Monitoring HP ProLiant Servers with Hardware Sentry

  • kb1038
  • Sep. 6, 2010 - Last Update: Dec. 13, 2023
  • 8 min read

How to monitor HP ProLiant servers running Linux, Solaris, Windows, or VMWare ESX.

Best Practice HP ProLiant

Related Topics

Introduction

This article describes the different options available for monitoring HP ProLiant servers of various generations and how to configure the monitoring in Monitoring Studio X and TrueSight Operations Management.

This same information is also available as a video on Sentry Software’s YouTube channel.

Watch the video

1. Determine the generation of Proliant

The available monitoring options for HP ProLiant Servers are dependent on the hardware generation.

Generations 1-7

Servers of these generations all require an HP Insight Management Server Agent to be installed. Connectors are available to monitor these systems either via SNMP, or via WMI/WBEM.

Generations 8-9

Generation 8 and 9 systems can be monitored via an Insight Management Server Agent. These systems are also equipped with version 4 of HP’s Integrated Lights-Out(iLO) management technology, and can alternatively be monitored via their iLO, using SNMP.

If monitoring is to be performed via iLO, and it is configured in Agentless mode, The HP ProLiant Agentless Management Service must be installed and running on the OS for Network Interfaces to be discovered.

If the iLO is configured in Pass-Through mode, the Insight Management Agent must be installed and running on the OS.

Generation 9 systems also include a REST interface through the iLO, which can be used for monitoring.

For detailed instructions on configuring the iLO, please see HP’s documentation.

Generation 10

Generation 10 servers are equipped with iLO 5.

These can be monitored via the iLO, using SNMP or REST. An Insight Management Agent is not required.

For detailed instructions on configuring the iLO, please consult HP’s iLO User Guide documentation.

2. Choose an Appropriate HP Agent

If your system requires an agent, there are several options. Different hardware monitoring agents are available for HP servers running Linux, Solaris, and Windows. Depending on the server model, operating system and available protocols, you will have to choose between the HP agents listed below.

To ensure proper functioning of the Hardware Agent, the version of the Hardware Agent should be newer than the server, the Operating System and preferably the Server's firmware revision. Using a Hardware agent whose release date is older than the server / Operating System / Firmware usually results in failed installation or incomplete monitoring.

For Windows:

HP Insight Management Agents for Windows Server (HP’s SNMP Based Hardware Agent for Windows): Available for all supported versions of Windows, it requires Windows SNMP service to be installed.

HP Insight Management WBEM Providers for Windows Server (HP’s WMI Based Hardware Agent). Available for all supported versions of Windows.

For Linux:

HP SNMP Agents (hp-snmp-agents) HP System Health Application and Command Line Utilities (hp-health) (HP’s SNMP Based Hardware Agents for Linux): Available for all supported versions of Linux, it requires appropriate SNMP daemon to be installed before installing the agent.

HP Insight Management WBEM Providers for Linux and VMware ESXi Distribution (hpmgmtbase and hp-smx) - HP’s WBEM Based Hardware Monitoring Agent: This agent is only available for newer HP servers running recent versions of Linux.

For Solaris:

HP ProLiant Insight Management Agents for Solaris (HP’s SNMP Based Hardware Agents for Solaris 10): Available for approximately 40 HP servers on which Solaris is a supported operating system, it requires net-SNMP to be installed and working before installing the agent.

For ESX:

HP Management Agents for VMware ESX (HP’s SNMP Based Hardware Agents for Solaris 10) Available for approximately 40 HP servers on which Solaris is a supported operating system, it requires net-SNMP to be installed and working before installing the agent. The HP Management Agents for VMware ESX only works with RedHat based versions of ESX. ESXi and some versions of ESX servers are BusyBox based and cannot have additional agents installed on them. HP servers running ESX or ESXi can also be monitored using VMWare’s built in WBEM based hardware monitoring system. See the Knowledge Base article “Monitoring VMWare ESX/ESXi” on Sentry Software’s website.

SNMP Based Hardware Agents will use some or all of the following connectors:

WMI Based Hardware agents will use the following connector:

WBEM Based Hardware agents will use the following connector:

3. Download the HP Agent

  1. Go to www.hp.com
  2. Under Support & Drivers, click Drivers & Downloads
  3. Enter the server model you wish to monitor
  4. Select the Operating System
  5. Select Software - System Management
  6. Download the required HP Agent.

4. Install and Configure SNMP

Windows Settings

The SNMP service needs to be installed and configured before installing the HP Insight Management Agents for Windows Server. SNMP does not need to be installed when using the HP Insight Management WBEM Providers for Windows Server agent. See Microsoft’s documentation for information about how to install the SNMP service.

The community string should be specified under the security tab of the SNMP service configuration page. If the option Accept SNMP packets from these hosts is selected, all hosts from which monitoring is done should be specified.For local monitoring, this should be local host.

Windows Settings

Linux and Solaris Settings

For most Linux distributions, the net-snmp and pciutils packages will need to be installed before installing the HP Agent. The configuration of the SNMP service is done after the installation of the HP Agent.

See your Linux distribution’s documentation for information about how to install these packages.

IPMI Driver (Linux) Settings

In order for the HP agent to collect environmental information from the BMC chip (Power Supply Status, Fans Speed, Temperature Sensors, Voltage Sensors) a valid IPMI driver must be installed.

On Windows systems, the IPMI driver is either incorporated into the Operating System or is installed automatically during the HP Insight Manager Agent installation.

Most recent Linux systems have the open-source OpenIPMI driver installed by default which the HP Insight Manage agent can use.

HP have a customized version of the OpenIPMI agent, called hp-OpenIPMI, which has been enhanced to better work with HP hardware in addition to supporting a PCI Base Management Controller. We would recommend installing hp-OpenIPMI driver should there be any issues with Power Supply, Fans, Temperature Sensors, Voltage Sensors or iLO monitoring.

5. Install the HP Agent

Windows Settings

See instructions included with the installation files.

Linux Settings

See instructions included with the installation files.

For HP’s SNMP based hardware agents for Linux:

  1. Install the HP System Health Application and Command Line Utilities (hp-health), then HP SNMP Agents (hp-snmp-agents).
  2. After installing the agent check the status of the HP SNMP Agent: /etc/init.d/hp-snmp-agents status
  3. To configure the snmp service and to integrate it with the HP agent, run the following command: /sbin/hpsnmpconfig
  4. This will create a new /etc/snmp/snmpd.conf. In this file, the following line should be added, which links the HP agent to the main SNMP daemon:

(64-bit OS) - dlmod cmaX /usr/lib64/libcmaX64.so (32-bit OS) - dlmod cmaX /usr/lib/libcmaX.so

Solaris Settings

See instructions included with the installation files.
The SNMP service will be reconfigured as part of the installation.

6. Configure the Monitoring of Your HP ProLiant Servers

In the Monitoring Studio Web Interface

To monitor your HP ProLiant servers in Monitoring Studio X:

  1. Log in to the Monitoring Studio Web Interface

    Accessing the Monitoring Studio X Web Interface

  2. Go to KMs > Hardware Sentry

    Configuring Hardware Sentry in Monitoring Studio X

  3. Click Monitored Systems… > New System…

    List of Systems Monitored by Hardware Sentry

  4. Enter the hostname or IP address of the HP ProLiant server to be monitored or its iLO

    Configuring the monitoring of HP ProLiant servers

  5. In the System Properties section, specify the Device Type:

    • For Systems using an Insight Management Agent, select their OS.
    • For Systems monitored via the iLO, select Management Card/Chip, Blade Chassis, ESXi.

    Monitoring HP ProLiant Servers via the iLO

  6. Provide the necessary Protocol/Connection Information:

    • For WMI or WBEM-based monitoring, enable the necessary protocol, and provide a valid set of credentials for the system.
    • For SNMP-based monitoring, including iLO, enable SNMP and provide the SNMP Information.

    Enabling SNMP to monitor HP ProLiant servers

  7. Scroll-down to the Connectors section and select Automatic

Selecting the automatic connector detection

  1. Click Create. Click Console to check the hardware health status of your HP ProLiant server:

    Checking the hardware health status of HP ProLiant Servers

In TrueSight/Helix Operations Management

To monitor your HP ProLiant servers in TrueSight or Helix:

  1. Log in to the TrueSight or Helix Server

  2. Create a new monitoring policy:

    • Specify the general properties and agent selection criteria.
    • Add a monitoring configuration
    • Select the Hardware Monitoring Solution

  3. In the Hardware Configuration section, under List of Devices click Add:

    • Indicate the name of the device you wish to monitor.
    • Enter the IP address of the device. If no IP address is provided, the device name previously specified will be used.
    • Select the Device Type.
      • For Systems using an Insight Management Agent, select their OS.
      • For Systems monitored via the iLO, select Management Card/Chip, Blade Chassis, ESXi.

    Entering the device information

  4. Provide the necessary Protocol/Connection Information.

  • For WMI or WBEM-based monitoring, scroll to the appropriate section, enable the necessary protocol, and provide a valid set of credentials for the system.

  • For SNMP-based monitoring, including iLO, scroll down to the SNMP section, Enable SNMP and provide the SNMP Information.

    Enabling SNMP

  1. Scroll down to the Device Advanced Settings section and select Automatic from the Connector Selection pull-down list:

    Enabling SNMP

  2. Click OK twice.

  3. Click Save. After a few minutes, your device will be displayed in the console.

    Monitoring HP ProLiant servers in TrueSight Presentation Server (Hardware Devices View)

  4. Click the HP ProLiant server to access its details:

    Monitoring HP ProLiant servers in TrueSight Presentation Server

Monitoring HP Blade Systems

On older P-series chassis, only each individual blade needs to be monitored. The components of the chassis will appear as components of each blade. To fully monitor a C-Class HP Blade System, each individual blade needs to be monitored as well as the chassis itself.

Each individual blade should be monitored as per the instructions above. No power supplies or fans will be shown for a blade as these components reside in the blade chassis (though sometimes an “overall cooling status” will exist).

To monitor the blade chassis using Hardware Sentry KM for PATROL, add a remote monitoring of the chassis (See Hardware Sentry documentation - Configuring Remote Hosts Monitoring)

Best Practice HP ProLiant