Versions Compared

Version Old Version 21 New Version 22
Changes made by

Sabine Engel

Dominik Karch

Saved on

Key

  • This line was added.
  • This line was removed.
  • Formatting was changed.

Anchor
compute1
compute1

Panel
borderColor#7BD855
titleColorblack
borderWidth3
titleBGColor#7BD855
borderStylesolid
titleIBM PowerVM preparation

A user is required for the operation of the BVQ PowerVM Scanner who should at least have read-only (hmcviewer) access to the HMC.

(warning) Please create this user before configuring the BVQ Scanner. We recommend to name the user "bvq"

(warning) Please open the user properties dialogue and select "Allow remote access via the web"

Add User dialogueUser Properties dialogue


Enable performance data collection

BVQ can only collect performance statistics if "Data Collection" is enabled on the managed systems and all LPARs.

Adjust System settings

Enable "Performance Monitoring Data Collection for Managed Servers"

 

To lower the system load and storage capacity usage on the HMC, we recommend to reduce the number of days to store performance data below the title "Performance Data Storage" to its minimum value of "1". BVQ takes over the role to store a longer history of that data.

Adjust LPAR settings

Switch on "Enable Performance Information Collection" on all LPARs

 

You can check the state of the "Performance Collection" enablement per LPAR easily. Run the following script on the HMC to show all LPARs without enabled collection:

Code Block
languagebash
bvq@hmc3:~> for SYS in $(lssyscfg -r sys -F name); do lssyscfg -r lpar -m $SYS -F name,allow_perf_collection ; done | grep ",0"
rju_viot,0
IOS74DHP,0
HABS74D,0
HAQS74D,0
HAMS74D,0

BVQ Scanner configuration

To configure a PowerVM scanner in BVQ the following information is required:

  • IP address or hostname of the HMC
  • User and password of the HMC user for BVQ

(warning) Starting with BVQ 2023.H1: Redundant HMCs managing the same systems must be configured in the same PowerVM scanner. Otherwise, the managed systems will appear twice in BVQ. Define the most powerful HMC first, because the order of HMCs determines the order in which they are scanned by BVQ. Additional HMCs managing other systems should be configured in an additional PowerVM scanner.

Up to BVQ 2022.H2: Typically, two redundant HMCs manage the same IBM Power systems. Please ensure that only one scanner is created for one of the HMCs to avoid duplication in BVQ.

...

Panel
borderColor#8F5CE2
titleColorwhite
borderWidth3
titleBGColor#8F5CE2
borderStylesolid
titleOS Agent for AIX & Linux preparation

AIX and Linux are the first BVQ platforms where data is not pulled from the systems by the BVQ scanner. Instead, data is sent (pushed) from the OS on the LPARs to the BVQ Server by an BVQ OS Agent using SCP/SFTP. This means, an ssh-server on the BVQ Server is receiving data from the OS instances. Once an AIX or Linux BVQ Scanner is configured, the ssh-server is being started automatically and is listening on port 2222.

Note
titleImportant

Please ensure that port 2222 is not blocked by a firewall!

BVQ Scanner configuration

To configure an AIX or Linux BVQ scanner the following information is required:

  • NAME - Name of the AIX or Linux scanner
  • INSTANCE GROUP NAME - Select a name which is used to group all AIX or Linux Instances (=partitions) together that are running the BVQ OS Agent for AIX or Linux. The number of instances per instance group should not exceed 50.
  • USERNAME - This user authorizes the SCP/SFTP transfer from the AIX or Linux Instances to the BVQ Server. It will be configured during the installation process
  • SSH PUBLIC KEY - Optional. Leave empty if you want to use the default ssh key-pair included in bvq_agent.tar.gz. If you want to use a different ssh key-pair type, then enter the content of the public ssh key file here and adjust bvq_config.sh on the OS agent accordingly.
    Supported key types are:
    • ssh-rsa (default)
    • ecdsa-sha2
    • rsa-sha2-256
    • ssh-ed25519

OS Agent installation

The BVQ Agent for AIX or Linux RPM installation package is automatically generated once a new BVQ AIX or Linux scanner configuration is being created in the BVQ WebUI. After the "Save"-button is pressed, the RPM package is automatically generated and can be downloaded directly. Further installation instructions can be found in the scanner configuration page or the readme included in the RPM download package.

OS User requirements

OSusergroupRestrictions
AIXrootsystemnone
AIXothersystemNo stats for FC adapters
AIXotherstaffNo stats for FC adapters and LV, VG objects
Linuxrootrootnone (other uid / gid not supported)

Alternatively, the BVQ AIX agent can be rolled out automatically to many systems using an AIX NIM server. The download package for AIX includes a script that helps configuring the NIM server.

Note
titleImportant!

It is essential that BVQ Server and AIX/Linux clocks are in sync. Please ensure that NTP is configured and active on all monitored systems and the BVQ Server!

The OS Agent cannot be installed or upgraded as long as NTP is not configured!


...