Sun Remote System Control (RSC) Release Notes

What's New in This Version

This version of Sun Remote System Control (RSC) includes bug fixes and a new environment variable, tpe_link_test. In addition, the RSC device Internet address has been added to email and pager alert messages.

If you have already installed a previous version of Remote System Control, back up your RSC configuration before installing this version, following the directions in Chapter 2 of the RSC User's Guide, and then restore them after installation when you run the RSC configuration script.

The tpe_link_test variable enables 10BASE-T Ethernet link integrity tests when set to true, the default. If you are using RSC in a hub that does not support Ethernet link integrity tests or that has them disabled, set this variable to false. Changes to this variable take effect after the next RSC reset. The tpe_link_test variable behaves similarly to the OBP environment variable named "tpe-link-test?", which is available on some SPARC platforms.

RSC and the local hub should have Ethernet link integrity tests enabled or disabled consistently. If this setting is not consistent, communication may not be possible.

The following bugs have been fixed since the November 16, 1998 release:

• 4172574: The CLI reported a DC Power Failure when the host was powered off.

• 4152840: RSC shell commands did not query for confirmation before resetting the host system.

• 4170986: The GUI "Set Date/Time" dialog box displayed 0:00:00 when time changed to noon and midnight. This is an invalid time format.

• 4173022: The escape sequence for exiting from the RSC console did not work if the escape_char variable was set to "^?".

• 4175561: When connected to the server's console through RSC, a paste operation of over 336 characters into the window connected to RSC could hang the console connection. A reset of RSC was required to recover.

Hardware and Software Configurations Supported for RSC

Supported Server:

Sun Enterprise(tm) 250 server only, running the Solaris(TM) 7 or Solaris 2.6 5/98 operating environment.

The Sun Enterprise 250 flash PROM must be updated to version 3.7.7 or later before installing the RSC software. Failing to do so may cause server and RSC malfunctions. For update instructions and a downloadable image, see the Sun Enterprise 250 Supplement Web page at http://sunsolve2.Sun.COM/sunsolve/E250/flash.html. If you install RSC from the Sun Enterprise 250 Supplement CD, you can update the flash PROM as part of the installation process.

Supported GUI Clients:

• Sun systems running the Solaris 7 operating environment

• Sun systems running the Solaris 2.6 5/98 operating environment

• Systems running the Microsoft Windows 95 operating environment

• Systems running the Microsoft Windows 98 operating environment

• Systems running the Windows NT Workstation operating environment

Sun JDK version 1.1.6 or a subsequent compatible version is required for GUI support on systems running the Solaris operating environment, and is included in the base Solaris 7 operating environment and the Sun Enterprise 250 Supplement CD. The required version for the Solaris 2.6 operating environment is available at http://www.sun.com/solaris/java. Sun JDK is included in the install package for Windows clients.

Supported CLI Clients:

• ASCII character terminals

• Systems running ASCII terminal emulation software

• Systems with telnet client software

Ethernet Support:

RSC is designed to function in a 10BASE-T network, and the RSC Ethernet port should be connected to a hub operating at 10-Mbps. If RSC does not respond to an Ethernet request, the first thing to check is that connection is to a 10BASE-T hub.

Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS):

An American Power Conversion SmartUPS 1000 with PowerChute plus 4.2.2 software was used for testing.

SunVTS:

To run the SunVTS test for RSC on systems running the Solaris 2.6 5/98 operating environment, you must install the unbundled rsctest package. This package is available for download from the RSC Web page at http://sunsolve2.sun.com/sunsolve/E250_RSC/, and is also provided on the Sun Enterprise 250 Supplement CD. The rsctest package is already included in SunVTS version 3.0 and later.

Paging Support:

RSC paging requires that the customer's paging service adhere to the TAP protocol. Paging services in the Americas and Europe generally are TAP-compliant, but this is not necessarily so in other locales.

Testing RSC Paging

Due to the many variables associated with paging, Sun strongly recommends that you test the RSC paging mechanism to insure that your configuration options are set correctly.

The easiest way to test that all the components associated with RSC paging are functioning properly is to use the "rscadm send_event -c" command. This command can be invoked from a UNIX shell and will initiate an RSC alert. If the RSC page_enabled flag is set to true, this alert will send a page to the recipients specified by the page_info1 and page_info2 environment variables.

If RSC fails to send a page, a message similar to the following will be added to the event log:

THU AUG 27 22:31:09 1998 sst4828: 00060006: "Failed to send page alert for recent event"

If RSC successfully transmits a page, no error message is added to theevent log.

RSC can fail to send a page notification for the following reasons:

• 1. It failed to communicate with the modem.

• 2. It failed to contact the paging service specified by the page_info1 or page_info2 variable.

• 3. A failure occurred while RSC was communicating with the paging service TAP server.

When a page fails, check the following:

1. That your modem dip switch and software configuration variables are set correctly.

2. That all the RSC page_variables (page_info1 and 2, page_init1 and 2, and page_baud1 and 2) are set correctly and match the settings for your paging service.

3. Insure that your paging service supports the TAP protocol. Check with the paging service to insure that you have the proper phone number and modem configuration parameters.

4. Attempt to connect with the paging service manually. Refer to the "Troubleshooting Modem Problems" section in Appendix B of the RSC User's Guide for instructions on manually connecting to a TAP paging service.

Troubleshooting

In some cases, it might be desirable to extend the pause period to allow themodem to recognize the dial tone of the phone line. This can be accomplishedon most modems by increasing the value in the S8 register. See documentation that came with your modem for more details.

Known Issues

1. 4151918: The RSC subtests do not provide adequate failure information.

2. 4171924: The RSC GUI occasionally reports invalid exceptions when you Logout or Exit.

3. 4168266: Heavy use of UNIX tcsh shell commands in an RSC console session may stop RSC from responding to requests. Killing the tcsh shell restores RSC to normal behavior.

4. 4167862: A loghistory error is reported when the "index -n" value you specify is greater than the number of lines in the buffer

5. 4171929: RSC sometimes reports a fan failure erroneously after a thermal shutdown.

6. 4145761: An RSC reset is required for changes to the serial_hw_handshake variable (or "Enable Hardware Handshaking" setting in the GUI) to take effect, but should not be required.

7. 4167651: RSC default configuration settings for pagers do not match modem configuration settings suggested in documentation.

8. 4171431: The GUI event log output differs from the CLI loghistory output.

9. 4170988: The RSC GUI Back button for the first instance of Help does not return you to the previous view.

10. 4172337: The error message displayed for an attempted third telnet or fifth user session needs improvement.

11. 4162419: In the Windows operating environment, the RSC GUI goes to the background when you cancel an operation after an error message.

12. 4158400: The message "[Loaded DTD html32 in 142ms]" appears when the RSC Help file is displayed.

13. 4151674: Clicking on "Set RSC Date and Time" sometimes displays a duplicate image of the "Set RSC Date and Time" option just above the option list, and below the "RSC for <hostname>" title.

14. 4159618: A GUI reset request and the resulting reset event are recorded in the incorrect order in the RSC event log.

15. 4159562: The telnet connection resets intermittently when you try to connect to the RSC console from the GUI.

16. 4159564: The Java Runtime Environment (JRE) may crash in the Windows 95 operating environment when you modify an RSC user account.

17. 4172331: In the RSC GUI Serial Port settings, there is a typo in the error message for Invalid IP Address.

18. 4159135: The RSC GUI has no option which shows the information returned by the CLI shownetwork command.

19. 4157854: Sometimes when a thermistor displays a warning in the Environmental Status window and you refresh the screen, the warning is mistakenly displayed for a different thermistor. Another refresh corrects this problem.

20. 4216814: Pressing Return in the GUI login screen fails to advance input focus to the next entry field.