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Prerequisite Scanner Version 1.2.0.14 Readme

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Abstract

IBM Prerequisite Scanner is a stand-alone prerequisite checking tool that analyzes system environments before the installation or upgrade of a Tivoli product or IBM solution.

Download Description

These notes applied to IBM® Prerequisite Scanner Version 1.2.0.14 and to all subsequent releases, modifications, and service refreshes, until otherwise indicated in a new Download document.

First published on: 19 September 2014

Last modified on:19 September 2014

The download document contains information on the following items:

For information about what is contained in this fix pack, see

a. Prerequisite Scanner: What's new in Versions 1.2.0.3 to 1.2.0.14

b. A Quick Start Guide is also available for download. To obtain the Quick Start Guide in different languages, access the PDF files from the Translated IBM Prerequisite Scanner Version 1.2.0.14 document



Prerequisites


Prerequisite Scanner supports all hardware and operating systems of the specified product or IBM solution for which you are running Prerequisite Scanner.

Ensure that the target environments meet the following prerequisites:

Platforms Description

Windows systems

  • Ensure that the Telnet client is enabled so that the connectivity checks in the predefined Connectivity collector can function correctly.

  • Ensure that the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) service, Winmgmt, is running, so that Prerequisite Scanner can make WMI requests to get system data.

  • Ensure that there is sufficient disk space to run Prerequisite Scanner. The tool requires the following disk space:

    • 4 MB when the debug input parameter is not specified when the tool is run.
    • 6 MB when the debug input parameter is specified when the tool is run.

    If the tool detects that there is insufficient disk space, it displays an error message and exits.

    Attention: The amount of required disk space is sufficient to support most Prerequisite Scanner use cases. The disk space can vary based on the number of configuration files and the number of prerequisite properties in those configuration files. More disk space might be required if the tools scans for several products with large configuration files.

UNIX systems

  • For non-root users, ensure that the locations of the mount, swapinfo, and psrinfo commands are set in the PATH environment variable, so that the commands are available to Prerequisite Scanner. The commands are in the /usr/sbin directory; for example, set the PATH environment variable as follows:

    export PATH=$PATH:/usr/sbin/

  • Ensure that there is sufficient disk space to run Prerequisite Scanner. The tool requires the following disk space:

    • 5 MB when the debug input parameter is not specified when the tool is run.
    • 6 MB when the debug input parameter is specified when the tool is run.

    If the tool detects that there is insufficient disk space, it displays an error message and exits.

    Attention: The amount of required disk space is sufficient to support most Prerequisite Scanner use cases. The disk space can vary based on the number of configuration files and the number of prerequisite properties in those configuration files. More disk space might be required if the tools scans for several products with large configuration files.



Downloading and installing Prerequisite Scanner


Prerequisite Scanner can run on 32-bit or 64-bit Windows systems. It can also run on 32-bit or 64-bit variants of AIX, HP-UX, Linux, and Solaris operating systems. You can download Prerequisite Scanner from IBM Fix Central. See the Download package section below for download links if not accessing this Download document from Fix Central.

There are two separate packages available to download from Fix Central to support Windows and UNIX platforms as follows:

  • The Windows package (version_num-Tivoli-PRS-Windows-fp0001.zip) supports different Windows platforms including Windows 2012.
  • The UNIX package (version_num-Tivoli-PRS-Unix-fp0001.tar.gz) supports the AIX®, HP-UX, Linux, Linux for System z®, and Solaris platforms.

After you download your platform package, extract the contents of the compressed file to a preferred location as specified by ips_root and on each target system that you intend to install the product or component.

Important: You must have write permissions to the root directory in which you extract the contents of the compressed file.

After you extract the contents of the compressed file, you are ready to run Prerequisite Scanner.



Running Prerequisite Scanner


When you run Prerequisite Scanner, it scans for the specified prerequisites and detects any missing ones before the actual product installation or upgrade takes place; thus, the scan can enable remediation without impacting the deployment schedule.

You can run IBM Prerequisite Scanner from the command line. The Prerequisite Scanner script, prereq_checker, takes a set of required and optional parameters and a command flag for additional optional parameters.

Before you begin

To run Prerequisite Scanner, review the script parameters described in prereq_checker topic in the latest available version of the documentation, which can be accessed from the Prerequisite Scanner page at Tivoli Documentation Central.

The script requires individual product codes as required parameters that identify the product or component against which to run prerequisite checks. Review the set of predefined product codes outlined in the Prerequisite Scanner product codes technical document.

Determine whether your offering uses environment variables that indicate the offering’s component prerequisites to scan for. The following table outlines the offerings that use environment variables and those environment variables.

Offering version, platform, operating system Installation option Environment variable
Tivoli® Business Service Manager Version 6.1.1 Data server installation only TBSM_PREREQ_DATA
Dashboard server installation only TBSM_PREREQ_DASH
Combined dashboard and data server installation TBSM_PREREQ_BOTH
Tivoli Netcool/Impact Version 6.1.1 Impact server installation only IMPACT_PREREQ_IMPACT
GUI server installation only IMPACT_PREREQ_GUI
Combined dashboard and data server installation IMPACT_PREREQ_BOTH
Jazz for Service Management Versions 1.1.0.1 and later fix packs Fresh installation or update existing installation JazzSM_FreshInstall
Registry Services in Jazz for Service Management
Tip: Jazz for Service Management uses convenience scripts to run the tool, and which set these environment variables. Set only these environment variables, if you want to run the tool by using the Registry Services configuration file.
Full installation JazzSM_TYPICAL
  Custom installation, DB2® server installation only FRS_DBSERVER
  Custom installation, application server installation only FRS_BACKENDSERVER
 Tivoli Netcool Configuration Manager Versions 6.4.0 and 6.4.1

Tip: Use the ips_root/NCM.sh script to run the scan for Tivoli Netcool Configuration Manager. It prompts you to choose which components to run the scan for, and thereby automatically sets the environment variables.

Compliance core installation TNCM_COMPLIANCE_CORE
  Compliance evaluation engine installation TNCM_COMPLIANCE_EVALUATION
  Presentation (GUI) server installation TNCM_PRESENTATION_SERVER
  Tivoli Common Reporting installation TNCM_REPORTING
  Worker server installation TNCM_WORKER_SERVER

Procedure

  1. Ensure that you check your product’s installation documentation or Technotes for any additional steps that must be performed before running Prerequisite Scanner. For example, you might need to set the environment variable that indicates to Prerequisite Scanner which components or features are being installed on the target computerand consequently, which prerequisites to check.
  2. Open a command window and change to the ips_root directory.
  3. If your offering uses environment variables to indicate the component to be installed on the target machine, set the value for relevant environment variable to True, for example:
    Windows
    set ENV_NAME=True
    UNIX
    export ENV_NAME=True
  4. Run the Prerequisite Scanner script file, prereq_checker, with the relevant parameters.
    Windows
    prereq_checker.bat "Product_Code [Product_Version][,Product_CodeN [Product_VerN]...]" [outputDir="ips_output_dir"] [configHomeDir="config_files_home"] [xmlResult]
    UNIX
    ../prereq_checker.sh "Product_Code [Product_Version[,Product_CodeN Product_VerN]...]" [outputDir="ips_output_dir"] [configHomeDir="config_files_home"] [xmlResult]

Example

This example runs Prerequisite Scanner for Tivoli zEnterprise® Monitoring Agent using product code KZE. It also sets the location of the results and log files to ips_output_dir by using the optional outputDir parameter. The detail -s parameter means that the tool outputs the shortened results to the command window, displaying the overall result and any prerequisite properties with FAIL or WARN results.

Important: You must use the ips_output_dir parameter to specify a location, if you choose to run Prerequisite Scanner from a mounted CD, DVD, or read-only file system and network drive. You must have write permissions to write to ips_output_dir; otherwise, Prerequisite Scanner fails.

It also sets the home location of the configuration files to the config_files_home path by using the optional configHomeDir parameter.

Windows

prereq_checker.bat "KZE 06020300" outputDir="%TEMP%\ips" configHomeDir="C:\MyCfgFiles\cfgfiles" detail -s

UNIX

./prereq_checker.sh "KZE 06020300" outputDir="/tmp/ips" configHomeDir="/usr/myname/MyCfgFiles/cfgfiles" detail -s

The tool outputs the result.txt file and precheck.log files to the following locations:

  • On Windows systems: %TEMP%\ips where TEMP is environment variable for the temporary folder.
  • On UNIX systems: /tmp/ips

Example

You can run the tool to check prerequisites for multiple offerings, for example, Tivoli Business Service Manager and Tivoli Netcool/Impact, by specifying multiple product codes.

Windows

set TBSM_PREREQ_BOTH=True
set IMPACT_PREREQ_BOTH=True

prereq_checker.bat "BSM 06010100,NCI 06010100"

UNIX

export TBSM_PREREQ_BOTH=True
export IMPACT_PREREQ_BOTH=True

./prereq_checker.sh "BSM 06010100,NCI 06010100"

You can also extend the Prerequisite Scanner to scan for prerequisites not originally supplied with the tool. For more information about extending it to meet your additional prerequisite needs, see the Extending Prerequisite Scanner topic in the latest available version of the documentation, which can be accessed from the Prerequisite Scanner page at Tivoli Documentation Central.


Reading scan results


Possible results from running Prerequisite Scanner on the target computer are as follows:

  • FAIL: If the target computer does not meet any of the prerequisite checks, as specified by the values for the prerequisite properties in the configuration file, Prerequisite Scanner returns an overall FAIL result for the environment. The tool also displays the scan results for the individual prerequisite properties in the command window.
    To ensure the environment meets the product's requirements, take the appropriate actions; for example, install the missing operating system packages, increase disk space for the file systems, and so on.
  • WARNING: If the target environment does not meet one or more the prerequisite checks that have warning severity level, Prerequisite Scanner returns an overall WARNING result for the environment; unless there is a FAIL result for another prerequisite property, and then the overall result is FAIL. The tool displays the scan results for the individual prerequisite properties in the command window.
    If Prerequisite Scanner returns this result, you can install the product or component, but the performance or runtime environment might be impacted because of the missing or incorrect prerequisites. You should take appropriate actions for those prerequisite properties that returned a WARNING result.
  • PASS: If the target computer meet all prerequisite checks in the configuration file, Prerequisite Scanner returns an overall PASS result for the environment.

If Prerequisite Scanner returns an overall PASS result for the environment, you can install the product on the target computer.




Supported products reference


Prerequisite Scanner currently supports the following products and components:

  • IBM Connections Version 4.0 (requires Prerequisite Scanner from the IBM Connections Bill of Materials)
  • Jazz for Service Management Versions 1.1 and later fix packs
  • Maximo® Asset Management 7.5 and 7.6 (requires Prerequisite Scanner from the Tivoli Process Automation Engine Bill of Materials)
  • Security Access Manager Version 7.0
  • Security Directory Server Version 6.3.1
  • Security Key Lifecycle Manager Version 2.5 (requires Prerequisite Scanner from the Security Key Lifecycle Manager Bill of Materials)
  • Tivoli Application Dependency Discovery Manager Version 7.2.2
  • Tivoli Asset Discovery for Distributed Versions 7.2 and 7.2.2
  • Tivoli Autonomic Deployment Engine Version 1.4
  • Tivoli Business Service Manager Versions 4.2.1, 6.1, and 6.1.1
  • Tivoli Common Reporting Versions 2.1.1, 3.1, 3.1.0.1, and 3.1.0.2
  • Tivoli Composite Application Manager Agent for WebSphere MQ Version 7.1
  • Tivoli Composite Application Manager Agent for WebSphere MQ File Transfer Edition Version 7.1 (Windows only)
  • Tivoli Composite Application Manager Agent for WebSphere Message Broker Version 7.1
  • Tivoli Composite Application Manager (ITCAM) for Applications: DB2 Version 6.2.2
  • Tivoli Composite Application Manager (ITCAM) for Transactions: Internet Service Monitoring Versions 7.2 and 7.3
  • Tivoli Composite Application Manager (ITCAM) for Transactions: Transaction Reporter Versions 7.2.2 (Windows only) and 7.3 (UNIX/Linux Systems)
  • Tivoli Composite Application Manager (ITCAM) for Transactions: Transaction Collector Versions 7.2.2 (Windows only) and 7.3 (UNIX/Linux Systems)
  • Tivoli Composite Application Manager (ITCAM) for Transactions: Application Management Console Version 7.3
  • Tivoli Composite Application Manager (ITCAM) for Transactions: Client Response Time Version 7.3
  • Tivoli Composite Application Manager (ITCAM) for Transactions: Web Response Time Version 7.3
  • Tivoli Composite Application Manager (ITCAM) for Transactions: Robotic Response Time Version 7.3
  • Tivoli Integrated Portal Version 2.2.0.13
  • Tivoli License Compliance Manager Version 2.3
  • Tivoli License Metric Tool Versions 7.2 and 7.2.2
  • Tivoli Monitoring Versions 6.1, 6.2, 6.2.1, 6.2.2, and 6.3
  • Tivoli Monitoring Version 6.2.3 (requires Prerequisite Scanner from the Tivoli Monitoring Bill of Materials)
  • Tivoli Monitoring for Databases: DB2 Agent Versions 6.1 6.2, 6.2.1 and 6.2.2
  • Tivoli Monitoring for Databases: Oracle Agent Version 6.2.2
  • Tivoli Netcool Configuration Manager Versions 6.4 and 6.4.1
  • Tivoli Netcool/Impact Versions 6.1, 6.1.1, and 7.1
  • Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus Probe Components Version 7.4
  • Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus Server Components Versions 7.3.1 and 7.4
  • Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus Desktop Components Versions 7.3.1 and 7.4
  • Tivoli Network Manager Version 3.9
  • Tivoli Provisioning Manager Versions 7.2, 7.2.1, and 7.2.2
  • Tivoli Workload Scheduler Dynamic Agent Version 9.1
  • Tivoli Workload Scheduler Fault-Tolerant Agent Version 9.1
  • Tivoli Workload Automation Version 9.1

Technical support


You can often find solutions to problems by searching IBM knowledge bases. The following sites can contain troubleshooting information:

Customers can contact IBM Support should they require assistance on the products that IBM Prerequisite Scanner supports. To ensure that the request is routed correctly, all PMRs must be reported against the product being scanned.



Feedback and product request enhancements


Customers can submit or review product request enhancements for Prerequisite Scanner in the Tivoli RFE Community.

Customers can collaborate and provide feedback on the development of the Prerequisite Scanner. Go to the IBM Prerequisite Scanner transparent development project dashboard at Service Management Connect. Customers require an IBM ID and password to sign in.

Customers can also provide feedback by using the IBM Prerequisite Scanner discussion forum at Service Management Connect.

Off
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Document Information

Modified date:
15 June 2018

UID

swg24038377