HP 742n - Pavilion - 512 MB RAM User manual

HP Toptools 5.5
User Guide

toptools User Guide
2
.
Notice Page
The information and specifications contained
in this document are subject to change
Hewlett-Packard makes no warranty of any kind with regard to this material, including, but not
limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
Hewlett-Packard shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages
in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.
This document contains proprietary information, which is protected by copyright. All rights are reserved.
No part of this document may be photocopied, reproduced, or translated to another language without the
prior written consent of Hewlett-Packard Company. The information contained in this document is subject
to change without notice.
Microsoft®, Windows®, and Windows NT® are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.
Pentium® is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation.
IBM and NetFinity are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.
Compaq and Compaq Insight Manager are registered trademarks of Compaq Computer Corporation.
Netware® and Novell® are registered trademarks of Novell Corporation.
Unicenter® and TNG® are registered trademarks of Computer Associates International, Inc.
SCO Unix® is a registered trademark of The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
Other brand and product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders.
Hewlett-Packard Company 2001 All Rights Reserved.
Document Version 1.0
Hewlett-Packard Co.
10955 Tantau Ave.
Cupertino, CA 95014 U.S.A.

toptools User Guide
3
Preface
Toptools is a collection of applications and agents designed to provide device management of Hewlett-Packard
computing products. At the center of the toptools solution is a device management tool (also referred to as the
Device Manager) that is designed to help you identify and diagnose network and system problems quickly using a
friendly and intuitive web-based interface. Additional “components” can be installed that provide management
functions for specific device types such as servers or hubs and switches.
This User Guide will provide instructions on the installation and use of toptools. For instructions on using HP
Toptools Enterprise Products, refer to the User Guide for each specific product.
Organization of this Guide
This guide introduces you to toptools and suggests ways in which it can ease your network and system management
tasks. It is organized into the following sections:
• Introduction provides an overview of toptools and describes its features.
• Installation provides a list of prerequisites and step-by-step installation instructions.
• Using Toptools describes how to use toptools to perform typical network management tasks.
• Information and Support provides remedies to common problems and information on how to get support. It
also gives web locations where you can find HP computing product management-related information.
• The Glossary provides definitions of common network terms.
New Features
This release contains many new features. For a more complete list of changes refer to the Readme file. Some of the
new features are:
• New devices and systems supported. Windows XP, HP-UX, Linux. HP 9000 Servers, Microsoft Clusters,
APC UPS’s, and IA-64 hardware running Windows 2000 or Windows XP are now supported.
• System Performance Advisor added. The System Performance Advisor allows you to monitor Microsoft
Windows system resources. You can create custom performance reports for selected systems.
• Enhanced discovery. Discovery node count is now limited only by system resources. See the Requirements
discussion in the Installation section for more information. Toptools discovers the presence of pcAnywhere,
NTWebAdmin, Telnet, and Instant Toptools. Additional discovery from manually added devices is restricted to
provide greater control of the discovery process.
• Improved event management. Custom groups can now be used for device selection. NT Event logging has
been added as an action. A frequent alert report has been added to help identify problem devices. A test alert
feature has been added to aid in action configuration. Automatic alert deletion has been added to remove
unacknowledged alerts after “n” days.
• Extended asset management. New inventory reports for Windows XP migration, racked systems, server
drivers, and HP 9000 servers have been added. Reports for hubs, switches, routers, and Remote Control cards
now provide firmware version information.

toptools User Guide
4
• New Property Pages. Support information has been added for Instant Support Tuner, PartSurfer, and Smart
Search.
• Simpler security. Toptools user groups are now local restricting access to the domain and allowing user
groups to be added to the User Role groups (toptools, toptools operators, and toptools admins).
• Utilities. Utilities are provided to make management easier.
Mib2Imp – Allows import of supplemental alert descriptions
SetTTPassword – Allows you to configure toptools accounts and passwords after installation.
TTAddDevices – Allows you to add lists of devices and addresses.
• Training. Self-paced training for toptools is available on the toptools CD at \Online Training\start.html or
from the Hewlett-Packard web site at ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/toptools/Training/start.html

toptools User Guide
5
Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 7
What Can HP Toptools Manage?.............................................................................................................. 7
Architecture ............................................................................................................................................... 8
Installation ................................................................................................................... 11
Hardware and Software Requirements ................................................................................................... 11
Toptools Management Server........................................................................................................................11
Recommendations for Managing Large Networks .........................................................................................13
Toptools Consoles .........................................................................................................................................13
Managed Nodes ............................................................................................................................................15
Installation Procedure.............................................................................................................................. 17
Using HP Toptools ...................................................................................................... 33
Navigating the HP Toptools Console ...................................................................................................... 33
The Navigation Panel.....................................................................................................................................34
The Device Selector.......................................................................................................................................35
The Alert Log .................................................................................................................................................38
Online Help ....................................................................................................................................................39
Applications, Actions and Settings .......................................................................................................... 39
Performing Actions on Devices......................................................................................................................39
Viewing Inventory Reports .............................................................................................................................51
Inventory Data Collection...............................................................................................................................51
Polling ............................................................................................................................................................52
Discovery .......................................................................................................................................................53
Auditing..........................................................................................................................................................53
Actions on Alerts............................................................................................................................................54
Internet & Email Services...............................................................................................................................55
Managing the Drivers/Firmware Version Database .......................................................................................55
Managing the TFTP Server............................................................................................................................56
Managing Toptools Services..........................................................................................................................56
Installing the Toptools MMC Snap-In .............................................................................................................56
Using the System Performance Advisor.................................................................................................. 57
Performance Button.......................................................................................................................................58
System Performance .....................................................................................................................................58
Standard Report ............................................................................................................................................58
Custom Reports.............................................................................................................................................58
Starting Performance Monitoring ...................................................................................................................58
Creating A Custom Group..............................................................................................................................59
Selecting A Group to Monitor.........................................................................................................................59
Configuring the Performance Advisor ............................................................................................................59
Deploying Agents...........................................................................................................................................60
System Prerequisites .....................................................................................................................................62
Performance Reports.....................................................................................................................................63

toptools User Guide
6
HP Toptools for Desktops ....................................................................................................................... 68
Locating Personal Computers........................................................................................................................68
Updating Drivers/Firmware ............................................................................................................................69
Preventative Maintenance .............................................................................................................................71
HP Toptools for Servers .......................................................................................................................... 74
Obtaining Operational Status.........................................................................................................................74
Obtaining Software and Driver Information ....................................................................................................74
Finding a Bad Hard Disk Drive Using the Disk Locator Tool..........................................................................76
HP Toptools for Hubs and Switches........................................................................................................ 78
Displaying Topology Maps.............................................................................................................................78
Monitoring Network Traffic Levels..................................................................................................................82
Information and Support ............................................................................................ 89
Online Support and Information .............................................................................................................. 89
Telephone Support .................................................................................................................................. 89
HP Toptools Documentation and Training .............................................................................................. 90
Performance and Troubleshooting Tips .................................................................................................. 90
Glossary....................................................................................................................... 93

toptools User Guide
7
Introduction
Toptools is a web-based, device management tool that enables administrators and MIS managers to use a web
browser to obtain information about devices on their network. It provides a common management application for HP
personal computers, Netservers, HP-UX systems, AdvanceStack and ProCurve hubs and switches, and LaserJet
printers as well as products from other vendors.
What Can HP Toptools Manage?
Toptools provides critical network and systems management services to both HP and non-HP devices on the
network allowing administrators to quickly and easily determine the health and configuration of their network
resources through the following services:
• Asset Management. Toptools discovers and reports on all devices connected to the network (PCs, servers,
printers, networking devices) using automated discovery and inventory processes that save collected data to an
ODBC compliant database. Users can browse network resources and reports using a web browser to open a
toptools console session, or a database application like Microsoft Access to merge data into more sophisticated
IS project and asset management databases. In addition, toptools can be used with HP-UX ServiceControl
Manager (SCM) to provide additional management capabilities for HP-UX systems.
• Fault Management. Toptools receives, logs, displays, and acts on alerts from devices in your network, and
then provides the tools to help troubleshoot and resolve problems when they occur. For example, Hubs &
Switches Automatic Configuration Management can configure your ProCurve switches to automatically send a
trap to the Toptools server when a traffic problem occurs. Toptools can be configured to send a page when the
alert is received. When paged, the administrator can log into toptools using a web browser, get more details on
the alert, and then access the switch from the toptools Device Selector to correct the problem by (e.g.) changing
the configuration of a port.
• Configuration Management. Using toptools, administrators can directly access the configuration of critical
resources such as printers through HP Web JetAdmin, or distribute software such as drivers or BIOS to HP
personal computers and Netservers.
• Security Management. Toptools allows users to configure access to HP products through actions such as Lock
System for an HP Vectra, or configuring MAC address access to ports on HP ProCurve hubs.
• Performance Management. Toptools provides both network and system performance monitoring tools.
Toptools for Hubs & Switches offers the Network Performance Advisor and Traffic Monitor to view and advise
on network traffic. Toptools for Desktops agents provide Resource Monitoring tools that monitor and display
system resource utilization on PCs and generate alerts when thresholds are exceeded. Toptools contains the
System Performance Advisor which monitors systems utilization and generates systems utilization alerts for HP
and non-HP PC and server products at the individual device or group level.
Any device from any vendor can be managed, provided that the device is on a TCP/IP or IPX/SPX network and
running a management agent from one of the following industry standardized protocols: DMI, SNMP, WMI,
HTTP. The amount of management support provided by toptools is determined by:
• HP Product. Toptools is designed to lower the cost of ownership of HP computing products by accessing the
manageability built into HP products. While toptools will provide a strong management solution for products
from other vendors, toptools will provide the most extensive detail on HP products.
• Agent support. Toptools provides the best support to new HP products running current HP management
agents. The more agent standards that are supported by a device the more data toptools can collect. For non-HP
systems, the level of industry standard compliance can also affect the amount of information that toptools can
access.

toptools User Guide
8
Toptools provides specific management to the following HP products:
• HP Vectra and Brio Desktops
• HP Kayak and Visualize Workstations
• HP Omnibook Notebooks
• HP Netservers
• HP ProCurve and AdvanceStack networking devices
• HP LaserJet and JetDirect products
• HP Jornada PC Companions
• HP SureStore products
• HP Network Attached Storage (NAS) products
• HP-UX systems
Architecture
Toptools collects and then stores information about your network into an ODBC compliant database (MEDS) on a
web server. Toptools uses the web server to authenticate and present the information to toptools consoles. The
toptools console, which presents the data to the user (network administrator), can be launched from any station on
your network running a web browser supported by the toptools application.
The web browser (toptools console) and the web server use the HTTP protocol, a standard used by the Internet that
provides extensible mechanisms to authenticate a user and offers various encryption options to secure the
communication. The use of a single protocol from the console to the management server simplifies remote
connections through firewalls and minimizes security risks.
Toptools Configuration
Toptools communicates with managed devices using industry standard protocols: TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, DMI, WMI,
SNMP, and HTTP. The protocols used to discover, inventory and manage each device will depend on which
protocols the managed device supports. For example, toptools will typically use IP, SNMP, and HTTP to
communicate with a ProCurve switch, IPX and SNMP to manage a Netserver running Novell NetWare, and IP and
WMI to manage a new Windows 2000 HP Kayak workstation. The toptools discovery process, one of the several
processes that are part of the toptools application, automatically detects which protocols are supported and saves that
information to the database.

toptools User Guide
9
Toptools Operating Components
A number of toptools components run continuously on the management server, gathering data in the background
even if no user is logged on. The following background components operate on a schedule (some schedules are user-
configurable).
• The Toptools Services component is a continuously running process that supports the toptools background
components. It starts up when the system boots, without any user log-on. Toptools Services provides the
following:
♦ Start up of configured toptools components when the system boots, including dependency
checking.
♦ Scheduling of components at specific times of day, or at specified time intervals.
♦ An interface which lets you start, stop and pause individual toptools services (similar to the
Windows NT Services application, servman.exe).
• Discovery services components run as background services to discover network connected devices
(discovery) and their relationships (topology). Discovery services run in one or more processes and are
coordinated by a Discovery Control component, which runs under the Toptools Services. In addition, if a
device sends a trap (SNMP) or an alert (DMI or WMI) to the toptools device manager, the device will
automatically be added to the discovery database if the address is not already present.
• Database Server services automatically maintain the device database.
• Event Monitor/Event Viewer services run continuously to collect, log, and display device events.
• Polling services request responses (ping) from devices to determine operational status. These services
operate on user-configured schedules.
• System Performance Advisor provides monitoring and threshold alerts for CPU, memory, disc I/O, and
storage utilization. This feature, which is available for PCs and servers running Windows operating
systems, requires the installation of Performance agents on managed systems.
• Toptools for Hubs & Switches provides services such as traffic data collector that are also controlled by
the Toptools Services Control. Refer to the HP Toptools for Hubs & Switches User Guide for more
information.
• HP Web JetAdmin. Selected as a component during installation, HP Web JetAdmin may work
independently of toptools, or integrate with toptools to manage HP printing products. For more
information, refer to Web JetAdmin user documentation.
As a system administrator, you can stop and restart these services from within toptools. Online help provides
detailed instructions for these procedures.

toptools User Guide
10
Toptools Databases
• The Device Database (MEDS.mdb). The Managed Elements Data Store (MEDS) provides persistent storage
for information about the managed devices. The discovery and inventory programs put data into or ‘populate’
MEDS, including a list of devices and their attributes (network address, object type, name, etc.). MEDS uses a
Microsoft Access database, and provides read-only access through ODBC.
• The Alert Database (Alerts.mdb). This database is an ODBC-compliant database used to store alerts received
by toptools.
• The Software Revision Management Database (RMDB.mdb). This database stores information about
software updates for HP personal computers, Netservers, and ProCurve networking devices.
• The System Performance Advisor Database (perfmon.mdb). Stores information collected by the System
Performance Advisor to provide trending information.
Toptools for Hubs & Switches creates files that are used to track traffic and topology information collected from HP
ProCurve and AdvanceStack devices.
- NOTE -
IMPORTANT: Do not attempt to modify MEDS or any other toptools database! This will result in failure of
the toptools applications. To use toptools databases for other purposes, make a copy of the database
and modify the duplicate in another location!