Building an HP SIM 5.x server on a Linux-based Serviceguard Cluster (444847-001, February 2007)

What is HP SIM
HP Systems Insight Manager (HP SIM) is an industry standard management tool for the management
of all HP Systems; Servers and Storage. With HP SIM, you can manage various systems including
ProLiant servers running Windows, Linux, and NetWare, HP Integrity and HP 9000 servers running
HP-UX; HP Integrity Servers running Windows and Linux; and monitor Alpha servers running Tru64
UNIX and OpenVMS. In addition to managing MSA, EVA and XP Storage Systems , it manages
desktops , printers and network devices as well as third party servers and storage.
The
Central Management Server (CMS) for HP SIM can run on HP-UX, Linux, or Windows. A clustered
solution exists on Windows using MSCS Cluster. This paper illustrates how a Linux solution is possible
using HP Serviceguard.
This paper describes how to achieve this solution. It will also show the different problems encountered
during the setup phase. First, the HP SIM architecture is explained. Second, the necessary steps to
build up the cluster are described. And third, a troubleshooting section provides hints on the different
workarounds used to get the solution working.
HP SIM architecture
HP SIM leverages a distributed architecture that can be broken into three types of systems: CMS,
managed systems, and network clients. The CMS and the managed systems together are called the
HP SIM management domain. 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, and it can reside on a separate system. Typically, applications for the multiple-
system aware (MSA) tools also reside on the CMS. 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 it using a separate
CMS.
Figure 1
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