Novell SUPPORT ADVISOR 2.0.1 Instruction Manual

Novell®

www.novell.com

AUTHORIZED DOCUMENTATION

Novell Support Advisor

2.0.1

June 2010

Novell Support Advisor

Legal Notices

Novell, Inc., makes no representations or warranties with respect to the contents or use of this documentation, and

specifically disclaims any express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose.

Further, Novell, Inc., reserves the right to revise this publication and to make changes to its content, at any time,

without obligation to notify any person or entity of such revisions or changes.

Further, Novell, Inc., makes no representations or warranties with respect to any software, and specifically disclaims

any express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. Further, Novell, Inc.,

reserves the right to make changes to any and all parts of Novell software, at any time, without any obligation to

notify any person or entity of such changes.

Any products or technical information provided under this Agreement may be subject to U.S. export controls and the

trade laws of other countries. You agree to comply with all export control regulations and to obtain any required

licenses or classification to export, re-export or import deliverables. You agree not to export or re-export to entities

on the current U.S. export exclusion lists or to any embargoed or terrorist countries as specified in the U.S. export

laws. You agree to not use deliverables for prohibited nuclear, missile, or chemical biological weaponry end uses.

See the Novell International Trade Services Web page (http://www.novell.com/info/exports/) for more information

on exporting Novell software. Novell assumes no responsibility for your failure to obtain any necessary export

approvals.

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4Novell Support Advisor Administration Guide

Contents 5

Contents

novdocx (en) 7 January 2010

About This Guide 7

1 Novell Support Advisor 2.0.1 9

1.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

1.2 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.2.1 Novell Support Advisor can be installed and run from: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.2.2 Novell Support Advisor can run against and analyze the following platforms . . . . . . 10

1.2.3 Known Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.2.4 Legal Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.3 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1.3.1 Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1.3.2 Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1.3.3 Macintosh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1.3.4 Work Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1.4 Running Novell Support Advisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

1.4.1 Local Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

1.4.2 Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

1.4.3 Adding and Saving Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1.5 Using Novell Support Advisor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

1.5.1 Analyze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

6Novell Support Advisor Administration Guide

novdocx (en) 7 January 2010

About This Guide 7

About This Guide

This guide is intended to help partners and customers install and administer Novell Support Advisor

Audience

This guide is intended for Novell Support Advisor users.

Feedback

We want to hear your comments and suggestions about this manual and the other documentation

included with this product. Please use the User Comments feature at the bottom of each page of the

online documentation, or go to Novell Documentation Feedback (http://www.novell.com/

documentation/feedback.html) and enter your comments there.

Documentation Updates

For the most recent version of the Novell Support Advisor Guide, visit the Novell Support Advisor

Web site (http://www.novell.com/documentation/support_advisor).

Additional Documentation

For more information on Novell Support Advisor including videos, forum links and articles, please

go to the Novell Support Advisor Website (http://support.novell.com/advisor

8Novell Support Advisor Administration Guide

Novell Support Advisor 2.0.1

Section 1.1, “Overview,” on page 9

Section 1.2, “System Requirements,” on page 10

Section 1.3, “Installation,” on page 11

Section 1.4, “Running Novell Support Advisor,” on page 12

Section 1.5, “Using Novell Support Advisor,” on page 17

1.1 Overview

The Novell Support Advisor is a free tool that allows customers to perform both pro-active and

reactive system and application diagnostic tasks in a loca, secure and automated fashion for SUSE

Linux Enterprise, ZENworks Configuration Management, NetWare and GroupWise systems.

Novell Support Advisor is an easily installed cross-platform (Linux, Windows, MAC) client that can

be downloaded directly from the Novell Support Advisor Homepage (http://support.novell.com/

advisor). The client is installed on a system that can communicate with both the servers in

customers’ 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 consolidtaed 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

identify 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.

Novell Support Advisor periodically checks back to Novell to see if there are any new support

patterns available. When new patterns are released, the administrator will be notified and updated

will automatically download, ready for any future analysis.

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.

For more information, see Novell Support Advisor Homepage (http://support.novell.com/advisor)

10 Novell Support Advisor Administration Guide

1.2 System Requirements

1.2.1 Novell Support Advisor can be installed and run from:

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 or later

OpenSUSE 10.3 or later

Microsoft Windows XP SP3 or later

Microsoft Windows 7

Apple Macintosh OS 10.5 or later

1024 MB RAM

145 MB disk space for installation

1.2.2 Novell Support Advisor can run against and analyze the

following platforms

SUSES Linux Enterprise Server 9

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10

SUSE Linux Enterprise 11

GroupWise 8 (Windows and Linux)

ZENWorks Configuration Management 10 (Linux and Windows)

NetWare 6.5

1.2.3 Known Issues

ZENworks running on windows requires the ZENworks control center credentials, not the windows

username and password

1.2.4 Legal Notices

Novell, Inc. makes no representations or warranties with respect to the contents or use of this

documentation, and specifically disclaims any express or implied warranties of merchantability or

fitness for any particular purpose. Further, Novell, Inc. reserves the right to revise this publication

and to make changes to its content, at any time, without obligation to notify any person or entity of

such revisions or changes.

Further, Novell, Inc. makes no representations or warranties with respect to any software, and

specifically disclaims any express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any

particular purpose. Further, Novell, Inc. reserves the right to make changes to any and all parts of

Novell software, at any time, without any obligation to notify any person or entity of such changes.

Any products or technical information provided under this Agreement may be subject to U.S. export

controls and the trade laws of other countries. You agree to comply with all export control

regulations and to obtain any required licenses or classification to export, re-export, or import

deliverables. You agree not to export or re-export to entities on the current U.S. export exclusion

lists or to any embargoed or terrorist countries as specified in the U.S. export laws. You agree to not

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