IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide Version 6.2.1 ppt

IBM Systems
IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Version 6.2.1
GC30-4176-06


IBM Systems
IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Version 6.2.1
GC30-4176-06

Note
Before using this information and the product it supports, read the information in “Notices” on
page 677.
© Copyright IBM Corporation 1999, 2010.
US Government Users Restricted Rights – Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract
with IBM Corp.
Contents
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
ajob 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
© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 iii
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
iv IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
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
installneeded command 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

Contents v
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
vi IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide

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
Contents vii
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
viii
IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide

About this publication
This publication provides instructions for using IBM
®
Systems Director for
systems-management tasks. IBM Systems Director consists of the following tools to
meet your systems-management needs:
v IBM Systems Director Web interface is the graphical user interface (GUI) for IBM
Systems Director Server. Using IBM Systems Director Web interface, you can
conduct comprehensive systems management using either a drop-and-drag
action or a single click.
v IBM Systems Director command-line interface (dircli) is the command-line
interface 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 for
event 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 avoid
inconvenient 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 damage
can occur.
Publications and related information
You can view the same content in the IBM Systems Director Information Center as
PDF documents. To view a PDF file, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can
be downloaded for free from the Adobe Web site at />Information centers and topic collections
v IBM Systems
/>View the IBM Systems information center landing page, which provides
integrated information for multiple IBM Systems products.

v IBM Systems Director
/>Updated periodically, the IBM Systems Director topic collection contains the
most up-to-date documentation available for IBM Systems Director.
v IBM Systems Director plug-ins
publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/systems/index.jsp
View the IBM Systems information center for information about how to install
and use plug-ins that extend the functionality of IBM Systems Director.
v IBM Systems Director Upward Integration Modules (UIMs)
© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 ix
publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/systems/topic/uims/fqs0_main.html
Read the IBM Systems Director Upward Integration Modules (UIM) topic
collection to learn about how to install and use upward integration modules and
management packs that enable non-IBM workgroup and enterprise-management
products to interpret and display data that is provided by Common Agent and
Platform Agent.
v IBM Systems Director API Licensing
/>View the license information regarding use of IBM Systems Director APIs and
their associated documentation. Fill out the form to request API access. After
your information is reviewed, you will be contacted with additional information
regarding access to and use of the APIs.
Publications
APAR Readme 6.2.0
Provides information about APARs fixed in IBM Systems Director version
6.2.0.
Release Notes
®
6.2.0 and Release Notes 6.2.1
Provides information about hardware requirements for running IBM
Systems 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 IBM
Systems 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 of
IBM 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 of
IBM Systems Director on system running IBM i using the Standard
installation option.
Planning, Installation, and Configuration Guide for Linux on Power Systems
™
Provides detailed instructions to install and configure each component of
IBM Systems Director on system running Linux for Power Systems using
the Standard installation option.
Planning, Installation, and Configuration Guide for Linux on x86
Provides detailed instructions to install and configure each component of
IBM Systems Director on system running Linux for System x
®
using the
Standard installation option.
Planning, Installation, and Configuration Guide for Linux on System z
®
Provides detailed instructions to install and configure each component of
IBM Systems Director on system running Linux for System z using the

Standard installation option.
x IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Planning, Installation, and Configuration Guide for Windows
Provides detailed instructions to install and configure each component of
IBM Systems Director on system running Windows using the Standard
installation option.
Systems Management Guide
Provides detailed instructions for using the Web interface and managing
systems 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 the
event 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 Command
Line (formerly known as the IBM Management Processor Command-Line
Interface). Command output in this release might vary from command
output in previous releases.
White papers and briefs
v IBM Systems Director
/>XBW03006USEN.PDF
This paper provides a detailed overview of the changes in IBM Systems Director
V6.1, including the new Web interface, security features, operating system

agents, integrated plug-ins and additional plug-ins that can be separately
installed.
v Value Proposition for IBM Systems Director
/>XBW03007USEN.PDF
This paper describes the challenges of operational management for enterprise
server installations and the value provided IBM Systems Director.
v Managing IBM Power Servers with IBM Systems Director 6.1
www.ibm.com/common/ssi/fcgi-bin/ssialias?infotype=SA&subtype=WH
&appname=STGE_PO_PO_USEN&htmlfid=POW03011USEN
&attachment=POW03011USEN.PDF
Provides information about managing the virtualization and consolidation on
Power systems using IBM Systems Director.
v IBM Systems Director 6.1 Migration Tips
www.ibm.com/common/ssi/fcgi-bin/ssialias?infotype=SA&subtype=WH
&appname=STGE_XB_XB_USEN_&htmlfid=XBW03009USEN
&attachment=XBW03009USEN.PDF
Provides information about migrating data when upgrading your environment
from IBM Director V5.20 to IBM Systems Director V6.1.
v Performance Tuning and Scaling Guide for IBM Systems Director 6.2
About this publication xi
/>docview.wss?uid=nas7cd6a96f49d05f608862577420075ca9a&aid=1
Provides information about how to plan, implement, configure, and use an IBM
Systems Director Server to manage a large configuration with optimal
performance. The Performance Tuning and Scaling Guide also contains
information about the following topics:
– Running IBM Systems Director plug-ins, such as IBM Systems Director Active
Energy Manager
®
and IBM Scalable Systems Manager
– Integration with Tivoli

®
products
– Implementing High Availability (HA)
IBM Redbooks
®
publications
www.ibm.com/redbooks/
You can also search this Web page for documents that focus on IBM Systems
Director and specific IBM hardware; such documents often contain
systems-management material. The following book is available for IBM Systems
Director V6.1:
Implementing IBM Systems Director 6.1
Tip: Be sure to note the date of publication and to determine the version of IBM
Systems Director software to which the Redbooks publication refers.
Further information
Also see the following resources for further information about IBM Systems
Director:
v For alerts, discussions, news, parts and product information, and specific
troubleshooting workarounds for IBM Systems Director, see the Support &
downloads Web site at />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 Systems
Director, see the Techdocs Web site at />atsmastr.nsf/Web/Techdocs.
Tip: To locate the information that you need, either select the categories that you
want to search or select UNMARKED to search all categories. Then enter
Systems Director in 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 IBM
Systems Director.
xii IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Web sites
v IBM Systems Director
www.ibm.com/systems/management/director/
View the IBM Systems Director Web site on ibm.com
®
which provides links to
downloads and documentation for all currently supported versions of IBM
Systems 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 provides
links 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 on
ibm.com which provides links to product documentation, redbooks, redpapers,
white papers, and learning modules related to IBM Systems Director, IBM
Systems Director plug-ins, and IBM Systems Director upward integration
modules.
v IBM Systems Director Upward Integration
www.ibm.com/systems/software/director/downloads/integration.html
View the IBM Systems Director Upward Integration Web site on ibm.com which
provides more information about IBM Systems Director upward integration
modules created by IBM and other companies. IBM Systems Director UIMs
enable third-party workgroup and enterprise systems-management products to

interpret and display data that is provided by IBM Systems Director Platform
Agent managed system.
v IBM Systems Director Best Practices Wiki
www.ibm.com/developerworks/wikis/display/WikiPtype/
IBM+Systems+Director+Best+Practices+Wiki
View updated documentation and best practices for IBM Systems Director on
various systems.
v IBM Servers
www.ibm.com/servers/
View the IBM Servers Web site to learn about IBM Systems server and storage
products.
v IBM ServerProven
®
www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/serverproven/compat/us/
View the IBM ServerProven Web site to learn about hardware compatibility of
IBM System x and BladeCenter
®
systems with IBM applications and middleware,
including IBM Systems Director.
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 Director
UIMs, and IBM Systems Director extensions. This Web site includes a link for
obtaining the forum using a Rich Site Summary (RSS) feed.
v IBM Systems Director SDK
About this publication xiii
www.ibm.com/developerworks/forums/forum.jspa?forumID=1852&start=0
View the IBM Systems Director SDK forum Web site to discuss issues pertaining

to the IBM Systems Director Software Development Kit (SDK). This Web site
includes a link for obtaining the forum using a Rich Site Summary (RSS) feed.
v IBM Systems
www.ibm.com/developerworks/forums/dw_esforums.jsp
View the IBM Systems forums Web site on ibm.com to learn about various
forums that are available to discuss technology-related and product-related
issues pertaining to IBM Systems hardware and software products. This Web site
includes 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 highest
quality information.
If you have any comments about this book or any other IBM Systems Director
publication, go to the IBM Systems Director information center Web site at
There you
will find the feedback page where you can enter and submit comments.
xiv IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Terminology changes
Several terms have changed between IBM Director v5.x and IBM Systems Director
v6.x.
Deprecated terms New terms Description
IBM Director Agent Common Agent Common Agent provides a rich set of
security, deployment, and management
function. The function available for
Common-Agent managed systems varies
based on operating system and hardware,
and includes the following tasks: discover
systems; collect comprehensive platform
and operating system inventory data;
monitor health and status; manage alerts;
remotely deploy and install Common

Agent; perform remote access, including
transferring files; perform power
management function; additional event
support; monitor processes and resources,
and set critical thresholds that send
notifications when triggered; manage
operating system resources and processes.
IBM Director Core
Services
Platform Agent Platform Agent provides a lighter footprint
and fewer management functions than the
Common Agent. The function available for
Platform-Agent managed systems is limited
to the following tasks, and varies based on
operating system and hardware: discover
systems, collect limited platform inventory
data, monitor health and status, manage
alerts, remotely deploy and install Common
Agent, perform limited remote access, and
perform limited restart capabilities.
Level-2 managed
object
Common Agent
managed system
A system on which Common Agent is
installed
Level-1 managed
object
Platform Agent
managed system

A system on which Platform Agent is
installed
Level-0 managed
object
Agentless managed
system
A system that does not have an agent
installed but can be discovered by IBM
Systems Director using Secure Shell (SSH),
Distributed Component Object Model
(DCOM), or Simple Network Management
Protocol (SNMP).
The function available to
Agentless-managed systems is limited to the
following tasks, and varies based on
operating system and hardware: discover
systems, collect limited operating-system
inventory data, remotely deploy and install
Common Agent and Platform Agent,
perform limited remote access, and perform
limited restart capabilities
© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 xv
Deprecated terms New terms Description
Managed object System A hardware endpoint that can be discovered
and managed by IBM Systems Director. For
example, storage devices, network devices,
physical servers, virtual servers, and virtual
farms are systems.
Extension Plug-in Free or for-fee software that is downloaded
and installed on top of IBM Systems

Director 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 how
IBM Systems Director automatically handles
certain events. An event action plan
comprises one or more event filters and one
or more customized event actions.
Hardware control
point
Platform manager Software that manages one or more host
systems and their associated virtual servers
and operating systems. Platform managers
can be started from the IBM Systems
Director Web interface. For example,
BladeCenter Management Module, IBM
Hardware Management Console (HMC),
IBM Integrated Virtualization Manager
(IVM), and VMware VirtualCenter are
platform 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 remote
system.

xvi IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Chapter 1. Overview of IBM Systems Director
This section provides an overview of IBM Systems Director, including supported
hardware and software requirements, technical overview, web resources, and what
is new in this release.
Accessibility
IBM strives to provide products with usable access for everyone, regardless of age
or ability.
The reference topic Accessibility features for IBM Systems Director provides details
about the accessibility support, tips, and workarounds of the product.
To learn about IBM Systems Director accessibility of the information center
interface, see the topic Accessibility and keyboard shortcuts in the information
center
Note: For technical details about the accessibility support in IBM Systems Director,
see the Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs). You can request VPATs
from the Web at />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), as
further described in the documentation.
You are authorized to use Management Server and Agent components only on IBM
machines.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the IBM Systems Director program includes a
license 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 be
combined or aggregated. For example, if you buy two IBM machines and install
the IBM Systems Director program on only one of them, you are entitled to install
the Agent component on only 20 non-IBM x86 systems. If you install the IBM

Systems Director program on both IBM machines, your entitlement is limited to
managing 20 non-IBM x86 systems. To install additional Agent components on
non-IBM x86 systems, you must obtain additional Agent component licenses from
IBM.
Authorization for IBM Systems Director for IBM Power Systems
Processor is a unit of measure by which the IBM Systems Director for IBM Power
Systems program can be licensed. Processor (commonly called a processor core or
CPU) is a functional unit within a computing device that interprets and executes
instructions. A processor consists of at least an instruction control unit and one or
© Copyright IBM Corp. 1999, 2010 1
more arithmetic or logic unit. With multi-core technology, each core is considered a
processor. Authorization for the IBM Systems Director for IBM Power Systems
program is based on the total number of activated processors (including any
temporary processors) on the machines running the IBM Systems Director for IBM
Power Systems program and the total number of activated processors (including
any temporary processors) on the machines being managed by the IBM Systems
Director 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 servers
program can be licensed. A Server is a physical computer that is comprised of
processing units, memory, and input/output capabilities and that executes
requested procedures, commands, or applications for one or more users or client
devices. Where racks, blade enclosures, or other similar equipment is being
employed, 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 charging
metric. An authorization is required for each server running the IBM Systems
Director for IBM x86 servers program and for each server being managed by the
IBM 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 and
executes instructions. A processor consists of at least an instruction control unit
and one or more arithmetic or logic unit. With multicore technology each core is
considered a processor. Authorizations for the IBM Systems Director for Linux on
System z program must be acquired for all activated processors available for use
for 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 program
sufficient to cover the processor cores managed by the program. For IBM System z
machines, the authorization required for the IBM Systems Director for Linux on
System 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, you
must acquire an authorization for each activated engine with the IFL feature on
that 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 for
each activated general purpose engine on that machine.
Terms applicable to API use
The IBM Systems Director program includes APIs called Representational State
Transfer (REST) APIs and Advanced External Application Launch (AEAL) function.
The IBM Systems Director REST APIs and AEAL function are described in the
documentation, available through the IBM Systems Director Information Center.
You may develop applications using the Program's REST APIs and/or AEAL
function solely for testing and deployment within your Enterprise and only in
2 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
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. You

may not rent, lease, loan, sell or otherwise distribute applications or derivative
works 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 a
written 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 (as
described in the documentation) for third party system management products to
manage IBM hardware platforms with IBM Director Agent components. There is
no warranty or support service available for the Upward Integration Modules
when 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 Director
program to request software updates, the Management Server component collects
information about the release level of certain software products installed on your
machine ("Software Information") and electronically sends that Software
Information to IBM. Software Information does not include business data such as
your financial, statistical and personnel data regarding your business. You agree
that IBM (including subcontractors and consultants under contract to IBM) may
store and use Software Information for purposes of software maintenance and
support, and that such Software Information (including any contact information
provided by you) may be transferred to such entities in any country whether or
not 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.
Supporting program details - IBM DB2
®
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 to
directly use or access the services of IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V
9.7 in any way. The IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V 9.7 program is
provided exclusively for use by the Principal Program. You may access
IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V 9.7 only to perform administrative
functions, such as backup, recovery, and authorized configuration but may
not directly use the IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V 9.7 program for
any productive use.
IBM provides the IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V 9.7 program without
obligation of support and "AS IS," WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE
WARRANTY OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT OR NON-INTERFERENCE AND
ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY
AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Chapter 1. Overview 3
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if you purchase an authorization to the IBM
Systems Director Storage Control 4.2.1 (5765-ASM) product, the terms of the "IBM
International Program License Agreement", including this License Information, will
then 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 the
way you manage physical and virtual systems across a heterogeneous
environment. By using industry standards, IBM Systems Director supports multiple
operating systems and virtualization technologies across IBM and non-IBM x86
platforms.
Through a single user interface, IBM Systems Director provides consistent views
for viewing managed systems, determining how these systems relate to one
another, and identifying their statuses, thus helping to correlate technical resources

with business needs. A set of common tasks included with IBM Systems Director
provides many of the core capabilities required for basic management, which
means instant out-of-the-box business value. These common tasks include
discovery, inventory, configuration, system health, monitoring, updates, event
notification, and automation across managed systems.
IBM Systems Director's Web and command-line interfaces provide a consistent
interface focused on driving these common tasks and capabilities:
v Discovering, navigating, and visualizing systems on the network with the
detailed inventory and relationships to the other network resources
v Notifying users of problems that occur on system and ability to drill down to
the source of the problem
v Notifying users when systems need updates and distributing and installing
updates on a schedule
v Analyzing real-time data for systems and setting critical thresholds that notify
the administrator of emerging problems
v Configuring settings of a single system and creating a configuration plan that
can apply those settings to multiple systems
v Updating installed plug-ins to add new features and function to the base
capabilities
v Managing the lifecycle of virtual resources
IBM Systems Director is designed to manage simple and complex environments,
with multiple operating systems and platforms, up to 5 000 managed systems. It
supports the management of a variety of IBM and non-IBM hardware driving
common tasks through the following platform management plug-ins and virtual
resources. 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 server
blades
– 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
4 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
– 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, and
Cisco
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 aggregating
and 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 operating
system and host information that might not be accessible through an out-of-band
interface (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 of
these operating-system agents is installed, but the level of management is limited.
This figure shows where the IBM Systems Director Server and operating-system
agents are installed in a basic IBM Systems Director environment.
Chapter 1. Overview 5
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 discovered
systems 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 access
information that is stored in this database even when the managed systems are not
available. 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 administrator
can use to manage their environment: a Web user interface and a command-line
interface. The system that you use to interact with these interfaces is called the
browser system.
Browser system
- no IBM Systems Director
code installedC
Management server
IBM Systems Director Server installed
Includes:
- IBM Systems Director Server
- IBM Systems Director Web interface
- Command-line Interface
- Common Agent
SNMP devices
Agentless managed systems
- no IBM Systems Director
de installedcoC
Cco
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 installedC
Figure 1. Software in an IBM Systems Director environment
6 IBM Systems Director Systems Management Guide
Tip: When you install IBM Systems Director Server, the Common Agent is
installed automatically on that system. The Common Agent provides a rich set of
security, deployment, and management function.
Common Agent
Common Agent provides a rich set of security, deployment, and management
function.
Common Agent is available for all Power Systems, System x, IBM BladeCenter,
System z systems, and some non-IBM systems, when the system is running a
supported operating system.
Notes:
v Systems running AIX require Common Agent to be installed. These systems
cannot be managed with Platform Agent.
v For a detailed list of operating systems that are supported for Common Agent,
see the Planning information.
Common Agent replaces Level 2: IBM Director Agent version 5.20. IBM Systems
Director 6.x supports agent systems running either the new Common Agent
version 6.x or the older Level 2: IBM Director Agent version 5.20.
The functionality that is available for Common Agent managed systems varies
based on the operating system and hardware in an environment, and includes the
following 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 notifications
when triggered
v Manage operating system resources and processes
v Manage updates
Additionally, using Common Agent instead of Platform Agent provides enhanced
scalability through asynchronous system management, which reduces the demands
on IBM Systems Director Server. Firewall management is simplified, too, because
Common Agent requires that you keep fewer ports open.
For a detailed list of functionality that is supported by Common Agent managed
systems, see the Planning information.
Note: Throughout the IBM Systems Director documentation, the term Common
Agent (with both words capitalized) refers to the IBM Systems Director Common
Agent, which includes subagents that provide specific management capabilities for
IBM Systems Director. IBM Systems Director can also discover and perform limited
management on other common agents that use the common agent services (CAS)
architecture. When referring to these common agents generically, lowercase text is
used.
Chapter 1. Overview 7