This page provides answers to frequently asked questions about the IBM Support Assistant V4.0. Please visit the Support Assistant V3 FAQs page for information on previous versions of the Support Assistant.
Q: What's new in the IBM Support Assistant V4.0?
A: The IBM Support Assistant V4.0 comes with many new features, including:
- New Architecture and Remote System Troubleshooting - The IBM Support Assistant V4.0 not only provides a Workbench for problem determination and analysis on the local system where it is installed, but now also provides an Agent. The Support Assistant Agent can be installed on any system that you wish to troubleshoot remotely. For example, the Workbench can be installed on your Windows or Linux workstation, whereas the Agent can be installed on your servers (test, staging, etc.). When it's time to transfer files from the servers, the Workbench can communicate with the Agents so an administrator can transfer files, run remote data collection scripts and analyze artifacts on the servers, all from the convenience of the Workstation.
- Activity-based Workflow - The Support Assistant now groups various actions geared towards a similar goal into "Activities". Users may choose from support-related activities such as "Find Information", "Analyze Problem" and "Manage Service Request", or use the Guided Troubleshooter for step-by-step help with analysis and resolution.
- Case Management - The Support Assistant allows you to organize your troubleshooting data in "cases"; these cases allow a user to store the description, any log files from local or remote systems, data collection results, inventory reports, etc. in easy to manage locations and then export and share these cases with other problem analysts or with IBM Support.
- Improved Flexibility - Users may now add their own search locations to the "Search" page, host their own update sites if internet access is controlled, and get the latest product news and updates, all from the same application.
- Ease of Use - The new welcome experience guides users through the initial customization of network preferences and update sites, the migration wizard allows easy portability from the previous version of IBM Support Assistant and tutorials provided with the Support Assistant help you get the most out of the new application.
All these new features are provided in addition to the functionality provided in Support Assistant V3.
Q: What is the difference between the IBM Support Assistant Workbench, Agent Manager and Agent? Which one do I need?
A: The IBM Support Assistant V4.0 consists of three distinct entities explained below:
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IBM Support Assistant Workbench: The IBM Support Assistant Workbench, or simply the Workbench, is the client-facing application that you can download and install on your workstation. It allows you to use all the troubleshooting features of the Support Assistant such as Search, Product Information, Data Collection, Guided Troubleshooting, etc. However, the Workbench can only perform these functions locally, i.e. on the system where it is installed (with the exception of the Portable Collector).
IF you would like to use the IBM Support Assistant features on remote systems you will need to additionally install the Agent Manager and Agent. However, if your problem determination needs are purely on the local system, then the Agent and Agent Manager are not required.
The Workbench has a separate download and this is all that is required to get started with the Support Assistant. -
IBM Support Assistant Agent Manager: The IBM Support Assistant Agent Manager, or simply the Agent Manager, needs to be installed only ONCE in your network. The Agent Manager provides a central location where information on all available Agents is stored and acts as the certificate authority. For the remote troubleshooting to work, all Agent and Workbench instances register with this Agent Manager.Any time a Support Assistant
Workbench needs to perform remote functions, it authenticates with the Agent Manager and gets a list of the available Agents. After this the Workbench can communicate directly with the Agents.
The Agent Manager and Agent can be downloaded in a combined installer, separate from the Workbench. -
IBM Support Assistant
Agent
: The IBM Support Assistant Agent, or simply the Agent, is the piece of software that needs to be installed on EVERY system that you wish to troubleshoot remotely. Once an Agent is installed on a system, it registers with the Agent Manager and you can use the Workbench to communicate with the Agent and use features such as remote system file transfer, data collections and inventory report generation on the remote machine.
The Agent Manager and Agent can be downloaded in a combined installer, separate from the Workbench.
Q: I access the internet through a proxy server. How do I configure IBM Support Assistant (ISA) V4.0 to work with it?
A: After you've downloaded and installed the IBM Support Assistant V4.0 Workbench,:
- Click on "File"->"Preferences...". A preferences panel will pop up.
- Select "Network Connections" on the left panel.
- Input your proxy server information
Q: My proxy server configuration has to explicitly allow access to websites. What websites should I add to that configuration in order to allow IBM Support Assistant to work?
A: Ideally, you would want to add all IBM.com sites (i.e. *.ibm.com). If you must list explicit sites, the list should include the following:
download.boulder.ibm.com -- used by the "Updater" component of the Support Assistant
www.google.com -- used by the "Search" component of the Support Assistant
www.ibm.com -- used by the "Search" component of the Support Assistant
www-1.ibm.com -- used by the "Search" component of the Support Assistant
www-128.ibm.com -- used by "Search" for DeveloperWorks items
www-925.ibm.com -- used by the "Service" component of the Support Assistant
Depending on the product add-ons which are installed, there may be additional servers that need to have access granted to them. In particular are the servers that host our on-line Infocenters and some of our other support resources. For reference, the following ones might also need to be added...
publib.boulder.ibm.com
publib-b.boulder.ibm.com
www-306.ibm.com
www-304.ibm.com
www.lotus.com
news.software.ibm.com
www.redbooks.ibm.com
There may be additional resources in individual product plug-ins. These other links would appear on the Product Information panel. If you hover over them with the mouse, the URL to which they point should become visible in the status bar at the bottom of the user interface.
Q: What is the Portable Collector?
A: The Portable Collector is a feature in the IBM Support Assistant Workbench that allows you to export the data collection functionality into a small archive consisting of a Java application. This jar/zip file can then be transferred to a remote system where the data collection can then be performed.
The portable collector is useful when a user cannot install the IBM Support Assistant Workbench or Agent on a target system due to any restriction, but the user would still like to run the data collection scripts in the Support Assistant. In such a case, the portable collector allows a manual process of gathering data and creating the collector file which can then be used for problem determination and analysis activities.
For more information on the Portable Collector, refer to the documentation within the IBM Support Assistant Workbench Help content.
Q: Known Issues with the IBM Support Assistant V4.0
A: These are the known issues with the IBM Support Assistant V4.0 at the time of release. This list will be updated as important issues are discovered:
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Bug 14893
- Workbench Collector : missing input to dialogs causes autopd error / early termination of autopd collection
During data collection some scripts will prompt the user for various forms of input. If the input field is a text-entry field (not a choice list, etc) and the user leaves it blank, then the data collection may finish with an error or terminate early. Text-entry fields should have some sort of data entered into them. If skipping the text entry field is a valid option, then there should be either a button allowing the user to skip out of the entry or there should be a prompt prior to the text-entry screen allowing the user to bypass that data entry point.
Workaround: Enter some text, even if it is only a space character into the text entry field.
Q: I would like to tell the IBM Support Assistant team what I like or dislike about their tool. Or, an IBM Software product that I use has not yet released a product plug-in for IBM Support Assistant. How can I let them know this information?
A: You can use the "Feedback" link in the Support Assistant Workbench under the Help menu, or you may send an e-mail to our team at "ibmsa@us.ibm.com". We cannot guarantee that any suggested plug-ins or changes will be implemented in a current or future version of the product. We would like to hear what you think would make the support of your IBM product easier though. If we choose to pursue the idea, we may need to contact you for further details at a later time.
Q: Is there any sort of demonstration of IBM Support Assistant that can be viewed on-line?
A: Yes, we have education modules available on the IBM Education Assistant website - http://www.ibm.com/software/info/education/assistant/ - that demonstrate how to use IBM Support Assistant.
Q: I believe that IBM Support Assistant would be valuable for my company. Is there some way that a live demonstration could be arranged for my team / department / management?
A: Yes. The IBM Support Assistant team would be happy to arrange a demonstration for your organization. To request a demo, please send an e-mail to our team e-mail address ibmsa@us.ibm.com and we will work with you to arrange a suitable date & time for the call. You may also attend our scheduled web demos
