IBM Support

5.4.13.1 Limitations and Known Issues for IBM Spectrum Control

Preventive Service Planning


Abstract

This document provides information about limitations and known issues that you might encounter when you use IBM® Spectrum Control™ 5.4.13.1

Content

This document contains the following sections:

Support links and documentation

To access all of the support documentation, including alerts and APARs, go to the IBM Support Portal.

For more information about the devices that are supported by IBM Spectrum Control, see the support matrix at http://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/388393

IBM Spectrum Control documentation: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/spectrum-control

PDF guides for IBM Spectrum Control: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/spectrum-control/5.4.13?topic=printable-documentation

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Product licenses for IBM Spectrum Control

IBM Spectrum Control 5.4.13 offers product licenses with differing licensing metrics to meet your storage management needs. For more information about these licenses, see https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/spectrum-control/5.4.13?topic=product-licenses.

 

Installing

Upgrading to IBM Spectrum Control 5.4.13 or later
Upgrades directly from IBM Spectrum Control versions 5.2.x, 5.3.x, and 5.4.x (up to 5.4.5) are no longer supported. To upgrade to version 5.4.13, you must first be on version 5.4.6 or a later release.
Installing IBM Spectrum Control on RHEL (x86-64)
Spectrum Control version 5.4.13 is only supported on RHEL 8 (all versions) and RHEL 9 (9.2 onwards). Do not install or upgrade to IBM Spectrum Control 5.4.13 on RHEL 7 (all versions) or earlier as it leads to an unstable environment and loss of access. 
Installing IBM Spectrum Control on Windows Server 2022
When you use the installation program to install IBM Spectrum Control on Windows Server 2022, you must start the program by completing the following steps:
  1. Press Windows key+R to open the Run window.
  2. In the Run window, type cmd.
  3. For Windows Server 2022, press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to run the command prompt as an administrator. (For other supported versions of Windows, press Enter to run the command.)
  4. In the command prompt, to change to the directory where you extracted the content of the installation image files, enter cd source_installation_directory\SC and press Enter.
  5. For Windows Server 2022 only, type SET JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS="-Dos.name=Windows 10" and press Enter.
  6. Type setup.bat and press Enter.
  7. Follow the prompts in the installation program to install IBM Spectrum Control.
For more information about using the installation program, see the following documentation:
Password Length Limitation for Adding Storage Devices in IBM Spectrum Control
 
IBM Spectrum Control supports a maximum password length of 48 characters for a user account on the target storage for monitoring.

 

General IBM Spectrum Control issues

APAR IT47611: SPECTRUM CONTROL UPGRADE TO 5.4.13 FROM OLDER THAN 5.4.6 IS NOT BLOCKED
Although its documented that direct upgrades from IBM Spectrum Control versions 5.2.x, 5.3.x, and 5.4.x (up to 5.4.5) are no longer supported to 5.4.13 and later. To upgrade to version 5.4.13, you must first be on version 5.4.6 or a later release.
However, its better to programmatically block direct upgrades from versions earlier than 5.4.6 to 5.4.13 or later in future releases..

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"IBM Spectrum Control" branding overlaps with navigation menu on Safari browser in 5.4.13.1 GUI

In IBM Spectrum Control 5.4.13.1, when accessed using the Safari browser, the "IBM Spectrum Control" branding text at the top overlaps with the "Home" and "Storage" navigation menu items. This layout issue causes text to become unreadable and reduces overall usability of the interface. The issue is not observed on Chrome or Edge.

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APAR IT47950: CLICKING ON "ADVANCED CONFIGURATION OPTIONS" UNDER LDAP AUTHENTICATION SETTINGS DISPLAYS THE INCORRECT PAGE
It is observed that when user is clicking on "Advanced Configuration Options" in LDAP Authentication settings, it is wrongly redirecting to the Home page. 
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APAR IT47926: HIGH CPU SPIKE OBSERVED OVER DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME CHANGE PERIOD
When the timezone changes after DST, Data Collector was still picking the older stats file which was collected during timezone GMT, since the timestamp value during GMT -1, will be nearing to timestamp value that was earlier (GMT). Since old file was picked which was wrong, and we ended up seeing the spike. 
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APAR IT47862: PERFORMANCE MONITOR SHOWS "RUNNING WITH PROBLEMS" STATUS WHEN THE NUMBER OF VOLUMES BECOMES ZERO
It is observed that the Performance Collection shows running with problems when the number of volumes on the storage are zero (0) i.e. there are no volumes present on the storage. 
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APAR IT47759: SOME IP PORTS ON FLASHSYSTEM SHOW THE STATUS AS "UNCONFIGURED AND INACTIVE"
The status of IP ports on the Flashsystem is incorrectly reported as Unconfigured and inactive. This condition is due to change in svc command which needs to be incorporated in Spectrum Control Backend code.
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APAR IT47504: PROBE FAILING FOR FS7200 AFTER FIRMWARE UPGRADE TO V8.7.0.0
This was actually not a issue with FS7200 Firmware, instead a data specific condition due to which probes were failing. This condition needs to be addressed and rectified.
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APAR IT46712: CPU CORE STATS FOR FLASHSYSTEM 9500 LIMITED TO 32 CORES INSTEAD OF 48 IN SPECTRUM CONTROL
Spectrum Control is showing the performance stats for only 32 cores on a Flashsystem that have 48 cores.
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APAR IT45728: SPECTRUM CONTROL REPORTING EXAGGERATED SCU VALUE FOR SVC IF BACK END MDISKS ARE THIN PROVISIONED
SVC GUI shows total physical capacity of backend mdisk (FS900)  against each mdisk on SVC that is assigned from backend storage in Usable Capacity column. Spectrum Control use this column to calculate the SCU license, which results is showing wrong values in Spectrum Control Licensing page.
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APAR IT45547: SPECTRUM CONTROL IS NOT TRIGGERING THE ALERT DEFINITION "STORAGE SYSTEM PERFORMANCE MONITOR STATUS ERROR" IN REAL TIME.
The alert definition is present for Alert "Storage System Performance Monitor Status Error" in spectrum Control. However, It is observed that the alert "Storage System Performance Monitor Status Error" is only triggered if problem statement continues till the automatic probe. In case of Storage is down/unreachable the alert is not triggered immediately.
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APAR IT45317: SPECTRUM SCALE 5.1.1.0 PROBE TIMES OUT IN SPECTRUM CONTROL 5.4.10
Spectrum Scale device probes are timing out.
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APAR IT39894: SC FLASHSYSTEM COPY DATA CALCULATED VALUES ARE INCORRECT
The copy data information on storage information shown in Spectrum Control does not match what's found in Storage Insights or the Storage Device.
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APAR IT33248: IBM SPECTRUM CONTROL DID NOT TRIGGER ALERTS WHEN MANAGED DEVICES WERE POWERED OFF
When SC can't communicate with a device, it should show an Unreachable status in the Condition column of the storage system tables and in the dashboards.

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APAR IT46477: Modify Connection for Hypervisors > vCenters does not work.

Attempting to Modify Connection for a monitored vCenter does not work. Nothing happens when selected.

Use the following workaround to change the credentials until a fix is available.
1. Go to Servers > Hypervisors > Hypervisors tab.
2. Right click on the row for the hypervisor corresponding to the vCenter and select Connections > Modify Connection.
3. Make any necessary changes to the connection info in the panel that opens.

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APAR IT39031: Performance data can't be collected for devices with slashes ("/" or "\") in their names

Performance metadata can't be collected about a device that includes a forward slash (/) or backslash (\) in its name. Before you add a device for monitoring, remove any slashes in its name.

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APAR IT24763: Adding or modifying the connection information for an IBM FlashSystem V9000 or FlashSystem V840

When you add or modify the connection information for FlashSystem V9000 or FlashSystem V840, you must provide the credentials of a user that can connect to the control nodes of these storage systems.

If you provide the credentials of a user that can connect to the internal FlashSystem 900 or FlashSystem 840 module rather than the control nodes, the probe fails.

The probe error that is generated is "CMMVC7205E The command failed because it is not supported".

IBM Spectrum Control can manage the control nodes of a FlashSystem V9000 or a FlashSystem V840 cluster, but it can't manage the back-end FlashSystem module.

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APAR IT23975: Port down and port offline alerts generated for FlashSystem 900 when the port is simply unused or disconnected.

IBM Spectrum Control is generating "error" alerts for an IBM FlashSystem 900 storage device for ports that are not physically connected to a SAN.  IBM Spectrum Control is receiving alerts for ports that are disconnected and suppression settings don't work. 

This alerting differs from the way that all other IBM storage operates, including SAN Volume Controller, Storwize, and other IBM storage where unused ports do not trigger alerts and do not report errors about unused ports.  Typically, port alerts trigger only if a port that was connected then becomes disconnected.  Currently, there is no way to make this behavior consistent with other IBM storage.

The alert for an inactive and configured FlashSystem port is working as designed because the condition is an "offline" status, which aligns with the FlashSystem GUI.  Inactive and unconfigured FlashSystem ports do not represent an error condition to generate alerts in IBM Spectrum Control.  The different port statuses, inactive configured and inactive unconfigured, reported by FlashSystem device are due to the installed small form-factor pluggable (SFP) transceivers onto the interface card in the system canister.  When SFP is installed and the port is not connected, the status reported by FlashSystem is inactive and configured port.

The workaround for changing the port status is to remove the unused SFP and reset the interface card in the canister.  More information how to add or remove SFPs to the FlashSystem storage enclosure can be found in the FlashSystem documentation at https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/flashsystem-900/1.6.1?topic=hardware-adding-additional-sfp-transceivers-storage-enclosure.

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APAR IT36044: DS8000 and invalid alerts for removed ports

For DS8000 storage systems that run microcode levels earlier than R8.5 SP5.2 - 88.55.9.2 after a probe you might receive alerts that FC ports were removed. In most cases, the alerts are invalid and the ports were not removed. This problem occurs because of a memory leak in the ESSNI network layer.

To fix this problem when it occurs, contact IBM Support to help recycle ESSNI before the next probe. For a permanent fix, update your DS8000 to the latest microcode level.

For more information about recommended microcode levels for DS8000, see https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/ds8000-code-recommendation.

For more information about APAR IT36044, see https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/apar/IT36044.

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APAR IT46581: Spectrum Control performance monitors running with problems for all devices - HWNPM2122W [AUTO_IDENTIFIER EXHAUSTED]

If numerous devices are configured in Spectrum Control and it runs for an extended period, the Auto_Identifier value for Performance Tables (ID_TYPE=11) in T_IDENTIFIER may become exhausted. This prevents the performance monitor from inserting new data into the database, resulting in no new performance data 
displayed in Spectrum Control. In such a scenario, the resolution is to perform a fresh installation of Spectrum Control. Contact IBM Support to confirm whether the Auto_Identifier value is exhausted before proceeding with a new installation.

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APAR IT45154 EXPORT PERFORMANCE DATA IN JAPANESE LANGUAGE:  CSV, HTML (AND PDF) HAS GARBLED CHARACTERS

Spectrum Control users exporting performance data in double-byte character (such as Japanese) will see garbled characters when exporting to PDF file format.  The fix for this APAR addressed the CSV and HTML exported data.  However, if attempting to export into PDF file format the problem still exists as a permanent limitation.  Suggested workaround is to export to CSV or HTML and then print that file as a PDF file.

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Incorrect overhead capacity value for block storage systems

IBM Spectrum Control might report an incorrect overhead capacity for some block storage systems such as XIV, EMC Unity, FlashSystem 9100, and FlashSystem A9000.

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Enabled ethernet port that is not connected to a switch can cause the GUI to hang  

On some IBM servers running Windows 2012, an enabled ethernet port can cause the IBM Spectrum Control GUI to stop responding if the port is not connected to a switch.  This condition causes a Db2 SQL -911 error and also causes the IBM Spectrum Control GUI to stop responding.

To prevent this issue, disable the ethernet port or configure the port by using the instructions at  https://bladecenter.lenovofiles.com/help/index.jsp.

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Spectrum Scale cluster with configured sudo-wrapper environment cannot be managed with Spectrum Control or Storage Insights

This configuration is not supported since mmdsh commands are needed to collect various configuration information from the Scale Cluster.  

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IBM Spectrum Control cannot detect the mount status of file systems on Storwize V7000 Unified storage systems   

If a file system is manually unmounted from a Storwize® V7000 Unified storage system, IBM Spectrum Control cannot detect that the file system was unmounted. Because of this limitation, information that is displayed in the IBM Spectrum Control GUIs is not accurate and some storage-related actions on the file system might fail.

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IBM SAN Volume Controller and IBM Storwize devices might not accurately report used space of data reduction pools and deduplicated volumes

When a SAN Volume Controller or Storwize device is configured with data reduction pools, it no longer reports the used space for a specific volume and the tier distribution.  This issue occurs on firmware levels with data reduction pools and deduplicated volume, including 8.1.3.3.

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Calculation discrepancies for capacity savings in SAN Volume Controller

IBM Spectrum Control shows different volume capacity and capacity savings than the element manager for SAN Volume Controller due to a limitation in the calculation method in the element manager. The correct capacity values are shown in the IBM Spectrum Control Overview panel.

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RHEL known issues with fprintd-pam module (fingerprint authentication module)

The fprintd-pam module (fingerprint authentication module) has some known issues in various environments.  Review the details on redhat.com:
In some instances, the fprintd-pam module can cause the IBM Spectrum Control web server to crash.  If you don't need the fingerprint authentication service, you can uninstall the fprintd packages to avoid any potential problems. 


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Application Groups and Aggregated Metrics 

For application groups, the performance data is aggregated from the volumes added to the group, either directly or by using a filter.  The values displayed for the aggregated Read Response Time, Write Response Time, and Overall Response Time are incorrect.  All other metrics currently supported for application aggregation are rendered correctly.

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IBM Spectrum Control might report incorrect vmdk size and incorrect capacity of VM

IBM Spectrum Control persists the relation between a vmdk and vmdisk, restricting the relation to vmdisk <-> current vmdk file. The current vmdk file has an aggregate size, which includes the sizes of snapshots up to the current vmdk file. IBM Spectrum Control associates the latest running delta file with vmdisk. Therefore, if there are newer snapshots (which are not included in the current vmdk size), it might report the size smaller than actual size of the vmdisk.

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Export Performance Data Tool  

The output format from the exportPerformanceData Script was changed, starting in IBM Spectrum Control 5.4.4.  To minimize the impact of this and all future output format changes, users of the CSV files are encouraged to parse the column headers they are interested in.

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iSCSI ports

IBM Spectrum Control does not monitor the performance of iSCSI ports.

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FC ports

IBM Spectrum Control displays only the total count of physical ports under Internal Resources > FC ports on the device details page. This count may differ from the number that is shown by the IBM block controller, which includes both physical and logical ports.

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Windows Storage Resource Agent (SRA) deployment is failing

Perform the following workaround to resolve the issue:

1. Delete the failed deployment from the GUI for the failed server which you want to monitor.
2. Copy the  sra/{operating_system} folder  from IBM Spectrum Control server to monitor server.
       For example:
            Copy the windows folder from C:\Program Files\IBM\TPC\data\sra\ and paste it to the monitor server at D:\temporaryFolder.
3. Run the following command from monitor server folder
         For example:
             cd   D:\temporaryFolder\windows\bin
              Agent.exe -install -nosancalls -force -serverPort 9549 -installLoc "D:\SRA_agent" -commType DAEMON -agentPort 9510 -serverIP <SC Server IP>

Non-IBM storage support issues

Non-IBM storage devices show node relationships in the Volumes table only if the relationship is 1:1.  Therefore, if a volume resides on more than 1 node, the node column is empty for that volume.

EMC Support issues

In IBM Spectrum Control, you can view more information about the capacity, space usage, and performance of EMC™ storage systems. However, keep in mind the following issues for EMC support:

On the details page for an EMC storage system, duplicate NAS nodes might be displayed if the EMC's NAS Servers support both NFS and CIFS protocols. This issue occurs because each protocol represents a node. For example, on the same NAS server, if NAS1451 supports NFS and NAS1451 supports CIFS protocols, two node entries are displayed on the details page for the storage system.

Information about FC and Serial Attached SCSI ports is returned when FC ports are probed.

VNXe:
Thin-provisioned volumes:

  • The value for allocated space is incorrect.
  • Total or available capacity values of each storage tier in a storage pool are incorrect.

VNX:

  • Thin pools: The value for physical allocated space is incorrect.
  • File system pools are not displayed.
  • Total or available capacity values of each storage tier in a storage pool are incorrect.
  • The VNX regular thin pool's "pool capacity" value, returned by EMC SMI-S provider, is slightly lower than reported by the element manager.  This issue applies only to VNX thin pool, referred to as "Pools" in Unisphere.
  • Disk and volume response times and utilization percentages: The displayed values for these metrics are higher than their actual value.

 
VMAX3:

  • Available pool space or any allocated capacity values are always 0.
  • All aggregated volume capacity values are 0 because of the missing relationship between pools and volumes.
  • Mappings of volume to pool and volume to disk are not displayed.

Reporting: In Cognos Analytics, pre-defined reports might not be available for EMC storage systems.
 

NetApp Support issues

For NetApp systems Copy Data cannot correlate data, so no links are shown.
 

HDS Support issues

Viewing managed disks 

Hitachi VSP systems are supported as virtualizers and show the backend storage system and external disks.  It is not possible to show managed disks mapped directly to a host.

Problems monitoring performance on Hitachi VSP storage systems  

In some cases, you might see data gaps in your performance charts or "Performance monitor failed" messages in the performance monitoring logs when you're monitoring the performance of your Hitachi VSP storage systems.
This problem occurs when the Hitachi Service processor is busy with configuration changes. It can also occur when the system that is running the Hitachi Export Tool is slow, which might cause timeouts and performance monitor failures from the IBM Spectrum Control server.
To avoid this problem, try placing the Hitachi Export Tool on a faster machine. For more information about how to install the Hitachi Export Tool, see Installing the Hitachi Export Tool in the IBM Spectrum Control documentation.
More information
For a list of the known issues with the IBM Spectrum Control support for Hitachi Data Systems Virtual Storage Platform, see http://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/241805

Pure Support issues

If IBM Spectrum Control is monitoring a Pure system that is in asynchronous relationship with another storage system, details of the target system are not available.  IBM Spectrum Control lists the target system but cannot correlate the remote volumes or display a link. 

If IBM Spectrum Control is monitoring only the target system of asynchronous relationships, no details of the source system are available.
 

Cognos Analytics

GPFS/GSS/Spectrum Scale is not supported in Cognos Analytics

GPFS/GSS/Spectrum Scale™ file systems are not correctly represented in Cognos reports and are not supported in Cognos.

Information is not collected about NFS and CIFS exports that are defined on a GPFS/GSS/Spectrum Scale cluster.

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IBM Spectrum Scale is not supported in Cognos Analytics

GPFS/GSS/Spectrum Scale™ file systems are not correctly represented in Cognos reports and are not supported in Cognos.

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Links to Help in IBM Spectrum Control predefined reports are incorrect

When you use Cognos Analytics to generate predefined reports for IBM Spectrum Control, the link to the online help does not work. To get help, go to IBM Docs at https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/spectrum-control/latest?topic=reporting-creating-predefined-capacity-reports.

Tip: The system running Cognos Analytics requires access to the internet to open to the documentation. 

Documentation and product interface corrections

The following corrections apply to the help pages that are accessible from the help menu ("?") in the IBM Spectrum Control GUI:

Browser issues

Browser displays a security certificate error 

Some browsers might display: "There is a problem with this website's security certificate."  when you log in to IBM Spectrum Control. To continue to the GUI, click "Continue to this website". The previous page is displayed.  This behavior does not occur on all browsers.

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Document Information

Modified date:
29 September 2025

UID

ibm17235393

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