HP Insight Control for VMware vCenter Server
Release Notes 7.3
HP Part Number: 678314-009
Published: January 2014
Edition: 1
© Copyright 2014 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
Acknowledgements
Microsoft® and Windows® are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Description
HP Insight Control for VMware vCenter Server (Insight Control for vCenter) is a single integrated
application that you use to manage HP ProLiant servers and/or HP storage systems. The application
consists of three modules. The core module is required along with one or two optional components:
the Server Module for vCenter and Storage Module for vCenter.
Core Module
Provides the framework required by the Server Module for vCenter
and Storage Module for vCenter.
Server Module for vCenter
Provides server hardware management capabilities, including
comprehensive monitoring, firmware update, ESX/ESXi image
deployment, remote control, end-to-end monitoring for Virtual Connect,
and power optimization for HP servers in the VMware environment.
Storage Module for vCenter
Provides storage configuration and status information for mapping
VMs, datastores, and hosts to LUNs on HP storage arrays.
Supports provisioning on HP 3PAR StoreServ, HP StoreVirtual, HP
MSA, and HP EVA storage systems. Supports provisioning tasks which
includes creating, expanding or deleting a datastore, creating or
cloning a VM, and deleting a volume. Displays view-only information
for HP XP and HP StoreOnce Backup systems.
3PAR Recovery Manager for
VMware module
Provides Virtual Copy management of HP 3PAR Virtual Copies and
recovery of Virtual Machines and Datastores.
Update recommendation
Recommended
Supersedes
7.2.1
Product models
HP Insight Control for VMware vCenter Server
Devices supported
For device support information, see the following:
•
HP Insight Control for VMware vCenter Server Installation Guide at http://www.hp.com/go/
icvcenter/docs.
•
For Server support information, see the HP Insight Software Support Matrix at http://www.hp.com/
go/insightcontrol/docs.
•
For Storage Module for vCenter storage array and array management software support, see the
HP SPOCK website: http://www.hp.com/storage/spock.
Operating systems
Supported VMware operating systems
•
ESXi 5.0 (initial release and U1, U2, and U3)
•
ESXi 5.1 (initial release and U1 and U2)
•
ESXi 5.5 (initial release)
Description
3
Supported Windows operating systems
•
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (x64)
•
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 (x64)
•
Microsoft Windows Server 2012
•
Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2
HP recommends that you install the latest service packs and patches.
Supported vCenter Server versions
Table 1 vCenter Server support for Insight Control for vCenter 7.3.0
vCenter Server version
vSphere Client
vSphere Web Client
5.0
Yes
No
5.0 U1
Yes
No
5.0 U2
Yes
No
5.0 U3
Yes
No
5.1
Yes
Yes
5.1 U1
Yes
Yes
5.1 U2
Yes
Yes
5.5
Yes
Yes
Enhancements
Insight Control for vCenter 7.3 includes the following enhancements:
Storage Module
•
Full interoperatibility with vSphere 5.5
•
HP 3PAR StoreServ VASA integration in the plug-in
•
New Storage Provisioning Wizards in vSphere Web Client 5.5
•
Switch Peer Persistence support in storage provisioning actions for HP 3PAR StoreServ systems
•
New storage provisioning wizards now support Peer Persistence for HP 3PAR StoreServ systems
•
Peer Persistence configuration diagram
•
Graphical view of VMs-to-Volumes information
Server Module
4
•
Monitor and manage servers/blades managed by HP OneView
•
Coordinated firmware update with HP SUM integration
•
View all managed HP Enclosures and related objects
•
Expand cluster capacity using bare-metal available in HP OneView or HP Insight Control server
provisioning
•
Create consistent cluster networks based on a reference server profile
•
Simplified credential configuration
Enhancements
3PAR Recovery Manager for VMware Module
•
Recovery Manager (RMV) version 2.5 for HP 3PAR StoreServ integration in the plug-in
Comparing vSphere Client to vSphere Web Client integration
vSphere Client
vSphere Web Client
Navigation
Uses a drop-down list
Uses a series of buttons (tabs)
Theme setting
You can select a dark or light background
theme
No theme settings
Bare metal deployment capability
Yes (RDP)
Yes (IC server provisioning)
New Storage Provisioning Wizards
(Storage Module)
No
Yes
Graphical view for VMs-To-Volumes
No
Yes
Peer Persistence support in storage
provisioning actions
No
Yes
RMV integration
No (Registered as a different plug-in)
Yes
HP OneView integration
No
Yes
HPSUM integration
No
Yes
HP Enclosures
No
Yes
Grow Cluster
No
Yes
Configure Network
No
Yes
Fixes
The following items are fixed in this version of Insight Control for vCenter software:
•
A Customer Advisory has been released for the following issue: HP Insight Control for VMware
vCenter Server does not expand a VMFS5 datastore with virtual machines that are powered on.
The advisory can be downloaded from the following website:
http://saw.cce.hp.com/km/saw/view.do?docId=emr_na-c03964711
•
For RMV fixes and details see the RMV 2.5 release notes, which can be accessed at the following
website:
Manuals for HP 3PAR Recovery Manager Software for VMware vSphere
Installation instructions
For installation instructions, see the HP Insight Control for VMware vCenter Server Installation Guide.
This version supports upgrade from Insight Control for vCenter versions 6.3, 7.0, 7.1, 7.1.1, 7.1.2,
7.2, 7.2.1, 7.2.2, and 7.2.3.
HP Insight Control server provisioning
To use the HP Insight Control server provisioning in HP Insight Control for vCenter (vSphere Web
Client), you must install HP Insight Control server provisioning software, available for download from
the following website:
http://h17007.www1.hp.com/us/en/enterprise/servers/software/insight-control/deployment.aspx
Fixes
5
HP Insight Control Deployment Wizard
If you want to use the HP Insight Control Deployment Wizard, you must:
•
Install HP RDP, available for download from the HP Insight Rapid Deployment website:
http://h18013.www1.hp.com/products/servers/management/rdp.html
•
Install HP SIM, available for download from the HP Insight Management Media website:
https://h20392.www2.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=IMDVD
•
Install the HP Insight Control vCenter Deployment Connector on the server where HP SIM is
installed.
NOTE: The HP Insight Control Deployment Wizard prompts you to install the HP Deployment
Connector if necessary.
The deployment connector software is also available for download from the HP Insight Management
Media website. For more information, see the HP Insight Control for vCenter Deployment Connector
Read This First file that is included with the download.
Known problems
•
When using vSphere Web Client 5.1.0 Build 797199, the HP Insight Management Tab and HP
Infrastructure pages display a black screen. This is a known problem in the GA release of the
vSphere Web Client. To avoid this problem, upgrade to vSphere Web Client version 5.5 (which
supports the new and enhanced Storage provisioning wizards) or migrate to vSphere Web Client
5.1 Update 1 or later.
•
The Clone VM provisioning operation does not power ON the newly created VMs even when
this option is selected in the wizard. The operation of cloning the VM is not impacted. However,
it will be necessary to power ON the new VMs manually after the provisioning operation finishes.
•
Custom install of HP Insight Control for vCenter that includes the RMV module does not proceed
if the export file is not present. The workaround for this issue is to either use Typical install or
create an empty file named export.si in the folder where the product is being installed.
•
The Grow Grow Cluster Wizard remains in Loading…. When growing a cluster, a Loading…
message is displayed and it remains in that state. This may happen when a previously configured
HP OneView credentials in the plugin is unreachable. Ensure the HP OneView appliances are
accessible and the credentials entered in the plugin are valid.
Installing Certificate Authority (CA) signed SSL certificates
To establish secure network communication, HP recommends the installation of Certificate Authority
(CA) signed SSL certificates for Insight Control for vCenter. Use the following procedure to install a
CA signed certificate on Insight Control for vCenter:
1. Generate CSR compliant with your security department.
2. Obtain a CA signed certificate in the form of key and pem format.
3. If using a private CA, obtain the CA’s public certificate and import the private CA’s public certificate
into the standard java cacerts truststore used by Insight Control for vCenter. For example,
<install folder>\Java\lib\security\cacerts.
4. Replace the current server.key and server.pem with the signed certificate’s key and pem
files in the <install folder>\uim directory.
5. Restart the Insight Control for vCenter services.
6
Known problems
Important notes and suggested actions
•
•
Special characters
◦
HP Insight Control for vCenter plug-in cannot be installed on a server (or a VM) whose name
contains multi-byte or special characters.
◦
VMware does not support multi-byte or special characters to be used for credentials. The
credentials specified for the Storage Administrator Portal User during the installation of HP
Insight Control for vCenter should not contain such characters.
◦
When using the Active Management operations, the names for VMs or Datastores specified
in the wizards should not contain multi-byte or special characters.
News Feed and Tasks data is now migrated when upgrading from 7.2.x to 7.3. This data is not
migrated when upgrading from earlier versions of the product. See the Troubleshooting section
of the HP Insight Control for VMware vCenter Server User Guide for information on viewing News
Feed and Tasks data from earlier versions of the product.
The earlier version of Insight Control for vCenter must be used to view the saved News Feed and
Tasks data. See the Troubleshooting section of the HP Insight Control for VMware vCenter Server
User Guide for details about viewing News Feed and Tasks data from an earlier version of Insight
Control for vCenter.
To facilitate viewing the News Feed and Tasks data, the installer for the earlier version of Insight
Control for vCenter should be saved. Contact HP Support for the earlier version of Insight Control
for vCenter if necessary.
•
The Physical NIC labels of some blade servers may be incorrect if the plug-in has not discovered
the enclosure's Onboard Administrator. This can happen for the first few minutes after the plug-in
is installed or when new hardware is added.
•
When using the HPSIM launch link with Internet Explorer 9, the browser must be set to Compatibility
View.
•
The HP Infrastructure page for HP XP P9000 storage systems shows slightly different values for
Free and Total Capacities of a Storage Pool (Parity Group) than those shown on the Remote Web
Console.
•
The Replication tab does not list the replication details for volumes on XP/P9000 storage systems.
•
After successfully deploying a server, the Recent Tasks window will indicate that the deployment
was successful. A task to add the target server to vCenter is initiated by Insight Control for vCenter,
but this event is not displayed in the Recent Tasks window until the vSphere Web Client is refreshed.
•
When working with datastores using an HP StoreVirtual Storage System, the time required for HP
Insight Control Storage Module to create and delete both iSCSI and Fibre Channel datastores is
proportional to the number of paths utilized by the HP StoreVirtual Storage System. To view the
paths in VMware’s Storage Adapters GUI page, select one of the following:
◦
vSphere Client: Host→Configuration→Storage Adapters
◦
vSphere Web Client: Host→Manage→Storage→Storage Adapters
Important notes and suggested actions
7
•
Uninstalling HP Insight Control Storage Module for vCenter does not remove all files.
The following directories and their contents remain after uninstalling HP Insight Control Storage
Module for vCenter:
◦
<install folder>\JBoss\standalone\log
You can access this directory to retrieve log files.
◦
<install folder>\icvc
Part of the uninstallation process is to back up server module configuration data. You can
access this directory to retrieve this configuration information and backup data of the server
module.
◦
<install folder>\export.si
If the storage module was installed and configured previously, the configuration information
is exported to this file. You can import the data from this file during subsequent installations.
•
HP MSA 2000 G2 storage system is no longer supported beginning with Insight Control for
vCenter 7.2.1. HP MSA 2000 G2 configuration information will not be imported when upgrading
from earlier versions of the product. HP MSA 2000 G2 cannot be configured in the Storage
Administrator Portal.
•
When HP Insight Control for vCenter is uninstalled, the vSphere Web Client plug-in is not removed
from the filesystem. To remove the plug-in from vSphere Web Client, perform the following steps:
1.
Delete the plug-in present in the path C:\ProgramData\VMware\vSphere Web Client\
vc-packages\vsphere-client-serenity.
The plug-in is installed on the system where the vSphere Web Client is running. The
ProgramData is a hidden folder.
2.
•
Restart the VMware vSphere Web Client Service.
When HP Insight Control for vCenter is uninstalled, files or folders that are locked by another
process are not deleted. If that occurs, you may see a message indicating that files or folders
were not deleted and a suggestion to reboot the system in order to clean up registry entries may
be displayed.
Suggested action: Manually restart the system.
•
Erasing a job on a server can reset the date and time on that server to a default value.
Suggested action: Set the date and time as described in the RDP knowledge base article at http://
h18013.www1.hp.com/products/servers/management/rdp/knowledgebase/20000083.html.
•
An attempt to use the HP Insight Control Deployment Wizard to add to vCenter results in a
License not available to perform the operation error.
Suggested action: Manually add hosts.
•
If you change an IP address of a device after it has been discovered, the information shown in
the plug-in for this device may not be up-to-date.
Suggested action: Perform the following steps:
1. Stop HP Common Services service.
2. Delete the store file from the <install folder>\hpcs\db directory.
3. Start HP Common Services service.
4. Restart HP Insight Control for vCenter Server service.
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Important notes and suggested actions
•
If you change a server virtual UUID after it has been discovered, Insight Control for vCenter cannot
discover the server with the new virtual UUID.
Suggested action: Restart common services server module and the hpserver service as follows:
1. Stop HP Common Services service.
2. Delete the store file from the <install folder>\hpcs\db directory.
3. Start HP Common Services service.
4. Restart HP Insight Control for vCenter Server service.
•
If you enter VMware host credentials using an IP address that is different from the host IP address,
those credentials do not change. The Host Property option on the settings icon list is intended for
the selected host only. Do not attempt to change credentials for a different host.
•
Moving the cursor over the Consolidated health or Setting icon does not display a window.
Suggested action 1: Refresh the page.
Suggested action 2: Ensure that the page is fully loaded before attempting to view the status
window.
•
Server Status Information and Power Status information is missing from the Host portlet.
In order to display all information in the portlets, you must install HP CIM providers (HP ESXi
Offline Bundle for VMware and ESXi, and HP Management Agents for VMware ESX).
•
The network diagram display is incomplete.
◦
When a VM is not accessible by the Hypervisor (such as if the VM is on a datastore which
has been detached from the host), the Insight Control for vCenter network diagram is
incomplete.
Suggested action: Reattach the datastore to the host to get a complete network diagram.
◦
On a configuration with large number of VMs and datastores, it can take a long time for
Insight Control for vCenter to draw the network diagram. You might see a dialog box prompt
indicating that it is taking too long to run the script on the page and be prompted to continue
to run the script or stop running it.
Suggested action: Click Yes to stop the script from running, which prevents the diagram from
completing, or click No to wait for the complete diagram to appear.
•
The vSphere Web Client does not display information in the host details page unless an iLO
Advanced license is installed on the host’s iLO.
Suggested action: Install an iLO Advanced license for each host that is managed by Insight Control
for vCenter.
•
After installing a certificate, the Insight Control for vCenter displays Error communicating
with HP's services.
Suggested action: Restart all services for HP Insight Control for vCenter. After the services have
started, log out of the vSphere Web Client, and then log in again.
•
Different parts of the user interface update failure status at different intervals. For example, when
a fan fails, the failure is displayed:
◦
In the News feed within 2 minutes
◦
In the consolidated status and the status detail in up to 11 minutes
◦
In the host or cluster detail information area in up to 21 minutes
Suggested action: Do not be concerned if a recent event does not appear in all areas of the GUI
immediately.
Important notes and suggested actions
9
•
The Export Data option is missing when Insight Control for vCenter is uninstalled.
The product is designed to display the export data option during software removal only if Insight
Control for vCenter was installed with Custom option. The configuration data is exported implicitly
if the product was installed using Typical option.
•
During a firmware update, the Percent Complete status does not update.
The Smart Component does not give the provider an estimated install time. Therefore, the provider
displays 0% or nothing in the Percent Complete field until the installation completes.
•
When deploying ESXi 5.0, the ESXi installation window displays a warning similar to the following:
warning:ftp://192.0.2.55/ds/hpfeatures/esxi50/500000
1.cfg:line 19: argument "– -gateway" to command "network"
is missing a value.
warning:ftp://192.0.2.55/ds/hpfeatures/esxi50/500000
1.cfg:line 19: bootproto was set to static but "- –gateway"
was not set. Setting gateway to 192.0.2.254.
This occurs if you do not supply a value in the Gateway or DNS Servers boxes during step 2 of
the HP Insight Control Deployment Wizard.
Suggested action: Ignore this warning message. After a minute the message vanishes and the
installation completes.
•
Running the HP Insight Control Deployment Wizard on a USB flash drive fails.
Suggested action: Install ESX/ESXi on the USB flash drive manually. Insight Control for vCenter
does not support deployment on a USB flash drive.
•
IP configuration details are retained for subsequent ESX/ESXi deployment.
Suggested action: When deploying a target for a second time, be sure to update the IP Address
and Netmask information.
•
When deploying ESX with the HP Insight Control Deployment Wizard Use DHCP option selected,
the target ESX is not configured with the reserved IP address.
Suggested action: Log into the ESX host and do one of the following:
•
◦
Configure the host network settings manually.
◦
Obtain the generated MAC address from the host vSwitch, and use it to update the DHCP
configuration.
Insight Control for vCenter supports firmware discovery only on ESXi hosts that have the HP ESXi
offline bundle for VMware installed. The ESXi user name and password are required for
communication with CIM providers.
Suggested action: Verify that the HP ESXi offline bundle is installed for all ESXi hosts.
•
Multiple credentials for iLO or the Onboard Administrator in the Insight Control for vCenter
password database can cause Insight Control for vCenter to function unpredictably.
Entering credentials with a new user name and then clicking Save in the Host Properties page or
the Cluster Properties page adds a new set of credentials for that host.
Suggested action: If a configuration has multiple credentials per host, remove the duplicates:
1. From the home page, select HP Insight Management Administration icon.
2. Select Server Password Management from the drop-down menu.
3. Delete all duplicate entries from the database.
10
Important notes and suggested actions
•
Insight Control for vCenter cannot communicate with a node if proxy authentication is required
to reach the node.
Suggested action: Disable the proxy setting to enable Insight Control for vCenter to communicate
with the node.
•
The ASR status for servers running the HP CIM Providers is displayed with a white status icon.
The current HP CIM providers do not monitor ASR.
•
Software iSCSI storage is not displayed in the Network Diagram.
The Network Diagram displays hardware configured in Virtual Connect only. iSCSI storage devices
that use software HBAs are not displayed.
•
When multiple firmware update jobs are launched from the Smart Component Update tab of the
Firmware link, one or more jobs might not start for a long period of time.
Suggested action: Delete and relaunch the job.
•
If the vSphere Client is left idle on the HP Insight Management tab, clicking another link might
display the error message This program cannot display the webpage. This issue is
seen intermittently.
Suggested action: Click the link again to display the page.
•
HP MSA arrays only: Refresh takes too long.
Suggested action: For optimal refresh performance in the GUI, HP recommends using a
configuration with 40 or fewer LUNs. Configurations with more than 40 LUNs are supported, but
you will experience longer refresh times when viewing LUN information.
•
For HP MSA 2040 Storage arrays running version GL101 firmware, users account will indicate
the incorrect state of SMI-S authentication setting within the MSA Storage Management Utility
software. This results in the HP Insight Control Storage Administrator Portal being unable to
authenticate access to the HP MSA 2040 Storage array when configuring storage pools.
Suggested action: Log in to the MSA Storage Management Utility software and modify the user
setting to enable SMI-S access.
•
P9500 disk arrays are supported only with the default security option Command Device
Authentication Security Disabled.
•
Snapshot and remote replication information is not reported for HP MSA arrays.
•
When you use the storage provisioning features with HP EVAs, new datastores and virtual machines
cannot be created on thin-provisioned devices. You can clone an existing virtual machine that
resides on a thin-provisioned device, but the clone will be on a thick-provisioned device.
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