HP

HP Version Control Agent

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Troubleshooting

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HP Version Control Agent

Access problems

My [Install] buttons are grayed out in the VCA when I configure the VCA with administrator, operator or even invalid credentials to connect to the VCRM.

Solution: The VCRM's SMH has anonymous access enabled.

HP recommends that you upgrade the VCRM with the version from the 7.50 HP Management CD.

HP SIM problems

How do I recover from a failed update when the software repository becomes unavailable while the update is performed in HP Systems Insight Manager (HP SIM)?

Solution: If the update task uses a software version criteria, execute the task again. The update starts over and the Smart Components that are deployed are only installed if supported by the target servers.

Use the task log to examine the target systems and determine where the update failed.

The software update feature in HP SIM does not locate any repositories. How can this be corrected?

Solution: Verify the Discovery settings and ensure that the IP range specified does not exclude the selection of available repositories. Also, for a repository to announce itself as such to HP SIM, ensure that the repository is managed by the HP Version Control Repository Manager (VCRM). While it is not necessary, it is useful to set up a VCRM on a system before you run Discovery in HP SIM for the first time. Make sure that the VCRM trusts HP SIM.

One of the three items I was trying to install from HP SIM failed to download from the repository, yet the other two items, which downloaded properly, did not install.

Solution: If any items fail to download from the repository, the VCA will not attempt to install any of the items.

I set up a task to notify me using email when a software update task completed in HP SIM, but when the event arrived, not all of the software was completely installed.

Solution: The software update task sends the VCA on each target system a command to install the specified components. After the install command has been sent to the last system, the software update task completes, and the completion event is sent. However, at this time, some of the systems might still be in the process of downloading components and installing them.

Why can’t I install or update the VCRM using the VCA? I receive an Unable to install the Microsoft XML Parser 3.0 (1603) error.

Solution: You are attempting to install the VCRM with the VCA, whose service does not have administrative privileges.

Perform the recommended changes only on servers running both the VCA and VCRM:

  1. Launch the Services program.

  2. Right-click the VCA service.

  3. Select [Properties].

  4. Click the Log On tab.

  5. Click This account.

  6. Enter the name of or browse to a user with administrative privileges using [Browse.]

  7. Click [OK] to save the changes.

You will now be able to install and upgrade the VCRM using the VCA.

Log problems

Why do I see a reboot required, Status 2 in the VCA Log but not in the Install Log?

Solution: The VCA Log page contains information logged by the VCA during its operation. The VCA Log is often informational when you are trying to troubleshoot a problem, such as why a specific task failed. In this specific case, the component setup program detected that the installation succeeded, but will not be complete until the system is rebooted. The VCA does not reboot the system after each component install, but at the end of all installations, to avoid unnecessary restarts. If the installation task was started without the reboot automatically option selected, you must restart the server manually to ensure proper installation of all software.

The Log page contains information logged by the component setup program.

Why do some of my components not install and report in the log as failed, although the hardware exists on my server and requires the update?

Solution: Some HP components are not written to support silent installation, such as HP NIC drivers for Windows NT, which is an installation that requires user intervention. The VCA can only install components that are written for silent installation. The following components currently do not support silent installation:

  • NetFlex/Netelligent Adapter Driver for Windows NT 4.0

  • Ethernet/Fast Ethernet or Gigabit NIC Driver for Windows NT 4.0

  • Array Redundancy Software for Windows 2000

In the event silent installation is not supported, HP recommends the following procedure

  1. View the VCA log and determine which component failed.

  2. Access the failed system, and browse to the VCRM repository from that system.

  3. Browse to the Catalog and identify the component.

  4. Click the component. The Component Details page appears.

  5. Click the link associated with the component at the top of the Component Details page to download the failed component.

  6. Save the component to the system.

  7. Install the component manually.

In the event components fail because they are not signed by Authenticode technology or have not cleared the Microsoft Windows logo testing, check the target system for messages.

If these components do not or will not install without user intervention or silently, why does the VCA report Failed to Install?

Solution: At the current time, the VCA does not differentiate between silent and non-silent components.

After installing the SMH from the installation icon in the VCA, the VCA log disappeared and indicated that the page cannot be displayed. What happened to the log?

Solution: The SMH is restarted during the installation which disrupts the connection between the client browser application and the system. To resolve this issue, HP recommends that you login to the SMH again and view the VCA log directly to determine the status of the installation task.

Print problems

When I try to print from a Mozilla browser, a dialog box displays indicating there is an Unknown Error. Why is this happening?

Solution: A default printer has not been configured. HP recommends that you configure a default printer to resolve this issue.

ProLiant Support Pack problems

After initiating the ProLiant Support Pack installation on a server, a message displays indicating XML PARSING ERROR and the log details display The xml file was tainted. The ProLiant Support Pack installation is terminated.

Solution: The ProLiant Support Pack installation is terminating due to low disk space.

To resolve this issue, ensure the server has at least 200 MB or more of free disk space so the installation can complete successfully.

Replicate Agent Settings problems

The Replicate Agent Settings feature in HP SIM denies access to the source system for security reasons. How is this corrected?

Solution: HP SIM implements security to ensure that access to management information is available only to authorized users. This security relies on security settings between HP SIM with managed systems. HP SIM will deny access if the trust relationship between HP SIM and the source system's SMH is not configured correctly. To correct this problem, HP suggests the following procedure:

  1. Navigate to https://hostname:2381.

  2. From SMH, click SettingsSecurityTrust Mode.

  3. Correct the configuration.

Note: For more information regarding Trust Relationships, refer to Setting up Trust Relationships in the HP SIM User Guide.

Complete information on the security implemented by the management system, where the VCRM is installed, and the managed systems, or SMH, are available in the Security white paper. To download the Security white paper, go to http://www.hp.com/servers/manage.

Repository problems

The job of the Software Version Status Polling tasks in HP SIM is to retrieve a list of installed software and firmware from systems and obtain the software status from the HP Version Control Agent (VCA) on those systems. Why do I need to specify a repository when setting up this task? Does it matter which repository I choose?

Solution: HP SIM sends the selected VCRM a list of all the software versions in sorted order. This is necessary so that HP SIM can properly handle searches that include software version comparisons. The VCRM can return a sorted list of versions for a component even if that component does not exist in the repository. However, it is generally a good idea to choose a repository with the most complete set of software.

I cannot seem to configure the VCA settings to access the VCRM using the administrator credentials. Why is this happening?

Solution: When SMH is installed, the VCA cannot be configured to access a VCRM 2.1 or later using the administrator login credentials. A feature in the VCA prevents you from using the administrator credentials to ensure that the administrator OS Account for the VCRM is not locked out when the VCA retries the login to the VCRM several times.

HP recommends that you create an account with administrator privileges to be used specifically by the VCA, for example, vcadmin.

Software inventory problems

Why do some of the components display in the inventory for hardware that is not physically located on my server?

Solution: This issue is caused by a conflict between SmartStart and the VCA and might display with Yellow status icons in the Latest Version and Support Pack columns.

SmartStart installs all components, specifically storage components, for hardware, regardless of the physical location of hardware on the server, for example:

  • 32-Bit SCSI Controller Driver for Windows NT 4.0

  • Drive Array Driver for Windows NT 4.0

  • Smart Array-2 Controllers Driver for Windows NT 4.0

  • 64-Bit/66Mhz Dual Channel Wide Ultra3 SCSI Controller Driver for Windows NT 4.0

  • Smart Array 5x Controller Driver for Windows NT.40

The inventory for these components might display with Yellow status icons, stating an upgrade is needed and available, which occurs when the VCRM configured on the VCA is cataloged with newer versions of these components.

For example, if your server is configured with components from HP SmartStart CD 5.2 and the Catalog of your VCRM contains new HP SmartStart CD 5.3 components, the inventory of the VCA displays the previously mentioned items with Yellow status icons. You cannot upgrade these components because the physical hardware does not exist on the system or allow the status icons to display with a Green icon reporting the components are current. The Overall Status also continues to display with a Yellow icon because the VCA is reporting components that need updating.

You can create a Custom Software Baseline excluding these components and configure your VCA to use it as its Reference Support Pack. This option enables the Support Pack Version column to exclude these components during its version comparison, which allows your Overall Status to display with a Green icon stating the inventory is current. However, the Latest Version column will continue to display with Yellow icons for these components.

This solution should only be applied to those systems without the storage hardware physically installed.

This problem will be corrected in future releases of the VCA.

“ati2mtag.sys" and "HPCISSs2.sys" are observed as software names under Installed Software.

Solution 1: Install Insight Management Agents for SNMP and install/configure SNMP with at least one community string with read access. This will make VCA to collect inventory from SNMP.

Solution 2: Populate VCRM with latest updates and configure VCA to VCRM. This will make VCA to update the latest applicable description from VCRM for that product.

Solution 3: Use Smart Start CD to install the required drivers. This will install drivers with the HP Metadata and driver name description.

Miscellaneous problems

Should the VCRM be installed before running Discovery in HP SIM, and if so, why?

Solution: While it is not essential, it is a good idea to install a VCRM before running Discovery. Be sure that this repository trusts HP SIM. Refer to Setting up Trust Relationships in the HP SIM User Guide for more information on trust relationships. It is a good idea to install a VCRM is so that the Software Version Status Polling task can properly sort the versions of software retrieved from systems. If you do not set up a repository before running Discovery, then the versions are sorted when a software criteria search is set up for the first time.

Why is it that when I search for systems with Foundation Agents for Windows in HP SIM, I get only the Windows 2000 systems back and not Windows NT?

Solution: Even though you choose a component that is supported for both Windows NT and Windows 2000, the search only returns the systems that match the operating system tree from which you chose the component when you created the search. In this example, if you chose the Foundation Agents for Windows from the Windows 2000 branch of the criteria tree, then only Windows 2000 systems are returned. If you want systems from both Windows 2000 and Windows NT, choose the Foundation Agents for Windows from the Windows 2000 and Windows NT branch.

What capabilities do I get from the VCA alone?

Solution: The VCA provides a list of the HP Web-enabled System Management Software and firmware installed on the local server. For the VCA to provide version control and software distribution functionality, it must be configured to refer to a VCRM.

Does HP have any intention of disabling the Install icon on those components that do not install silently or without user intervention in future releases?

Solution: Yes.

The VCA or VCRM display as links under the Integrated Agents list on the SMH, but the application is missing from the version control category on the SMH's Home tab, or the category does not display at all. When I click the link under the Integrated Agents, a page displays indicating The application is not available.

Solution: On Windows, the associated Win32 service is stopped. You must restart the HP Version Control Agent or HP Version Control Repository Manager's Win32 service on the server. If the service is not set for automatic startup, then configure the service to start automatically. If the service stopped unexpectedly, check the Windows NT Event Log as well as the application's log for additional information.

On Linux, the associated VCA daemon process is stopped, and the VCA daemon can be restarted by the root user running /etc/init.d/hpvca restart.