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Oracle® Big Data Appliance Owner's Guide
Release 1 (1.0.3)

Part Number E25960-05
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12 Setting Up Auto Service Request

This chapter explains how to install and configure Auto Service Request for Oracle Big Data Appliance. It contains these sections:

12.1 Understanding Auto Service Request

Auto Service Request (ASR) is designed to automatically open service requests when specific Oracle Big Data Appliance hardware faults occur. To enable this feature, the Oracle Big Data Appliance components must be configured to send hardware fault telemetry to the ASR Manager software. ASR Manager must be installed on a server that has connectivity to Oracle Big Data Appliance and an outbound Internet connection using HTTPS or an HTTPS proxy.

Note:

Set up ASR Manager before you configure Oracle Big Data Appliance. Ensure that Auto Service Request is selected in the Oracle Big Data Appliance Configuration Worksheets, so that ASR components are installed and configured on the appliance. See "Software Configuration".

When a hardware problem is detected, ASR Manager submits a service request to Oracle Support Services. In many cases, Oracle Support Services can begin work on resolving the issue before the database administrator is even aware the problem exists.

ASR detects faults in the most common server components, such as disks, fans, and power supplies, and automatically opens a service request when a fault occurs. ASR monitors only server components and does not detect all possible faults.

ASR is not a replacement for other monitoring mechanisms, such as SMTP and SNMP alerts, within the customer data center. It is a complementary mechanism that expedites and simplifies the delivery of replacement hardware. ASR should not be used for downtime events in high-priority systems. For high-priority events, contact Oracle Support Services directly.

An email message is sent to both the My Oracle Support email account and the technical contact for Oracle Big Data Appliance to notify them of the creation of the service request.

A service request may not be filed automatically on some occasions. This can happen because of the unreliable nature of the SNMP protocol or a loss of connectivity to ASR Manager. Oracle recommends that customers continue to monitor their systems for faults and call Oracle Support Services if they do not receive notice that a service request has been filed automatically.

See Also:

Oracle Auto Service Request web page at

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/asr/overview/index.html

Oracle Auto Service Request user documentation at

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/asr/documentation/index.html

12.2 Getting Ready for ASR Installation

Before installing ASR, complete these prerequisites:

  1. Create a My Oracle Support account at http://support.oracle.com.

  2. Ensure that the following are set up correctly:

    • Oracle Premier Support for Systems, Oracle Premier Support for Operating Systems, or Oracle Limited Warranty

    • The technical contact person at the customer site who is responsible for Oracle Big Data Appliance

    • A valid shipping address at the customer site for Oracle Big Data Appliance parts

  3. Identify and designate a system to serve as ASR Manager.

    ASR Manager must be installed on a server that has connectivity to Oracle Big Data Appliance and an outbound Internet connection using HTTPS or an HTTPS proxy. To submit a service request (SR), the server must be able to access the Internet.

  4. Ensure that the designated system conforms to the "Hardware and Network Configuration Recommendations for ASR." See the Oracle ASR website:

    http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/asr/overview/hardware-recommendations-330108.html

  5. Confirm that JDK 6 (1.6.0_04 or later) is running on the designated ASR Manager system:

    java -version
    

    If necessary, download and install the latest version of JDK from the Java SE Downloads website:

    http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html

  6. Obtain root access to the designated ASR Manager system.

  7. Identify and verify connectivity to Oracle Big Data Appliance.

  8. Verify connectivity to the Internet using HTTPS.

12.3 Installing ASR Manager

This section contains these topics:

12.3.1 Downloading the Software

ASR Manager requires installation of these components:

  • ASR Manager Version 3.6 or later

  • Oracle Service Tags

For links to the ASR software, go to the Oracle Auto Service Request Downloads website:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/asr/downloads/index.html

Refer to My Oracle Support Note 1185493.1 for the most recent software releases.

To download the Oracle Service Tags bundle, go to this site:

https://updates.oracle.com/download/12757884.html

12.3.2 Installing the ASM Package

To install the ASM package:

  1. Connect to the ASR Manager system.

  2. Check whether ASM version 1.3.1 or later is already installed:

    rpm -q SUNWsasm
    

    If it is not installed, then download the latest version as described in "Downloading the Software".

  3. As the root user, install the ASM package:

    rpm -i SUNWsasm.version_number.rpm
    
  4. Verify the installation:

    rpm -Vv SUNWsasm-version_number
    

12.3.3 Installing the Oracle Service Tags Bundle

To install the SUNWswasr package:

  1. Connect to the ASR Manager system.

  2. Download and unzip the SUNWswasr package.

  3. As the root user, install the package:

    rpm -i SUNWswasr.version_number.rpm
    
  4. Update the root login file, such as .profile or .bashrc, to add the asr software to the PATH variable. These commands are for the bash shell:

    PATH=$PATH:/opt/SUNWawasr/bin/asr
    EXPORT PATH
    
  5. Verify the installation:

    rpm -Vv SUNWswasr
    

    If the installation failed, then remove it, restart the system, and reinstall the package.

  6. Verify that ASM is running for issuing any other ASR commands:

    /opt/SUNWsasm/bin/sasm status
    

12.4 Registering ASR Manager

To register ASR Manager:

  1. As the root user on the ASR Manager server, issue this command:

    asr register
    
  2. Enter 1 or 2, depending on your location:

    • Americas or Asia Pacific regions: 1 for transport.oracle.com

    • Europe, Middle East, or Africa regions: 2 for transport.oracle.co.uk

  3. If you are using a proxy server to access the Internet, then enter the proxy server information. If you are not using a proxy server, then enter a hyphen (-).

  4. Enter your My Oracle Support user name and password when prompted. ASR validates the login. After validation, the registration is complete. Passwords are not stored.

    Your My Oracle Support email address receives output from ASR reports, notification of ASR problems, and notice when a service request (SR) has been generated.

12.5 Verifying ASR Manager

Perform these checks on ASR Manager to ensure that it is installed properly:

12.6 Configuring the Trap Destinations

The Oracle Big Data Appliance Mammoth Utility configures the servers automatically to trap component fault indicators. See "Mammoth Utility Steps".

12.7 Activating ASR Assets

To activate ASR assets:

  1. On ASR Manager, verify that ASR is activated:

    asr list_asset -i asset_ip
    

    In the preceding command, asset_ip is the IP address of a server or an Oracle ILOM. To list all assets, issue this command:

    asr list_asset
    

    The following is an example of the output. You should see a host name and an Oracle ILOM name for each of the 18 servers, for a total of 36 activations. If you see fewer than 36, then identify the missing ones and activate them. An example of a server name is bda1node15 and an Oracle ILOM name is bda1node15-c.

    ADDRESS       HOST_NAME     SERIAL_NUMBER  ASR      PRODUCT_NAME
    ------------- ------------- -----------    -------- --------------------------
    203.0.114.44  bda1node15    1143FMM023     Enabled  SUN FIRE X4270 M2 SERVER...
    203.0.115.139 bda1node15-c  1143FMM073     Enabled  SUN FIRE X4270 M2 SERVER
    203.0.114.45  bda1node16    1143FMM021     Enabled  SUN FIRE X4270 M2 SERVER...
    203.0.115.140 bda1node16-c  1143FMM063     Enabled  SUN FIRE X4270 M2 SERVER
    203.0.114.46  bda1node17    1143FMM021     Enabled  SUN FIRE X4270 M2 SERVER...
    203.0.115.141 bda1node17-c  1143FMM46B     Enabled  SUN FIRE X4270 M2 SERVER
    

    If no assets are listed, then verify that all steps of the Mammoth Utility have run successfully. See Chapter 13.

  2. Confirm end-to-end ASR functionality:

    asr report
    

    This is an example of the output:

    Successfully submitted request for activation status report.
    Activation status report will be sent to email address associated with 
    MOS Account:bdaadmin@example.com
    

    The report is sent to My Oracle Support.

  3. Activate the assets in My Oracle Support. Only a customer user administrator can perform this step.

    1. Log in to My Oracle Support.

    2. Click the More tab.

    3. Select Settings.

    4. Click Pending ASR Activations.

    5. Select the asset to activate, and review the information in the ASR Activation - Asset window. Update any information as needed.

    6. Click Approve to complete activation. The assets should be Active.

  4. Confirm that the assets are listed as Active in My Oracle Support:

    http://support.oracle.com

Note:

If an IP address or host name changes, then you must deactivate and reactivate the asset.

If no assets are discovered, then take these steps: 

  1. Log in to the first server.

  2. (Optional) Activate the ASR Manager host using the following command:

    asr activate_asset -i host_ip
    

    In this command, host_ip is the host IP address. If the server is qualified for ASR and entitled to service, then it can be activated.

  3. Activate Oracle ILOM:

    asr activate_asset -i ilom_ip
    

    In this command, ilom_ip is the Oracle ILOM IP address.

  4. Activate the servers:

    asr activate_asset –i host_eth0_ip
    

    In this command, host_eth0_ip is the IP address of the first server on the administrative network.

  5. Repeat these activate_asset commands on each server.

12.8 Validating Auto Service Request on Oracle Big Data Appliance

To validate the ASR installation, you must generate test events.

To set up a test event on Oracle ILOM: 

  1. Log in to the Oracle ILOM of any server in Oracle Big Data Appliance.

  2. Change to the following directory:

    cd /SP/alertmgmt/rules/3
    
  3. Issue this command:

    show 
    

    The following information is displayed:

    /SP/alertmgmt/rules/3
        Targets:
     
        Properties:
            type = snmptrap
            level = minor
            destination = 10.10.10.255  (Use the IP of your own ASR manager!)
            destination_port = 162
            community_or_username = public
            snmp_version = 2c
            testrule = (Cannot show property)
     
        Commands:
            cd
            set
            show
    
  4. Ensure that the properties have valid values as shown in Step 3, not blank or set to zeros. Use the appropriate IP address and port for your site.

  5. Set the test trap:

    set testrule=true
    
  6. You should receive an email about the event. Verify that an email was also sent to the address listed in your customer service identifier (CSI) for Oracle Big Data Appliance.

To set up a test in the operating system environment:  

  1. Issue this command to validate the operating system. The sample output shows 10.10.10.123:162 as the ASR Manager address.

    # /opt/oracle/bda/compmon**/bda_mon_hw_asr.pl -validate_snmp_subscribers -type asr
    Sending test trap to destination - 10.10.10.123:162 
    
  2. Verify that an email about the event was sent to you and to the address listed in your customer service identifier (CSI) for Oracle Big Data Appliance.

    This test event does not open a case, but it makes a verifiable entry in the ASR back end.

You received the emails from both of the previous tests (Oracle ILOM and operating system environment), then your validation is complete. If not, then proceed to "Troubleshooting ASR".

If the emails state that there are contract issues, contact your installation coordinator for further assistance.

12.9 Troubleshooting ASR

For troubleshooting procedures for the ASR software, see Chapter 5 of the Oracle ASR Installation and Operations Guide at:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/asr/documentation/index.html

If you continue to have issues, contact ASR support. See My Oracle Support Note 1352349.1).