Frequently Asked Questions for V5R2M0 Electronic Service Agent for iseries

Transcription

1 Frequently Asked Questions for V5R2M0 Electronic Service Agent for iseries Q1: Where can I get media for the Electronic Service Agent product (5798-RZG)? A1: New systems leaving IBM from manufacturing will have Electronic Service Agent preloaded on the iseries system. OS/400 upgrades will have the product included with the OS/400 software order on the B29XX_07 standard set products CD-ROM where XX is the language id. For systems where the product is not preloaded and the install media is not readily accessible, a separate Electronic Service Agent V5R2M0 CD-ROM will be available at V5R2 GA. IBM Service Representatives (SSRs) can order this CD-ROM (SK3T ) through IBM Publications. Q2: Are there any migration instructions if I am upgrading my iseries system from V4R5 or V5R1 to V5R2? A2: Yes. If you SLIP install V5R2, the Service Agent inventory collection task created within Management Central will exist along with the QYSDDIAL TCP/IP connection profile, so you will not have to recreate them. However, you will need to accept the license agreement for inventory collection via the Extreme Support wizard. For hardware problem reporting, you will need to obtain an activation password from your IBM Service Representative (SSR) and accept the license agreement. Q3: Why does LODRUN fail when I try to install Service Agent? A3: The methods to install Service Agent from CD-ROM are the Restore Licensed Program command (RSTLICPGM) or Install Licensed Programs (GO LICPGM option 11). Message CPF3717 is generated if LODRUN is attempted. Q4: Why do I need to use a user profile for Inventory setup that has a *SECOFR user class but not the actual QSECOFR user profile? A4: The operating system has a submit job restriction that does not allow batch jobs to be submitted in the name of system supplied user profiles, such as QSECOFR. However, for Management Central purposes, the QSECOFR user profile must be enabled. If a collection task is created by QSECOFR, the inventory collection task will be started by the QSECOFR user profile and the data will be collected normally. After collection, Management Central will attempt to submit a QYIVRIPS job to be run in the QSVCDRCTR subsystem to send the inventory data. The operating system will not allow the QYIVRIPS job to be submitted because of the submit job restriction. Message CPD1617 ( Value specified for USER parameter not correct. ) will be generated. Q5: How do I activate Service Agent functions? A5: For existing Service Agent customers, hardware problem reporting is activated by entering GO SERVICE on a command line. You will need an activation password from your IBM Service Page 1 of 5

2 Representative (SSR). System inventory collection and transmission is activated using iseries Navigator and the Extreme Support Wizard under Management Central. Activation instructions can be found in the IBM Electronic Service Agent for iseries User s Guide - V5R2 available at: Q6: In prior releases of Service Agent, I needed to set up a locale object to make sure the time information for the scheduled task and history panel was correct. Is that still necessary for Service Agent? A6: Although the use of an OS/400 locale object is no longer necessary for Service Agent, we recommend you make sure the system value for time (QTIME) and the system value QUTCOFFSET are set correctly for your time zone. Changes may need to be made during the calendar year for the beginning and ending of Daylight Savings Time to ensure continuity of the task operations and history panel information. Q7: In V5R2 iseries Navigator, what additional options are available to the Electronic Service Agent object under Management Central s Extreme Support? A7: The additional V5R2 options are listed below. To view all of the options, expand Extreme Support and click Agents. Right click on the Electronic Service Agent object.! Using the Configure Electronic Services option you can register existing IBM ids to the Service Agent Information site to view your system s inventory information. If you do not already have an IBM id, select register link from the IBM Electronic Service Agent Information site at to obtain an IBM id.! You can display the Service Agent audit log for V5R2 and V5R1 central systems.! The history panel can be refreshed using F5 or from a drop-down option from the history panel.! You can start and stop job logging of all jobs that are run by user id QSVCDRCTR. Q8: Are there new or updated inventory selections for Service Agent? A8: Yes. V5R2 Service Agent sends Group PTF information (part of the PTF inventory) as well as Software Audit information (part of Software Inventory). Service Agent can also send the System Registration information. The System Registration wizard is located in the Configuration and Service section of iseries Navigator. Sending this information and registering your iseries system with IBM will help make future service calls to IBM faster and more productive. Q9: Does Service Agent send all of my system inventory to IBM each time it transmits? A9: No. After the first transmission of all of your selected inventories, Service Agent will only transmit system inventory if any part of that inventory has changed since the last time Service Agent transmitted. In V5R2, for PTF inventory and Software Resource inventory, Service Agent will only transmit the specific changes, and not the entire inventory. Q10: When I tried to do Inventory -> Collect, I did not get the option to send the Service Agent information. Has there been a change? Q Page 2 of 5

3 Q11: How can I set up Service Agent to report problems from a central system to IBM for other iseries systems or secondary partitions in my network? A11: For hardware problem reporting, the products needed for this function are Electronic Service Agent (5798RZG) and System Manager for iseries (57xxSM1) which is fee based software. System Manager for iseries gives your central system or main partition the ability to report hardware failures on behalf of the iseries systems or other partitions in your network. The link below to an IBM Software Knowledge Base document provides the information to create a central site configuration for Service Agent hardware problem reporting: ibm.com/supporthome.nsf/a80bff372a96bdfa d01/76832b5b5752eb c008314ad?OpenDocument Q12: How can I set up Service Agent to send inventory information from a central system to IBM for other iseries systems or secondary partitions in my network? A12: For inventory transmission, Management Central allows collection from other iseries systems or secondary partitions and transmission from the central system. You must have Service Agent installed on the secondary partitions or iseries systems. The OS/400 release running on the central system determines the types of inventory to be sent since new collection capabilities have been added over the past two OS/400 releases. Q13: During Service Agent setup, I am having problems starting the Management Central server jobs and connecting to Management Central. What should I do? A13: We recommend this excerpt from the Management Central FAQs. You will need to perform some troubleshooting. The problem is most likely a TCP/IP configuration problem on the host. The following TCP/IP related questions should be answered. Has TCP/IP been configured (CFGTCP) on your iseries systems in the network? Has TCP/IP been started (STRTCP) on your iseries systems in the network? Can you 'ping' the host from the client or another iseries? Can you 'ping' the client from the iseries? Can you 'ping' other iseries systems in your network from the client and from the iseries? If you are using a Domain Name Server (DNS), both short and long names for the system in your network must be there and entered correctly. If you are not using a DNS, the host table for both short and long name (CFGTCP, option 10) must be there and entered correctly. For example, a common practice is to define a long name SYS1.COMPANY.COM that conveys the network organization and to also define a short name such as SYS1 that is easier to remember.! Is the domain information listed in CFGTCP, option 12 specified correctly? Host name (ex: SYS1) and domain name (ex: COMPANY.COM) Is there a port conflict? Management Central uses port 5555 (NETSTAT, option 3.) You can also view the Service Entry Table (CFGTCP, opt 21, opt 1) to identify port Page 3 of 5

4 assignments. Management Central has three port numbers assigned to it. Non-SSL service as-mgtctrl is port 5555, SSL service as-mgtctrl-cs is port 5577 and SSL service as-mgtctrl-ss is port If these are not defined in the service table, add them. The protocol is TCP. Starting in V5R1, Management Central added a java server job (QYPSJSVR) to support java function on the GUI. In order for this java server to run, the QSECOFR user profile must NOT be disabled. All of the Management Central FAQ s are located at this site: If the above troubleshooting steps do not solve the problem, contact your IBM Software Support Center. Q14: Are there problem determination steps for Service Agent inventory problems? A14: Yes. The following diagram steps through a general problem determination process. Page 4 of 5

5 Q15: When I take option 19 to Display Service Agent audit log using the Service Agent Main Menu (GO SERVICE), my screen does not automatically go to the bottom of the file for the most recent entries as in past releases. Has there been a change? A15: Yes. The audit log file has been changed for easier code page translation and is displayed using SQL. On the Position to line field, you can enter the letter B to get to the bottom of the file for the most recent audit log entries. Q16: When I look at the job schedule entries (WRKJOBSCDE) on my system, there is a QSDAUTOTST job schedule entry. What is that entry used for? A16: QSDAUTOTST is the Service Agent automated operational test which is an integral part of V5R2. This scheduled job will send a test to the service provider every 91 days for verification purposes. Day of the week and time settings can be modified using option 1 Change Service Agent Settings from the Service Agent Main Menu (GO SERVICE). Q17: The V5R2 AUTOPTF function has been requesting a different informational APAR than in prior releases. Has there been a change? A17: Yes. The new informational APAR used for AUTOPTF at V5R2 is II Q18: Why is there a new JV1 requirement for V5R2 systems running Service Agent Inventory Collection and Transmission? A18: The V5R2 IBM Developer Kit for Java has been updated. To comply with licensing requirements and to ensure V5R2 Service Agent will function, the update must be applied to user systems. The OS/400 product 5722JV1 (IBM Developer Kit for Java) and its option 5 (Java Developer Kit 1.3) need to be restored from the operating system CD B29XX_08, where XX is the two digit language identifier. No IPL or activation of Java code is necessary. This change affects new and existing V5R2 Electronic Service Agent inventory configurations. Page 5 of 5