BMC Remedy AR System checks

• Approval Socket Test
• AR System Email Engine Service Name Check
• ASJ Thread Count Test
• Attachment Extension Security Exemption Check
• Filter Correction Check
• Dependent Library Check for Linux and Solaris
• FTS Indexes Check
• Incorrect Overlay Field Mapping Check
• Join Form Validation Check
• Network Address Check for Server
• Next Request ID Block Size Check
• Object Reservation Check
• OS Compatibility Check
• Read-Only-Tran Check
• RPC Check
• Secondary Server Down Check
• System Information Check

• Corrupted Placeholder Schema Check
• DB Configuration Check
• Database Compatibility Check
• Database Transactional Space Availability Check
• DB-OS Unicode Lang Check
• GetList Max Entries Check
• Meta-data Unique Values Check
• SQL Replication ON Check

• CarteHeapSizeCheck
• Collection Directory Space Availability Check for FTS Check
• Disk Space Check for ZDT

• AR Config Params Check
• AR Configuration JAVA Parameters Check
• AR Machine Parameter Check
• Repeat Parameter Check

• Java Version Check
• Platform (AR System) Version Check

This check verifies that both the Approval-RPC-Socket and Plugin-Loopback-RPC-Socket parameters are set to a valid number, but are not the same value. For more information, see Configuring private queue threads and KA 000114508.

Configuration check 

• If only the Approval-RPC-Socket or the Plugin-Loopback-RPC-Socket parameter is configured in the Centralized Configuration, the check is successful.
• If both the Approval-RPC-Socket and Plugin-Loopback-RPC-Socket parameters are configured in the Centralized Configuration, and both the parameters are configured to different RPC program values, the check is successful.
• If both the Approval-RPC-Socket and Plugin-Loopback-RPC-Socket parameters in the Centralized Configuration file are set to same RPC program values, the check fails  and displays a warning message.

(Microsoft Windows only) This check verifies the following:

• The value of BMC_EMAIL_SERVICE_NAME parameter in the <ARSystemInstallDir>\ARSystemInstalledConfiguration.xml file matches with the value of BMC Remedy Email Engine service from services.msc.
  <ARSystemInstallDir> is the location where the AR System server is installed. The default location is C:\Program Files\BMC Software\ARSystem .
• The installer ensures that the location of AREmail directory is valid, and this is an additional validation.
• The location of the AREmail directory matches the value of the the Current Directory parameter from the Microsoft Windows registry entry.

Configuration check 

The check is successful if both the following conditions are met:

• The value of the BMC_EMAIL_SERVICE_NAME parameter from ARSystemInstalledConfiguration.xml file matches the value of BMC Remedy Email Engine service from services.msc.
• The location of the AREmail directory matches with the Current Directory parameter from Microsoft Windows registry entry.

If any of the conditions is not met, the check fails and displays an error message.

If the value of BMC_EMAIL_SERVICE_NAME parameter from ARSystemInstalledConfiguration.xml file does not match with the value of BMC Remedy Email Engine service from services.msc, delete the BMC Remedy Email Engine service. Then, proceed with the upgrade. During the upgrade, the installer will create a new BMC Remedy Email Engine service in services.msc. Alternatively, you can update the service name in the ARSystemInstalledConfiguration.xml file.

The default location of AREmail directory is C:\Program Files\BMC Software\ARSystem\AREmail .
To find the registry entry, perform the following steps:

1. Open the Microsoft Windows Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > ControlSet001 > Services > BMC Remedy Email Engine > Parameters.
   Note the value of parameter Current Directory.
   The location of the AREmail directory must match the value of the Current Directory parameter.

This check verifies that the ASJ-Thread-Count parameter is configured to a nonzero value in the Centralized Configuration.

ASJ Thread count s pecifies the total number of worker threads that process various approval requests.

Configuration check 

• If the value of  ASJ-Thread-Count parameter is set to a nonzero value, the check is successful. 
• If the value of  ASJ-Thread-Count parameter is set to 0, the check fails and displays an error message.

Depending upon the configuration of Attachment Criteria, this check performs the following checks:

• If Attachment Criteria is disabled (Mode 0), the check is successful.
• If Attachment Criteria is enabled in Mode 1, and the required extensions are present in the Comma separated list of limit extensions field, the check is successful.
• If Attachment Criteria is enabled in Mode 1, and the required extensions are not present in the Comma separated list of limit extensions field, the check fails, and displays an error message.
• If Attachment Criteria is enabled in Mode 2, and the required extensions are not present in the Comma separated list of limit extensions field, the check is successful.
• If Attachment Criteria is enabled in Mode 2, and the required extensions are present in the Comma separated list of limit extensions field, the check fails, and displays an error message.

Ensure that any one of the following conditions are true:

• The Attachment Criteria is disabled (Mode 0).
• If Attachment Criteria is enabled in Mode 1, the required extensions are included in the Comma separated list of limit extensions field.
• If Attachment Criteria is enabled in Mode 2, the required extensions are not included in the Comma separated list of limit extensions field.

In BMC Remedy AR System 8.1.02, the Ap:Alt-SetPermissions filter was introduced in one of the hotfixes (HF\pinatubo\CertifiedHotFixes\8.1.02\Multitenancy\SW00488367-ApprovalServer\MultiTenancy_Approval_Hotfix_81SP2). The same filter in 9.1.02 is included with an upper case 'P' in the form name: AP:Alt-SetPermissions. When upgrading from 8.1.02 with that hotfix to 9.1.02, you encounter the following error:

"ERROR RIKMain  - 382 The value(s) for this entry violate a unique index that has been defined for this form"

The check validates the casing in the AP:Alt-SetPermissions filter name.

When upgrading from 8.1.02 with that hotfix to 9.1.02, the check detects a lower case 'p' in the AP:Alt-SetPermissions filter name and displays the following error message:

Please correct the filter name from Ap:Alt-SetPermissions to AP:Alt-SetPermissions. Execute the following SQL statement to fix it:

UPDATE filter SET name = 'AP:Alt-SetPermissions', resolvedName = 'AP:Alt-SetPermissions' WHERE name = 'Ap:Alt-SetPermissions';

Execute the SQL statement provided in the preceding row to update the filter name.

This check verifies that the following mandatory packages required for running the BMC Remedy AR System server reside on a computer. 

For Linux

• libstdc++.x86_64
• libstdc++
• compat-libstdc++-33
• compat-libstdc++-33.i686
• glibc

The check also verifies that the libstdc++.so.6 library resides in the \lib or \usr\lib directory for Linux.

For Solaris

• system/picl
• compatibility/ucb

Notes:

• You can configure the name of the mandatory file in the ars_check.xml file.
  The ars_check.xml file is bundled with the BMC Remedy Configuration Check utility and resides in the config directory.

• If the libstdc++.so.6 (for Linux) is present in the \lib or \usr\lib directory and the required packages are present, the check is successful.
• If the libstdc++.so.6 (for Linux) is not present in the \lib or \usr\lib directory or any of the mandatory packages is missing, the check fails and displays an error message.

• Download the packages from the respective product sites of Linux and Solaris.
• Ensure that the libstdc++.so.6 library required for running the BMC Remedy AR System server on a Linux computer exists in the \lib or \usr\lib directory.

This check verifies the disk space available to take a backup of the installation directory and the FTS directory before you perform the zero-downtime upgrade.

Pre-upgrade check 

• If the free disk space available is more than 2.5 times the size of (installation directory + FTS directory), the check is successful.
• If the free disk space available is less than 2.5 times the size of (installation directory + FTS directory, the check fails and displays an error message.

Ensure that sufficient free space is available on the disk.

The available disk space should be equal to or more than 2.5 times the size of (installation directory + FTS directory).

This check investigates whether Lucene indexes used for search operations are corrupted or inconsistent. The read operation fails when the index is corrupted.

Configuration check 

• If the Lucene indexes are valid, the check is successful.
• If the Lucene indexes are corrupted or inconsistent, the check fails and displays an error message.

If the Lucene indexes are corrupted or inconsistent, perform the following actions:

1. Create a backup of existing indexes from the directory where the indexes are located.
   The default location is <ARSystemInstallDir>/ARSystem/ftsconfiguration/collection directory.
2. Delete the contents of the directory where the indexes are located.
3. Proceed with the upgrade.

4. After the upgrade is complete, perform the global re-index. (On AR System Administration Console, navigate to System > General > Server Information. On the FTS tab, select the Reindex checkbox.). Ensure that the server is running when you perform global re-index.

This check verifies that the form corresponding to a field or view in overlay mode is also in the overlay mode.

• If the field or view is in an overlay and the corresponding form is also in the overlay mode, the check is successful.
• If the field or view is in an overlay, but the corresponding form is not in the overlay mode, the check fails with an error and displays an error message containing the list of fields and forms with issues:

  AR metadata in database seems to have some issues for <Schema_name, Schema_ID, and Field_ID> and will cause failure in upgrade. Please contact BMC customer support team to get these issues resolved before starting the upgrade.

  Where, <Schema_name, Schema_ID and Field_ID> is the list of forms and fields that have overlay issues.

This check verifies that no join forms with invalid customizations exist in the system, where the primary and secondary forms are different in Base and Overlay.

• If forms do not have invalid customization and all primary and secondary forms in Base and Overlay are the same, the check is successful.
• If forms with invalid customizations are present and the primary and secondary forms in Base and Overlay are not same, the check fails and displays an error message with the list of Schema IDs of forms that contain invalid customizations.

This check verifies that the IP address configured for the server (in the hosts file) is a valid physical network address (not a loopback address 127.0.0.1 or 127.0.1.1). Connection issues might occur in a server group environment. If you configure the server address as 127.0.0.1 or 127.0.1.1 in the host file, the other servers in the server group environment cannot communicate with this server.  

Note: This check is specific to Linux system.

Pre-upgrade check, configuration check

• If an IP address is found, and it is other than 127.0.0.1 and 127.0.1.1, the check is successful.
• If an IP address is not found, the check is successful.
• If an IP address is found and it is either 127.0.0.1 or 127.0.1.1, the check fails.

Configuration check 

• If the value of Next Request ID Block Size is set to greater than or equal to 100, the check is successful.
• If the value of Next Request ID Block Size is less than 100, the check fails and displays an error message.

• If object reservation is OFF, the check is successful.
• If object reservation is ON, the check verifies that any objects are reserved:
  • If any objects are reserved, the check fails and reports the names of first five reserved objects in an error message.
  • If no objects are reserved, the check displays a warning message.

This check validates whether the system on which you are installing is a supported operating system. It checks for OS compatibility according to the OS Supportability Matrix document.

The check gets the current version of the OS on which the BMC Remedy Configuration Check utility runs and compares it with the minimum supported values. The following list shows minimum supported versions of the supported operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows server 2008 R2 x64 version 6.1
• RedHat Enterprise Linux 6.5 x64
• CentOS 6.5 (x64)
• SUSE Enterprise Linux Server 11 SP3
• Oracle Solaris 10

Depending on the OS type, this check performs the following checks:

• If the OS on which the BMC Remedy AR System is installed is not supported, the check displays the following error message:
  <OS name> is not a supported operating system for installing AR System Server. Please refer to the Installation Guide for more details on supported hardware and operating systems.
• If BMC Remedy AR system is installed is Linux on 32-bit platform, the check displays the following error message:
  AR Server installation cannot continue on 32bit platform.  Install on 64 bit platform.
• If the OS on which BMC Remedy AR System is installed is a version that is earlier than the recommended version, the check displays a warning message for that particular operating system, with the minimum version recommended according to the OS Supportability Matrix document.

This check verifies that  the Read-Only-Tran-Off parameter in ar.cfg (ar.conf) is set to T (True).

Configuration check  

• If the Read-Only-Tran-Off parameter is not configured in the ar.cfg (ar.conf) file, or it is configured as T, the check is successful.
• If the Read-Only-Tran-Off parameter is configured in the ar.cfg (ar.conf) file as F, the check fails and displays an error message.

(Solaris only) This check verifies that the RPC-Non-Blocking-IO parameter in the ar.cfg (ar.conf) is set to F (False).

Configuration check 

• If RPC-Non-Blocking-IO is set to F (False), the check is successful.
• If RPC-Non-Blocking-IO is set to T (True), the check fails and displays a warning message.

This validation ensures that the secondary AR System server or servers are not running while the primary AR System server is being upgraded. The installer automatically brings the secondary AR System server(s) down while the primary AR Server is being upgraded.

• If the secondary AR System server is not running when the primary AR System server is being upgraded, the check is successful.
• If the secondary AR System server is running when the primary AR System server is being upgraded, the check fails and displays an error message.

Note: If you are running the upgrade in Zero downtime (ZDT) mode, you can ignore this check.

The installer automatically brings the secondary AR System server(s) down while the primary AR Server is being upgraded.

Configuration check 

This check displays the following information:

• System configuration information such as OS, architecture, and OS version
• BMC Remedy AR System database type, version, and character set

This check verifies that no database table exists for a placeholder form.

• If no corresponding database table exists for any of the placeholder forms, the check is successful.
• If database tables corresponding to any of the placeholder forms exist, the check fails and displays an error message with a list of corrupted placeholder form names.

If any of the sizing parameters are less than or different from their recommended setting, the check fails. Depending on the parameters that fail, either an error or a warning is displayed. You can compare the actual value with the recommended value in the report that is displayed.

Perform the following corrective steps:

1. Stop the AR System server.

2. Depending on which database you are using and which parameters need to be corrected, use the following examples to set the recommended values:

   Read Committed Snapshot	SELECT is_read_committed_snapshot_on FROM sys.databases where name = 'ARSystem';   ALTER DATABASE ARSystem SET READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT ON;
   XACT_ABORT is ON	DBCC USEROPTIONS; SET XACT_ABORT OFF;
   SGA_TARGET	SELECT value  from v$parameter where name='sga_target'  alter system set sga_target=10G
   DB_CACHE_SIZE	SELECT value  from v$parameter where name='db_cache_size'"  alter system set db_cache_size=7G
   SHARED_POOL_SIZE	SELECT value from v$parameter where name='shared_pool_size'  alter system set shared_pool_size=3G
   PGA_AGGREGATE_TARGET	SELECT value  from v$parameter where name='pga_aggregate_target'  alter system set pga_aggregate_target=3G
   CURSOR_SHARING	SELECT value  from v$parameter where name='cursor_sharing'  alter system set cursor_sharing='EXACT'
   _B_TREE_BITMAP_PLANS	ALTER SYSTEM SET "_b_tree_bitmap_plans"=false SCOPE=SPFILE;

3. Restart the AR System server.

This check validates the database compatibility with the lowest supported database version. The following databases are supported:

• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2
• Oracle 11gR2 (11.2.0.3.0)

• If the lowest supported database version check is successful, the following message is displayed:
  Prechecker for Database version compatibility successful.

• If the lowest supported database version check fails, the following message is displayed:
  Database version was detected as <your db version>.
The installation program requires database vendor version <b>[arg1]</b> or later.

This check verifies that the available transactional space that is configured for the AR Server Database is smaller than the available transactional space specified as an input parameter to the BMC Remedy Configuration Check utility.

• For SQL Server database:
  • If the available transactional space is more than the specified value, the check is successful.
  • If the available transactional space is smaller than the specified value, the check fails with an error, and displays an error message.
• If the database is Oracle, the check fails and displays a warning message that notifies you to perform the check manually.

Ensure that the available transactional space that is configured for the AR Server Database is not smaller than the available transactional space specified as an input parameter. You can specify the value of available transactional space as an input to the BMC Remedy Configuration Check utility in the ars_check.xml file. The ars_check.xml file is bundled with the BMC Remedy Configuration Check utility, and exists in the config directory.

Note: This check verifies that the available transactional space is larger than the recommended minimum.

Configuration check 

• If Max Entries returned by GetList (Max-Entries-Per-Query) is set to greater than 0 and less than or equal to 2000, the check is successful.
• If Max Entries returned by GetList (Max-Entries-Per-Query) is set to 0 or greater than 2000, the check fails and displays a warning.

Note: Starting in 9.1 SP2, the default value for Max-Entries-Per-Query is 2000. So, if this setting is missing from ar.cfg and Centralized Configuration, the value of 2000 is used.

This check verifies that the metadata tables have unique key-value combinations prior to applying unique indexes in the upgrade. The check also considers overlays created over forms. 

Pre-upgrade check, configuration check 

This check provides a list of all metadata tables and indexes that contain nonunique values.

If the SQL replication is ON for any of the tables, the check lists the names of all such tables.

Ensure that SQL replication is OFF for all tables.

Note: Replication can cause issues when importing definitions and altering DB views. So, replication cannot be enabled during the upgrade.

This check verifies that the Carte heap size in Centralized Configuration is set to a minimum value of 1024 MB. If this is not done, you might face an out of memory error. In this case, the Carte server might not come up.

Configuration check  

This check verifies that the free space available in the FTS index collection directory is more than twice its current size. For example, if the current size of the FTS index collection directory is 1GB, at least 2GB of free space must be available in the directory. During upgrade, the usage of the FTS index collection directory might double and upgrade might fail if enough free space is not available.

The default location of the FTS index collection directory is <AR_INSTALL_DIR>/ftsconfiguration/collection, where <AR_INSTALL_DIR> is the directory where BMC Remedy AR System is installed.

• If the free space available in the FTS index collection directory is more than twice its current size, the check is successful.
• If the free space available in the FTS index collection directory is smaller than twice its current size, the check fails and displays an error message.

Pre-upgrade check

• If the ar.cfg or ar.conf parameters are set to any value other than the recommended value, the check fails and displays the recommended values along with the description of the configuration parameter.
• If the parameter values are according to the recommended values, the check is successful.

• Specify the recommended values for the Private RPC Socket. You can obtain them from the table provided in Configuring private queue threads.
• Specify the recommended values for the remaining parameters. You can obtain them from the Configuration Checker report.

This check is run only if you are at BMC Remedy AR System server 9.0 or later. This check verifies that the JVM options set in the AR Server Config file are according to the following recommended values. If the parameter exists and is according to the recommendation, the HTML report does not notify the parameter.

The following values are specified for a medium-size environment.

• -XX:+UseCompressedOops
• -XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC
• -XX:+UseParNewGC
• -XX:NewRatio=2
• -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=512m
• jvm.minimum.heap.size=8589934592
• jvm.maximum.heap.size=8589934592

Pre-upgrade check, configuration check

• If any parameter value is less than the recommended value, a warning is displayed.
• If any parameter value is missing, a warning is displayed.
• If all the parameter values are present and are according to the recommended values, the check is successful.

1. Stop BMC Remedy AR Server.
2. Access the AR Server Config file:
   
   • (For Windows) <BMC_AR_SERVER_HOME>/arserver.config
   • (For UNIX) <BMC_AR_SERVER_HOME>/bin/arserverd.conf 

3. Perform one of the following actions:

   • If the following parameters are not specified, add them to the AR server configuration file:   

     • -XX:+UseCompressedOops
     • -XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC
     • -XX:+UseParNewGC
     • -XX:NewRatio=2
     • -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=512m

     To add a parameter, check the JVM options section of the configuration file and add the option with the next number in sequence.
     

     # Sample - JVM options (number indicates option order)
     jvm.option.1=-javaagent:./lib/spring-instrument-4.1.2.RELEASE.jar
     .
     .
     .
     jvm.option.15=-XX:HeapDumpPath=./Logs
     jvm.option.16=-Djava.library.path=./lib/upgradeutils/sqlauth/x64

     In the sample above, the "next" number in sequence is 17. So, the next option is added as follows: 

     jvm.option.17=-XX:+UseCompressedOops

     The next jvm option will be as follows:

     jvm.option.18=-XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC
     
     Note: Ensure there are no trailing spaces before or after the parameters. An option with whitespace is not recognized. For example, jvm.option.18=- XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC  or jvm.option.18=-XX+UseConcMarkSweepGC(space) is not recognized.

   • If the parameter exists, but its value is not the recommended value, modify the value in the existing parameter.

4. Start BMC Remedy AR Server.

For more details on Java heap dumps (and thread dumps) for AR Server, see https://bmcsites.force.com/casemgmt/sc_KnowledgeArticle?sfdcid=000101754 .

This check verifies that the BMC Remedy AR Server adheres to the recommended values for the following parameters:

1. CPU Core
2. RAM memory
3. Disk space

Note: The preceding parameters are applicable per server.

Pre-upgrade check, configuration check

• If any parameter value is less than the recommended value, a warning is displayed
• If all the parameter values match or exceed the recommended value, the check is successful.

Use the minimum recommended hardware as suggested. BMC recommends that you must retain the free disk space until the upgrade is complete.

This check verifies that no duplicate configuration parameters exist in the ar.cfg (ar.conf) file.

Pre-upgrade check, configuration check  

• If duplicate configuration parameters do not exist in the ar.cfg (ar.conf) file, the check is successful.
• If duplicate configuration parameters exist in the ar.cfg (ar.conf) file, the check fails and displays a warning message containing duplicate parameters.

• If Java 8 update 45 or later is installed on the computer, the check is successful.

• If the version of Java is earlier than Java 8 update 45, the check fails and displays an error message. 

This check verifies that the current version of the AR System server is supported by the installer for upgrade.

Note:

• You can configure the minimum version of the AR System server in the ars_check.xml file.
  The ars_check.xml file is bundled with the BMC Remedy Configuration Check utility, and resides in the config directory.

• If the version of the current AR System server is the version supported by the installer, the check is successful.
• If the version of the current AR System server version is earlier than the minimum version supported by the installer, the check fails and displays an error message.