Server Manager Logging - Part 2

Part 2 in this series about the Server Manager logs will be a short one and is all about the log files created when installing a management agent. I've already posted an article Troubleshooting Agent Communications that covers in detail the troubleshooting process for a successfully installed agent that refuses to communicate and appear in the management console. This article will simply look at the installation logs created by the management agent installer.

In a future post I'll get to the good stuff -- the log files created by a running management agent. That will be where you'll wan to look for troubleshooting most issues in Server Manager.

The Management Agent Installer

During the running of the installation program the log file created, named smha_is_install.log, is located in platform specific temporary directory. The

InstallShield installer creates a temporary directory named something like 'ismp01' underneath the system temporary directory. On UNIX based platforms and the iSeries this temporary location is usually /tmp and on Windows the temporary directory is identified by the %TMP% environment variable, usually Documents and SettingsusernameLocal Settingstemp.

After the installation is complete the smha_is_install.log is copied to the installation location supplied during the installation wizard.

Compared to the installer for the management console discussed in part one of this series the management agent installer is very trivial. The installer is responsible for performing the following:

• Creating the managed home directory structure
• Installing the Java based managed home agent and any configuration it needs
• Creating the Windows service used to start and stop the agent [Windows only]
• Creating the startup and shutdown scripts
• Installing the Java JDK used by the managed home agent
• Installing the Oracle Configuration Manager agent [non-iSeries platforms]

The installer itself is actually quite dumb. The installer program does not actually contain any of the components it will install; instead it obtains the components to install directly from the management console. This is the reason the management console must be running at the time the management agent is installed.

So let's take a look at the smha_is_install.log from a Linux installation to see what is going on. After prompting for the management console name and HTTP port the installer will retrieve a list of items that need to be downloaded/installed. If the supplied server name or port are wrong, or the management console is not running, you will see an error here and the user will be re-prompted for valid credentials. Upon successful connection to the console you will see something like:

(Jan 25, 2008 12:53:44 PM), Install, com.ibm.wizard.platform.linux.LinuxProductServiceImpl, msg1, installing Get Scf File List (getScfList)

(Jan 25, 2008 12:53:44 PM), Install, com.oracle.e1.install.scfha.ISMP.product.GetScfFileList, dbg, Connection opened: http://denlcmwn5.mlab.jdedwards.com:7000/manage/agents/Linux/i386/2.6.9-42.ELsmp?serviceId=null

(Jan 25, 2008 12:53:44 PM), Install, com.oracle.e1.install.scfha.ISMP.product.GetScfFileList, dbg, Writing http://denlcmwn5.mlab.jdedwards.com:7000/manage/agents/Linux/i386/2.6.9-42.ELsmp?serviceId=null to /u02/jdedwards/agentdemo/List.txt as text

(Jan 25, 2008 12:53:44 PM), Install, com.ibm.wizard.platform.linux.LinuxProductServiceImpl, dbg.install, JVM memory after installing Get Scf File List (getScfList): free=5134496 total=17588224

The list of components to be downloaded are saved as a text file to <agent_install>/List.txt. The contents of the file will vary slightly for each platform. The next step is to download and extract the components contained within.

(Jan 25, 2008 12:53:44 PM), Install, com.installshield.scfha.event.InstallScript, dbg, Entering Function : Expand Remote Jars

(Jan 25, 2008 12:53:44 PM), Install, com.installshield.scfha.event.InstallScript, dbg, Expand Remote Jars : File List to download:/u02/jdedwards/agentdemo/List.txt

(Jan 25, 2008 12:53:44 PM), Install, com.installshield.scfha.event.InstallScript, dbg, Expand Remote Jars : Destination :/u02/jdedwards/agentdemo

(Jan 25, 2008 12:53:44 PM), Install, com.installshield.scfha.event.InstallScript, dbg, Extracting remote jar 'http://denlcmwn5.mlab.jdedwards.com:7000/manage/scfagent/scfagent.jar?serviceId=null' to '/u02/jdedwards/agentdemo'

(Jan 25, 2008 12:53:45 PM), Install, com.installshield.scfha.event.InstallScript, dbg, Copying remote file : http://denlcmwn5.mlab.jdedwards.com:7000/manage/agent/config/agent.properties?serviceId=null

(Jan 25, 2008 12:53:45 PM), Install, com.installshield.scfha.event.InstallScript, dbg, Header Field: attachment; filename=config/agent.properties

(Jan 25, 2008 12:53:46 PM), Install, com.installshield.scfha.event.InstallScript, dbg, Extracting remote jar 'http://denlcmwn5.mlab.jdedwards.com:7000/manage/agent/ccr/ccr-Production-10.2.5.0.0-Linux.zip?serviceId=null' to '/u02/jdedwards/agentdemo'

(Jan 25, 2008 12:53:48 PM), Install, com.installshield.scfha.event.InstallScript, dbg, Extracting remote jar 'http://denlcmwn5.mlab.jdedwards.com:7000/manage/agent/jdks/linux_jdk.jar?serviceId=null' to '/u02/jdedwards/agentdemo'

(Jan 25, 2008 12:54:01 PM), Install, com.installshield.scfha.event.InstallScript, dbg, Copying remote file : http://denlcmwn5.mlab.jdedwards.com:7000/manage/agent/agent-misc/linux/bin/startAgent?serviceId=null

(Jan 25, 2008 12:54:01 PM), Install, com.installshield.scfha.event.InstallScript, dbg, Header Field: attachment; filename=bin/startAgent

(Jan 25, 2008 12:54:01 PM), Install, com.installshield.scfha.event.InstallScript, dbg, Copying remote file : http://denlcmwn5.mlab.jdedwards.com:7000/manage/agent/agent-misc/linux/bin/stopAgent?serviceId=null

(Jan 25, 2008 12:54:01 PM), Install, com.installshield.scfha.event.InstallScript, dbg, Header Field: attachment; filename=bin/stopAgent

(Jan 25, 2008 12:54:01 PM), Install, com.installshield.scfha.event.InstallScript, dbg, Copying remote file : http://denlcmwn5.mlab.jdedwards.com:7000/manage/agent/agent-misc/linux/bin/restartAgent?serviceId=null

(Jan 25, 2008 12:54:01 PM), Install, com.installshield.scfha.event.InstallScript, dbg, Header Field: attachment; filename=bin/restartAgent

(Jan 25, 2008 12:54:01 PM), Install, com.installshield.scfha.event.InstallScript, dbg, Copying remote file : http://denlcmwn5.mlab.jdedwards.com:7000/manage/agent/agent-misc/rte.jacl?serviceId=null

(Jan 25, 2008 12:54:02 PM), Install, com.installshield.scfha.event.InstallScript, dbg, Header Field: attachment; filename=bin/rte.jacl

The remaining steps performed by the installer are related to setting some permissions on the installed JDK (UNIX based platforms) and to start the management console. On windows you would see an additional step to invoke the installManagementAgent.bat script to create the Windows service for the managed home agent.

The final step is to remove the List.txt file downloaded earlier and start up the managed home agent. Pretty simple, eh?