IBM Tivoli Monitoring, Version 6.3 Fix Pack 2

Monitoring your operating system via a System Monitor Agent

A special type of Tivoli® Management Services agent, the System Monitor Agent, allows you to send OS monitoring data directly to any SNMP or EIF event receiver such as Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus, Tivoli Enterprise Console®, or Tivoli NetView® without first passing the data to a Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Server.

These lighter-weight agents (they require a much smaller footprint than full-function Tivoli Monitoring OS agents) are configured locally on the agent node, which makes them ideal for customers who want fully autonomous monitoring of their desktop operating systems in environments where disk space or image transmission bandwidth is in short supply. This configuration enables them to be deployed autonomously (that is, they do not require the support of a Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Server): they send SNMP or EIF event information directly to an Event Collector such as IBM® Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus.

These agents can run in agent-only environments that lack the standard Tivoli Monitoring servers (the Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Server and the Tivoli Enterprise Portal Server). Local configuration files can be placed on the system directly, or the System Monitoring Agent can be configured to check in on a schedule with a Central Configuration Server to collect updated configuration files. (See Central Configuration Servers in the IBM Tivoli Monitoring Administrator's Guide.)

You can also install or deploy System Monitor Agents using a Golden Master Image. To install System Monitor Agents using a Golden Master Image, use the following procedures.

To create the Golden Master Image:

  1. Install a System Monitor Agent on a sample system.
  2. Configure the agent as required:
    • You can provide the private configuration files, or provide the Central Configuration Connection information and test the image.
    • Once it is performing as desired, stop the agent.
  3. Compress the files and directories within the IBM Tivoli Monitoring installation directory to create a Golden Master Image.

To install the Golden Master Image:

  1. Transfer the compressed file to the target system.
  2. Extract the image into the same installation directory.
    Note: The agent installation directory must be the same on the original image and the target system.
  3. Once the files are in place run the initialization script and start the agent:
    • Windows <instdir>\InstallITM\UpdateAutoRun.cmd
    • Linux <instdir>/bin/UpdateAutoRun.sh
These agents, which run on Windows and on Linux/UNIX, effectively replace the OMNIbus System Service Monitors for monitoring of desktop operating systems. IBM Netcool® System Service Monitor users may find these agents appropriate as an upgrade path.
Note: Only agents created with version 6.2.2 (or subsequent) of the Agent Builder tool that do not include a data provider that requires Java™ can be installed with a System Monitor Agent. No other agents should be installed with a System Monitor Agent, nor should they be installed on nodes where there is already a Tivoli Monitoring component in operation.

For System Monitor Agents, you can use a silent installation process for both Windows and Linux/UNIX sites, along with operating system-specific configuration steps. There are also uninstallation processes for these Windows and Linux/UNIX OS agents. All these processes are detailed in this chapter.

Background information about agent autonomy introduces the concept of agents that operate autonomously (that is, without a connection to a Tivoli Enterprise Monitoring Server). For additional information, see the IBM Tivoli Monitoring Administrator's Guide.


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