IPMI Log Acquirer

Product Overview

The IPMI Log Acquirer is part of Event Information Tools (EIT). The IPMI Log Acquirer captures and saves large stores of IPMI logs from the memory-limited GSP. The Event Viewer, which is a part of EIT, analyzes the captured logs and displays the system event information. IPMI Log acquirer does not interpret the data. It only distinguishes the types of data: FPL and FRUID.

IPMI Log Acquirer will acquire FPL and FRUID logs from remote IPMI systems via IPMI over LAN. The remote OS need not be up in order to obtain these logs, as long as the BMC can be contacted via the LAN.

A simple configuration file configures the IPMI Log Acquirer to fetch IPMI logs from remote systems. The log files are stored as local files on disk. Log file trimming is performed by switching to a new log file when the current file size reaches a threshold limit, and by keeping only a limited number of history files for each remote system. The file size threshold and the number of history files are configurable. Each log file name uniquely identifies the type of log and the host from which the logs are captured.

How to Find the Version of IPMI Log Acquirer

On HP-UX:
"/sbin/init.d/ipmiacqd_rc version" prints the version of IPMI Log Acquirer.

On Windows:
Select the properties of "C:\Program Files\Hewlett-Packard\EIT\opt\bin\daemons\ipmiacqd.exe". The “Description” field contains the version information.

Getting Started with the Log Acquirer

The IPMI Log Acquirer runs as a service on Windows and as a daemon on HP-UX and will start automatically after installation. Alternatively, the instructions for manually starting and stopping the log acquirer are:

Start:
     HP-UX:
     $ /sbin/init.d/ipmiacqd_rc start
     Windows:
     C:\>net start “IPMI Log Acquirer"
Stop:
     HP-UX:
     $ /sbin/init.d/ipmiacqd_rc stop
     Windows:
     C:\>net stop “IPMI Log Acquirer”
After initial installation of the product, there are no remote system entries in the configuration file that is located at C:\Program Files\Hewlett-Packard\EIT\var\config\ipmiacqd.cfg on Windows and /var/smstools/config/ipmiacqd.cfg on HP-UX. Following are the instructions for adding remote system entries:
Open the configuration file in an ASCII text editor.
Encrypt the remote BMC IPMI password as mentioned:
Run the password encryption utility which is located at C:\Program Files\Hewlett-Packard\EIT\opt\bin\encryptpasswd.exe on Windows and /opt/smstools/bin/encryptpasswd on HP-UX.

When prompted, enter the IPMI password. This displays the encrypted password.

Example: If the password to be encrypted is “passwd123”,
     On HP-UX:

     $ /opt/smstools/bin/encryptpasswd
     Enter the Password: <type passwd123>
     Encrypted Password: a1b2c3d4e5f6g7f8g9h
     Do you encrypt again (Y/N) : n
     $

     On Windows:

     $c:\Program Files\Hewlett-Packard\EIT\opt\bin\encryptpasswd
     Enter the Password: <type passwd123>
     Encrypted Password: a1b2c3d4e5f6g7f8g9h
     Do you encrypt again (Y/N) : n
     $
Add any of the following entries in the configuration file:
REMOTE_SYSTEM_PASSWD <BMC name/IP address>  <encrypted-password>
MP=<BMC Name>,<BMC IP Address>,<IPMI User Name>,<Encrypted Passwd>
NOTE: If the IPMI user name is not NULL, then only the second format should be used.
Un-installation of Log Acquirer

Before un-installation, make sure that the IPMI log acquirer is stopped as explained in the "Getting Started with the Log Acquirer" section.

Product Environment
The Log Acquirer runs on "hp Integrity SuperDome SMS" workstations (Windows 2000, Windows XP and HP-UX 11.00, HP-UX 11.11 and HP-UX 11.23 platforms).
Functional Specifications

Functionality/Features

Acquires and logs IPMI FPL and FRUID records continuously from remote systems. Logged FPL records are those that are generated after Log Acquirer has been started.

Filenames of logs identify the type of log (FPL/FRUID) and system from which the log is collected.

Log on to remote BMC using IPMI commands encapsulated in RMCP (Remote Management Control Protocol) packet datagram via IPMI over LAN interface.

Runs on both HP-UX and MS Windows systems qualified to be an SMS.

Maintains FPL logs by file switching (using file size threshold) and keeping a finite number of logs of each file type.

Provides configuration file to configure a list of remote systems from which you can obtain logs and set configurable parameters (file size thresholds, number of log files) in order to maintain those log files.

The password encryption tool is used to encrypt/de-crypt the IPMI password. The IPMI password in the configuration file must be encrypted. The log acquirer will then decrypt and use the password.

All FRUID data from a remote system is gathered in one pass and written to a FRUID log file.

The FRUID data is regenerated whenever the FRUID log file is not present.

Periodic checks for configuration file updates are performed.

Optional platform identification records of type E0 are added at the beginning of each FPL/FRUID log file to identify the platform characteristics. Unless problems prevent the log acquirer from obtaining all of the necessary information, all platform records are added; else none will be added.

Behavior of IPMI log acquirer when restarted or configuration file is updated, is described below:
If the current value of FPL_NUM_FILES_TO_HOLD parameter in the configuration file is greater than the number of FPL log files already generated, then IPMI log acquirer starts logging from the next unused log file in-sequence.

For example, if the current value of FPL_NUM_FILES_TO_HOLD parameter is 5 and only ipmifpl_..._0.log to ipmifpl_..._2.log are written or used, then logging will be resumed from ipmifpl_..._3.log.

If the current value of FPL_NUM_FILES_TO_HOLD parameter in the configuration file is less than or equal to the number of FPL log files already generated, then IPMI Log acquirer starts logging from the next log file in sequence after the latest log file.

For example, if the current value of FPL_NUM_FILES_TO_HOLD parameter is 4, ipmifpl_..._0.log to ipmifpl_..._5.log are written and ipmifpl_...2.log is the latest log, then logging will be resumed from ipmifpl_..._3.log.

Supports new configuration format that is consistent across EITools configuration files, which is “MP=<host name>,<IP address>, <IPMI user name>,<Encrypted IPMI password>”

Supports configuration file format backward compatibility.

User Interface

The HP-UX version of IPMI Log acquirer runs as a daemon, which is started by an ‘rc’ script and the Windows version runs as a Windows service.

The user interaction with the IPMI log acquirer takes place through its configuration file. This file is a text file and can be edited with any text editor.

The FPL records are written to log files. The sizes and number of FPL log files are limited by the parameters specified in the configuration file. For both FPL and FRUID, log files are maintained on a per host basis. FPL log file switching takes place when the size of a log file reaches its limit. In contrast, all FRUID data is written to one log file. The names of the log files indicate the host and the type of log from that host.

All errors are logged into common error files. The sizes and number of the error files are limited by the parameters specified in the configuration file. File switching takes place when the size of an error file reaches its limit.

The IPMI log files are binary files and the error files are ASCII files.

Syntax and Semantics of UI

Log Acquirer Configuration File

The configuration file resides at:
  HP-UX:    /var/smstools/config/ipmiacqd.cfg
  Windows:  c:\Program Files\Hewlett-Packard\EIT\var\config\ipmiacqd.cfg
Although the various configuration parameters are specified, they are not required because the application supplies default values. Exceptions include “REMOTE_SYSTEM_PASSWD” and “MP” parameters.

A sample configuration file including all the fields that IPMI log acquirer recognizes is displayed below. File size threshold parameters are in bytes and polling interval is in seconds. The italicized line following the character ‘#’ is a descriptive comment.

Sample configuration file with all configurable parameters:
#File size threshold for FPL logs.
FPL_FILE_SIZE_THRESHOLD          500000

#File size threshold for error logs.
ERROR_FILE_SIZE_THRESHOLD        500000         

#Maximum numbers of FPL log files that can be present. 
FPL_NUM_FILES_TO_HOLD            4

#Maximum number of error log files that can be present
ERROR_NUM_FILES_TO_HOLD          2

#Time between two consecutive polling cycles in second
POLLING_INTERVAL                 60

#Retry limit                
RETRY_LIMIT                      4

#Timeout
TIMEOUT                          3

#Remote systems IPMI user and password information to gather FPL/FRUID data 
#Two types of formats are propose, first one is
#         REMOTE_SYSTEM_PASSWD <host name/IP address>,<encrypted IPMI password>
# The other format is
#        MP=<hostname>,<IP address>,<IPMI user name>,<encrypted IPMI password>
# If <IPMI user name> field is ignored then IPMI NULL user will be used
REMOTE_SYSTEM_PASSWD    15.244.81.75  h0fc65b2349915997
MP=sys1,15.255.98.33,,h0fc65b2349915997
The usage of each parameter is as follows:

Configurable Parameter Usage Documentation

FPL_SIZE_THRESHOLD FPL_FILE_SIZE_THRESHOLD <size> Maximum FPL data (in bytes) that one FPL log file can hold.

If this entry is blank, the field value defaults to 200000 bytes.

ERROR_FILE_SIZE_THRESHOLD ERROR_FILE_SIZE_THRESHOLD <size> Maximum error information (in bytes) that one error file can hold.

If this entry is blank, the field value defaults to 100000 bytes.

FPL_NUM_FILES_TO_HOLD FPL_NUM_FILES_TO_HOLD<num> Maximum number of FPL log files that IPMI log acquirer can create per remote host.

If this entry is blank, the field value defaults to 22.

ERROR_NUM_FILES_TO_HOLD ERROR_NUM_FILES_TO_HOLD<num> Maximum number of error log files that IPMI log acquirer can create.

If this entry is blank, the field value defaults to 5.

POLLING_INTERVAL POLLING_INTERVAL<interval> Minimal duration (in seconds) that IPMI log acquirer should wait between two successive pollings for FPL data.

If this entry is blank, the field value defaults to 10 seconds.

RETRY_LIMIT RETRY_LIMIT<limit> Represents the number of times IPMI log acquirer has to retry for response (IPMI log acquirer uses IPMI over LAN to communicate with the remote systems).

If this entry is blank, the field value defaults to 4.

TIMEOUT TIMEOUT<limit> Represents the duration (in seconds) that IPMI log acquirer should wait for the response from the remote system.

If this entry is blank, the field value defaults to 3 seconds.

REMOTE_SYSTEM_PASSWD REMOTE_SYSTEM_PASSWD
<hostname>/<IP address><encrypted passwd> IPMI log acquirer acquires the FPL/FRUID log information from <hostname>/<IP address>
<encrypted passwd> remote system with <encrypted passwd>.

The IPMI NULL user in conjunction with <encrypted passwd> is utilized for authentication. The format mentioned presents a single line display.

MP MP=<hostname>,<IP address>,
<user name>,<encrypted passwd> IPMI log acquirer acquires the FPL/FRUID log information from <hostname>/<IP address> and uses <user name> and <encrypted passwd> for authentication.

If <user name> is not present, then the IPMI NULL user is utilized. The format mentioned presents a single line display.

<Hostname> is used as part of the FPL/FRUID log file name.

FPL/FRUID Log File Naming Conventions and Formats

FPL/FRUID data is gathered from remote systems and logged into the local system. The naming convention of the FPL/FRUID data files is as follows.

FPL log file naming convention:
  HP-UX:      /var/smstools/log/ipmifpl_{host name}_{n}.log
  Windows:  C:\Program Files\Hewlett-Packard\EIT\var\log\ ipmifpl_{host name}_{n}.log
where ‘n’ is a number between 0 and (FPL_NUM_FILES_TO_HOLD – 1). For example, the third FPL log file for ‘callahan.rose.hp.com’ is ‘ipmifpl_callahan.rose.hp.com_2.log’.

FRUID data file naming convention:
  HP-UX:      /var/smstools/log/ipmifruid_{host name}.log
  Windows:  C:\Program Files\Hewlett-Packard\EIT\var\log\ipmifpl_{host name}_{n}.log
For example, the FRUID log file for ‘callahan.rose.hp.com’ is ‘ipmifruid_callahan.rose.hp.com.log’.

Error Handling

The Log acquirer error log file path is:
  HP-UX:      /var/smstools/log/ipmiacqd_error_{n}.log   
  Windows:  C:\Program Files\Hewlett-ackard\EIT\var\log\ipmiacqd_error_{n}.log    
where 'n' is a number between 0 to (ERROR_NUM_FILES_TO_HOLD - 1). For example, the first error log file is 'ipmiacqd_error_0.log'.

Two types of error messages are logged: 1) at the time of parsing the configuration file; 2) at the time of log acquisition.

A typical error message for a parsing error message is of the form:
Time:Date:Parsing Config File:Error Message
For example,
11-35-37:6/19/2003:Parsing config file:The value for FPL_NUM_FILES_TO_HOLD starting
with non-digit, default value used.
A typical error message format for the errors that occur during log acquisition is of the form:
Time:Date:Hostname:Error Message
For example,
11-40-56: 11/20/2002/:mp1.hp.com:Activate session timed out.
Messages

Detailed messages are included as part of the error message string (as mentioned in error handling section.) Some of the messages of type related to configuration file parsing are as follows:

Line <line num> starts with a numeric.
Explanation: Each line in the configuration file must start with a configurable parameter (key), which is mentioned in the log acquirer configuration file section.

Line <line num> has no value associated with the key.
Explanation: The line number mentioned has only the key name.

Unexpected key is present at line <line num>
Explanation: The key that is mentioned at <line number> is not configurable. For more information on configurable parameters, refer to the log acquirer configuration file section.

Some of the values which the $KEY key expects are absent and are consequently ignored.
Explanation: The format of the key that is mentioned is not as expected. For more information on configurable parameters format, refer to the log acquirer configuration file section.

MP format is not recognized and is consequently ignored.
Explanation: The MP entry format is not correct. For more information on configurable parameters format, refer to the log acquirer configuration file section.

Some of the run time messages are as follows:

Switching <FPL log file1 >--> <;FPL log file2>.
Explanation: Size of “FPL log file1” reached the threshold and started logging to “FPL log file2”.

FPL buffer is overwritten. Might have lost some FPL log entries.
Explanation: The FPL buffer is circular. If it was overwritten, then some of the FPL entries are lost.

<error message> for activate session. Check the password in configuration file.
Explanation: IPMI session challenge failed with the given IPMI user name and password.

Troubleshooting Guide

Problem: Writing new MSG.dll failed during installation.
Cause: The event viewer is already using this library.
Recommended Action:

Ask the installer to close and then re-start the installation.

If there are no entries in the application log, then it may be because the log is full. Create some space and then re-start the installer.

Problem: “IPMI Log Acquirer” service status immediately coming to STOPPED state.
Cause: Service registration failed or environment is not properly configured.
Recommended Action:
Look in the application log entries of Event Viewer.

Problem: Cannot complete the service registration.
Cause: "Services" window is not closed.
Recommended Action:
Before installation, make sure that “Services” window is closed.

Problem: The last FPL record indicates that the next record is the timestamp record; however there is no next FPL record.
Cause: The IPMI log acquirer will not interpret the FPL logs. It is possible that the two records in sequence can be scattered across two different log files.
Recommended Action: If the current FPL record is the last record and indicates that next record is the time stamp record, then ignore it.

Configurable Parameter	Usage	Documentation
FPL_SIZE_THRESHOLD	FPL_FILE_SIZE_THRESHOLD <size>	Maximum FPL data (in bytes) that one FPL log file can hold. If this entry is blank, the field value defaults to 200000 bytes.
ERROR_FILE_SIZE_THRESHOLD	ERROR_FILE_SIZE_THRESHOLD <size>	Maximum error information (in bytes) that one error file can hold. If this entry is blank, the field value defaults to 100000 bytes.
FPL_NUM_FILES_TO_HOLD	FPL_NUM_FILES_TO_HOLD<num>	Maximum number of FPL log files that IPMI log acquirer can create per remote host. If this entry is blank, the field value defaults to 22.
ERROR_NUM_FILES_TO_HOLD	ERROR_NUM_FILES_TO_HOLD<num>	Maximum number of error log files that IPMI log acquirer can create. If this entry is blank, the field value defaults to 5.
POLLING_INTERVAL	POLLING_INTERVAL<interval>	Minimal duration (in seconds) that IPMI log acquirer should wait between two successive pollings for FPL data. If this entry is blank, the field value defaults to 10 seconds.
RETRY_LIMIT	RETRY_LIMIT<limit>	Represents the number of times IPMI log acquirer has to retry for response (IPMI log acquirer uses IPMI over LAN to communicate with the remote systems). If this entry is blank, the field value defaults to 4.
TIMEOUT	TIMEOUT<limit>	Represents the duration (in seconds) that IPMI log acquirer should wait for the response from the remote system. If this entry is blank, the field value defaults to 3 seconds.
REMOTE_SYSTEM_PASSWD	REMOTE_SYSTEM_PASSWD <hostname>/<IP address><encrypted passwd>	IPMI log acquirer acquires the FPL/FRUID log information from <hostname>/<IP address> <encrypted passwd> remote system with <encrypted passwd>. The IPMI NULL user in conjunction with <encrypted passwd> is utilized for authentication. The format mentioned presents a single line display.
MP	MP=<hostname>,<IP address>, <user name>,<encrypted passwd>	IPMI log acquirer acquires the FPL/FRUID log information from <hostname>/<IP address> and uses <user name> and <encrypted passwd> for authentication. If <user name> is not present, then the IPMI NULL user is utilized. The format mentioned presents a single line display. <Hostname> is used as part of the FPL/FRUID log file name.

Top of Page / Diagnostics HOME

URL: http://docs.hp.com/hpux/onlinedocs/diag/eit/st_log_acquirer.htm
Last updated: Monday September 13 15:17:33 PST 2004

Table of Contents

Un-installation of Log Acquirer

Functionality/Features

Log Acquirer Configuration File

FPL/FRUID Log File Naming Conventions and Formats