Release Notes

Spotlight on Unix is a diagnostic tool for Unix operating systems. Its unique user interface provides you with an intuitive, visual representation of the activity on your OS. Graphical flows illustrate the rate at which data is moving between OS components. Icons display the value of key statistics and metrics.

Resolved Issues and Enhancements

The following is a list of issues addressed and enhancements implemented in this release of Spotlight on Unix.

Known Issues

The following is a list of issues known to exist at the time of Spotlight on Unix release.

Category	Known Issue	Change Request (if applicable)
General Notes
	Spotlight error reported when monitor configuration is changed. Spotlight displays an error message if you change the monitor configuration of your Spotlight client machine while Spotlight is running. When this happens, click OK in the message window to continue running Spotlight. (Spotlight will continue working unaffected.)
	REXEC protocol for Unix commands. Spotlight can use the REXEC protocol to submit various Unix commands (for example, netstat, vmstat, iostat, sar) to observe system activity. These commands must be accessible to REXEC sessions for Spotlight to be able to observe Unix activity. If these commands are not located in the search path for REXEC sessions, Spotlight will display an error.
Installation Issues	'iostat' command may not be installed. Spotlight on Unix works with full functionality only when the iostat command is installed on the server under diagnosis. This may NOT be true for all Unix systems. If iostat is NOT installed, Spotlight may display an error message such as 'iostat: command not found'. If you encounter this error, you can: Choose to ignore the error. When you do so, the Spotlight error will no longer appear, but neither will a number of important disk statistics. Install the iostat command on the server. (On Red Hat Linux, this command is included in the sysstat package.)
Connection Issues	Logging on as "root". When connecting to a Unix OS, you need to do so from a logon other than "root". Remote login as "root" has been disallowed for security reasons.
	Public-key cryptography available for SSH2 connections only. Spotlight can now use public-key cryptography (via DSA or RSA) to communicate securely with Unix systems, but this functionality is made available only under the SSH2 protocol.
	Password authentication for SSH connections that do NOT use public-key cryptography. To allow Spotlight to make SSH connections to any Unix or Linux hosts that permit SSH connections, you may need to alter the PasswordAuthentication configuration item in the sshd_config file. Set the value of PasswordAuthentication to yes.
AIX Limitations	AIX Limitations: The Procs Swapped button in the Memory panel on the home page is not supported. The Physical Memory metric in the Process Details sub-page of the Processes and Services drilldown is not supported. I/O data unavailable before AIX 5.3. For versions before AIX 5.3, disk I/O flows on the home page are disabled, as are disk read and disk write charts in drilldown pages.
HP‑UX Limitations	HP‑UX Limitations: Missing Physical RAM and Virtual Memory values on Spotlight home page: Values for Physical RAM and Virtual Memory can be displayed only if the cstm utility is installed and can be run on the HP-UX server. Free RAM values may be incorrect. Spotlight uses the "free" column in vmstat(1) to show the amount of free RAM. This is not strictly correct for HP‑UX servers, but it is the only figure available that is in any way useful. I/O data unavailable. Disk I/O flows on the home page are disabled, as are disk read and disk write charts in drilldown pages. The Physical Memory metric in the Process Details sub-page of the Processes and Services drilldown is not supported.
Linux Limitations	Linux Limitations: The Procs Swapped button in the Memory panel on the home page is not supported. For versions of Linux based on the 2.4 kernel, Spotlight provides no information in the Waiting data series of the CPU Utilization chart on the Activity page of the Activity Summary drilldown. When running with the latest version of the Linux 2.4 kernel, Disk Activity metrics on the home page return invalid results due to erroneous statistics being returned from iostat in the sysstat package. To overcome this problem, the OS should be updated to a 2.6 kernel. In some Linux versions, Spotlight reports the virtual memory value of multi-threaded processes incorrectly. Each thread is reported as a separate process in the Processes drilldown, and the Virt Mem (MB) column is reported as the sum of the virtual memory values for all threads in the process. With some older versions of Linux based on the 2.4 kernel, the Disk Reads and Disk Writes charts may include negative values. These charts are based on output from iostat, some versions of which do not return the data required by Spotlight. To resolve this issue, upgrade to a more recent version of Linux. The Cache chart in the Memory page of the Activity Summary drilldown is not supported.
Solaris Limitations	Problems with diagnosing Solaris 9 machines. A number of Spotlight home page components will not be populated when Spotlight diagnoses lightly-loaded Solaris 9 machines. This is caused by the output from the vmstat command regularly recording a "State Change" event, which in turn resets values for the vmstat command. In this case, the CPU spinner, User % gauge, System % gauge, Queue Length gauge, Free RAM label, Blocked Processes button, Swapped Processes button, Paging In and Paging Out flows, and Swapping In and Swapping Out flows will appear grayed out.
Solaris Limitations	Other Solaris Limitations: The Collisions by Network Card chart in the Network page of the Activity Summary drilldown is not supported.

Upgrade and Compatibility

Downloading Upgrades from the Internet

From time to time, Quest Software may make upgrades and patches available on the Internet. Upgrades will be made available from the Quest Software Web site at http://www.quest.com. Instructions for downloading and installing upgrades are provided on the Web site.

Issues when Upgrading

See the Installation Issues section under Known Issues for additional information on upgrading between versions of Spotlight on Unix.

System Requirements

Before installing Spotlight on Unix, ensure your system meets the following minimum hardware and software requirements:

Global Operations

This section contains information about installing and operating this product in non-English configurations, such as those needed by customers outside of North America. This section does not replace the materials about supported platforms and configurations found elsewhere in the product documentation.

This release is Unicode-enabled and supports any character set. It supports simultaneous operation with multilingual data. This release is targeted to support operations in the following regions: North America, Western Europe and Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Far-East Asia, Japan.

This release has the following known capabilities or limitations: At this stage, there are no plans to re-localize this release into Japanese, as the revenue indicators do not justify this effort.

Getting Started

Contents of the Release Package

Installation Instructions

Refer to the Spotlight on Unix Getting Started Guide for installation instructions.

For More Information

Contacting Quest Software:

Contacting Quest Support:

Quest Support is available to customers who have a trial version of a Quest product or who have purchased a commercial version and have a valid maintenance contract. Quest Support provides around the clock coverage with SupportLink, our web self-service. Visit SupportLink at http://support.quest.com.

View the Global Support Guide for a detailed explanation of support programs, online services, contact information, and policy and procedures.
The guide is available at: http://support.quest.com/pdfs/Global Support Guide.pdf.

This guide contains proprietary information protected by copyright. The software described in this guide is furnished under a software license or nondisclosure agreement. This software may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of the applicable agreement. No part of this guide may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording for any purpose other than the purchaser’s personal use without the written permission of Quest Software, Inc.

If you have any questions regarding your potential use of this material, contact:

Trademarks

Quest, Quest Software, the Quest Software logo, AccessManager, ActiveRoles, Aelita, Akonix, AppAssure, Benchmark Factory, Big Brother, BusinessInsight, ChangeAuditor, ChangeManager, DeployDirector, DirectoryAnalyzer, DirectoryTroubleshooter, DS Analyzer, DS Expert, ERDisk, Foglight, GPOADmin, Imceda, IntelliProfile, InTrust, Invirtus, iToken, I/Watch, JClass, Jint, JProbe, LeccoTech, LiteSpeed, LiveReorg, LogADmin, MessageStats, Monosphere, NBSpool, NetBase, NetControl, Npulse, NetPro, PassGo, PerformaSure, Quest Central, Quest vToolkit, Quest vWorkSpace, ReportADmin, RestoreADmin, SelfServiceADmin, SharePlex, Sitraka, SmartAlarm, Spotlight, SQL LiteSpeed, SQL Navigator, SQL Watch, SQLab, Stat, StealthCollect, Storage Horizon, Tag and Follow, Toad, T.O.A.D., Toad World, vAutomator, vControl, vConverter, vFoglight, vOptimizer Pro, vPackager, vRanger, vRanger Pro, vSpotlight, vStream, vToad, Vintela, Virtual DBA, VizionCore, Vizioncore vAutomation Suite, Vizioncore vBackup, Vizioncore vEssentials, Vizioncore vMigrator, Vizioncore vReplicator, Vizioncore vTraffic, Vizioncore vWorkflow, WebDefender, Webthority, Xaffire, and XRT are trademarks and registered trademarks of Quest Software, Inc in the United States of America and other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks used in this guide are property of their respective owners.

Third Party Contributions

Spotlight on Unix contains some third-party components. Third-party components that require acknowledgment are listed below. Copies of their licenses may be found on our Web site at http://www.quest.com/legal/third-party-licenses.aspx

Disclaimer

The information in this document is provided in connection with Quest products. No license, express or implied, by estoppel or otherwise, to any intellectual property right is granted by this document or in connection with the sale of Quest products. EXCEPT AS SET FORTH IN QUEST'S TERMS AND CONDITIONS AS SPECIFIED IN THE LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR THIS PRODUCT, QUEST ASSUMES NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER AND DISCLAIMS ANY EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY WARRANTY RELATING TO ITS PRODUCTS INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL QUEST BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION OR LOSS OF INFORMATION) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS DOCUMENT, EVEN IF QUEST HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. Quest makes no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this document and reserves the right to make changes to specifications and product descriptions at any time without notice. Quest does not make any commitment to update the information contained in this document.

Feature	Resolved Issue / Enhancement	Change Request (if applicable)
Activity Summary drilldown	Negative values in Cache chart: We have corrected a problem in the Memory page of the Activity Summary drilldown that sometimes caused the Read Hit Ratio in the Cache chart to display a negative value.	CR6932
Spotlight connection	AIX 5.3 ML7: We have corrected a problem that caused Spotlight to hang while trying to connect to servers running this operating system.	CR7721
Activity Summary drilldown	Incorrect CPU Usage By Processor chart for AIX 5.3 ML8: We have corrected a problem in the CPU page of the Activity Summary drilldown that was displaying the wrong information in the CPU Usage by Processor chart for AIX 5.3 ML8 platforms.	CR8071

Client Requirements
Platform	A Pentium-based or equivalent PC with: A 1.2 GHz Processor (recommended minimum). A monitor capable of supporting a resolution of 1280x1024 or larger. (You should also set the display to use the 64K color palette [65536 colors].) A CD-ROM drive or Internet connection. Spotlight can be downloaded from the Internet or installed from compact disc. The CD-ROM drive should be attached to the PC on which Spotlight is to be installed. A drive mapped to a network device could be used if a local CD-ROM is not available. A printer (optional). Spotlight reports can be printed on a laser or bubble jet printer. You can print graphs in color if your printer provides this capability. A sound card and speakers (optional). Spotlight can use sound to alert you when a threshold is reached. You must have a sound card and speakers installed on your PC for this feature to work. A mouse. To access all the features of Spotlight you should have a mouse installed on your PC.
Memory	256 megabytes of RAM (minimum). 256 megabytes is generally adequate, assuming no other applications are running. Memory consumption will increase for multiple simultaneous connections to Unix servers.
Hard Disk Space	150 megabytes of free disk space. This should exist on a local disk drive rather than a network drive. Extra disk space will be required if you choose to log historical snapshots from within Spotlight.
Operating System	Windows 2000, Windows 2003 Server, Windows XP Professional, or Windows Vista. The following specific requirements exist: Windows 2000: Service Pack 4 (or later) must be installed. Windows XP: Service Pack 1 (or later) must be installed. Windows Vista: Service Pack 1 (or later) must be installed.
Unix Client Permission Requirements	You can find client permission requirements for Spotlight on Unix in the Spotlight on Unix Getting Started Guide. These permissions include those required... When installing Spotlight. When running Spotlight. When authenticating a Spotlight license.
Server requirements
Unix Servers	Unix servers and versions. Spotlight on Unix supports the following server operating systems for O/S Server queries: Sun Solaris 8, 9, 10 HP‑UX 11i, 11i v2, 11i v3 IBM AIX 5.2, 5.3, 6.1 Red Hat and SUSE operating systems running Linux 2.4 and 2.6 kernels
Unix Server Software	Unix programs. The following Unix programs must be accessible to the user logged on to the Unix machine. Perl 5.x awk cat date df grep ifconfig iostat netstat ps sar sed tr uname uptime vmstat wc who For HP‑UX, additionally bdf cstm getconf swapinfo /usr/sbin/ioscan For AIX, additionally lsattr lsdev lsps prtconf For Solaris, additionally /etc/swap mpstat nawk prtconf
Unix User Permissions and Installation Settings	The Unix user should have no special processing on log-on. In particular there must be no input required from the user, and nor should any special login banners be displayed. Write access to the /tmp directory is required on the Unix host; there must be 64 kb of space available in the directory to execute Spotlight scripts. On AIX, the user must be a member of the "adm" group to be able to run the sar command. On Linux, the sysstat package must be installed to enable the user to get detailed disk I/O information. On Linux the /proc filesystem must be present. For connection using SSH, the sshd daemon must be installed and running.

Email	info@quest.com
Mail	Quest Software, Inc. World Headquarters 5 Polaris Way Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 USA
Web	http://www.quest.com

Component type	Component	License or Acknowledgement
User Interface
User Interface	SynEdit 1.2	Mozilla Public License (MPL) 1.1
Encryption	Blowfish version 2	MIT 1.0

Welcome to Spotlight on Unix	Resolved Issues and Enhancements	Known Issues
Upgrade and Compatibility	System Requirements	Global Operations
Getting Started	For More Information