IBM Performance Management for Power Systems - Activation steps

PM Agent does not require any activation (setup, configuration or similar) to start collecting data. The PM Agent performance data (file QA1PONE) is automatically collected when the system is started and if Collection Services are running.

You will need to activate PM Agent to transmit the data. You can activate PM Agent either during IPL or interactively. The transmission of the collected PM performance data is indicated through the options in the IBM Electronic Service Agent, the HMC, the FSM or the Service and Support Manager in IBM Systems Director.

For additional information on configuring ESA, please refer to the following:

• PM for Power Systems Transmission (IBM i) FAQ (309KB)
• How to Send PM Agent Data on Supported i5/OS Releases

Getting Started at IPL time

If PM Agent is not activated on your system, following an IPL you will receive a message CPAB02A which will ask you whether you want to send data to IBM by activating PM Agent. This message will be sent to the QSYSOPR message queue. By responding to the message with "G", PM Agent will proceed with the activation.

After successful activation, a message CPIB02B will be sent to the QSYSOPR message queue telling you that your PM Agent is activated.

Getting Started at anytime

If there was an error during at IPL or you wish to activate PM Agent at anytime (V5R4 or earlier):

• Sign on as QSECOFR
• Type CFGPM400 and accept the default responses

If there was an error during at IPL or you wish to activate PM Agent at anytime (V6R1 or later):

• Sign on as QSECOFR
• Type CFGPMAGT
• Answer 1 = Send data with Service Agent in the connectivity question
• Answer 0 = No in the receive question.

After successful activation, a screen will appear indicating that PM Agent has been successfully activated.

If PM Agent is not successfully activated...
In case of error during activation, a message CPIB02C will be received on the QSYSOPR message queue indicating that PM Agent was not activated.

For release-specific information about PM Agent activation, please refer to the IBM Knowledge Center.

Special instructions for supporting Shared Processor Pool Graphs

To configure PM for Power Systems in support of the Shared Processor Pool Graphs on IBM i, please follow these instructions / requirements:

• Ensure currency on all IBM i PTF’s
• IBM Power 5 hardware or above
• Minimum of one partition running IBM i V5R4 or later
• Enable the IBM i partition for the collection of the shared pool and system wide processor utilization data before it is transmitted to IBM. The following settings are required to do this:
  • On an HMC: check 'allow performance information collection' on the partition properties / hardware / processors tab
  • If using IVM: on the 'lssyscfg' command, specify the 'all_perf_collection' to '1' to allow authority. (Note: the default is '0')

Special instructions for supporting System View Graphs

To configure PM for Power Systems in support of the total System View Graphs on IBM i, please follow these instructions / requirements:

• IBM Power 6 hardware or above
• Minimum of one partition running IBM i V6R1M0 or newer
• Minimum firmware level xx340_061 or higher
• Enable the IBM i partition for the collection of the shared pool and system wide processor utilization data before it is transmitted to IBM. The following settings are required to do this:
  • On an HMC: check 'allow performance information collection' on the partition properties / hardware / processors tab
  • If using IVM: on the 'lssyscfg' command, specify the 'all_perf_collection' to '1' to allow authority. (Note: the default is '0')

Verifying PM Agent setup

To verify the setup, please do the following tasks:

• Type GO PM400 to access the PM Agent menu
• Select option 1. Work with Contact Information. Verify your name, email and address are correct

NOTE: You can access the PM for Power Systems menu at any time to tailor PM Agent for your system.

IBM i problem handling

If you have a question about activating PM Agent on IBM System i, please refer to the IBM representative contact list.

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AIX 6.1 TL06 SP3 and AIX 7.1 TL 00 SP2 and higher

To activate PM AIX Collection Agent please do the following steps:

• Beginning with the installation of AIX 6.1 TL06 SP3 and AIX 7.1 TL 00 SP2, the PM AIX Collection Agent which collects performance data will automatically create and populate the PM data file needed for subsequent transmission to IBM as part of the PM for Power Systems process. The automated PM performance data file collection is an integrated function within topas, the integrated performance data collector within AIX. The user will no longer need to run the 'smit topas' or 'smit SetUpPM' commands to start creation of the file.

Determine what method to submit performance data to IBM

You can use either Hardware Management Console (HMC) or Electronic Service Agent (ESA) to send your AIX performance data to IBM. It is not recommend that you use both HMC and ESA to send performance data to IBM.

If your server is managed by an HMC server, there is no additional setup needed on your HMC to send performance data to IBM. You can optionally change the time that the HMC collects the performance data by doing the following steps:

• Connect to HMC web site and login
• Select 'Service Management' on the left side of the HMC web interface
• Select 'Transmit Service Information' in the center HMC web interface
• Enter the desired time in the 'Performance management transmission:' section*
• Click 'OK' to save the changes

If you would like to use ESA, do the following steps to configure Electronic Service Agent on each of your servers:

• Login as root
• At # prompt, type 'smit' and press ENTER
• Select 'Electronic Service Agent' from the main smit menu
• Select 'Configure Electronic Service Agent'
• Enter Contact & Address information
• Confirm test was successful
• Note the port # to access the web interface
• Connect to ESA web page (change servername and port to match your server):
  https://servername:5024/esa/login.faces
• Login as root
• Select 'Settings'
• Select 'Performance management collection'
• Enter the desired time to send the AIX performance information to IBM*
• Click 'OK' to save the changes

Important Note: You must update the Customer Information option to ensure it includes email address and correct country code.  The email provided should be for a person responsible for maintaining system performance.

* The PM AIX Collection Agent generates the previous day's performance file just before midnight. So it is recommended that you set ESA or HMC to send the performance file after the file is created. Example: 01:00 am.

Shared Processor Pool and total System View Graph instructions

To enable support for shared processor pools and total System View graphs on AIX v6.1 TL 06 or 07 and AIX v7.1 TL 00 or 01, it is necessary to download and install an ifix package. Look for the ReadMe titled: ReadMe_V8_PM_AIX_SPP_Xlpar_V3.txt (TXT, 8KB).  

Note: if necessary, do a search on PMAIX under the ‘public’ section on the left nav bar.

To enable support for shared processor pools and total System View graphs on AIX v6.1 TL 08 and AIX v7.1 TL 02, a new fileset is embedded in the release that default installs. Additional instructions vary whether using an HMC or FSM to manage the system. See the specific instructions and other important information in this ReadMe (TXT, 21KB) .

Note: Enabling SPP & XLPAR will enable this partition to remotely execute commands on the HMC/FSM using SSH for gathering configuration & performance data of the processor pool & other partitions.

Manually submit server performance data to IBM to verify that Service Agent has picked up the file

Wait one day before attempting to send the performance data to IBM. Depending on your transmission method, do the following steps to manually send performance data to IBM and view log files to verify that it was successfully sent.

To manually send AIX performance data from HMC do the following steps:

• Connect to HMC web site and login
• Select ‘Service Management’ on the left side of the HMC web interface
• Select ‘Transmit Service Information’ in the center HMC web interface
• Click the ‘Send’ button in the ‘Performance management transmission:’ area
• Click ‘OK’ to close the information dialog
• Click ‘OK’ to close the ‘Transmit Service Information’ dialog
• Click ‘OK’ to close the information dialog
• Click ‘HMC Management’ on the left side of the HMC web interface
• Click ‘View HMC Events’ in the center HMC web interface
• If you see the ‘Successfully transmitted performance information’ message, you have correctly configured PM AIX Collection Agent.

To manually send AIX performance data from ESA do the following steps:

• Connect to ESA web page (change server name and port to match your server):
  https://servername:5024/esa/login.faces
• Login as root
• Select ‘Settings’
• Select ‘Service information’
• Check the box in front of ‘Performance Management’
• Change the ‘Performance Management’ combo box to be ‘Collect Information’
• Click “Go’
• Click ‘OK’ to close the information dialog
• Click ‘OK’ to close the ‘Service information’ dialog
• Select ‘Activity log’
• If you see the ‘Performance Management data sent.’ Message, you have correctly configured PM AIX Collection Agent.

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Please follow the set up instructions in the .txt files included below. Please see the requirements section.

• ReadMe Linux User Guide (TXT, 61KB)
• ReadMe Linux Administrator's Manual (TXT, 3KB)

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Registration of a server or LPAR is a process that you complete once the PM data has been successfully transmitted to IBM and you have received the e–mail containing the registration key. The registration entails the following steps:

• Create or modify a Performance Management group
• Register the entitled systems under your group
• Set user access to view your reports

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Problems should continue to be submitted to IBM using normal country procedures already defined for "Electronic Service Agent" support for:

• Any problems related to the activation or operation of the "Electronic Service Agent”
• The transmission of customer data from "Electronic Service Agent" to IBM

If you experience any problems with activating and using PM AIX Collection Agent, please contact your in country IBM AIX support or refer to the IBM representative contact list. For faster resolution, prior to submitting your problem, we recommend you review the PM AIX Collection Agent frequently asked questions (FAQ’s) (PDF,293KB).

For your immediate use, please refer to the Trouble Shooting document for information on set up and transmission of AIX PM for Power Systems performance data.

PM-AIX Basic Trouble Shooting (70KB)

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