HP Systems Insight Manager 5.2 Installation and Configuration Guide for Linux

Miscellaneous features
• You can search software and firmware installed on HP-UX systems.
• Property pages are implemented for HP Insight Management WBEM Providers for Windows Server
2003/2008 and for OpenVMS providers. HP-UX Property pages have been updated to reflect new
HP-UX providers.
• Support on Property pages for HP-UX 11i.x, Linux Itanium Processor Family (IPF), Windows Server
2003 and 2008, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Longhorn, and OpenVMS.
Product architecture
HP Systems Insight Manager (HP SIM) leverages a distributed architecture that is divided into three types of
systems: Central Management Server (CMS), managed systems , and web-browser clients.
The CMS with the managed systems together are called the HP SIM management domain .
Central management server
Each management domain has a single CMS. The CMS is the system in the management domain that
executes the HP SIM software and initiates all central operations within the domain. In addition to the HP
SIM software, the CMS maintains a database for storage of persistent objects that can reside locally or on
a separate system. Typically, applications for the multiple-system aware (MSA) tools also reside on the CMS.
However, these applications are not required to reside on the CMS. They can reside anywhere on the
network.
Because the CMS is a system within the management environment, it manages itself as part of the domain.
You can add the CMS as a managed system within another management domain if you want to manage
the domain using a separate CMS.
Managed systems
Systems that comprise a management domain are called managed systems . A system can be any device
on the network that can communicate with HP SIM, including servers, desktops, laptops, printers, workstations,
hubs, storage systems , storage area networks (SANs), and routers. In most cases, these devices have an IP
address associated with them. A managed system can be managed by more than one CMS, if desired.
Managed systems to be managed must have one or more management agents installed. There is a wide
variety of agents, , or Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) providers, and System Fault Management
providers for HP-UX. These agents provide management information and alerts (indications) to the CMS.
The SSH agent (service) then enables the HP SIM CMS to log into the managed system to execute commands
through scripts.
Web-browser clients
HP SIM can be accessed from any supported browser client. The network client can be part of the management
domain. However, you must be running a compatible browser to access the GUI or an SSH client application
to securely access the CLI . Access to the web server on the CMS can be restricted to specific IP address
ranges for specific users.
Authorizations
An HP SIM user must have a valid operating system login on the CMS. After a user is added to HP SIM, he
or she can be authorized to use a toolbox on one or more systems in the management domain .
Each toolbox is associated with a set of tools that a user might need for a particular task , such as database
administration or software management. Authorizing a user for a toolbox on a system or system group
enables the user to run the associated set of tools on that system or systems that are members of the system
group.
IMPORTANT: Authorization for a toolbox can enable users with non-privileged access (for example, non-root
users or users that are not members of the Windows Administrators group) to run tools as root/administrator
or as another specified user. Be careful when granting users permission to run tools as root or administrator.
Product architecture 11