www.wolkers.net

I've been playing with HP Systems Insight Manager (HP SIM) 5.3 on a Windows 2008 VM, 64 bits.

I ran into a couple of problems:

Remote Support wouldn't register.

In the logfile "...\Hewlett-Packard\RemoteSupport\logs\iseeclient.log" the following is recorded:

20090522T10:38:27 | IseeClient | info | ConfigManager.cxx:365 | Data source has been set to hpsim, using e:\Program Files (x86)\HP\RemoteSupport\config\clientmanager.hpsim.cfg as client config file.
20090522T10:38:55 | IseeClient | always | TPMListener.cxx:232 | Received IPC to submit transport item to the queue.
20090522T10:38:55 | IseeClient | always | FileQueue.cxx:91 | Added a transport item to the request queue, transport type=registration transport id=E4756C29-59FB-4123-866C-2EEF6CF545D4
20090522T10:38:56 | IseeClient | error | ResponseHandler.cxx:227 | ERROR DURING TRANSPORT, transport type=registration transport id=E4756C29-59FB-4123-866C-2EEF6CF545D4 Error details: error code=100 error string=Failed to get GDID! isClient=true

This is apearantly due to us running HP SIM on a VMware platform, which is not supported.

I found a posting describing how to work around this:

"For those of you who wish to run HP SIM and RSP on a VM, try my suggestions below. I have successfully registered RSP while running on a VMware 3.5 Virtual Machine.

Windows 2003 Standard Edition with SP2, 4 CPU, 2GB RAM, Using database in SQL Server 2005 Cluster on seperate server.

Note: I'm only using the Contract/Warranty Collection and OSEM service event generator. My company has no need to use the ISEE HP case feature in RSP because we use a 3rd party for hardware support. Therefore, I have not tested the ISEE feature. RSP has never been installed

I'm using HP SIM 5.3 and I installed RSP using the Advanced ISO located at http://h20392.www2.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNu...

This ISO contains a more recent build than what's included in the SIM 5.3 installation package.
This is due to some known issues when the CM client tries to download the multiple RSP packages from HP's back end server and hangs during download.

Before the registration will work, you'll need to meet all other RSP requirements.
- RSP must be installed while logged into the console using the user account you use to run the HP SIM Service. Using Remote Desktop with the console switch is fine.
- RSP must be installed to the C: drive. I have SIM on D: and RSP on C: and it's fine.
- Test you can reach the 2 RSP websites from the CMS server.
https://rsswm.software.hp.com/proc/rps/stats - You should see the stager stats
https://services.isee.hp.com/version/index.html - You should see your version of HP SIM installed
- Using RSSM, go to Actions and verify the "Test Connectivity" works.

The obstacle I ran into with SIM and RSP on a VM was trying to register RSP. I was constantly receiving the error that the registration was not successful.

After some investigation, I noticed this was because an XML file is generated during registration which contains some detailed info about the CMS server. The contents of the XML file are sent to HP and decide whether the registration will work or not. For those of you using SIM on a VM, the XML file included VMware specific information.

1. When you register RSP, the following actions are performed behind the scenes.
- The MC3 collection tool fires up and polls the CMS server and SIM database.
- The following files are created under C:\Program Files\HP\RemoteSupport\config.
1. HPS-CSID.CFG (Config file include OS SID Information)
2. HPS-OSID.CFG (Config file include OS SID Information)
3. HPS-SID.XML (Created using a combination of both CFG files above)

2. For RSP to properly register, the 2 CFG files must include information for Proliant hardware. In VMware land, you can see these files do not contain valid serial numbers, etc..

3. Register RSP at least one time and you should see the 2 CFG files are created in the folder mentioned above. Of course, it will fail but no worries.

Make a copy and save each CFG file before making changes. Edit each CFG file and change the values I have listed below. For values I do not list below, leave them as default. It is crucial that you enter valid values in these fields or else the registration will not work. The s/n, product number, systemmodel, etc.. must be correct. The contents of Each CFG file should be identical when finished.

After you are finished editing the CFG files, save and make the files read only so MC3 doesn't overwrite your changes the next time you register RSP.

[SYSTEM_IDENTIFIERS]
AutoDetectedSystemSerialNumber = I used a valid s/n for a blade server which is not managed in SIM. I made this choice because I figured RSP would bark if the s/n matched that of another managed system.
SystemModel = HP Proliant Whatever (ie. HP Proliant BL460 G1)
CoreSystemModel = HP Proliant Whatever (ie. HP Proliant BL460 G1)
Manufacturer = HP
ProductId = Enter valid product ID to match the S/N you selected above

4. During registration, HPS-SID.XML is created and includes a combination of values from both CFG files. Edit HPS-SID.XML and make the same changes I listed above in the OSID and CSID sections. Once you are done, save and make the XML file read only.

5. Now you should be ready to register RSP in SIM. Enter required values on the registration page which include an * and register. If it works, great! If not, continue with some troubleshooting suggestions below.

When you try to register, the MC3 utility uses the HPS-SID.XML file and includes the information you entered on the RSP registraion page. It then creates a new XML file and fires it off to HP.

Look under "C:\Program Files\HP\RemoteSupport\tmp\" and browse the subfolder with date/time you recently tried to register RSP. Check the contents of INDEX.XML.

This file should contain the values you ented in the CFG and XML files in the steps above. If not, you forgot to make those files read only. If the registration still didn't work, one of more of the values you listed in the CFG and XML files are incorrect.

You can verify your using a valid s/n and product ID by checking the warranty status using the following website:
http://www11.itrc.hp.com/service/ewarranty/warrantyResults.do

Sorry for the long write up but I really hope these suggestions help you stay green by keeping your SIM/RSP box in VMware land!! "

I haven't tested this, I have a case open with HP and I'm wondering what they are going to say next, since we have always been running our HP SIM on a VMware machine from the start, and we are now having problems since they want us to change the way of error reporting.
I'm not planning on buying a new server just because HP wants me to, there is no reason to!

-edit- Tested this, and it works :) we are now using this in a production environment. I only edited the XML file, couldn't find the CFG files, but that apears to be enough!