Novell Support Advisor 2.0.1
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Novell Support Advisor 2.0.1
Section 1.1, “Overview,” on page 9
Section 1.2, “System Requirements,” on page 10
Section 1.3, “Installation,” on page 11
Section 1.4, “Running Novell Support Advisor,” on page 12
Section 1.5, “Using Novell Support Advisor,” on page 17
1.1 Overview
The Novell Support Advisor is a free tool that allows customers to perform both pro-active and
reactive system and application diagnostic tasks in a loca, secure and automated fashion for SUSE
Linux Enterprise, ZENworks Configuration Management, NetWare and GroupWise systems.
Novell Support Advisor is an easily installed cross-platform (Linux, Windows, MAC) client that can
be downloaded directly from the
Novell Support Advisor Homepage (http://support.novell.com/
advisor)
. The client is installed on a system that can communicate with both the servers in
customers’ local environment and the update server at Novell. The client prompts the customer to
download newly released Novell Support Diagnostic Patterns (SDPS) authored by Novell technical
experts from the Novell update server. Novell SDPS identify new problems and return possible
solutions to the customer
The Novell Support Advisor diagnosis occurs securely and locally, and does not require sending log
information to Novell for analysis. When the data is gathered for a health check, some load occurs
over a Secure Shell connection to the queried device, but once the data is collected, the connection is
terminated so network and device load is minimized. The gathered data is then consolidtaed into a
dashboard view that shows critical patterns in red, and good patterns in green, identifying what
segments in which systems need attention.
This tool also builds an Analysis Archive Database, or tar ball archive, that preserves a history of
health checks that have been run and the problems that have been addressed, allowing customers to
identify trends and changes over time. A dashboard using the same color-coding scheme, a simple
red = critical and green = good makes the information readily accessible.
Novell Support Advisor can be used reactively when a problem occurs, and also proactively to run
“health checks” to prevent potential future issues.
Novell Support Advisor periodically checks back to Novell to see if there are any new support
patterns available. When new patterns are released, the administrator will be notified and updated
will automatically download, ready for any future analysis.
If a problem is discovered where further help is needed, a service request connection to the Novell
Customer Center through the client interface can be opened via Novell Support.
For more information, see
Novell Support Advisor Homepage (http://support.novell.com/advisor)
