IBM NetVista Thin Client Manager Operations Utility Release 2 Version 2 Release 2 Service Update 2 README File Last Update: December 27, 2002 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS ----------------- 1.0 RELEASE NOTES 2.0 INSTALLATION 3.0 KNOWN PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS 4.0 CHANGE HISTORY 5.0 TRADEMARKS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.0 RELEASE NOTES ------------------ 1.1 What is the IBM NetVista Thin Client Manager Operations Utility Release 2? The IBM NetVista Thin Client Manager Operations Utility Release 2 (Operations Utility) is a program that provides remote management services for the NetVista N2200e, NetVista N2800e Thin Client Express, NetVista N2200l Thin Client for Linux, NetVista N2200n Thin Client for Linux Express, and the NetVista N70 Thin Client for Linux. The Operations Utility provides the administrator with the ability to manage an installation of NetVista thin clients from a central location. The NetVista thin clients may be managed separately or managed in groups. Several remote management operations are provided, including update and recovery of flash- based clients, copying of configurations from client to client, changing the boot parameters of clients, and rebooting clients. 1.2 What features have been added since Version 2 Release 1 Service Update 3? Support has been added for remote management of clients running the NetVista Thin Client with TurboLinux 7. The Operations Utility can now manage Users and User Groups. Login and logout traps are now handled, and new users are created automatically if they did not previously exist. Links will be updated to show what workstations a user is currently logged into. All resource additions and changes are periodically saved to the persistent data file. Workstation and user configuration information can be created on the client and then stored in the Operations Utility as Profile Components. Clients can then retrieve this common configuration information from the Operations Utility. In the Operations Utility, Profile Components can be assigned to workstation groups and user groups, and a group can be designated as the profile group for a resource. Profile Components can be retrieved from the Operations Utility by the client when it boots or when a user logs in. The administrator can also specify default profile components. The toolbar containing the operation icons is now configurable. Several new client attributes are now managed through the Operations Utility. Inventory Report, now renamed Resource Report, has been enhanced. A report can now be generated for users and user groups. In addition to this, the Resource Report has a new easy to use configuration utility and allows the report file to be written in a comma-delimited format. The tcm.properties file is overwritten with each install of the Operations Utility. Values you would like to change and keep permanently such as timeout values or port numbers, should be written to the tcmOverride.properties file in the TCM directory in your install path. The type field has been removed from workstation filters. Existing filters that include the type field will no longer be valid. If you try to use them, you will get an error message saying the filter is not valid due to the type field. The filters can easily be changed through the filter panel GUI or the command line interface. The type field was a combination of model, release, and boot source, so to update your filters that use type, simply filter on those fields with appropriate values selected. New operations include the ability to: - Setup Network Connections (specifies various servers and TCP/IP information for Turbolinux 7 clients only. This operation replaces the following operations: Boot From Server, Boot From Flash, Flash Recovery and Client SNMP Trap Server Settings.) - Set Profile Components (selects Profile Components for a group. Applies to Turbolinux 7 clients only.) - Set Default Profile Components - Broadcast message to users - Schedule jobs for users Problems reported have been fixed in this service update. 1.3 You can find the latest NetVista Thin Client information at the following URL: http://www.ibm.com/nc/pubs 1.4 The latest update of the Operations Utility can be found at: http://service.boulder.ibm.com/nc ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.0 INSTALLATION ---------------- 2.1 Verifying system prerequisites You can install this release of the Operations Utility on the following operating systems: Windows NT Server 4.0 Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Windows 2000 Server Windows 2000 Professional Windows 2000 Advanced Server The Operations Utility is a Java-based application that requires Java Runtime Environment Version 1.3 (JRE 1.3). The installation program installs a private JRE 1.3. 2.2 Installing from the NetVista Thin Client Utilities CD The main installation menu automatically starts when you insert the installation CD. You can also manually start the main installation menu by running one of the following commands. if you are using Thin Client Express Service Utility CD: [CD drive]:\install.bat if you are using Thin Client Manager Operations Utility CD: [CD drive]:\Windows\products\tcmOpUtil\Setup.exe If you have installed a previous version of the Operations Utility, it is recommended that you replace the older version with this version. Running two copies of the Operations Utility on the same system is not recommended. If you are installing this version of the Operations Utility over the Initial Release (V1R1) then you will be asked to to migrate your workstation list files when you first bring up the Operations Utility. Note: To install the Operations Utility from the NetVista Thin Client with TurboLinux Service Update 1 CD, insert the CD into a CD-ROM drive on the server. You must start the IBM NetVista Thin Client Utilities manually from a command prompt. From the command prompt run the following command: [CD Drive]:\windows\products\tcmOpsUtil\setup.exe. 2.3 Down loading the NetVista Thin Client Utilities from the Web You can find the latest version of the Operations Utility at the following URL: http://service.boulder.ibm.com/nc Follow the link to the NetVista Service Utilities in the download section. The Operations Utility is a single .exe file. Download this file to a temporary directory on your server and run it to start the installation. If you are installing this version of the Operations Utility over the Initial Release (V1R1) then you will be asked to to migrate your workstation list files when you first bring up the Operations Utility. 2.4 Starting Operations Utility From the Windows taskbar, click Start-->Programs-->IBM NetVista Thin Client Utility-->Operations Utility-->TCM Operations Utility. To start TCM Command Line, open an command prompt, cd into the TCM directory (defaults to /NetVista/TCM/), and enter runTCMCLI. 2.5 TCM Operation Utility Uninstall 1) From the Windows taskbar, click Start-->Settings-->Control Panel. 2) Double Click on Add/Remove Programs. 3) Select IBM NetVista Thin Client Manager Operations Utility, then click on Add/Remove button. 4) Select Yes to confirm deletion. 5) Select OK at end of deletion. 6) Cancel to exit from the Add/Remove Panel. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.0 KNOWN PROBLEMS AND LIMITATIONS ----------------------------------- ----------- 3.1 General ----------- 3.1.1 Windows 2000 Install. To install on a Windows 2000 system your userid must be a member of the Administrators group. 3.1.2 Local Host Value must be properly configured. The local host value on the server must be properly configured on all supported platforms. If the local host value is improperly configured, a operation appears to be successful, but the end result may never happen (i.e. a backup file never appears). If the log file has an invalid localhost I/P address (i.e. 127.0.0.1), check the name of the computer and the I/P address to ensure that they are properly configured. 3.1.3 There is a problem with TCM Scheduling on some NT 4.0 Servers. This problem has been encountered on NT 4.0 Servers with National Language Versions (including but not limited to Spanish, French, and Swedish) with the time zone configured for a region rather than GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). On such servers, TCM scheduled jobs appear to run at unexpected times because the start time is based on GMT rather than the regional time. To determine if your server will encounter this problem, follow these steps: 1) Start TCM 2) Click on the Scheduling icon 3) Click on the Add button 4) Look at the values for the Hour and Minute in the Runtime section -- the correct values should be 10 minutes in the future (current system time plus 10 minutes). If the Runtime shown IS NOT exactly 10 minutes ahead of your server's clock time, then your server WILL encounter this TCM Scheduling problem. On servers with this problem, you can manipulate the scheduled start time so the job runs at the desired system time. To do this, you must know the number of time zones your region is away from the GMT and use this information when configuring the start time for a scheduled job. For example, consider a server in Madrid, Spain. Madrid is one hour east of GMT (Madrid time = GMT + 1). To schedule a job to run based on Madrid time, you need to set the Runtime to be the equivalent GMT (Madrid time - 1 = GMT). Therefore, to set the start time on the Madrid server at 03:00 you would specify the Runtime as 02:00. 3.1.4 TCM will now be running all the time. This allows the TCM Profile Server to serve Profile Components and TCM to run scheduled jobs. If, for some reason, TCM or Tomcat are not running, restart them by going to the "Services" panel for the operating system, and restarting the "IBM-TCM" service. 3.1.5 The Server Setup for Flash Recovery operation does not work over mapped drives. To run this operation with mapped drives you must start a command prompt, CD to the TCM directory, and start the runTCMFR command from the Command Prompt. 3.1.6 Performing flash recovery on Turbolinux 7 clients in DHCP environments can cause unexpected behavior unless you follow the procedure explained in the GUI-based online help text. --------------------------------------------------------------- 3.2 Thin Client Express and Thin Client Manager booted clients. --------------------------------------------------------------- 3.2.1 SNMP and Administrator passwords When restoring a V2R1 profile to a new 'out of box' machine there exists a possibility of password mismatch between TCM and the client box. If the profile contains passwords that are different than the passwords currently set on the client, the passwords will need to be reset via the Configuration Tool on the client to match the values in TCM. 3.2.2 Boot from Server Operation The boot server specified in the Simplified menu will be used as the workstation configuration server and the authentication server. From the Advanced menu you cannot use Flash as the workstation configuration server. 3.2.3 Authenticate from Server Operation The authenticate from server specified in the Simplified menu will also be used as the workstation configuration server. When using this operation, you will always boot from flash. If you wish to boot from a server, use the Advanced option of the Boot from Server operation. From the Advanced menu, you cannot use Flash as the workstation configuration server. 3.2.4 Backup or Restore Configuration Files When you plan to do a common restore to a flash booted client, always specify a name for the backup Create new profile option. Do not leave this field blank. If the profile name is left blank, the backup will work and a folder is created with the workstation MAC address as the name. If you plan to only use the corresponding restore, then leaving the Create new profile field blank on backup will result in a successful restore. The inclusion of SNMP Community Names and Administrator Password in the backup profile is now optional. If you wish to restore the profile to multiple workstations and do not want common passwords, do not include password information in the backup. 3.2.5 DHCP Considerations With the additional support in the firmware (01/12/01 and 07/10/01 levels) and enhancements in this release of TCM, the operations that change boot or authentication servers for clients that are managed via DHCP are now supported. Essentially, TCM will change the mode of the firmware to "DHCP Override" -- the client will obtain IP information (client IP, gateway, and DNS) from the DHCP server and will obtain all other boot information from the firmware values as set by TCM. It is important to note that once these operations are used on the clients, TCM will manage their boot and authentication server settings rather than DHCP. For DHCP managed clients, the Boot From Server, Authenticate from Server, Boot from Flash, and the Flash Recovery operation is allowed when the client has the 01/12/01(or later) level firmware (and an error is presented if the firmware level is not supported for this operation). It is strongly recommended the Linux clients are using the 01/12/01 or later firmware (and this release of TCM provides a Firmware Update function to assist with updating firmware on the clients). ---------------------------------------------------------------- 3.3 Thin Client for Linux and Thin Client Linux Express clients ---------------------------------------------------------------- 3.3.1 Software Update Operation Clients not running Turbolinux 7 should use Flash Recovery to obtain Turbolinux 7 due to format changes on the flash card. Software updates on Turbolinux 7 clients should only be from Turbolinux 7 images. 3.3.2 Boot From Server Operation The Advanced menus to specify the workstation configuration server and authentication server are disabled for Linux clients. The Linux client does not support remote management of these servers at this time. 3.3.3 Authenticate from Server Operation This operation is disabled for Linux clients. At this time, Linux clients only support local authentication. 3.3.4 Backup or Restore Configuration Files SNMP Community Names and the Administrator Password are not included in the default list of files for the backup profile. If the client you backup or restore is configured to send SNMP traps (see Operation Completion Status Indication below), you will receive a trap indicating the success or failure of the backup or restore. 3.3.5 Operation Completion Status Indication The Linux client has the ability to send an SNMP trap to the Operations Utility when it has completed the Backup or Restore Configuration Files, Flash Recovery, or Software Update operations. This trap indicates to the user of the Operations Utility whether the operation has succeeded or failed. However, the clients must first be configured to send the traps to the Operations Utility. See the Operations Utility product Help for more information about configuring clients to send traps. 3.3.6 SNMP Trap Considerations For workstations that are configured to send SNMP traps to the Operations Utility, the workstation is automatically added to the workstation list. However, the Operations Utility assumes that the default SNMP Community Names are being used on the workstation. If the community names have changed from the default, then the Operations Utility may not have the correct community names to perform management operations. The user will need to use the Passwords tab of the Properties notebook to set the community names that the Operations Utility will use to match those already on the client. The Configure SNMP Traps operation does not show the current values of the four trap servers on the workstation. If you are unsure of which trap server is in which position then use the operation to set all the trap servers that are needed. 3.3.7 DHCP Considerations With the additional support in the firmware (01/12/01 and 07/10/01 levels) and enhancements in this release of TCM, the operations that change boot or authentication servers for clients that are managed via DHCP are now supported. Essentially, TCM will change the mode of the firmware to "DHCP Override" -- the client will obtain IP information (client IP, gateway, and DNS) from the DHCP server and will obtain all other boot information from the firmware values as set by TCM. It is important to note that once these operations are used on the clients, TCM will manage their boot and authentication server settings rather than DHCP. For DHCP managed clients, the Boot From Server, Authenticate from Server, Boot from Flash, and the Flash Recovery operation is allowed when the client has the 01/12/01(or later) level firmware (and an error is presented if the firmware level is not supported for this operation). It is strongly recommended the Linux clients are using the 01/12/01 or later firmware (and this release of TCM provides a Firmware Update function to assist with updating firmware on the clients). 3.3.8 Profile Considerations When profiles are requested from the TCM Profile Server, the workstation or user is automatically added to the resource list if it was previously unknown. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.0 CHANGE HISTORY ------------------- 06/02/2000 - Initial Release 08/29/2000 - Version 2 Release 1 01/26/2001 - Version 2 Release 1 Service Update 1 04/30/2001 - Version 2 Release 1 Service Update 2 08/03/2001 - Version 2 Release 1 Service Update 3 12/14/2001 - Version 2 Release 2 02/06/2002 - Version 2 Release 2 Service Update 1 05/20/2002 - Version 2 Release 2 Service Update 2 - Fixed Back and Restore operation for Turbo Linux 7 SU 1 clients. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.0 TRADEMARKS --------------- The following terms are trademarks of the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in the United States, or other countries or both: IBM NetVista N2200e, Thin Client Express NetVista N2800e, Thin Client Express NetVista N2200 Thin Client Linux NetVista N2200l Thin Client for Linux NetVista N2200n Thin Client for Linux Express NetVista N70 Thin Client for Linux NetVista Thin Client Manager Operations Utility Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, and the Windows logo are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. (C) Copyright IBM Corporation 2000-2002. All rights reserved.