Examples of how the CIM agent works

The Common Information Model (CIM) agent can be used to provide common building blocks to manage CIM-compliant devices.

Typical CIM agent configuration

Figure 1 shows how a typical CIM agent works.

Figure 1. A typical CIM agent at work Diagram shows the way a typical CIM Agent works

A typical configuration for your CIM client is to use the CIMOM that is located at https://cluster_ip port 5989 with namespace=/root/ibm. The standard secure port is 5989. You can also use namespace=interop, which is the standard SMI-S namespace.

The client application sends CIM requests to the CIMOM. As requests arrive, the CIMOM validates and authenticates each request. It then directs the requests to the appropriate functional component of the CIMOM or to a device provider. To satisfy client application requests, the provider makes calls to a device-unique programming interface on behalf of the CIMOM.

The management application can obtain an instance of the RemoteServiceAccessPoint from the CIMOM. This instance is used by the management application to access the web user interface.

CIM agent configuration with Service Location Protocol

If you use Service Location Protocol (SLP) to discover the CIMOM, the client application locates the CIMOM by calling an SLP directory service. When the CIMOM is first invoked, it registers itself to the SLP Service agent and supplies its location, IP address, port number, and the type of service that it provides. A string that describes the CIM agent access point is registered.

The following output provides an example of the registered string:

service:wbem:https://<CIM Agent IP>:<port number>

The SLP provides the following attributes:

template-type=wbem
template-version=1.0
template-description=This template describes the attributes used for
advertising WBEM servers.
template-url-syntax=https://9.47.24.91:5989
service-location-tcp=https://9.47.24.91:5989




service-hi-name=IBM Storwize V3700 CIMOM service-hi-description=IBM Storwize V3700 CIMOM Version x.x.x.xxx
service-id=IBMTSSVC:9.47.24.91
ProtocolVersion=1.2
CommunicationMechanism=cim-xml
FunctionalProfilesSupported=Basic Read, Basic Write, Instance Manipulation,
Association, Traversal, Query Execution, Qualifier Declaration, Indications
AuthenticationMechanismSupported=Basic
Namespace=/root/ibm 
Interop=/interop
MultipleOperationsSupported=false

SNIA:Array,
SNIA:Array:Access Points,
SNIA:Array:Block Services,
SNIA:Array:Cascading,
SNIA:Array:Copy Services,
SNIA:Array:FC Initiator Ports,
SNIA:Array:FC Target Ports,
SNIA:Array:Health,
SNIA:Array:Masking and Mapping,
SNIA:Array:Multiple Computer System,
SNIA:Array:Physical Package,
SNIA:Array:Software,
SNIA:Array:Location,
SNIA:Array:Block Server Performance,
SNIA:Array:iSCSI Target Ports,
SNIA:Array:Disk Drive Lite,
SNIA:Array:Extent Composition,
SNIA:Array:Disk Sparing,
SNIA:Storage Virtualizer:Thin Provisioning
SNIA:Server,SNIA:Server:Profile Registration,
SNIA:Server:Object Manager Adapter,
SNIA:Server:Indication,
SNIA:SMI-S

With this information, the client application starts to directly communicate with the CIMOM.

CIM agent configuration on the console and the clustered system

The CIMOM resides on the Storwize® V3700 clustered system (system). The management GUI does not use the CIMOM that is on the clustered system. Other IBM® storage management tools continue to use the CIMOM that is on the clustered system.

Figure 2 shows how this CIMOM configuration is defined.

Figure 2. CIMOM on the clustered system