PlateSpin Recon 4 Release Notes

January 2014

PlateSpin Recon 4 includes new features, improves usability, and resolves several previous issues.

Many of these improvements were made in direct response to suggestions from our customers. We thank you for your time and valuable input. We hope you continue to help us ensure that our products meet all your needs. You can post feedback in the PlateSpin Recon 4 forum on NetIQ Communities, our online community that also includes product information, blogs, and links to helpful resources.

The documentation for this product is available on the NetIQ Web site in HTML and PDF formats on a page that does not require you to log in. If you have suggestions for documentation improvements, click comment on this topic at the bottom of any page in the HTML version of the documentation posted at the PlateSpin Recon 4 Documentation page.

This product contains undocumented utilities that the Technical Support team might use to diagnose or correct problems.

1.0 What’s New?

The following sections outline the key features and functions provided in this release:

1.1 Disaster Recovery Assessment and Planning

PlateSpin Recon 4 introduces the following enhancements to the disaster recovery (DR) assessment and planning:

  • New disaster recovery reports:

    Inventory:

    • DR - Supported Client Operating Systems

    • DR - Supported Server Operating Systems

    • DR - Unsupported Operating Systems

    Software:

    • DR - Application Considerations

    • DR - Service Considerations

    Volume:

    • DR - File System and Volume Considerations

  • New counter named LogicalDisk_DiskBlockWritesPerHour collects block-based disk I/O data from a target Windows machine. To collect the block-based disk I/O data from the target Windows machine, you must deploy the new WindowsBlockBasedDiskCounters add-on on the target Windows machine.

  • Flexibility to scale workload during the scenario creation for workload protection.

  • Ability to configure the Recovery Point Objective (RPO) in hours during the creation of Windows workload protection scenario. This is applicable only for Windows workloads that have block-based disk write information.

1.2 New Licensing Model

PlateSpin Recon 4 introduces a new licensing model. For more information, see Setting Up PlateSpin Recon Licenses in the PlateSpin® Recon 4 User Guide.

1.3 Platform Support

In addition to the platforms supported earlier, PlateSpin Recon 4 supports discovery, inventory, and data collection (monitoring) for the following platforms:

  • Windows Platforms:

    • Windows Server 2012

    • Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1

    • Windows 8

  • UNIX/Linux Platforms:

    • CentOS 6.2, 6.1 (32 bit & 64 bit)

    • Novell Open Enterprise Server (OES) 11 Linux (64-bit)

    • Novell OpenSUSE 12.1, 11.4 (32-bit, 64-bit)

    • Oracle Linux 6.3, 6.2, 6.1, 6.0, 5.9, 5.8, 5.7, 5.6, 5.5, 5.4, 5.3 (32-bit, 64-bit)

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.3, 6.2, 6.1, 6.0, 5.9, 5.8, 5.7 (32 bit, 64 bit)

    • Ubuntu 12.04, 11.10 (32-bit, 64-bit)

  • Hypervisors:

    • ESXi 5.1 Update 1, 5.1, 5.0 Update 2, 5.0 Update 1

    • VMware Virtual Center 5.1 Update 1, 5.1, 5.0 Update 2, 5.0 Update 1

    • Microsoft Windows Server 2012 with Hyper-V

For more information on the supported platforms, see Supported Platforms in the PlateSpin® Recon 4 User Guide.

1.4 Database Support

In addition to the databases supported earlier, PlateSpin Recon 4 supports the following databases for installing Recon Server:

NOTE:The support for PostgreSQL 8.3.4 as an embedded database is no longer applicable. PostgreSQL 8.3.4 is now supported only in upgrade scenarios.

For more information about the supported platforms, see System Requirements in the PlateSpin® Recon 4 Getting Started Guide.

1.5 Enhancements

PlateSpin Recon 4 includes the following enhancements:

  • Enhances the report templates to display the value of the processor speed in MHz, GHz, or both. The report templates in versions earlier to Recon 4 displayed the processor speed only in MHz.

  • Displays the disk drives and mount points consistently in the product charts that shows disk I/0.

  • Supports PlateSpin Recon 4 integration with PlateSpin Migrate 9.2.

  • Incorporates NetIQ branding. The user interface is rebranded to NetIQ.

2.0 System Requirements

The PlateSpin Recon 4 installer can upgrade PlateSpin Recon 3.7.4. If you choose to upgrade from versions prior to PlateSpin Recon 3.7.4, you must first upgrade to 3.7.4, followed by using the PlateSpin Recon 4 installer to upgrade from 3.7.4 to 4.

For information about system requirements, see System Requirements in the PlateSpin® Recon 4 Getting Started Guide.

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3.0 Installing PlateSpin Recon 4

To install PlateSpin Recon 4, see Installing PlateSpin Recon in the PlateSpin® Recon 4 Getting Started Guide.

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4.0 Upgrading PlateSpin Recon 4

For instructions on downloading and upgrading to PlateSpin Recon 4, see Upgrading PlateSpin Recon in the PlateSpin® Recon 4 Getting Started Guide.

5.0 Known Issues

NetIQ Corporation strives to ensure our products provide quality solutions for your enterprise software needs. The following issues are currently being researched. If you need further assistance with any issue, please contact Technical Support.

5.1 Network Adapter Information for Solaris x86 Server Not Displayed

The network adapter information for Solaris x86 server is not displayed in the Properties page of the server. This might affect the inventory data collection for network adapters of the Solaris x86 server, but does not have any effect on the consolidation planning of the server.

Workaround: None.

5.2 Incorrect Database Name Listed During Recon Server Installation

When you install the Recon server, you are prompted to select a database engine to use with Recon. However, the database engine might be incorrectly displayed as #TEMP0004.

Workaround: Specify database server name\instance name that you provided when you installed the database. However, if you installed the embedded SQL Express 2008 R2 database through the PlateSpin Recon Installation Launcher, then specify the database name as localhost\Platespin_db.

5.3 Deleting a Container Deletes All Inventoried Virtual Machines that Reside on the Container

In the PlateSpin Recon Data Center Explorer, the virtual machines appear as the child nodes of the virtual host, such as the ESX or XenServer. When you delete a container, which is a virtual host, all virtual machines within that container also gets deleted.

Workaround: To delete only the container, do the following:

  1. Export a snapshot of all the virtual machines within the container that you want to delete from the Recon client.

  2. Delete the container.

  3. Import the snapshot of the virtual machines in to the Recon Client.

For information about working with the PlateSpin Recon snapshots, see Working with PlateSpin Recon Snapshots.

5.4 PlateSpin Recon Inventory Does Not Detect Teaming Adapter on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V

When you inventory a Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V or Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V that has a Teaming Adapter configured, PlateSpin Recon does not detect the Teaming Adapter. As a result, the Teaming Adapter is not listed on the Device Properties page of the Recon client.

Workaround: None.

5.5 The Network Adapter Speed Value Is Incorrectly Displayed for an Inventoried Hyper-V Machine

When you inventory a Hyper-V machine that has an Ethernet network adapter of 10 GB or more, the speed property of the adapter gets an incorrect value regardless of the actual link speed because of the data type conversion. The value of the network adapter speed for the Hyper-V machine is incorrectly displayed as 1 Gbps in the Hyper-V properties dialog box of the Recon Client.

Workaround: None.

5.6 Monitoring Windows Server 2003 Might Increase Memory Utilization on the Server

When you monitor Windows Server 2003, the memory utilization on the monitored server might increase. This is because the memory usage of the Svchost.exe process increases when other users remotely collect performance data about the monitored server.

Workaround: This is a known issue in Windows Server 2003. To troubleshoot the issue, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article ID 969701.

5.7 Prompted to Provide the PlateSpin Recon Server Login Credentials Even After Successfully Launching the PlateSpin Recon Client on a Standalone Device

If the PlateSpin Recon Client is installed on a standalone device, you are prompted to provide the PlateSpin Recon Server login credentials even if you have selected the Use Windows Session option to successfully log into the client.

Workaround: None. Provide the PlateSpin Recon Server credentials when prompted.

5.8 Monitoring a Windows 2003 or Windows XP Device Might Fail

When you monitor a Windows 2003 or Windows XP device, you might encounter the following error:

The Counter layout for the Category specified is invalid.

One of the possible reasons is that the perfmon on this device might be corrupted.

Workaround: None.

6.0 Contact Information

Our goal is to provide documentation that meets your needs. If you have suggestions for improvements, please email Documentation-Feedback@netiq.com. We value your input and look forward to hearing from you.

For detailed contact information, see the Support Contact Information Web site.

For general corporate and product information, see the NetIQ Corporate Web site.

For interactive conversations with your peers and NetIQ experts, become an active member of our community. The NetIQ online community provides product information, useful links to helpful resources, blogs, and social media channels.

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