File Name: README.txt Electronic Service Agent for xSeries and Netfinity version 2.1 README.txt CONTENTS ________ 1.0 Overview 2.0 A Note About Your Entitlement to Support From IBM 3.0 A Note About Viewing Your Company Owned Managed Systems' Information on a Secure IBM Web Site 4.0 Limitations 5.0 Prerequisites 6.0 README Updates and Contacting Customer Support 7.0 Trademarks and Notices 8.0 Disclaimer 1.0 Overview ________________ Electronic Service Agent for xSeries and Netfinity version 2.1 is a program that operates on IBM Netfinity and xSeries servers. This agent is designed to be installed as an extension to your IBM Director Central Management Server. Electronic Service Agent has two main functions: - To initiate a Service Request and send it to IBM when it detects system hardware errors that meet certain criteria for criticality - To perform information gathering operations and standard and diagnostic inventory updates then send this information to IBM All information sent to IBM is stored in a secure IBM database and used for improved problem determination. Electronic Service Agent version 2.1 also provides generic support for IBM's Electronic Systems Management Services for xSeries Extended Service Levels. Electronic Systems Management Services for xSeries currently provides two Extended Service Levels. These are the Premiere and Premiere Plus Extended Service Levels. 1.1 Change History ______________ 1.1.1 Version 2.1 of Electronic Service Agent supports IBM Director version 3.1. 1.1.2 Enhancements have been made to the graphical user interface that include: - New easy-to-use Configuration Wizard screens that lead you through Electronic Service Agent's configuration process - New Electronic Service Agent Configuration Notebooks that allow you to easily differentiate between Electronic Service Agent's global configuration settings and system specific settings when you are performing administrative tasks - A new History screen that displays a log of events generated by Electronic Service Agent - A new Inventory screen that allows you to configure what specific items of inventory information (standard and diagnostic inventory) you want Electronic Service Agent to collect and send to IBM - A new Updates screen that allows you to configure Electronic Service Agent to receive automatic program updates - Improved feedback from user actions - Reduced user interface lock-up time 1.1.3 Enhanced system inventory: An improved and extended level of information can now be made available to customer service engineers. 1.1.4 Extended operating system support. 1.1.5 Support for an extended number of managed system (server) models. 1.1.6 Enhanced security features: A system enrolment scheme has been introduced. 2.0 A Note About Your Entitlement to Support From IBM ______________________________________________________ You are entitled to support from IBM only if your systems are under warranty and your organization has a maintenance agreement with IBM. This service program is not intended for customers who have a third party maintaining their IBM xSeries and Netfinity servers. 3.0 A Note About Viewing Your Company Owned Managed ____________________________________________________ Systems' Information on a Secure IBM Web Site _____________________________________________ IBM proposes to provide a web site that will allow you to view the system details and inventory information that Electronic Service Agent collects from each of your company owned managed systems that are enabled and enrolled for Electronic Service. We anticipate that this web site will be available at the end of March 2002. When this web site is available, you must do the following before you can view the information that it contains about your company owned managed systems: - Obtain an IBM Registration user ID - Register each of your managed systems with IBM - Register for authorization to view this information using the Advanced page of the Untargeted Electronic Service Agent Configuration Notebook (refer to Chapter 8, "Using the Electronic Service Agent for xSeries and Netinity interface", of your Electronic Service Agent for xSeries and Netfinity User's Guide.) When you have obtained an IBM Registration user ID you will also have the authority to grant other users access to information on this web site. You can obtain an IBM Registration user ID at the following IBM web site: http://www.ibm.com/registration/selfreg You can register each of your company owned managed systems and view their details and inventory information at the following IBM web site: http://www.ibm.com/support/electronic 4.0 Limitations ________________ 4.1 Due to differing capabilities of the Advanced Systems Management Adapters in various Netfinity models, Electronic Service Agent will not report the following events from Netfinity 5000, 5500, 5500 M10, 5500 M20, or 7000 servers: - Critical.Temperature - Critical.Voltage - Critical.Voltage Regulator Module Failure - Critical.Power Failure - Critical.Hard Disk Drive The Netfinity Advanced Systems Management Processor and Adapter must be updated to the latest level on each managed server. To obtain the latest level of device driver: 1.0 Visit website: http://www.pc.ibm.com/support on the Internet Ensure that your web browser is capable of displaying frames. 2.0 Select "Servers" from the pull-down list of the Browse the support site field. Then click the forward arrow. 3.0 Select the product reference of your managed server from the pull-down list of the Family field. 4.0 Select the appropriate machine type and model of your managed server from the pull-down lists of the Machine type and Model fields respectively. 5.0 Select "Downloadable files" from the left hand navigation frame. 6.0 Select "Advanced Systems Management" from the Select a category pull-down list. 7.0 Select the appropriate drivers from the Downloadable files list and follow the directions for all Advanced Systems Management firmware and device driver updates. 4.2 Currently, IBM Director version 3.1 and therefore Electronic Service Agent version 2.1 do not support managed systems running Caldera Open Unix and all flavors of the Linux operating systems. This is because the latest device drivers for these operating systems are currently not available. Managed systems running these operating systems will be supported by Electronic Service Agent when the latest device drivers become available. You should check regularly for driver updates at the following IBM website: http://www.pc.ibm.com/support 4.3 A note to Asia Pacific users: Japanese, Korean, Simplified and Traditional Chinese versions of Electronic Service Agent version 2.1 are currently available. Note however that Electronic Service Agent version 2.1 will not accept field entries typed as double byte characters. You must ensure that you type all details as single byte (latin) characters. 4.4 When launching the Electronic Service task in targeted mode, you should restrict the number of systems targeted at any one time to no more than four. Targeting more than four systems at one time may cause heavy network traffic. 4.5 If you are viewing inventory data for a managed system or group of managed systems using IBM Director's or Netfinity Director's Query Browser window and then you change the Extended Service Level enablement of this managed system or group of managed systems, note that the inventory data displayed in the Query Browser window will not be automatically updated. To view updated inventory data, you must close the Query browser window and then reopen it by relaunching the inventory task targeted at the managed system or group of managed systems for which you want to view refreshed inventory data. 4.6 If you want to socksify your Central Management Server (CMS) after you have installed Electronic Service Agent, then you must make a modification to your Socks.cnf file. Locate and open your Socks.cnf file, then type the following line at the TOP of the file: EXCLUDE MODULE DIALERSERVICE 4.7 Electronic Service Agent version 2.1 should be used in conjunction with IBM Director version 3.1 ONLY. During the IBM Director version 3.1 installation process, ensure that you select "Director Extension" in the Director Agent Configuration screen. 4.8 Electronic Service Agent detects which modems have been installed on your IBM Director Central Management Server then displays them in the following places in the Electronic Service Agent interface for you to select later: - Modem field, Telephone number screen, Electronic Service Agent Configuration Wizard - Modem field, Communication page, untargeted Electronic Service Agent Configuration Notebook The modem type text displayed in each of the above fields may appear slightly corrupted. This feature does not adversly affect Electronic Service Agent's functionality. 4.9 During the upgrade process of Electronic Service Agent from version 1.1.2 to version 2.1, you will have upgraded the version of IBM Director that you have installed on your Central Management Server from version 2.2 to version 3.1. When you restart IBM Director version 3.1 after upgrading, you must NOT launch the Event Log task. If you launch the Event Log Task, IBM Director version 3.1 will fail and will have to be restarted. 4.10 If you stop the IBM Director service and want to restart it again, then you should also stop and restart the Electronic Service Agent Dialer service. To start and stop the IBM Director and Electronic Service Agent Dialer services: 1. Select Start-->Settings-->Control Panel-->Services 2. Select Director Support program then click stop or startup to stop or start the IBM Director service 3. Select ESA Dialer v5.Interface service then click stop or Startup to stop or start the IBM Director service 5.0 Prerequisites __________________ 5.1 Versions 1.1.2 and 2.0 are upgradeable to version 2.1 of Electronic Service Agent. Note: If you are currently running Electronic Service Agent version 1.1.2 with IBM Director version 2.2 on your Central Management Server then you must upgrade this version of IBM Director to version 3.1 before upgrading Electronic Service Agent. Electronic Service Agent version 2.1 can only be used in conjunction with IBM Director version 3.1. 5.2 If your Central Management Server is running Windows NT version 4.0 Server or Server Enterprise with Service Pack 4 or higher, then you must manually configure each modem you install on this Central Management Server for RAS (Remote Access Service). If your Central Management Server is running Windows 2000 Server or Advanced Server with Service pack 2 then any modem that you install will automatically be configured for RRAS (Routing and Remote Access Service). 5.3 Ensure that you have Supplied accurate information when configuring Electronic Service Agent. It is particularly important that you configure the location details of your Central Management Server and managed systems accurately. If you record your Central Management Server location details incorrectly then IBM's service delivery will be delayed. Similarly, if you record your managed systems' location details incorrectly, then IBM service representatives will not be dispatched to the correct site location after a hardware problem has been reported. 5.4 Electronic Service Agent version 2.1 should be used in conjunction with IBM Director version 3.1 ONLY. During the IBM Director version 3.1 installation process, ensure that you select "Director Extension" in the Director Agent Configuration screen. 5.5 In addition to installing IBM Director version 3.1 on your Central Management Server. Ensure that you download and install the latest e-fixes. You can obtain the latest e-fixes from the following IBM Director web site: http://sysman.sl.dfw.ibm.com/NfD/roadrun.htm 6.0 README Updates and Contacting Customer Support ____________________________________________________ 6.1 This README document may be periodically updated. You can obtain the latest version of the Electronic Service Agent for xSeries and Netfinity version 2.1 README from the following World Wide Website: http://www.pc.ibm.com/qtechinfo/MIGR-4L4QVC.html 6.2 If you encounter problems or have technical questions regarding the Electronic Service Agent for xSeries and Netfinity product, you should call your nearest IBM support center. You can obtain support center contact details from the following website: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/pubs/html/as400/v4r4/ ic2924/info/rzajitbl.htm When calling IBM you should quote program number 5639-L09. You should have your machine type ready when calling. Your machine type is identified by a four digit number. You will be asked for this four digit number by IBM support staff. 7.0 Trademarks and Notices ___________________________ 7.1 The following terms are trademarks of the International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, or other countries, or both: Electronic Service Agent Extended Services IBM Netfinity OS/2 xSeries 7.2 Microsoft, Windows and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. 7.3 Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. 8.0 Disclaimer _______________ 8.1 THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. IBM DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND MERCHANTABILITY WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT. BY FURNISHING THIS DOCUMENT, IBM GRANTS NO LICENSES TO ANY PATENTS OR COPYRIGHTS. 8.2 Note to U.S Government Users-- Documentation related to restricted rights -- use, duplication or disclosure is subject to restrictions set forth in GSA ADP Schedule contract with IBM Corporation. 8.3 You agree to pay any communications charges associated with accessing Electronic Service Agent for xSeries and Netfinity unless we specify otherwise. (C) COPYRIGHT IBM CORPORATION 2000, 2002. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.