I definitely recommend installing Linux on Windows

If you've got Windows 10, hopefully you've been able to install a recent update that allows you to enable the Windows System for Linux feature and install a supported Linux distribution from the Microsoft Store. I finally bit the bullet and installed Ubuntu today, and it makes the life of a system administrator MUCH easier. I already had Cygwin installed, but this is just a slightly smoother integration, with many of the tools you need already installed (or available with the normal 'apt' or 'apt-get').

The Ubuntu distribution available in the MS Store even comes with vi with color highlighting for known file types (like html or js), and it's got telnet, ssh, sftp, etc. to make your life easy.

It's been available for a while, and I was hesitant to install it, but now I'm very happy I did.

Amazon Chime is a cheaper and more powerful alternative to WebEx

If you haven't looked at Amazon's different AWS offerings in a while, you definitely should take a look sometime. For example, I stumbled across their Chime web conference service:

https://aws.amazon.com/chime/

and I can report that it's just as reliable and easy as WebEx, but with more capabilities and at a fraction of the cost. Specifically, it's only a maximum of $15 per month per host, with 100 attendees allowed, plus you get a dial-in number (an 800 number is available, but there are additional per-minute charges associated with it).

We had an older WebEx account that was $50 per host per month, so I was very happy to run across this service and to get a minimum of a 70% savings. I say minimum of 70% savings because some of our host accounts were used only at most 2 days per month, which, with Chime, will now only cost a maximum of $6 per month.

High Availability for DB2 on AWS

If you're running an IBM product that requires a DB2 backend, you should really consider running DB2 on AWS. Here's a great article that provides you with the CloudFormation template to set it all up for you very quickly:

https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/database/creating-highly-available-ibm-db2-databases-in-aws/

If you're concerned about running your infrastructure in the cloud, please contact us so we can give you the information you need about the tight security and incredible flexibility that AWS provides.

Update 8/8/2023: One important note: this still uses TSAM for failover. What this means is that if your primary DB2 instance has a problem, the entire VM hosting that instance is rebooted. So if you have multiple databases on that instance, they're all failing over to the backup. If you have any other processes running on that VM, they're all going away. You can definitely architect your application to work fine with this, but it is definitely something you have to keep in mind before simply implementing DB2 HADR.

Netcool and other IBM ITSM products upgrades due to Java6 EOS

Problem

IBM has announced End of Support dates for quite a few products in 2018.  In many cases, this stems from the impending end of support for Java 1.6.  You can search for IBM products and the EOS date here: https://www-01.ibm.com/software/support/lifecycle/

Solution

Gulfsoft Consulting can help you move to a supported release in a short time period, or we can get you upgraded to a product with more features (like moving to NOI from Omnibus). We have helped hundreds of clients over the years upgrade and migrate in situations exactly like this.  The typical time needed is a few weeks, not months.  For more information contact:

frank.tate@gulfsoft.com 304 376 6183
mark.hudson@gulfsoft.com 816 517 7179

Details

Some of the products whose support ends in 2018 are:

Product	Version	EOS Date
IBM Tivoli Monitoring	6.2.2	4/30/2018
IBM Control Desk	7.5.x	9/30/2018
Tivoli Workload Scheduler	8.6.x	4/30/2018
Netcool Operations Insight	1.2, 1.3.x	12/31/2018
Network Mgmt	9.2.x	12/31/2018
OMNIbus	7.4.x	12/31/2018
Impact	6.1.x	12/31/2018
IBM Tivoli Network Manager	3.9.x, 4.1.x	12/31/2018
Netcool Performance Manager	1.3.x	12/31/2018
Netcool Performance Flow Analyzer	4.1.x	12/31/2018
Network Configuration Manager	6.3.x, 6.4.0, 6.4.1	12/31/2018

IBM recommends upgrading to later versions of the products as soon as possible in order to maintain full support. After April 2018, support for Java™ 6 will be limited to usage and known problems with possible updates for critical security fixes through the end of 2018. After April 2018, WebSphere Application Server (WAS) 7 support will be limited to non-Java defects. Support for other components will continue as usual.

More information about Gulfsoft can be found here: https://www.gulfsoft.com/about

We've got a few open time slots for one-on-one meetings at #Think2018

The #Pink18 ITSM conference was a great success for us, and we're now looking forward to #Think2018. It's going to be a jam packed week, but we've still got a few time slots open to schedule sit down discussions with existing and potential clients and partners. Contact Frank (frank.tate@gulfsoft.com) or Mark (mark.hudson@gulfsoft.com) today to set up a 30-60 minute meeting!

#Pink18 is off to a Great Start

The #Pink18 ITSM conference kicked off last night with a reception, and it looks to be another great conference this year. Pink Elephant always has great thought leaders presenting at the sessions, and this year will continue that tradition.

If you're at the conference, please stop by our booth, #601, in the exhibitors showcase.

IBM Maximo named a Leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Asset Management!

https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/blogs/a9ba1efe-b731-4317-9724-a181d6155e3a/entry/IBM_Maximo_named_a_Leader_in_Gartner_Magic_Quadrant_for_Enterprise_Asset_Management?lang=en

Something very important to note is that the IBM Control Desk product is built entirely on Maximo. So almost all of the features and capabilities that put Maximo into Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Asset Management are also included in IBM Control Desk.

Gulf Breeze Software Partners is now Gulfsoft Consulting

Gulf Breeze Software Partners was started 15 years ago as a consulting firm that also had small
aspirations to write software at some point. Along the way, we realized that we really prefer
implementing and customizing software over writing new applications from scratch. And while
we've advertised that we're specialists in the implementation and customization of the IBM suite
of products up to this point, we're now marketing the fact that we have experience in and offer
services on a much larger array of products from multiple vendors. To effectively market our
capabilities to new customers, we decided to change our name from Gulf Breeze Software Partners
to Gulfsoft Consulting. We've still got the same amazing people and the same drive to make customers
successful, and now we've got a name that more accurately describes what we do. Here’s a link to some of the technologies we work with every day.

We look forward to continuing our relationships with existing customers and making new ones.

We will be at multiple conferences this year: Pink Elephant's Pink18, IBM's Think 2018, and ServiceNow's Knowledge18

We are growing in size and capabilities! That's why you'll see us at three great conferences this year:

Pink18 Feb 18-21, 2018 at the JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes

Adopt, Adapt & Apply!

DevOps, Agile, Lean IT, ITIL® & More

The conference theme will be covered in over 120+ sessions and 12 tracks to show how you can master the dynamics of today's business environments by adopting, adapting and applying tried and true best practices. Subjects include: ITSM, ITIL, Lean IT, Agile, Scrum, DevOps, COBIT®, Organizational Change Management, Business Relationship Management, and more!

Think 2018 Mar 19—22, 2018 Las Vegas, NV

Think Campus

100s of core sessions, Think Tanks, and opportunities to get out of traditional sessions. You’ll experience face to face conversations with experts and product developers, network with clients that face similar challenges as you, and meet with 100s of IBM strategic business partners.

Think Academy

1000s of labs, certifications, client and technical deep dives that provide the info you need to take back to your organization and make it your own.

Knowledge18 May 7-10, 2018 Las Vegas, NV

Spark Your Transformation

Create smart, delightful experiences for your employees and customers

An updated version of MxLoader is available

While Bruno Portaluri left IBM a few months ago, he is still updating and maintaining MxLoader. He made his most recent updates on Nov 14, 2017, available here:

https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/groups/service/html/communityview?communityUuid=220c5757-ac28-4f25-bd08-457c5a3364c3#fullpageWidgetId=W9cbbfec147e6_4341_9578_7671e722619f&file=31d8347f-219f-45b2-a1d2-18f777e38810

Canada's Secret Spy Agency Has Open-Sourced a Malware-Fighting Tool

A link to the code:

https://bitbucket.org/cse-assemblyline/

All of the details about the release can be found here:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/cse-canada-cyber-spy-malware-assemblyline-open-source-1.4361728

Every IT department in the world should download and use this if they don't already have something in place.

We're a sponsor at Pink18 in Orlando!

We'll be a sponsor of the Pink18 conference in Orlando, Florida Feb. 18-21, 2018. Come by booth #601 to see what we're offering or just to say hi.

How Netcool Operations Insight delivers cognitive automation by Kristian Stewart

https://www.ibm.com/blogs/cloud-computing/2017/08/netcool-operations-insight-cognitive-automation/

One important topic that Kristian omitted from his excellent article is the optional Agile Service Manager (ASM) component of NOI. ASM provides a context aware topology view of your applications and infrastructure, which gives you a clear view of the impacts causes by events. Take a look at our other articles and YouTube videos for more information on ASM.

What to use instead of ITMSuper

ITMSuper is a JavaScript based tool that can be used for maintaining the health of your ITM 6.x environment. It was written by IBM and made available as a separate download, but was never completely supported. It's even less supported today, as it only supports Internet Explorer 8. Here is a great blog post from Shaun R at IBM pointing to different tools that you should use instead, all written by IBM's own John Alvord:

https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/blogs/0587adbc-8477-431f-8c68-9226adea11ed/entry/Helping_us_help_you_ITM_Bitesize_Edition_ITMSuper?lang=en

Free mobile app for monitoring the status of your Maximo and ICD environments

I just found the MxAdmin app in IBM Marketplace:

https://www.ibm.com/us-en/marketplace/mxadmin

It was written by A3J Group and appears to have some pretty nice functionality.

IBM Control Desk 7.6.0.3 is available

Introduction

IBM has released the ICD 7.6.0.3 FixPack:

https://www-945.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/swg/selectFixes?parent=ibm~Tivoli&product=ibm/Tivoli/IBM+SmartCloud+Control+Desk&release=7.6.0.2&platform=All&function=all&source=fc

Installation issues

On linux, the service_portal.bin installer crashes unless you use the "-i silent" install option. See this link for more information:

https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSWT9A_7.6.0.3/com.ibm.sccd.doc/cdui_install/c_ctr_cdui_install_unattended.html

New/Updated Functionality

Here are IBM's links for the new capabilities:

Control Desk Platform

-------------------------------------

https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSWT9A_7.6.0.3/com.ibm.sccd.doc/whats_new/c_ctr_whats_new_7603_top.html

Control Desk Service Portal

-------------------------------------

https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSWT9A_7.6.0.3/com.ibm.sccd.doc/whats_new/c_whats_new_serviceportal_7603.html

I've found a couple of additional things that have been fixed that I didn't find in the documentation. Specifically:

Service Portal

- Default values for specifications now completely work. This means that you can specify a default value for a specification for an offering, and you will see that default value filled in when you go to request that offering.

- Specifications tied to Table Domains now work again. This function existed in 7.6.0.1, but was broken in 7.6.0.2, and is now back. Specifically, if you define a specification to be tied to a table domain, when you click in the field for that specification in the offering, you'll get a popup with all of the possible values. 

- Users can add an attachment before hitting the Submit button. One thing this allows you to do is require an attachment through the use of an "Add to Cart" or "On Submit" validation script.

Update 9/25/17: Control Desk Platform

The Person Groups "Group Availability" Gantt chart works now. It was broken in 7.6.0.1 and 7.6.0.2, but it does work again in 7.6.0.3.

Force change of global system property in Maximo

UPDATE 6/3/2020

Another way to resolve this issue is to point to a local maximo.properties file as described here:

https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSANHD_7.6.1/com.ibm.mbs.doc/user/t_change_password_live_refresh.html

And put the mxe.report.birt.viewerurl property in that file.

Introduction

I recently encountered an issue in one of my ICD 7.6 installations where a global system property had an incorrect value set that I needed to change without rebuilding my MAXIMO.EAR file. This post is a description of the problem and my eventual "fix". It's just a test environment, and this is NOT a resolution that I would recommend for a production system. But I wanted to document the details to possibly help others in similar situations.

Problem

I installed ICD 7.6 and chose to use the maxdemo DB2 database script during configuration. This apparently set the mxe.report.birt.viewerurl global property to
http://myhostname.domain.name/maximo/reports/ , and that is an invalid value. This system property should either be unset or set to
http://myhostname.domain.name/maximo/report   (with no trailing "s"). The problem that this causes is that any attempt to click on the "Run reports" action gives an HTTP 404 error. 

It took a while to run this down, but finally looking in System Configuration->Platform Configuration->System Properties showed me the setting for this system property:

Notice that I'm unable to modify the value AND "File Override?" is checked. So this means the value is set somewhere in the filesystem. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the value anywhere in any file on the system, so the only normal way around this is to modify maximo.properties on the Admin workstation, rebuild MAXIMO.EAR, then redeploy the EAR file. But I didn't want to do that for various reasons. Also, since "Global Only?" is set to true, I couldn't create an instance-specific property with the same name and different value. 

My "solution"

I tried several different tactics, but the one that finally worked for me was to directly update the database to set "User Defined?" true for this property so I could then delete it and create an instance-specific property with the same name. The SQL command I used to make this change was:

update maxprop set userdefined=1 where propname = 'mxe.report.birt.viewerurl'

After running the above SQL command from a DB2 command prompt, I could then create an instance-specific property with the same name but with the correct value. Once I did that, I was able to successfully run all* BIRT reports.

All* reports?

Actually, the demo database script has at least one problem. Specifically, the CI named RBA_SERVER has a problem that causes the "CI List" report to fail. To get around this issue, you need to first find and delete the WORKORDER that references the RBA_SERVER CI, and then you can delete the RBA_SERVER CI. Once you delete that CI, you'll be able to successfully run the "CI List" report.

Disabling IE Enhanced Security Mode on Windows 2012 Server

Here's a handy PowerShell script I found to disable IE Enhanced Security Configuration on Windows 2012 Server. This needs to be run as Administrator:


function Disable-IEESC
{
$AdminKey = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{A509B1A7-37EF-4b3f-8CFC-4F3A74704073}"
$UserKey = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{A509B1A8-37EF-4b3f-8CFC-4F3A74704073}"
Set-ItemProperty -Path $AdminKey -Name "IsInstalled" -Value 0
Set-ItemProperty -Path $UserKey -Name "IsInstalled" -Value 0
Stop-Process -Name Explorer
Write-Host "IE Enhanced Security Configuration (ESC) has been disabled." -ForegroundColor Green
}
Disable-IEESC

A new IBM Redbook on writing applications with Node.JS, Express and AngularJS

IBM just published another great Redbook, this time on application development with Node.JS, Express and AngularJS:

http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/sg248406.pdf

It describes the process on BlueMix, but it is applicable to a local application also.

What I like about it is the intricate detail it goes into for each and every step of the process and line of code in the application. It includes a ton of details about exactly what is going on with each step. If you're just learning these technologies or want a primer, this is an extremely informative resource.

Debugging Remote Control in IBM Control Desk

Introduction

One of the many great features in IBM Control Desk is the ability to have a service desk agent remotely take control of a user's machine for troubleshooting (or repair) purposes. This function leverages the IBM BigFix for Remote Control agent on the target machine and a JNLP file on the server that launches a JAR file on the agent's machine.

Architecture

The architecture is fairly simple. The JAR file running on the agent's machine communicates DIRECTLY with the BigFix Remote Control agent on the user's machine, which listens by default on port 888. This means that any firewalls between the agent's machine and the user's machine must allow a connection to port 888 on the user's machine.

Installing the Agent on the User's Machine

If you manually install the agent, it prompts you for the server name and port, but these values are ignored if you don't have BigFix in your environment. So if you don't have BigFix in your environment, these two values can be anything you want - it doesn't matter. It also asks you for the port that the agent should listen on. This is 888 by default, but can be changed to anything you'd like.

Launching the Controller Interface in debug mode on the Agent's Machine

This can be done in several ways from the ICD GUI, but going that route doesn't actually allow you to put the Controller interface into debug mode. To do that, you need to copy the TRCConsole.jar file from any of your ICD application servers or from the Administrative Workstation. Search for the file by name and you'll find it. Copy this file to the agent's machine.

On the agent machine, you need to launch the JAR file with the --debug flag:

TRCConsole.jar --debug

This will create a file named trctrace_<date_timestamp>.log in your %HOMEPATH% folder. This file will contain detailed tracing information that can be used for debugging.