HP Operations Agent
Release Notes
for the Windows®, HP-UX, Solaris, Linux, and AIX operating
systems
Software version: 8.60
Publication date: November 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:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 (all architectures)

Security-Enhanced Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0 (x86) with Targeted Policy
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:

AIX 6.1 Workload Partitions (WPAR)—shared and non-shared

Hyper-V on Windows 2008

vSphere Management Assistant (vMA) 4.0
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:

High Availability Cluster Multiprocessing (HACMP) 5.4 on AIX 6.1

Multi-Computer/ServiceGuard (MC/ServiceGuard) 11.18 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0
Support for the Event Correlation Agent on New Platforms
You can use the event correlation agent on the following new platforms:

Windows (x64)

Windows (Itanium)
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:

On Windows: %ovinstalldir%\support\ov_agt_data_collection

On UNIX (and Linux): <InstallDir>/support/ov_agt_data_collection
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:

HPOM for Windows 8.10

HPOM for UNIX 8.31, 9.00
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
10
x86/x64

111712 SunOS 5.9 64-bit shared library patch for C++

112963 Linker Patch (32-bit)

111722 SunOS 5.9 Math Library libm patch

118345 SunOS 5.10_x86: ld & libc.so.

1 119964 SunOS 5.10_x86 Shared library patch for
C++_x86
SPARC

120754 SunOS 5.10_x86 libmtsk

117461 Linker

120753 libmtsk

119963 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:

xlC.aix61.rte (version 10.1.0.2 or higher)

xlC.rte (version 10.1.0.2 or higher)
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
Disk space used by the
Disk space used by the
Disk space used by the
architecture
directory
/opt/OV
directory
/tmp
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.

Problems

In the HPOM for Windows environment, remote deployment of the HP Operations agent
fails after the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 nodes are
automatically discovered as 64-bit platforms.
Workaround: The HP Operations agent runs in the 32-bit emulation mode on these
platforms. While deploying the agent on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server 9 nodes, manually select the platform type as Intel/AMD x86(HTTPS)
Linux 2.6.

In an HPOM for Windows environment, if you use a Windows 2008 system as the
management server, installation of the agent on the management server using the HPOM
console fails.
Workaround: Install the agent on the management server using the command line. To
install the agent, follow these steps:
i.
Exit all remote MMC and web consoles, including the local MMC console on the
management server.
ii.
Stop all the management server processes using the following command :
vpstat -3 -r stop
iii.
Stop the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) service on the system.
NOTE: Stopping WMI will stop all services that depend on WMI. In services.msc, check the properties of
the WMI service to see the services that depend on WMI.
iv.
Change to the following directory: %OvShareDir%\Packages\HTTPS\windows\ms\5.0
5.1 5.2 6.0\x86\Operations-agent\08.53.007\32 64\https
v.
Start the agent installation script: cscript.exe .\opc_inst.vbs
vi.
Restart the WMI service and all dependent services that have stopped.
vii.
Start all the management server processes using the following command:
vpstat -3 -r start
viii.
ix.

Update the package inventory on the management server. To update the package
inventory, in the console tree, right-click the management server and select All Tasks
> Synchronize inventory > Packages.
Verify that the agent on the management server has been updated to the latest
version. To verify the agent, in the console tree, right-click the management server
and select View > Package Inventory.
Actions performed by the action and monitor agents fail on UNIX (or Linux) nodes when
the agent runs with a user with the non-root privileges.
Workaround: The actions performed by the action and monitor agents fail if the agent user
does not have the 'write' permission for the directory <DataDir>/tmp/OpC.
To resolve this issue, follow these steps:
.
Log on to the node with the root privileges.
i.
On the node, type the following command:
opcagt -type -verbose
Note down the value of the data directory displayed by the command.
ii.
Run the command
chmod 775 <DataDir>/tmp/OpC
The command sets the 'write' permission for the directory <DataDir>/tmp/OpC.

The command to display the ECS engine status (ecsmgr -i <instance_number> -stats)
fails on the Windows x64 and Windows Itanium platforms.
Workaround: Create the tmp folder inside the %ovinstalldir% folder.

When you run multiple ovpolicy -enable or ovpolicy -disable commands (or both) in
succession through an external script on Logfile Entry policies in a cluster environment, the
commands fail occasionally.
Workaround: Try one of the following workarounds:
o
Introduce a delay of five seconds between two consecutive ovpolicy -enable/-disable
commands in the script.
o
Add the ovc -notify CONFIG_UPDATE opcle command between two consecutive
ovpolicy -enable/-disable commands in the script.

After you run the ovc -kill command on a Windows node, the Windows application log
indicates an error for the ovconfd module. In addition, if you restart the node after running
the ovc -kill command, the following error message appears on the desktop:
Configuration and Deployment Server Tools encountered a problem
and needed to close
Workaround: Ignore these errors.

After changing the configuration of a high-availability (HA) cluster of Red Hat Enterprise
Linux 5.x nodes, old cluster details continue to appear in the HPOM console.
Workaround: Restart the agent on all nodes in the cluster.

If you deploy the HP Operations agent from the Administration user interface of HPOM for
UNIX 9.00, you are logged out from the user interface.
Workaround: Log on to the Administration user interface of HPOM for UNIX 9.00 again.

To remotely install or uninstall an HTTPS agent on a Windows node with a
username/password, the user must have permission to log on as a service. If the user
does not have this permission, the agent deployment job fails, even if you subsequently
assign this permission to the user account on the target node and restart the job.
Workaround: To resolve this issue, follow these steps:
.
Assign the permission to log on as a service to the user. (You can assign this
permission in the local Windows security settings on the node, or a group policy object
in Active Directory.
i.
To delete the OvDeplSvc service from the node, open a command prompt on the
node, and then type the following command:
sc delete OvDeplSvc

While installing HP Operations agent 8.60 or while upgrading from an earlier version of HP
Operations agent to HP Operations agent 8.60 on HPOM for UNIX servers (HP-UX PARISC and HP-UX Itanium), the installation stops and the following error message appears:
Upgrading HPOvXpl package
ERROR: Installation of HPOvXpl failed.
ERROR: Package HPOvXpl is not installed.
WARNING: OVO Maintenance script ends Fri Sep 4 12:40:40 IST 2009 with
error in (de)installation phase.
Check /var/opt/OV/log/opc_inst.log for more details.
To investigate the error, see the contents of the log file /var/adm/sw/swagent.log. The log
file contains the following details:
* Beginning Analysis Phase.
* Source: /var/opt/OV/share/databases/OpC/mgd_node/vendor/hp/parisc/hpux1100/A.08.10.160/RPC_BBC/HPOvXpl.depot
* Target: machine:/
* Target logfile: machine:/var/adm/sw/swagent.log
* Reading source for product information.
NOTE: The filesystems in the filesystem table will not be checked against
those currently mounted because the "mount_all_filesystems" option is set
to "false ".
* Reading source for file information.
* The installed fileset "OVOPC.OVOPC-COMPOSER,l=/,r=A.08.10.160" requires
the fileset "HPOvLcore.HPOVXPL,l=/,r=6.00.000" as a prerequisite. The new
version of the prerequisite, "HPOvLcore.HPOVXPL,r=6.20.000", does not
satisfy the dependency.
ERROR: The dependencies for fileset "OVOPC.OVOPCCOMPOSER,l=/,r=A.08.10.160" cannot be resolved (see previous lines).You
must resolve the above dependencies before operating on this fileset or
change the "enforce_dependencies" option to "false".
* Executing preDSA command.
* Summary of Analysis Phase:
ERROR: Exclude HPOvLcore.HPOVXPL,r=6.20.000
ERROR: 1 of 1 filesets had Errors.
ERROR: The Analysis Phase had errors. See the above output for details.
Cause of Error
The SW-DIST tool analyzes the target system to determine if you can install and configure
the software. The SW-DIST tool also reports problems in the installed software. The
enhanced versions of the SW-DIST tool verify the installation pre-requisites rigidly and
hence report this error.
The SW-DIST version or revision is represented in the following format:
B.11.XX.YYMM
where,
XX – Sub-version of the Operating System
YY – Year of release
MM – Month of release
SW-DIST versions that cause the error
The following table lists the SW-DIST versions that are enhanced to verify the installation
pre-requisites rigidly:
SW-DIST versions that check the installation pre-requisites of HP Operations agent 8.60 on
UNIX servers
HP-UX Version
SW-DIST Version
Rigid Verification of Pre-requisites
Exists
11.31
B.11.31.0709 and later
Yes
11.23
B.11.23.0706 and later
Yes
11.11
B.11.11.0903 and later
Yes
11.11
PHCO_38226
Yes
NOTE:: SW-DIST versions earlier than B.11.31.0709, B.11.23.0706, and B.11.11.0903 do
not verify the installation pre-requisites rigidly.
To check the SW-DIST version, run the following command:
swlist -l product SW-DIST
Sample output of this command:
# swlist -l product SW-DIST
# Initializing...
#SW-DIST
B.11.31.0709.311 HP-UX Software Distributor
This message indicates the version number of the SW-DIST tool. In this example the
version number is B.11.31.0709.
Impact on HPOM on a cluster environment
After the installation error occurs during an upgrade, agent processes that were running
earlier do not start automatically, hence HPOM on a cluster environment fails.
Workaround: To disable this rigid verification feature of SW-DIST tool and avoid the error
message, set the value of the parameter enforce_dependencies to false. To set the
parameter value to false, run the following at the command prompt:
swinstall
swinstall
swinstall
swinstall
swinstall
-x
-x
-x
-x
-x
enforce_dependencies=false
enforce_dependencies=false
enforce_dependencies=false
enforce_dependencies=false
enforce_dependencies=false
–s
–s
–s
–s
–s
/HPOvXpl.depot \*
/HPOvSecCo.depot \*
/HPOvBbc.depot \*
/HPOvSecCC.depot \*
/HPOvCtrl.depot \*
swinstall -x enforce_dependencies=false
swinstall -x enforce_dependencies=false
–s /HPOvDepl.depot \*
–s /HPOvConf.depot \*
To continue the installation of the HP Operations agent, run the following command :
$./opc_inst
Start the agent processes manually .

While upgrading from an earlier version of HP Operations agent to HP Operations agent
8.60 on HPOM for Solaris servers, the communication to the following types of managed
nodes fails:

* Nodes that have HP Operations agent version 8.53 or earlier installed on
the following platforms:
* Solaris x86
* Tru64 UNIX
* Nodes that have HP Operations agent version 8.1x installed on any
platform.
Workaround: To resolve this issue, contact HP Software Support to provide you with the
hotfix for CR#(QCCR1A97520).

Limitations

The event correlation agent does not work on the AIX 6.1 nodes.

The time ($x) and date ($X) variables of an SNMP trap are not correctly resolved by the
event interceptor. As a result, messages originating from the SNMP Trap Interceptor
policies indicate incorrect date and time.

If you add a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.x (x86/x64/Itanium) node from the HPOM for
Windows management server, automatic detection of the node does not take place. These
nodes need to be configured manually.

In an HA cluster of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.x nodes, the agent obtains only the first
available shared/public IP address for a node with multiple IP addresses.

All messages originating from the AIX 6.1 nodes running in a supported non-English
language environment appear in English in the non-English HPOM console.

HP Operations agent processes may stop if you modify the default setting of the
configuration variable AUTO_CONNECTION_CLOSE_INTERVAL with the ovconfchg
command.

There are no enhancements in the Embedded Performance Component (EPC) for
supporting virtualization technologies such as HPVM from HP, LPARs from IBM, and
Zones from Solaris. CODA metrics do not report virtual environment-specific details. The
HP Performance Agent product is enhanced to show metrics for the virtual environment.
See the release notes of the latest HP Performance Agent product release for more
information on virtualization-aware metrics.

The Windows core system is not supported as an installation server (to install the HP
Operations agent on other Windows nodes without using the opc_inst.vbs script).

If installation or upgrade of the HP Operations agent on a node, which has HP
Performance Agent installed on it, takes more than ten minutes, the perfalarm process
may stop. The perfalarm process must then be enabled manually.
Documentation Updates
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
Version number, which indicates the software version.

Publish date, which changes each time the document is updated.
To check for recent updates or to verify that you are using the most recent edition, visit this URL:
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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
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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)
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