Understanding the Remote Support Software Manager

The HP Essential Services Remote Support Pack includes three components:

HP Remote Support Software Manager (SWM): SWM, bundled with HP Systems Insight Manager (HP SIM) version 5.1 and installed to the Central Management Server (CMS), facilitates the download and installation of HP Remote Support applications. The procedure to complete this step is in this chapter.
HP Remote Support Client: The Remote Support Client is installed and updated by SWM . Once installed, the Remote Support Client is accessed through HP SIM and is used to enable remote support of eligible devices in your Enterprise. The Remote Support Client enables communication of reactive hardware events from the CMS to the HP Support Center.

This chapter focuses on SWM. SWM is bundled with the installation of HP SIM on a supported Windows ProLiant CMS. SWM is installed to the CMS desktop and runs independently of the HP SIM user interface. The Remote Support Software Manager is installed on the CMS through Systems Insight Manager installation. The inclusion and installation of Remote Support Software Manager is part of the standard HP SIM installation, and optional, but pre-selected by default, in the custom HP SIM installation and/or upgrade. The Remote Support Software Manager installation is non-interactive. Once installed, the Remote Support Software Manager application can be accessed from an icon on the CMS desktop. After the SIM installation is complete, users configure the Remote Support Software Manager to fit their enterprise specifications. Once configured, the Remote Support Software Manager will download and install the Remote Support Client.




	IMPORTANT: The process for configuring the Remote Support Client after it is installed on the CMS through Software Manager, is documented in the HP Service Essentials Remote Support Pack Configuration and Usage Guide at http://docs.hp.com/en/netsys.html#Service%20Essentials%20Remote%20Support%20Pack. This document is required to complete the configuration of the Service Essentials Remote Support Pack.

SWM offers the following functionality and benefits:

Upgrades can be performed remotely, reducing HP Support Engineer time on your site for installations.
Automated e-mail notifications of new software, deployment statistics, and the state of your configurations improve communications, planning, and management of the Customer Enterprise.
Software configuration data is collected to facilitate the following activities:
- Target updates based on existing software versions present on a system
- Track deployment of software updates
- Report on the state (installed, update available, failed, and so on) of the software on a system

SWM device and access requirements

SWM is supported only on ProLiant servers running:

Windows 2003 Standard Enterprise
Windows 2000 Server SP2, Advanced Server

The SWM downloads and installs software to the CMS only, and operates only on a CMS installed on the C:\ drive on a supported Windows ProLiant device. SWM and Service Essentials Remote Support Pack are NOT supported on Virtual Machines (VMWare). Use of SWM User Interface requires administrator privileges on the Windows operating system. If you do not have an account with administrative privileges, please contact your Remote Support Account Team for more information or assistance.

The Software Manager on the CMS communicates over HTTPS/443. Likewise, the Remote Support Client component also communicates over HTTPS/443 to submit incidents to and retrieve entitlement information from the HP Support Center. HTTPS provides encryption for confidentiality of software configuration data collected from the CMS and transferred to HP. Even though this chapter focuses on configuring SWM, it is advisable to configure your firewall for both communication channels (SWM and Remote Support Client) before proceeding.

Service	Server name	IP Address
HP Remote Support Software Manager	isee-updates.americas.hp.com	15.232.64.127
HP Remote Support Client	services-isee.americas.hp.com	15.232.48.172

SWM communicates directly with the HP Support Center through the firewall or web proxy server (if a web proxy server is in use). Remote Support SWM supports connecting directly to the Internet or connecting through a proxy server and supports all proxy servers conforming to the HTTP/1.0 Specification. Remote Support Software Manager does not support proxies using proxy auto-configuration scripts, NTLM authentication (also known as Integrated Windows Authentication), or Kerberos authentication.




	NOTE: You can check for any software or networking updates in the Service Essentials Remote Support Pack Release Notes at http://docs.hp.com/en/netsys.html#Service%20Essentials%20Remote%20Support%20Pack.

HP Remote Support Software Manager Configuration Options

The SWM application settings are configured during the Remote Support Software Manager Initialization. The settings can be modified at any time to meet your unique needs. The two primary SWM abilities on the CMS are:

The ability to define automation level settings that configure if and how updates will be downloaded and installed.
The ability to define an update schedule during a time window in which SWM can request and retrieve updates.

The following table lists items configured during the SWM Initialization:

Required Information	Options
Web Proxy Settings are configured to enable the Software Manager to function in conjunction with your proxy server configuration.	The web proxy options enable specified settings which include: Server Port Proxy Server User Name Password Server The default web proxy server settings will be blank and must be populated with the correct proxy information to enable the subsequent connectivity test.
Customer’s Company Name	Provide your company name. While it is not technically necessary to enter your company name as it appears on your service agreement, doing so will improve communication with HP through consistency of information.
Country/Region	The country or region where the CMS physically resides must be selected from the drop down menu in the SWM Initialization process.
HP Contact Reporting Options field adds the CMS to an internal HP report of systems supported by a specified HP contact.	You can enter one or more (separated by semi-colons) HP contacts into this field to receive reports for this CMS. By default, this line is left blank.
Customer Contact Notification Options field adds the included contacts to a notifications list to be notified when updates are published to the SWM servers at the HP Support Center and to receive biweekly reports about the CMS and SWM application.	You might enter one or more (separated by semi-colons) customer contacts into this field to receive e-mail notifications about updates for the CMS. By default, this field and the associated check boxes are left blank. Unless you add contacts to this list and check the appropriate boxes, no e-mail notifications will be sent.
Global Automation Levels enables you to restrict the application of all updates to the CMS.	The Automation levels are: Do not automatically download nor install Allow automatic download but install manually Allow automatic download and install By default the automation levels are left blank. Therefore, you must make a selection. See Automation Levels and Scheduling in the Software Manager for more information about using Automation Levels.
Global Update Window settings enable restrictions of when downloads and installations occur on the CMS.	The scheduling options are: Allow updates to occur anytime Allow at a specified time on a specific day(s) of the week. Allow updates between two specified points in time on a specific day(s) of the week By default, Anytime is selected.

See Using the HP Remote Support Software Manager for more information about using Remote Support Software Manager.

Understanding the Remote Support Software Manager

Technical documentation

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SWM device and access requirements

HP Remote Support Software Manager Configuration Options