Installing HP Insight Management Agents on ESX Server

In this case, I am using HP Insight Management Agents for VMware 8.2.5 (available here). I am also using a HP DL380 G6 Proliant servers with VMware versions 4.0.

Note: do not include the quotes (”) when entering commands.

PREPARE:

1. Download the correct Insight Manager agents for VMware.
2. Unzip the tgz file using WinRAR or something similar, and peruse the readme for up-to-date info.
3. Using the ILO utility or the physical console, hit Alt-F1, login as root at the command line.
4. To allow root ssh access in ESX as well as enable sshd client access (SFTP, SSH), we have to change the local sshd_config file.
5. At the command line, type: “vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config”
6. Go to the line that says PermitRootLogin, change from “no” to “yes”
7. If you are unfamiliar with vi, use arrow keys to navigate, put cursor on the “n” of “no”, hit the i key to insert, then type in “yes” and delete/backspace “no”. Then hit ESC twice to exit Insert mode. Type colon (:) to get the in-editor command line, type “wq!” and hit enter. This will save the doc and exit vi.
8. Back at the command line type: “service sshd restart”, hit enter.
9. After the service restarts, type “logout” to exit the console, hit alt-f11 to go back to the esx screen.

REMOTE, FROM PC:

1. Download WinSCP or a similar SCP utility (PuttySCP, etc). You will also need PuTTY for this process as well.
2. Open WinSCP, connect to your server with root, and upload the .tgz file you just downloaded to the /home folder on the remote system. You can close WinSCP after the transfer is done.
3. Log in to the remote system using PuTTY, login with root. This should look and feel like the console.
4. Switch to /home directory: “cd /home”, where you copied the .tgz file.
5. Issue the following command to unzip the contents: “tar -zxvf hpmgmt-8.2.5-vmware4x.tgz”
6. This will create two new directories (/hpmgmt/825) under your current directory.
7. Change to the new directory by typing: “cd ./hpmgmt/825″
8. Run the command “./installvm825.sh -–install”, it will start the install.
9. Follow the defaults of the wizard (in depth script answers are below), when asked for the public string enter “public” 2 times (it will not be visible). Pretty much always answer yes when enabling ports and the snmpd daemon. The only things that you will have to change from default is the snmp string info (see script section below).
10. Once the wizard is done and it restarts the services, you should see: “HP Insight Manager agents have been installed successfully!”
11. To check if the configuration has succeeded, log in to the HP System Homepage https://(esx server ip or dns):2381/. You should see the servername on the right side. Use the root login to access the homepage.
12. To log out of the console and close PuTTY type: “logout”, then hit Alt-F11 to go back to the status screen.
13. You’re done! You can log into the web interface and send a test trap to your SIM host.

SCRIPT ANSWERS:

(answers from script can be edited from web interface of insight mgmt agents)

1. This script will attempt to install the hp insight manager agents, do you wish to continue (y)
2. This script will attempt to shut down pegasus CIM in order to manipulate the HP insight manager agents, do you wish to continue (y)
3. For accessing the system management homepage, the port for hpim service (2381) should be enabled in the firewall, do you want to enable this port? (y)
4. For allowing discovery byt HP system management manager, the port for hpim service (2301) should be enabled in the firewall, do you want to enable this port? (y)
5. Do you want to enable the snmpd service? (y)
6. For adding the HP systems insight manager certificate in the SMH, the port (280) should be enabled in the firewall, do you want to enable this port? (y)
7. Welcome to the hp system health application and … hpasm package installation. … Do you wish to continue? (y)
8. Note: Your SNMP stack can load the 32bit hp proliant management extension… Press enter to continue (enter)
9. Do you want to load the hp modules even though they may “taint” your kernel? (y)
10. Do you require SNMP agents? (y)
11. Do you require storage agent support? (y)
12. Do you require NIC agent support? (y)
13. Do you wish to use an existing snmpd.conf? (n)
14. Enter the localhost SNMP read/write community string: public
15. Reenter the same input to confirm: public
16. Localhost snmp read only community strings are already known. Do you wish to change it? (n)
17. Enter read/write authorized management station IP or DNS name: (private ip of your SIM)
18. Enter SNMP read/write community string for management station (private ip): (your private string)
19. Reenter the same input to confirm: (your private string)
20. Read only community strings are already set to rocommunity public, do you wish to change them? (n)
21. The SNMP trap community strings are setup like this: trapcommunity public, do you wish to change this? (y)
22. Enter default SNMP trap community string: (your private string)
23. Trap sinks are set up like this: trapsink localhost, do you wish to change this? (y)
24. Enter SNMP trap destination IP or DNS name: (your private IP of SIM)
25. Enter trap community string: (your private string)
26. System contact is set to: syscontact root@localhost, do you wish to change it? (n) (can change it later)
27. System location is set to: syslocation room1, do you wish to change it? (n) (can change it later)
28. Do you wish to disable hpsmh support? (n)

TROUBLESHOOTING:

• To rerun configuration values after install, run: “perl /usr/local/hp/hpSMSSetup.pl”
• If you really mess it up, just uninstall, run “./installvm825.sh -–uninstall”
• You must enable the firewall port for the `hpim’ service (2381) for accessing the System Management Homepage. The `snmpd’ service should be enabled in the firewall for the Insight Manager agents to communicate properly with the hp Systems Insight Manager. These ports can be enabled by using the “esxcfg-firewall” command in the service console, or by answering ‘y’ when prompted by the installation script.

Disclaimer.
The information in this article is provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights. This article does not represent the thoughts, intentions, plans or strategies of my employer. It is solely my opinion.