ibm tivoli inventory for linux on powerpc: release notes

IBM Tivoli Inventory for Linux on PowerPC

Release NotesVersion 4.0

SC32-1343-00

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NoteBefore using this information and the product it supports, read the information in “Notices” on page 9.

First Edition (May 2003)

This edition applies to Version 4, release 0, modification level 0 of IBM Tivoli Inventory for Linux on PowerPC andto all subsequent releases and modifications until otherwise indicated in new editions.

© Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 2003. All rights reserved.US Government Users Restricted Rights – Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contractwith IBM Corp.

Contents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vPublications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

IBM Tivoli Inventory for Linux on PowerPC. . . vPrerequisite publications . . . . . . . . . vRelated publications . . . . . . . . . . . vAccessing publications online. . . . . . . . vOrdering publications . . . . . . . . . . vi

Contacting software support . . . . . . . . . viConventions used in this guide . . . . . . . . vi

Typeface conventions . . . . . . . . . . viiOperating system-dependent variables and paths viiCommand Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Chapter 1. About this release . . . . . 1Hardware scan support . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 2. Installation and upgradenotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Supported operating systems . . . . . . . . . 3Supported installation programs . . . . . . . . 3

Installing and upgrading Linux on PowerPCendpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Installation requirements . . . . . . . . . . 4

Chapter 3. Software limitations,problems, and workarounds . . . . . . 7Software problems and workarounds . . . . . . 7

Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Trademarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2003 iii

iv IBM Tivoli Inventory for Linux on PowerPC: Release Notes

Preface

These release notes provide important information about the IBM® Tivoli®

Inventory for Linux on PowerPC, Version 4.0 product. You can use this product touse IBM Tivoli Inventory, Version 4.0 on the Linux on PowerPC platform.

These release notes are the most current information to the product. Review thesenotes thoroughly before installing or using this product.

PublicationsThis section lists publications in the IBM Tivoli Inventory for Linux on PowerPC,Version 4.0 library and related documents. It also describes how to access Tivolipublications online and how to order Tivoli publications.

IBM Tivoli Inventory for Linux on PowerPCThe IBM Tivoli Inventory for Linux on PowerPC Release Notes, Version 4.0document is available in the IBM Tivoli Inventory for Linux on PowerPC library.

It provides late-breaking information about IBM Tivoli Inventory for Linux onPowerPC, Version 4.0.

Prerequisite publicationsTo use the information in this guide effectively, you must have some prerequisiteknowledge, which you can obtain from the following guides:v IBM Tivoli Inventory: Release Notes, Version 4.0, GI10-3011

This guide provides late-breaking information about IBM Tivoli Inventory,Version 4.0.

v IBM Tivoli Inventory: User’s Guide, Version 4.0, GC31-8381This guide includes an introduction to the IBM Tivoli Inventory product andinformation about, procedures for, and examples of the management tasks thatyou can complete using Inventory. This guide also describes the schema used bythe configuration repository.

Related publicationsThe Tivoli Software Glossary includes definitions for many of the technical termsrelated to Tivoli software. The Tivoli Software Glossary is available, in English only,at the following Web site:

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/tividd/glossary/termsmst04.htm

For more information about the XFS interface specification, go to this Web site:http://www.cenorm.be/isss/Workshop/XFS/

Accessing publications onlineThe product CD contains the publications that are in the product library. Theformat of the publications is PDF. To access the publications using a Web browser,open the infocenter.html file. The file is in the appropriate publications directoryon the product CD.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2003 v

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/tividd/glossary/termsmst04.htm

http://www.cenorm.be/isss/Workshop/XFS/

IBM posts publications for this and all other Tivoli products, as they becomeavailable and whenever they are updated, to the Tivoli Software InformationCenter Web site. The Tivoli Software Information Center is located at the followingWeb address:

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/tividd/td/tdprodlist.html

Click the IBM Tivoli Inventory for Linux on PowerPC link to access the productlibrary.

Note: If you print PDF documents on other than letter-sized paper, select the Fit topage check box in the Adobe Acrobat Print window. This option is availablewhen you click File -> Print. Fit to page ensures that the full dimensions ofa letter-sized page print on the paper that you are using.

Ordering publicationsYou can order many Tivoli publications online at the following Web site:

http://www.elink.ibmlink.ibm.com/public/applications/publications/cgibin/pbi.cgi

You can also order by telephone by calling one of these numbers:v In the United States: 800-879-2755v In Canada: 800-426-4968

In other countries, see the following Web site for a list of telephone numbers:

http://www.ibm.com/software/tivoli/order-lit/

Contacting software supportIf you have a problem with any Tivoli product, refer to the following IBM SoftwareSupport Web site:

http://www.ibm.com/software/sysmgmt/products/support/

If you want to contact software support, see the IBM Software Support Guide at thefollowing Web site:

http://techsupport.services.ibm.com/guides/handbook.html

The guide provides information about how to contact IBM Software Support,depending on the severity of your problem, and the following information:v Registration and eligibilityv Telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, depending on the country in which

you are locatedv Information you must have before contacting IBM Software Support

Conventions used in this guideThis guide uses several conventions for special terms and actions, operatingsystem-dependent commands and paths, and margin graphics.

vi IBM Tivoli Inventory for Linux on PowerPC: Release Notes

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/tividd/td/tdprodlist.html

http://www.elink.ibmlink.ibm.com/public/applications/publications/

http://www.elink.ibmlink.ibm.com/public/applications/publications/

http://www.ibm.com/software/tivoli/order-lit/

http://www.ibm.com/software/sysmgmt/products/support/

http://techsupport.services.ibm.com/guides/handbook.html

Typeface conventionsThis guide uses the following typeface conventions:

Bold

v Lowercase commands and mixed case commands that are otherwisedifficult to distinguish from surrounding text

v Interface controls (check boxes, push buttons, radio buttons, spinbuttons, fields, folders, icons, list boxes, items inside list boxes,multicolumn lists, containers, menu choices, menu names, tabs, propertysheets), labels (such as Tip:, and Operating system considerations:)

v Column headings in a tablev Keywords and parameters in text

Italic

v Citations (titles of books, diskettes, and CDs)v Words defined in textv Emphasis of words (words as words)v Letters as lettersv New terms in text (except in a definition list)v Variables and values you must provide

Monospace

v Examples and code examplesv File names, programming keywords, and other elements that are difficult

to distinguish from surrounding textv Message text and prompts addressed to the userv Text that the user must typev Values for arguments or command options

Operating system-dependent variables and pathsThis guide uses the UNIX® convention for specifying environment variables andfor directory notation.

When using the Windows® command line, replace $variable with %variable% forenvironment variables and replace each forward slash (/) with a backslash (\) indirectory paths.

Note: If you are using the bash shell on a Windows system, you can use the UNIXconventions.

Command SyntaxThese special characters are used to define command syntax:

[ ] Identifies optional arguments. Arguments not enclosed in brackets arerequired.

... Indicates that you can repeat the previous argument or specify multiplevalues for the previous argument.

| Indicates mutually exclusive information. You can use the argument to theleft or to the right of the separator. You cannot use both arguments in asingle use of the command.

Preface vii

{ } Limits a set of mutually exclusive arguments when one of the arguments isrequired. If the arguments are optional, they are enclosed in [ ] (brackets).

viii IBM Tivoli Inventory for Linux on PowerPC: Release Notes

Chapter 1. About this release

These release notes provide important information about IBM Tivoli Inventory forLinux on PowerPC, Version 4.0. IBM Tivoli Inventory for Linux on PowerPC,Version 4.0 is supported only for endpoints. For a list of supported platforms, seeTable 3 on page 3.

To enable IBM Tivoli Inventory for Linux on PowerPC, Version 4.0, you mustinstall the following patches:

4.0-INV-0040This patch is to be installed on servers that are at IBM Tivoli Inventory,Version 4.0 level, to provide the support for Linux on PowerPC.

3.71-CLL-0007This Scalable Collection Service (SCS) enablement patch is to be installedon gateways that are at IBM Tivoli Inventory, Version 4.0 level, to providethe support for Linux on PowerPC.

4.0-INVGW-0040This patch is to be installed on gateways that are at IBM Tivoli Inventory,Version 4.0 level, to provide the support for Linux on PowerPC.

This chapter also includes the “Hardware scan support” section.

Hardware scan supportThe following table summarizes the inventory hardware scan support for IBMTivoli Inventory, Version 4.0 for Linux on PowerPC.

Table 1. Inventory hardware scan support

Scan support Su

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Scan time U U

System name U U

Model U

IP address U U

Alias U U

Boot time U U

Main memory U U

Virtual memory U U

Operating system name U U

Operating system version U U

Partition information U U

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2003 1

Table 1. Inventory hardware scan support (continued)

Scan support Su

Se

Lin

ux

En

terp

rise

Ser

ver

7,S

uS

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erve

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and

Red

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7.1

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ies™

Su

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and

Red

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7.1

for

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erie

s™

Processor speed U U

Processor model U U

Hard disks U

Keyboard type

CD-ROM drives U

Tape drives U

Floppy drives U

Network card U U

SMBIOS

2 IBM Tivoli Inventory for Linux on PowerPC: Release Notes

Chapter 2. Installation and upgrade notes

This chapter contains installation and upgrade information for Linux on PowerPCendpoints.

Supported operating systemsThis section contains information about the supported operating systems for Linuxon PowerPC endpoints.

Table 2 lists which components are supported on which operating systems.

Note: Inventory is not supported for the Web Interface component or plug-ins forany of the operating systems listed in the following tables.

Table 2. Supported operating systems by components and services

Operating system Inve

nto

ry

Web

Inte

rfac

e

Act

ivit

yP

lan

ner

GU

I

Ch

ange

Man

ager

GU

I

Web

Gat

eway

SuSE Linux EnterpriseServer 7 for iSeries andpSeries

U NotAvailable

NotAvailable

NotAvailable

NotAvailable

SuSE Linux EnterpriseServer 8 for iSeries andpSeries

U NotAvailable

NotAvailable

NotAvailable

NotAvailable

Red Hat Linux 7.1 foriSeries

U NotAvailable

NotAvailable

NotAvailable

NotAvailable

The following IBM Tivoli Inventory, Version 4.0 functionalities are not supportedby Linux on PowerPC operating systems:v Mobilev End user notification

Table 3 lists the supported versions of Linux on PowerPC operating systems. For adetailed list of software requirements for the supported version of these operatingsystems, see Tivoli Management Framework: Release Notes Addendum.

Table 3. Linux on PowerPC platforms and their associated interpreter types

Operating system Version Interpreter Type

SuSE Linux Enterprise Server for iSeries andpSeries

7.0, 8.0 linux-ppc

Red Hat Linux for iSeries 7.1 linux-ppc

Supported installation programsTo enable the IBM Tivoli Inventory, Version 4.0 product to support the Linux onPowerPC platforms, use the install patch method provided with the followinginstallation programs:v Software Installation Service (SIS)


v Desktop installation program

For a detailed explanation on how to install IBM Tivoli Inventory, Version 4.0 onthe Linux on PowerPC platforms using the above installation programs, follow theinstructions given in the Read Me document included in the Linux on PowerPCCD-ROM.

Installing and upgrading Linux on PowerPC endpointsTo install or upgrade the IBM Tivoli Inventory, Version 4.0 components to supportthe Linux on PowerPC endpoints, you must install the following patches on all theservers and gateways that communicate with Linux on PowerPC endpoints.

Enabling serversTo enable the servers on the supported platforms, install the 4.0-INV-0040 patch oneach server within the Tivoli region in which Linux on PowerPC endpoints will beinstalled.

Enabling gatewaysTo enable the gateways to which the Linux on PowerPC endpoints are connected,install the 3.71-CLL-0007 and 4.0-INVGW-0040 patches on each gateway within theTivoli region in which Linux on PowerPC endpoints will be installed.

Installation requirementsThe following sections contain requirements and considerations for installing IBMTivoli Inventory, Version 4.0 on the Linux on PowerPC platforms.

Note: The disk space requirements show only the disk space required to install thecomponents. The numbers do not include the space needed to run thecomponents.

Before installing the patches that enable IBM Tivoli Inventory, Version 4.0 tosupport the Linux on PowerPC platforms, you must install the following:v Tivoli Management Framework, Version 4.1v IBM Tivoli Inventory, Version 4.0

The disk space requirements, in megabytes, used by Inventory is 2 megabytes (MB)for all supported operating systems.

Notes:

1. When Inventory scans an endpoint, it can store the sdist.nfo file, thesd_scan.nfo file, or both files on this system. These files contain the sameinformation as a MIF file generated by a hardware scan.

2. Inventory does not support scanning multiple endpoints on one system. If youhave multiple endpoints, consistently scan only one of the endpoints.

3. Currently, there are no subscription queries for Linux on PowerPC platforms.

In addition to the space requirements that are listed earlier, consider the followingfactors when determining the memory and disk space requirements for endpoints:v Each endpoint must have available disk space for the MIF files created by the

scan. Depending on the type of scan and the size of the system being scanned,the MIF files can vary from a few kilobytes to several megabytes.

v Large MIF files can cause memory errors. When a MIF file is read, its contentsare stored in memory. If the MIF file is very large, it can exceed the memorylimits of a system. To avoid this problem, use multiple smaller MIF files instead


of one large MIF file, or add memory to your system. For more informationabout creating MIF files, see the IBM Tivoli Inventory: User’s Guide.

v Signature scans send the signature file to the scanned system. The more customsignatures you add, the larger this file becomes.

Note: No default signatures are provided for Linux on PowerPC platforms.v Filter scans for basic information send the filter file. The size of this file varies

according to the number of filter entries that you create.

Chapter 2. Installation and upgrade notes 5

Chapter 3. Software limitations, problems, and workarounds

This chapter contains software limitations, problems, and workarounds for thecomponents of IBM Tivoli Inventory, Version 4.0 on the Linux on PowerPCplatforms.

Software problems and workaroundsThe following defects affect Tivoli Inventory:v If you are running on iSeries platforms, you must upgrade the Linux kernel to

the latest version. Otherwise, you may not be able to gather system serialnumber data.

v If you are running on iSeries platforms, you may need to manually set asystem’s host ID with the sethostid command before you install an endpoint.Otherwise, some endpoints on different iSeries systems may end up with thesame endpoint ID.


Notices

This information was developed for products and services offered in the U.S.A.IBM may not offer the products, services, or features discussed in this document inother countries. Consult your local IBM representative for information on theproducts and services currently available in your area. Any reference to an IBMproduct, program, or service is not intended to state or imply that only that IBMproduct, program, or service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product,program, or service that does not infringe any IBM intellectual property right maybe used instead. However, it is the user’s responsibility to evaluate and verify theoperation of any non-IBM product, program, or service.

IBM may have patents or pending patent applications covering subject matterdescribed in this document. The furnishing of this document does not give youany license to these patents.You can send license inquiries, in writing, to:

IBM Director of LicensingIBM CorporationNorth Castle DriveArmonk, NY 10504-1785 U.S.A.

For license inquiries regarding double-byte (DBCS) information, contact the IBMIntellectual Property Department in your country or send inquiries, in writing, to:

IBM World Trade Asia CorporationLicensing2-31 Roppongi 3-chome, Minato-kuTokyo 106, Japan

The following paragraph does not apply to the United Kingdom or any othercountry where such provisions are inconsistent with local law:

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION PROVIDES THISPUBLICATION ″AS IS″ WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHEREXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIEDWARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESSFOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Some states do not allow disclaimer of express or implied warranties in certaintransactions, therefore, this statement might not apply to you.

This information could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors.Changes are periodically made to the information herein; these changes will beincorporated in new editions of the publication. IBM may make improvementsand/or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in thispublication at any time without notice.

Any references in this information to non-IBM Web sites are provided forconvenience only and do not in any manner serve as an endorsement of those Websites. The materials at those Web sites are not part of the materials for this IBMproduct and use of those Web sites is at your own risk.


IBM may use or distribute any of the information you supply in any way itbelieves appropriate without incurring any obligation to you.

Licensees of this program who wish to have information about it for the purposeof enabling: (i) the exchange of information between independently createdprograms and other programs (including this one) and (ii) the mutual use of theinformation which has been exchanged, should contact:

IBM Corporation2Z4A/10111400 Burnet RoadAustin, TX 78758 U.S.A.

Such information may be available, subject to appropriate terms and conditions,including in some cases payment of a fee.

The licensed program described in this document and all licensed materialavailable for it are provided by IBM under terms of the IBM Customer Agreement,IBM International Program License Agreement or any equivalent agreementbetween us.

This information contains examples of data and reports used in daily businessoperations. To illustrate them as completely as possible, the examples include thenames of individuals, companies, brands, and products. All of these names arefictitious and any similarity to the names and addresses used by an actual businessenterprise is entirely coincidental.

If you are viewing this information in softcopy form, the photographs and colorillustrations might not appear.

TrademarksIBM, Tivoli, iSeries, pSeries, and PowerPC are trademarks of International BusinessMachines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, othercountries, or both.

UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and othercountries.

Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registeredtrademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States, other countries, or both.

Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marksof others.


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ibm tivoli inventory for linux on powerpc: release notes

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