Novell SUPPORT ADVISOR - 04-2010 User manual

Novell®
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AUTHORIZED DOCUMENTATION
Novell Support Advisor user Guide
Support Advisor
April 2010
User Guide

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Contents 5
Contents
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1Overview 7
1.1 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.1.1 Novell Support Advisor can be installed and run from: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.1.2 Client System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.1.3 Novell Support Advisor can run against and analyze these platforms: . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2 Known Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3.1 Installing Novell Support Advisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4 Running Support Advisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.1 Encrypted Database Option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.2 Understanding Support Advisor User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.3 Home View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4.4 Analyze View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.4.5 Archives View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.4.6 Settings View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2 Connections 15
2.1 Saving Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.1.1 Server Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.1.2 Verify Connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.2 Groups Functionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2.1 Group Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3 Using Novell Support Advisor 21
3.1 Analyze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.2 Additional Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.3 Linux Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.3.1 SUDO User Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.3.2 SSH Key Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.3.3 SUSE Linux Servers: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

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Overview
1
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1
Overview
Novell Support Advisor is a free tool that allows customers to perform both pro-active and reactive
system and application diagnostic tasks in a local, secure and automated fashion for SUSE Linux
Enterprise, ZENworks Configuration Management and GroupWise systems.
Novell Support Advisor is an easily installed client that can be downloaded directly from
support.novell.com/advisor. The client is installed on a system that can communicate with both the
servers in customer's local environment and the update server at Novell. The client prompts the
customer to download newly released Novell Support Diagnostic Patterns (SDPs) authored by
Novell technical experts from the Novell update server. Novell SDPs identify new problems and
return possible solutions to the customer.
The Novell Support Advisor diagnosis occurs securely and locally, and does not require sending log
information to Novell for analysis. When the data is gathered for a health check, some load occurs
over a Secure Shell connection to the queried device, but once the data is collected, the connection is
terminated so network and device load is minimized. The gathered data is then consolidated into a
dashboard view that shows critical patterns in red, and good patterns in green, identifying what
segments in which systems need attention.
This tool also builds an Analysis Archive Database, or tar ball archive, that preserves a history of
health checks that have been run and the problems that have been addressed, allowing customers to
see trends and changes over time. A dashboard using the same color-coding scheme, a simple red =
critical and green = good makes the information readily accessible.
Novell Support Advisor can be used reactively when a problem occurs, and also proactively to run
“health checks” to prevent potential future issues.
If a problem is discovered where further help is needed, a service request connection to the Novell
Customer Center through the client interface can be opened via Novell Support.
1.1 System Requirements
1.1.1 Novell Support Advisor can be installed and run from:
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 or later
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 or later
OpenSUSE 10.3 or later
Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or later
Microsoft Windows Vista
Microsoft Windows Server 2003
1.1.2 Client System Requirements
Intel Pentium III GHz or faster processor

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512 MB of RAM
5MB of disk space for each server you will be analyzing
1.1.3 Novell Support Advisor can run against and analyze
these platforms:
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11
GroupWise 8 (Linux and Windows)
ZENworks Configuration Management 10 (Linux and Windows)
1.2 Known Issues
Zenworks running on windows requires the Zenworks control center credentials, not the windows
user name and password.
1.3 Installation
1.3.1 Installing Novell Support Advisor
Download the Novell Support Advisor software package from support.novell.com/advisor
Extract the Support Advisor package to a folder of your choice
Within your specified folder, all the Advisor files extract into an advisor_install folder
Launch the Support Advisor installer and follow the prompts to install Support Advisor
When prompted, confirm the installation path. By default, Support Advisor installs in the
following locations (your location might vary):
Linux:/home/<username>/Support Advisor
Windows:C:\Program Files\Novell\Support Advisor
After you have installed Support Advisor, continue with the following post-installation tasks.

Overview 9
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1.4 Running Support Advisor
The first time you run Support Advisor, you will be prompted to create an encrypted database. You
may choose to continue without using a secure database, however none of your server credentials
will be saved.
Figure 1-1 Novell Support Advisor
1.4.1 Encrypted Database Option
Enter password and hit create encrypted database
1.4.2 Understanding Support Advisor User Interface
The primary Support Advisor UI elements include the following:
Home
Analyze
Archives
Service Request which opens a service request form in a web browser
Settings

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1.4.3 Home View
The Home View is essentially the Support Advisor title page. It provides links to all the Support
Advisor functions.
Figure 1-2 Novell Support Advisor Home View

Overview 11
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1.4.4 Analyze View
The Analyze view is where the majority of Support Advisor interactions occur. In this view, you will
add and delete servers, create and delete groups, run analysis on your environments and create html
reports.
Figure 1-3 Analyze View
1.4.5 Archives View
The Archives View contains previous analysis by connection, group or custom.
The "Custom Archive" view allows you to access previously created archives and load them into
your NSA client for analysis.
1.4.6 Settings View
The Settings view displays the Support Advisor settings which you can customize to your needs.
General Tab
Enable custom archive
Default: disabled
Enabled allows you to point the archive location to a path of your choosing. You will then
have the ability to access and load Support Config archives that have been gathered
outside of Novell Support Advisor for analysis.
Enable or disable debug log

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Figure 1-4 Settings View
Support config Tab
Perl location: the location of the local Perl binaries that will be leveraged by NSA to execute
Support Diagnostic Patterns (SDP’s) for SUSE Linux Enterprise Servers
Location Default: /usr/bin/perl.
NOTE: Perl is not typically available on standard Windows installations. The Windows
version of Novell Support Advisor ships with an open source version of Perl that is laid down
in programfiles/novell/supportadivsor/perl .
Remote config directory: Location on the target server that NSA copies over the configuration
file used for executing supportconfig on the target server.
Remote rpm directory: Location on the target server for supportconfig.

Overview 13
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Figure 1-5 Support config Tab
Update Tab
Check for updates. When enabled, the client will contact the update server on client startup to
scan for potential updates
Default: Enabled
Select Novell Update Server or a custom server that pulls Support Advisor patterns.
Default: https://nu.novell.com/NSA/
Queries the prescribed server for any Support Advisor updates

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Figure 1-6 Update Tab

Connections
2
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2
Connections
Before running an analysis or creating a group, you must connect to the relevant servers in your
environment.
Novell Support Advisor supports the following connections:
GroupWise
GWIA
MTA
Web
POA
ZENworks Configuration Management
ZCM Windows
ZCM Linux
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
2.1 Saving Connections
If you have created an encrypted database you can store servers that you want to connect to in the
future.
There are 4 ways to add servers for analysis
NMAP Discover
NOTE: (Note: You must first download and install NMAP from nmap.org (http://nmap.org/))
PING Discover
CSV import to add multiple servers. Please follow the CSV Help Icon for further instructions.
Manual. Please follow the prompts when selecting this function.
NMAP and PING
Using NMAP or PING, you will need to select range and Port and discover servers on your network.
Click Discover
2.1.1 Server Display
Default View: IP address. Select the by DNS icon to display by DNS
Fill out the credentials for your servers by selecting each server. Save changes. If you save your
database, these will be stored. If you bypass encrypted database, you will have to add servers each
time.

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NOTE: Zenworks running on windows requires the Zenworks control center credentials, not the
windows user name and password.
2.1.2 Verify Connections
If NSA cannot connect to a server using the address and the credentials provided, it will display a
red exclamation mark.
Double-click on the server to change the address or the login credentials and save
If all of your servers do not verify, a confirmation message will display and you can choose to
analyse the servers that did verify.
Figure 2-1 Verify Connections

Connections 17
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NMAP View
Figure 2-2 NMAP View
NMAP Details
Figure 2-3 NAMP Details

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PING Discover
Figure 2-4 PING Discover
Figure 2-5 PING Discover

Connections 19
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2.2 Groups Functionality
In the Groups view, you can create and analyze groups.
1. Click create.
You will be prompted to name your group.
2. Select Group Type by product (SUSE Linux Enterprise, ZENworks Configuration
Management, GroupWise)
Figure 2-6 Groups Functionality
2.2.1 Group Management
1. Select the Group you have just created. Select group management
2. Select the servers in the left table one a time using the single blue arrow, or add all using the
double blue arrow.
3. To remove a server in the right table, use the single red arrow or remove all using the double
red arrow
4. Save your group
NOTE: You cannot run an analysis of different product servers (e.g. ZENworks and
GroupWise) within a group.

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Figure 2-7 Group Management