ITA FAQ

Yes, the same REST API is available for both the on-premise and hosted IT Advisor instances. The REST web service documentation is available at https://<server IP>/api/current/docs/index.html

No, the ETL integration options are still available for the on-premise version of ITA.  We are building the integration for the hosted version now.  

A Failed to connect to the server using SSL error occurs when integrating IT Optimize (ITO) as an external system in ITA. This error is usually caused by using an older version of ITO that does not support TLS 1.2. Older ITO releases use TLS 1.0 so return SSL errors when connecting to ITA. ITO 7.5.6 and newer support TLS 1.2. It is recommended that you use the latest versions of both ITO (v7.5.9) and ITA. ITO-connection-error_360020969797.JPG

In the initial installation menu, select Install. ITA_install_1_360036448594.JPG Press the Enter key to begin the installation process. 02_360036448594.JPG Select English/English (United States), and then Continue. It may work with other languages as well. 03_360036448594.JPG Click Date & Time. 04_360036448594.JPG 06_360036448594.JPG Select time zone, define Region and City, Network Time: On, and then click Done. 05_360036448594.JPG Click KEYBOARD. 10_360036448594.JPG Select/add the keyboard you want, and then click Done. 07_360036448594.JPG 08_360036448594.JPG 09_360036448594.JPG Click INSTALLATION DESTINATION.  14_360036448594.JPG Select "I will configure partitioning." and make sure that the root partition "/" gets most of the storage capacity. 11_360036448594.JPG 12_360036448594.JPG Accept Changes and then Done. 13_360036448594.JPG Click NETWORK & HOST NAME.  16_360036448594.JPG Make sure Ethernet is ON, define Host name, Configure the IP settings, and then Done.  Click Begin Installation. 15_360036448594.JPG Click ROOT PASSWORD. 17_360036448594.JPG Enter your root password, and then Done. 18_360036448594.JPG Click USER CREATION 19_360036448594.JPG Enter user name and password, enable "Make this user administrator" and "Require a password to use this account", and then Done Note: Avoid using "root" as user name . For security reasons, root login has been disabled in ITA. 20_360036448594.JPG  The log in session will be displayed when the installation is completed. 22_360036448594.JPG To get/verify the server IP, log in and then type sudo ifconfig 23_360036448594.JPG To verify if the application is running and ready to be used, log in to server Webmin interface (https:<ITA server IP>:10000), and then go to EcoStruxure IT Advisor > Status. 24_360036448594.JPG The ITA application uses a different set of users than the server/Linux users that we used above. On a just installed server (where no backup file has been restored) a default user will be created with the username/password of apc/apc. Log in to the web-client (https://<ITA server IP>) to change the password. Accept the self-signed certificate if browser should prompted for that. Type in apc/apc as login 25_360036448594.JPG Type in apc as existing password, and select a new one (at least 6 characters long) 26_360036448594.JPG

EcoStruxure IT Advisor (ITA) desktop and web-client is available in eleven languages. By default, the client will launch in the language of the clients operating system. However, it is possible to start the client in a different language.  This can be specially useful for non-English clients, that would like to report issues or ask questions in an international space (such as this Community) or tech support. Desktop client Locate the configuration file:  EcoStruxure IT Advisor.ini (for Windows usually located in C:\Program Files\EcoStruxure IT Advisor 'version'\application\EcoStruxure IT Advisor.ini) Edit the configuration file (via Notepad or similar), and add the following two lines (right after -clean) -nl Country Code' and save the file. Here is an example to configure/run it in English (en): mceclip0_360037562734.png mceclip1_360037562734.png Now the ITA client will start in the specified language (English in this example). To undo: Either remove those entries or add # (to start of those lines), and then save the file. Web client In the web client, click on user icon (top right) > Language, and then select your client language. mceclip2_360037562734.png  

EcoStruxure IT Advisor (ITA) client is available in eleven languages. By default, the client will launch in the language of the clients operating system. However, it is possible to start the client in a different language. This can be specially useful for non-English clients, that would like to report issues or ask questions in an international environment or report to tech support. Windows desktop client Locate the configuration file:  EcoStruxure IT Advisor.ini. It is usually located in (C:) Program Files\EcoStruxure IT Advisor 'version'\application. Edit the configuration file (via Notepad or similar) and add the following two lines (right after -clean) -nl [Country Code] and save the file. Here is an example to configure/run it in English (en): img1_360005290857.JPG img2_360005290857.JPG Then the ITA client will start in the specified language (English in this example). To undo: Either remove those entries or add # (to start of those lines), and then save the file. Mac OS desktop client Right-click the EcoStruxure IT Advisor application icon and choose Show Package Contents. Locate and open Contents/MacOS/eclipse.ini with a text editor. Add new line  -Duser.language=[Country Code] anywhere below -vmargs line. img3_360005290857.JPG Web client Log in to the web client. Click the profile icon (top right), and then Language. Now click on your preferred language (language change is instant): img4_360005290857.JPG  

DCO and ITA backup file(s) can be restored on ITA server. In general, backup files from the previous versions of DCO or ITA can be installed on the latest version of ITA. a) Upload the backup file you want to be restored to the /data/backup folder (the default location on the server). b) In the web client, go to Administration > Backup and Restore. c) Look for the file you want to restore, and then click on the backup file's Restore option. mceclip0_360037568474.png Note: It is recommended that you take a fresh backup from the current setup before restoring any backup file.

In order to get a solution to your issue as fast as possible, include all relevant details available, when you report your issue. The more information we have, the faster we can identify your problem and help you.  Minimum requirements: Give a detailed description of the scope and the issue you need help solving Describe the steps to reproduce the issue Provide relevant files Give a detailed description of the scope and the issue you need help solving What were you doing, when the problem occurred? What kind of equipment were you working on? How many rooms were open? What is you client operating system? If the problem relates to an existing installation, include: Product name, Installation details (version and build number), Configuration details, System hardware details (physical/virtual server, etc.)  Describe the steps to reproduce the issue How can we reproduce the problem? Describe what you have done to try to solve the problem yourself. Upload any relevant screenshots (e.g. application error messages). Remember there is a lot of information we can gather from the environment in which the error occurred, so upload a clear screen dump of the entire screen rather than a screen shot of the error message. Can we get access to a latest backup file? Provide relevant files In ITA, client logs: can be collected from desktop client Help > Download client log files server logs: can be collected from web-client Administration > Download log files If the ITA application is not running, then get these files: client logs: usually located in C:\Users\<user name>\.isxo\<ITA version>\Operations\application.log server logs: ssh log in to server and run the following commands tar -zcvf /tmp/serverlogs.tar.gz /opt/jboss-as/standalone/log tar -zcvf /tmp/journal.tar.gz /var/log/journal the generated files would be in the /tmp folder, called “serverlogs.tar.gz” and “journal.tar.gz” which can be downloaded from the server. Latest backup file: backup file(s) usually located in /data/backup folder. 

The IT Advisor server must have access to the internet and have access to EcoStruxure IT https://app.ecostruxureit.com/manage. Log in to the IT Advisor web client as an administrator user. https://<ITA server> Go to Configuration > EcoStruxure IT Registration. A registration code will be displayed. Make a note of it. ITA_register_with_ITE_5882789265053.png Click Register.  Click Go to login to connect gateway... and log in to your EcoStruxure IT Expert account. Alternatively, you can go to https://ecostruxureit.com, click Customer Login and go to Administration > Gateways > Connect gateway. Enter a Name for the ITA server and the Registration code from the ITA web client. Click Connect to complete the registration.  When you launch the ITA desktop client and change to Planning Device Association mode, an EcoStruxure IT entry will be available on the Unassociated Devices tab.  

Here is a simple illustration of how to create a server room, add equipment, and configure the power path. Create server room In the desktop client, Planning Data Center mode, right click Global and select New > New Server Room. m01_360012249137.JPG   Give it a name, and then define the room's Floor and Ceiling settings. m02_360012249137.JPG Add equipment from the Genome Library to Genomes In this example the following equipment will be modeled, so will be added to Genomes (from the Genome Library): UPS (40 KW) PDU (40KW) Breaker Modules Rack Rack PDU Server  m03_360012249137.JPG Model floor standing equipment  Drag floor standing equipment (UPS, PDU, and Rack) from Genomes and drop/place it on the opened room floor: m04_360012249137.JPG Model rack mounted equipment Click on the rack, so you can see it in the rack view. Drag equipment (such as rPDU and server) from Genomes into the rack in the rack view: m05_360012249137.JPG Name the modeled equipment To name the modeled equipment, right click the equipment, and then select Properties > General and enter the equipment name: m06_360012249137.JPG Configure Power path  Right click the UPS, and then select Properties > Power and define the connected power comsumer (such as PDU), Redundancy settings (such as A-Feed), and Power Path Color: m07_360012249137.JPG Right click the PDU, and select Properties > Power. Define the Output voltage settings: m08_360012249137.JPG In the PDU Properties > Power , select Breaker Panel. Click Add panel and then select/define the power consumer(s): m09_360012249137.JPG Right the server, and then select Properties > Power and define its power settings/power cable connection: m10_360012249137.JPG  

If for security reasons you want to allow SSL protocol to accept only TLSv1.2, here is how to do it. Login to the server's Webmin interface https://ITA server IP:10000 Go to Webmin > Webmin Configuration > SSL Encryption > SSL Settings Look for SSL protocol versions to reject. Uncheck TLSv1.2 and check other versions to reject if needed. Click Save. img_360017917278.JPG

By default both SNMPv1 and v3 might be enabled in your ITA setup. If for security reasons you would like to disable SNMPv1 here is how to do it. Login to the server's Webmin interface https://ITA server IP:10000 Go to EcoStruxure IT Advisor > Setup. On the configuration page, look for Enable SNMP server. Uncheck the v1 option. Click Setup. img1_360017769077.JPG

Log in to the ITA server Webmin interface. Go to System > Users and Groups, and click Create a new user. Capture_1_360006242878.JPG Enter the Username, define the default Shell (such as /bin/bash), enter a password, etc. In Group Membership, > Secondary groups, make sure wheel is selected. Click Create. Capture_2_360006242878.JPG Note: Root login (to the server) has been disabled for security reasons, so avoid creating a user name "root". However, if root is the only user created during the software installation, then it can be used to log in to the Webmin interface. You then create a new user as described above.

There are at least two ways to verify the status of the backup in ITA. 1. Verify via server Webmin  The Status page in Webmin may display the status of the latest backup. mceclip0_360004892918.png 2. Check the backup location The default location is /data/backup. In the backup directory, there are two set files for each scheduled backup. One is the backup file itself with the file format ".tar.gz". The other has the file format ".completed" to notify you that the backup was completed. mceclip1_360004892918.png  

Since 2020-01-01 the ITA server Webmin interface Setup and Status pages may display: Error: It seems the server was installed in the future. Please verify the server time is correct and reinstall the server. mceclip0_360004665258.png This is the so-called 2020 effect, buried deep in the Unix/Linux system (Perl related). Starting from January 1, 2020, when making any date comparison operation with the year 1970 (the origin of Unix time), the date becomes 2070. Although this does not seem to affect the ITA server functionality at all, this is expected to be fixed as soon as possible. Update: fixed in latest release version(s).

In the desktop client, go to System Setup > E-mail Settings. Enter the settings for the configuration, such as SMTP server and integration credentials. Capture_360006245718.JPG This configuration allows the server to send predefined email notifications that may concern Work Orders.

To upgrade the DCO 7.5 setup to the latest version of ITA, you must first update DCO to version 8.3.2: Update your DCO 7.5 setup to version 8.3.2 Make sure you have a backup of your DCO 7.5 setup. Perform a new clean installation of DCO 8.3.2. Restore your configuration from the DCO 7.5 backup. Create a backup this new 8.3.2 configuration. Upgrade your DCO 8.3.2 setup to ITA 9.x Perform a clean installation of the latest version of ITA 9.x.  Restore your configuration from the backup of your DCO 8.3.2 setup. See  Installing IT Advisor (on-premise) Installing ITA 9.1.1 and newer on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 Installing ITA on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 and 8    

From the power configuration point of view, the functionality of rack mounted UPS and PDU is not supported. Currently the power path can start from UPS -> PDU -> rack-PDU and/or from PDU > rack-PDU. Here, both the UPS and PDU are floor mounted equipment, with rack/rack-PDU considered as consumers. A possible work around is to model rack mounted UPSs and rack PDUs as floor standing units.

Parallel UPS system is not directly supported. As a work around, it is OK to model parallel UPSs as one UPS as long it is an N, or N+1 setup. For an N+1 setup, make sure that the modeled UPS has an internal redundancy of N+1 and that the UPS Capacity is the 'N' part. For example, 3 identical 50KW UPSs in N+1 would give a capacity of 100KW because the third UPS is "standby." If you have Data Center Expert UPS devices, you can associate all of them on the one UPS model object and you will get all alarms. The down side is that impact might not handle the situation correctly, reporting loss of power instead of loss of redundancy.

The migration feature in ITA makes it possible to migrate (merge) from another DCO/ITA setup. The feature is available in the desktop client System Setup > Migrate from EcoStruxure IT Advisor. 9389310232477_360005241517.png To have a successful migration, it is required that: Setups must not originate from the same installation. Setups must have different locations, users, integrated external system(s), tags, etc. Migration from one setup to another can be applied only once. To migrate a solution from another StruxureWare Data Center Operation (DCO) or EcoStruxure IT Advisor (ITA) server, a backup file from that server is needed. It is recommended that you take a fresh backup before doing the migration. Run a test (on a test setup) before executing on the production server.