10.1 About ORBs

Operations Center requires ORBs to integrate with the following management systems:

Table 10-1 ORB Installation Sections

Management System

See For Installation

BMC Software Event Manager

Section 10.2, MCORB for BMC Event Manager

CA Unicenter

Section 10.3, UniORB for CA Unicenter

HP OpenView Network Node Manager

Section 10.4, OvORB for HP OpenView Network Node Manager

HP OpenView Operations for UNIX (OVO)

Section 10.5, OVOORB for HP OpenView Operations for UNIX

IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console (T/EC)

Section 10.6, TecORB for IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console

IBM Tivoli NetView

Section 10.7, NvORB for IBM Tivoli NetView

The Operations Center installer provides options for installing ORBs. The exceptions are NvORB and UniORB, which must be installed manually. No additional procedures are required, unless noted. The following sections provide information about each ORB including system requirements and troubleshooting information.

After installing the ORB software, the next step is defining adapters, which provide the interface between Operations Center software and managed elements. See

10.1.1 Troubleshooting ORBs: Identifying Port Conflicts

The ORB installation program configures a default TCP/IP port number on the server. If another application on the server uses the default port, then change the port number used by the ORB.

Table 10-2 summarizes the default ports used by each ORB and provides links to the relevant ORB section.

Before installing any ORB, use the netstat command to determine if the default port is already in use. If the default port is already in use, then change the port number used by Operations Center software. See the relevant ORB section to more information about the netstat command for each ORB.

10.1.2 Using ORB Log Files

Log files are available to review ORB activity and history. The following log file commands are available for NvORB and OvORB:

Table 10-3 Log File Arguments

Argument

Argument Description

–LogLevel level

Sets the type of entries logged to the file. Logging includes all entries for that level and any levels below it:

  • 0 = Error
  • 1 = Warning
  • 2 = Info
  • 3 = Verbose
  • 4 = Exhaustive

–LogFile file name

Changes the default log file name to the specified file name.

–LogAppend

Appends additional entries to the current log file instead of creating a new one.

10.1.3 Using Multi-Homed Servers

Some Operations Center software installed on a multi-homed server might require configuration changes to ensure that components on different machines communicate correctly. A multi-homed server is a server with more than one IP address.

Understanding Multi-Homed Servers

On multi-homed servers, one IP address is the primary or default IP address, and the other IP addresses are virtual or nonprimary IP addresses. Operations Center software installed on a system with multiple IP addresses can use the primary IP address to communicate with a server located on another host.

However, additional configurations for some ORBs are necessary to ensure using one of the multi-homed server’s nonprimary (virtual) IP addresses. Otherwise, communication errors can result from a component publishing an inappropriate IP address or hostname to another component.

IMPORTANT:Management systems that integrate with Operations Center without using ORB software do not require any special configuration for multi-homed servers.

If all components communicate with one other using the primary IP address of the server on which they are running, no configuration changes are required. However, if one or more components communicate using virtual or nonprimary IP addresses, configuration changes are required.

For example, assume that a server recognizes an ORB located on a multi-homed server by one of its virtual IP addresses. By default, the ORB publishes references back to Operations Center software using the primary IP address of its server. In this situation, the server most likely cannot reach the primary IP address, resulting in communications failures.

Perform one of the following actions to resolve multi-homed server communication errors:

  • Use the server’s primary IP address

  • Change the ORB settings to always publish references with a reachable hostname that the server can correctly resolve

Configuring the ORB for a Multi-Homed Server

ORBs for some management systems require additional configuration for multi-homed servers. Table 10-4 lists the management systems that require additional configuration and describes the modifications required for the ORB software:

Table 10-4 ORBs Requiring Configuration for Multi-Homed Servers

Management System

ORB

Configurations Required

Computer Associates (CA) Unicenter™

UniORB

Unicenter integrates with Operations Center software through the use of the UniORB. However, the UniORB does not support the ability to set the hostname using a start command. If the UniORB is located on a multi-homed server, Operations Center software must communicate with the ORB by means of that server’s primary IP address.

IBM Tivoli NetView®

TecORB

See steps below for changing ORB settings.

HP OpenView™ Network Node Manager (NNM)

OvORB

See steps below for changing ORB settings.

To update ORB settings for affected management systems, append the following argument to the command that invokes the ORB:

start_command ‑OAhost hostname

where start_command is the start command for the associated management system ORB (for more information, see the corresponding ORB section in this guide), and hostname is the valid hostname that the server can use to communicate with the ORB.

For ‑OAhost, the capital letter O follows the hyphen, not a zero.

The Operations Center console automatically updates its published IP address to one that is acceptable to the server, so no configuration changes are required.