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In this Document

Goal

Solution

Archive host setup (always required)

Explorer host setup (non-interactive mode only)

Snapshot execution

Example

References

Applies to:

Goal

This document describes ILOM snapshot collection by running a domain Explorer. The Explorer module ilomsnaphot is completely re-written, starting with Services Tool Bundle (STB) 7.3.  It applies to all the servers running ILOM 3.0 or later with domain(s) running Solaris 10 or Solaris 11 and describes the usage of the ilomsnapshot module of Explorer 7.3 (as part of STB7.3) or newer.

Solution

Please refer to Collecting snapshot on ILOM 3.x and later platforms [ID 1020204.1] for further details about collecting ILOM snapshot from ILOM or when using the ilomsnapshot module of Explorer 7.2 and before.

When running Explorer from the Solaris 10 or 11 domain, it's possible to collect the ILOM snapshot from the Service Processor.  This is done via the ilomsnaphot module (explorer -w ilomsnapshot). The ilomsnapshot module can be run manually (interactive), and in an automated (non-interactive) version.  Both options are described in this document.

This document applies to Explorer version 7.3 or above.  We strongly recommend to run the latest version of Explorer.  Explorer may be downloaded from "Oracle Services Tools Bundle (STB) - RDA/Explorer, SNEEP, ACT (Doc ID 1153444.1)".

The 'ilomsnapshot' Explorer module has been redesigned since Explorer 7.3 and the required setup has changed, including the input file expected content.  The new module considers the following hosts:

• Archive host - This is the host where the snapshot command will place the resulting file at via ftp/sftp.
• Explorer host - This is the host where Explorer is actually being executed at.
• ILOM SP - This is the ILOM host/SP where the snapshot command is executed at.

The Explorer host and the archive host can be the same, but do not necessarily have to be the same.  Starting with Explorer 7.3, there are 2 setup files to consider :

• '$HOME/.explorer' file:

    This file will always be used.  It will be used when running Explorer in interactive and non-interactive modes.
    It will contain different sections.  Each section will contain all the necessary information to collect the corresponding ILOM snapshot.

• Input file 'ilomsnapshotinput.txt' :

    Its permissions should be 400 or 600, otherwise will be ignored.  This file will only be used when running in non-interactive mode and will contain the following information:

• Provide the archival context information.
• Provide the passwords needed to connect to the different ILOM hosts.

Some setup is needed at both the archive host (which the snapshot output will be sent to) and optionally the Explorer host (when using non-interactive mode).  Basically, the ilomsnapshot module will behave as following

• Module ilomsnapshot_start:

        Explorer will first connect to the Archive host to obtain the ILOM information (this information is contained in the different sections from '$HOME/.explorer' file at the archive host).
        Explorer will also verify that all the required setup is done at the Archive host.
        After this verification is completed, Explorer will connect to the ILOM host and launch the snapshot command.
        As ILOM snapshot command is asynchronous, Explorer will verify that the snapshot is running, will disconnect from the ILOM and continue to do run other Explorer modules.

• Module ilomsnapshot_finish:

        Explorer will connect to the ILOM host where a snapshot has been launched.
        Explorer will poll the snapshot result until the snapshot has completed or a timeout is reached (20 minutes).
        Once the snapshot is completed, Explorer will disconnect from the ILOM host, and will connect again to the Archive host to obtain the snapshot file and perform cleanup.

Note for M5-32 servers : due to the 20 minutes timeout, it's very likely that the ILOM snaphot collection will not finished before the timeout expires. As a result, the Explorer output will not contain the ILOM snapshot.

Using the ilomsnaphot module for Explorer 7.3 and later can be summarized as following (details are described later in this document) :

• When running in interactive mode:

        There is no need to create 'ilomsnapshotinput.txt' file.
        You need to create '$HOME/.explorer' file as described above in the archive host.
        User will interactively be prompted for:
            - Section name from '$HOME/.explorer' file to be used.
            - Archive user name.
            - Archive host name.
            - If a password is needed, Explorer will interactively prompt it.

• When running in non-interactive mode:

        You need to create 'ilomsnapshotinput.txt' file as described above in the Explorer host.
        You need to create '$HOME/.explorer' file as described above in the archive host.
        You need to have one or more A records in 'ilomsnapshotinput.txt' file.
        For each A record, there must be a matching section in the '.explorer' file.
        The hostname in the A line is the archival hostname, the hostname in the section from '.explorer' file is the ILOM hostname.
        For each A line, the section in '.explorer' is used to collect a snapshot.
        If a password is needed, it goes looking for a matching I or T line in 'ilomsnapshotinput.txt'
            If password is found, it will be used.
            If password is not found Explorer will try to run without the password in case SSH certificates have been enabled.
            If no SSH certificates have been enabled and no password is found, the collection will not occur.

Archive host setup (always required)

The archival host must be a host that can be reached over the network by both the explorer host and the ILOM Service Processor.  The archival and explorer host can be the same host.  The archival host must have a valid user with a valid homedir to hold the snapshots.

The 'ilomsnapshot' module on the explorer host connects through 'su' or SSH as the specified user on the archive host to retrieve snapshot archival context from the ${HOME}/.explorer file.  You should create that file in order to collect a snapshot.

Since other ILOM's or other SP's can use the same archival user, each of them has a specific section in the ${HOME}/.explorer file.  File ${HOME}/.explorer should be owned by the archival user and its permissions should be 400 or 600.

A typical section looks like this:

For an ILOM section, we have:

• A section header "[ILOM:name_of_section]" regroups a set of keywords and their values to describe a specific archival context.  The section name must be a word, which is composed of letters, digits, and underscores.

• "CLN" specifies the cleanup strategy. It supports the following strategies:
  
  • "ALL": Removes all files from destination directory.
  • "FILE": Removes the snapshot file collected by Oracle Explorer. (default)
  • "NONE": Disables any cleanup.
  • "PAT": Removes all files from the destination directory, with a name matching the indicated pattern.
    • For example, CLN="PAT:*.zip"

• "DIR" indicates the snapshot directory location.
  • If DIR is a full path the full path will be used.
  • If DIR is not a full path, the path used will be relative to the archive user's $HOME directory.
  • Its full path cannot contain single and double quote characters.
  • The snapshot directory should be owned by the archival user and its permissions should be 700.

• "ENC": the output encryption strategy.
  • Output encryption is only allowed when running in interactive mode.
  • It supports the following one
    • Y|y: Output encryption enabled (This will cause encryption pass-phrase to be prompted before running the snapshot command)
    • N|n: Output encryption disabled

• "HST" specifies the ILOM host.
  • When a hostname[.domain] is used, the ILOM must be able to resolve it. An IP address is an alternative.

• "KEY" specifies an optional identification key, which can be used to indicate that multiple entries are using the same password.

• "SCH": specifies the result file transfer scheme to be used. It supports the following ones: ftp, sftp

• "TYP": specifies the snapshot dataset to use. It supports the following ones:
  • normal
  • normal-logonly
  • fruid
  • fruid-logonly

• "USR" specifies the ILOM user, used to take the snapshot.

Further reference available from Oracle Explorer Data Collector: Modules, Module Groups, Module Aliases Summary [ID 1536532.1]

Explorer host setup (non-interactive mode only)

Using non-interactive mode also requires to create an input file (ilomsnapshotinput.txt) as usual :
    Solaris 11 : /etc/explorer/
    Solaris 10 and others : /etc/opt/SUNWexplo/

File ilomsnapshotinput.txt should be owned by root user and its permissions should be 400 or 600.

A typical ilomsnapshotinput.txt looks like this:

The 'ilomsnapshotinput.txt' file contains 3 types of entries:

• A type: describes how to connect to the archival context but also keeps the password if snapshot archival is used. The following fields can be present:

        "A" : type.
        HST: the archival host. When "-" is specified, explorer uses "su" to connect to the archival context, otherwise it uses SSH.
        USR: the archival user name.
        SCT: the archival section.
        PWD (optional): the archival password, which can be used both for the connection to the archival context as for the snapshot archival password.

• I type: describes how to connect to the ILOM and contains the following fields:

        "I" : type.
        HST: the ILOM host. Connection to the ILOM will always be done using SSH.
        USR: the ILOM user name.
        PWD (optional): the ILOM password.

• T type: describes how to connect to the ILOM and contains the following fields:

        "T" : type.
        KEY: the KEY field from the .explorer section.
        PWD (optional): the ILOM password

When the '.explorer' section is retrieved, Explorer tries to retrieve the corresponding I or T record from the 'ilomsnapshotinput.txt'.
When no I or T record is found, Explorer will prompt for the password if required. It's possible to exchange the ssh keys between ILOM and the host so the "I" entry is not needed.
When an I or T record is found, Explorer will never prompt for the password. When a password is present in the record, it will possibly be used when establishing the connection.

Snapshot execution

Once it has retrieved the snapshot context, this module gathers the following Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) commands through SSH:

 
${DATASET} represents the set of information to be collected.
${DIR} represents the location where the snapshot file will be placed in the archive host.
${ENCRYPT} represents the snapshot file encryption mode.
${HOST} represents the archive host.
${SCH} represents the scheme to be used for transferring the snapshot file to the archive host.
${USER} represents the user to connect to the archive host.

Example

In the following example, explorer executed as root on host t4-1-tvp540-f (solaris 11.1) will collect the ILOM snapshot from the SP t4-1-tvp540-f-sp as user expluser.  t4-1-tvp540-f is used as archive host as well via user jack.

1. Create a user on the SP/CMM with the administration (a) role.

 
2. Load the public key - First, generate a key on the Explorer Host. This is the key that will be loaded on the SP / CMM (do not use passphrase) :

 
 - Log to the SP/CMM from the Explorer Host as expluser :

 - Make sure to clear any existing key :

 - Then load the key on the SP :

 
3. Log again to the SP user account from the Explorer Host, no more password requested

4. On the host (explorer host = archive host in this example), create and populate the ${HOME}/.explorer file for the user jack that will be used for archiving the snapshot in the  ${HOME}/ilomsnapshot directory

 
5. At this point, it's possible to collect the ILOM snapshot from t4-1-tvp540-f-sp in interactive mode.  Note that the password for the user on the archive host will be prompted twice

 
As a result, the ILOM snapshot is available in the ilom explorer directory

 
and of course in the homedir for user jack as no cleanup requested in the .explorer file

 
From the ILOM SP, the snapshot collection can be confirmed as following

 
6. in order to perform the similar data collection in non-interactive mode, create and populate the ilomsnapshotinput.txt file

Since the keys have been exchanged, no "I" record needed.
and start the explorer data collection which is no longer ask for any input.

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