HP Systems Insight Manager 5.2 Installation and Configuration Guide for Linux

Secure data transmission
The security of the transaction depends on your networking environment and the management protocol that
each tool is using.
Management protocols
The basic supported management protocols and applications are SSH , Web-Based Enterprise Management
(WBEM) , Secure HTTP (HTTPS) , and SNMP . Tools are not limited to these protocols, and they can provide
a custom management protocol. SSH is the only protocol that must be installed on every managed system.
Tools require specific protocols, and they can only be run on a managed system if the protocol they require
is installed and configured correctly.
SSH SSH is a program that enables you to log in to another system over a network and execute commands
on that system. It also enables you to move files from one system to another, and it provides authentication
and secure communications over insecure channels. SSH uses a public/private key pair to provide a secure
mechanism to authenticate and encrypt communication. SSH keys are used to identify the execute-as user
on the managed system. Typically, the execute-as user is either root or administrator, but other users can be
configured, depending on the tool that will be executed on the managed system. The private key is kept
secure on the CMS, while the public key is installed on each managed system.
The SSH-2 protocol is used by the Distributed Task Facility (DTF) to communicate with managed systems.
The DTF improves operator efficiency by replicating operations across the systems or system groups within
the management domain using a single command. This functionality reduces the load on administrators in
multisystem environments. X Window and CLI tools use the DTF to execute and support the following tasks:
• Executing scripts, commands, and applications remotely on managed systems
• Copying files to managed systems
The DTF connects the CMS to the SSH server software running on each managed system. The DTF tells the
SSH server what tasks must be performed on the system. The SSH server then performs the tasks and returns
the results to the DTF. The DTF consolidates the feedback it receives from all the managed systems.
WBEM WBEM is an industry standard that simplifies system management. It is based on a set of
management and Internet standard technologies developed to unify the management of enterprise computing
environments. It provides access to both software data and hardware data that is readable by
WBEM-compliant applications.
HP SIM keeps a database of passwords for managed systems running WBEM. The database contains the
user names and passwords for each managed system, which are required to provide user authentication for
tools using this protocol. These accounts do not need to have other access capabilities, such as login rights.
They are only used for WBEM access by HP SIM. The WBEM user name and password can be set from the
CLI or GUI. For more information, see the "Administering the Software" section in the HP Systems Insight
Manager 5.2 User Guide at http://h18013.www1.hp.com/products/servers/management/hpsim/
infolibrary.html.
HP SIM uses HTTPS to access WBEM data, providing a secure path for system management data. For access
to Windows management data instrumented in Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), a WMI
Mapper running on a Windows system converts the HTTPS WBEM requests into WMI requests, which use
Distributed Component Object Model and NT security.
HTTPS HTTPS is simply HTTP over SSL, a protocol that supports sending data securely over the Web.
HTTPS is used to access WBEM data as explained in the previous section, and it is used to access ProLiant
agent information. Digital certificates are used instead of user names and passwords to establish trust between
the agent and the CMS. The certificate of the CMS should be loaded into each agent to be managed by
that CMS.
SNMP SNMP is a set of protocols for managing complex networks. SNMP works by sending messages,
called protocol data units (PDUs), to different parts of a network. SNMP-compliant devices, called agents,
store data about themselves in Management Information Bases (MIBs) and return this data to the SNMP
requesters. SNMP is available in several versions. SNMP Version 1, used by HP SIM, is not a secure protocol.
Therefore, anyone with access to your network can intercept and view SNMP transactions.
HP SIM keeps a database of read and write community names for managed systems running SNMP. The
community name must match those configured on the management system. The SNMP community names
and passwords can be set from the CLI or GUI. For more information, see the "Administering the Software"
Secure data transmission 15