Chapter 2 Preparing to Install RSC Software

Before installing Sun Remote System Control software, you must download the install files from a Web site or load a CD-ROM, choose how RSC will communicate with users, and plan and write down available configuration information.

If you are accessing installation files from the Web, connect to http://sunsolve2.Sun.COM/sunsolve/E250/ for instructions to download RSC installation files. If you are installing from the Sun Enterprise 250 Supplement CD, follow the instructions in the Sun Enterprise 250 Supplement Roadmap, provided with the CD. If you are installing from the Sun Computer Systems Supplement CD, follow the instructions in the Sun Hardware Platform Guide, provided with the CD.

Choosing RSC Communication Setup

Although you can change the way you use RSC at any time, after you install the software you can run a configuration script that prompts you for initial setup information. The basic decisions you need to make are:

• Which RSC communication ports to enable

• Whether to enable alert messages, and what types

Choosing RSC Communication Ports

RSC has two dedicated communication ports on the rear panel of the Sun Enterprise 250 server: an Ethernet port and a serial port. RSC can use either or both of these ports to communicate with users.

RSC Ethernet Port

The RSC Ethernet port, when connected to your local Ethernet, is most useful for accessing RSC from within your company network. Since RSC uses standard TCP/IP protocols, you can connect to RSC remotely using any standard technology that allows remote TCP/IP connections to your network, such as a pool of modems attached to a PPP server.

Although only four RSC user accounts are available, Solaris users on the company Ethernet can connect to any node on the network that has RSC client software installed, set the DISPLAY environment variable to their display, log in to RSC, and use the RSC GUI. In addition, any user who has superuser privileges on the server can log in and use the rscadm utility to change RSC configuration. Clients running the Windows operating system require client software to run the RSC GUI.

RSC Serial Port

You can connect a dedicated RSC modem to the RSC serial port. Use of a modem with dialback support is a secure option for allowing remote access to RSC.

Use of a modem on the RSC serial port is required for sending alerts to pagers. If you are concerned about dial-in security over the serial port, you can use a modem or phone line that supports dial-out only.

To use the RSC GUI, users must have RSC client software installed on their machines. If the modem uses a dialback option, users must dial in to the modem from a designated phone number.

You can set RSC to disconnect sessions on the serial port after 10 minutes of inactivity. If point-to-point protocol (PPP) is not enabled on the serial port, only one user at a time can connect to the RSC serial port.

Choosing Alert Message Types

When a server problem occurs, RSC sends an alert message. RSC always sends alert messages to any users that are logged in to RSC accounts.

You can also configure RSC to send alerts to people who are not necessarily logged in to RSC accounts. These additional alerts can be sent to an email address, to alphanumeric pagers, or to both. After receiving an alert, an RSC user can connect to their RSC account for that server and address the alert condition.

Email Alerts

If the RSC Ethernet port is enabled, you can set an email address to use for alerts. Although only a single mail address is permitted, you can notify several people that a problem has occurred by using an email alias.

Pager Alerts

If the RSC serial port is enabled and connected to a modem, you can page one or two alphanumeric pagers when an alert occurs. This alert mechanism may work best for you if your system administrators typically carry pagers.

Planning Configuration Settings

The Sun Remote System Control configuration script prompts you to enter configuration settings. If you do not know information for some categories, you can skip those sections and use the rscadm utility or RSC interfaces to configure those parts of RSC after installation.

Before you begin to configure Sun Remote System Control software on a Sun Enterprise 250 server, write down the following information, if available.

• Server hostname:

• Customer information string to identify the server in alert messages (8 characters maximum, including alphanumeric characters and hyphen):

You may want to use the server's service contract number (recommended), location, system administrator, or responsible department as customer information.

• Do you want to enable Ethernet connection to RSC? (y|n):

• If the Ethernet connection will be enabled, how do you want to control network configuration (configure manually, or using DHCP protocol and a DHCP server)?:

  Choose to configure manually if you want to enter Internet addresses, or choose DHCP if you want to use DHCP protocol and a DHCP server to assign appropriate network configuration settings.

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  Note -

  Sun recommends setting the RSC device name associated with the IP address in name server maps (either NIS or DNS) to be the name of the server with -rsc appended to it. For instance, if your server's hostname is bert, the recommended name to assign to the RSC device for that server is bert-rsc. Sun also recommends that if you use DHCP, you configure the DHCP server to assign a fixed IP address to RSC.

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• If RSC will use configured Ethernet protocol:

  • Internet address for RSC:

  • Internet address for the subnet mask:

  • Internet address for the default gateway to use when the destination is not on the same subnet as RSC:

• Do you want RSC to send alerts when problems occur? (y|n):

• Do you want RSC to send alert messages by email? (y|n):

• If you want RSC to send alert messages by email:

  • Internet addresses for SMTP mail server:

  • Internet addresses for backup SMTP mail server (optional):

  • Email address to use:

• Do you want RSC to send alert messages to a pager? (y|n):

• If you want RSC to send alert messages to a pager:

  • Pager 1 telephone number:

  • Pager 1 modem initialization string:

  • Pager 1 account password:

  • Pager 1 baud rate:

  • Pager 1 data bits:

  • Pager 1 parity:

  • Pager 1 stop bits:

• Do you want RSC to send alert messages to an additional pager? (y|n):

• If you want RSC to send alert messages to an additional pager:

  • Pager 2 telephone number:

  • Pager 2 modem initialization string:

  • Pager 2 account password:

  • Pager 2 baud rate:

  • Pager 2 data bits:

  • Pager 2 parity:

  • Pager 2 stop bits:

• Do you want to enable use of an RSC modem on the RSC serial port? (y|n):

• If you will enable an RSC modem:

  • Do you want to enable PPP over the RSC modem? (y|n):

  • PPP local IP address (if not dynamically configured):

  • PPP remote IP address (if not dynamically configured):

  • Serial port baud rate:

  • Serial port data bits:

  • Serial port parity:

  • Serial port stop bits:

• Do you want to set up an RSC user account during installation? (y|n):

• If you will set up an RSC user account during installation:

  • Account username:

  • Permission level for the user: (c, u, a, r, none):

  • Account password:

    See Chapter 4 of the RSC User's Guide for information about account usernames, permissions, and passwords.

After you have written down this information, you can refer to it when you configure RSC software on the server. If some of this information is not available yet or changes, you can use RSC interfaces or the rscadm utility to change the configuration after installation.