphere Deploy UDM scripts.
QXCR1000199620: Discovery fails with WebSphere 5.1 in Network Deployer environments.
QXCR1000199631: Discovery now finds Network Deployer server and configures as app server.
QXCR1000205241: Bug in Websphere SPI 03.10 version discovery.
QXCR1000158652: The verify run from gather looks for nodeinfo in wrong place on AIX.
QXCR1000190059: Incorrect ASCII report output when server is down.
QXCR1000158443: Login and password config properties should be required not conditional.
QXCR1000199087: Need to allow discovery to work when Server Options are set to no duplicate msg.
QXCR1000134785: Negative return value for WLS metric 251 and 252.
QXCR1000158620: status check uses name not alias so not all servers checked.
QXCR1000195432: Collector handling boolean types as strings.
QXCR1000195451: Collector script ignoring reporting -o option.

Known Problems, Limitations, and Workarounds

The following problems are known in the current software release. To display details about each problem (including workaround information), click the problem text. To hide details, click again.

Initially running Discovery on Suse Linux nodes.
Problem: Discovery fails to discover Suse Linux managed nodes.
Workaround: Manually set the required properties for each Suse Linux managed node. Using the configuration editor, set the HOME, JAVA_HOME, NAME, and PORT properties for each Suse Linux managed node. After setting these properties, run the Discover WebSphere tool to deploy the Discovery group policies and refresh the service map.
Discovery, Discover WebSphere, and/or Configure WBSSPI hang.
Problem: The Discovery policy, the Discover WebSphere tool, and/or the Configure WBSSPI tool hang.
Cause: When one of these components is run, it locks the configuration file so that the file cannot be overwritten. If you select STOP in the Console Status window or something causes one of these components to abort while running (for example, a failover), the lock is not removed from the configuration file. If one of these components is then started, the component patiently waits for the lock to be removed before it can continue.
Workaround: Remove the lock directory on the management server: <OvOWShareInstallDir>\SPI-Share\wasspi\wbs\conf\SiteConfig.lock

where <OvOWShareInstallDir> is typically <drive>:\Program Files\HP OpenView\Data\shared\

If this directory is more than two hours old, the locking mechanism automatically deletes the lock directory.

QXCR1000189783: Tracing stops or the collector hangs when tracing is on.
Problem: If tracing is enabled, when the first 20 MB trace file limit is reached, tracing either stops or the collector hangs and stops monitoring the web application servers.
Workaround: Enable tracing for a short amount of time. Limit tracing to 5-6 hours as the 20 MB file limit of is reached in approximately 7 hours.
GRAPH_SERVER and GRAPH_URL properties can be set.
Problem: The GRAPH_SERVER and GRAPH_URL properties can be set but they are not necessary.
Workaround: Do not set the GRAPH_SERVER and GRAPH_URL properties.
Using non-default WebSphere Admin Server user with administrator privileges.
Problem: In the WebSphere application server, configuring a user with administrator privileges does not behave as expected (the user does not have full administrator privileges). If the WBS-SPI is configured to access the WebSphere application server as this user, the WBS-SPI fails because it cannot gather required data as this user.
Workaround: Configure the WBS-SPI to use the default WebSphere Admin Server username and password (the username and password configured when the WebSphere application server was installed/configured): using the configuration editor, set the LOGIN and PASSWORD properties to the default WebSphere Admin Server username and password.

Support

Please visit the HP OpenView web site at: http://www.managementsoftware.hp.com/

This web site provides contact information and details about the products, services, and support that HP OpenView offers.

You can also go directly to the support web site at:

http://support.openview.hp.com/

HP OpenView online 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 valuable support customer, you can benefit by being able to:

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

http://support.openview.hp.com/access_level.jsp

To register for an HP Passport ID, go to the following URL:

https://passport2.hp.com/hpp/newuser.do

To view release notes and other documentation:

  1. Click using hp software--> product manuals.

    The product manuals search window opens. It is located at:

    http://ovweb.external.hp.com/lpe/doc_serv/

  2. In the select product list, click [product name].
  3. In the select version list, click [version number].
  4. In the OS list, click [OS type].
  5. To start the search, click Open or Download.

NOTE: To view files in PDF format (*.pdf), Adobe Acrobat Reader must be installed on your system. To download Adobe Acrobat Reader, go to the following URL:

http://www.adobe.com

Legal Notices

©Copyright 2005 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.

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.