HP ZCentral Hardware Monitor-Installation

The HP ZCentral Hardware Monitor is an optional ZCentral software component that enhances the System Alerts experience. When installed, Anyware Manager can monitor the state of Power Supply units for ZCentral 4R systems and display alerts as errors on the Anyware Manager console.

System Requirements¶

1. A supported hardware platform (Currently only HP ZCentral 4R workstations are supported).
2. The most up-to-date Intel® AMT Firmware.
3. Supported operating systems such as:
   • Windows 10
   • Red Hat Enterprise 7
   • Red Hat Enterprise 8
   • Ubuntu 18.04
   • Ubuntu 20.04

When installing on Windows the following are also required:

- Intel® Management Engine Interface Driver (Intel® Management Engine Software [Chipset Driver] softpaq from the HP Drivers website)
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 Redistributable

HP ZCentral Hardware Monitor Installation¶

To install the Hardware Monitor, download and run the installer package for one of the following supported platforms, which is available on the Installers page of the Anyware Manager console:

• Windows
• Red Hat 7, Red Hat 8
• Ubuntu-18.04, Ubuntu-20.04

The package will include the Hardware Monitor installer and an install script.

Install Scripts

The installer packages come with an installation script (install.cmd for Windows and install.sh for Linux) that determines the platform support for HP ZCentral Hardware Monitor. If supported, then the Hardware Monitor is installed. The installers can be executed manually if required.

• Linux Script: To upgrade a package, instead of performing a fresh install, the script can be passed the --upgrade argument. This ensures that the rpm uses the upgrade command on a Red Hat Linux OS. On a Debian OS the dpkg command does not change.
• Windows Script: By default, the script only calls msiexec /i MSI. Any arguments should be additionally passed to the script. This can be done for both installers or individually. Run install.cmd with --help to view the available arguments.

Signature Verification¶

Hardware Monitor installation packages are digitally signed to ensure security and integrity of the package upon download. You can verify these digital signatures to ensure sanctity of the installation package before installing them on your system.

A gpg key indicates who signed the package. Details for the hardware monitor gpg signature key can be found below.

• Download the public key from the link that says Download signature key on the installation page of the Anyware Manager console. This link becomes visible when a platform is selected from the operating system dropdown field.
• Key ID: HP ZCentral Connect hpss-admin@hp.com
• Fingerprint: 66CF 5025 AA35 1EB7 CC78 136F C75F B106 E198 51F0

You can verify gpg signatures using a gpg key. Files such as .tar.gz, zip, .deb have a gpg signature. The .msi Windows installer file has a Windows operating system signature that can be viewed by right-clicking the file and examining its security properties.

Verify Digital Signatures on .tar.gz, .zip, .deb Files¶

To verify the signature:

1. Import the public key to the gpg key ring by running the following command:

gpg --import GPG-KEY-hpzcentralconnect

gpg: key E19851F0: public key "HP ZCentral Connect <hpss-admin@hp.com>" imported
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg: imported: 1  (RSA: 1)

1. Verify the signature of the .deb, .tar.gz or .zip file by passing the corresponding signature file (the signature file ends in the .asc extension) with the file to be verified. Run the following command:

gpg --verify hp_zcentral_hardware_monitor_rhel.tar.gz.asc hp_zcentral_hardware_monitor_rhel.tar.gz

After executing this command, the output on the command line should be as follows:

gpg: Signature made XXX XX XXX 2020 XX:XX:XX XX MST using RSA key ID E19851F0
gpg: Good signature from "HP ZCentral Connect <hpss-admin@hp.com>"
gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature!
gpg: There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner.
Primary key fingerprint: 66CF 5025 AA35 1EB7 CC78  136F C75F B106 E198 51F0

gpg --edit-key "HP ZCentral Connect"
gpg> trust
gpg> <Select your level of trust>
gpg> quit

Verify Digital Signatures on .rpm Files¶

To verify the signature:

1. Import the public key to the .rpm key ring by running the following command:

rpm --import GPG-KEY-hpzcentralconnect

1. Verify the signature of the .rpm file by running the following:

rpm --checksig hpzcentralconnecthardwaremonitor.rpm

After executing this command, the output on the command line should be as follows:

hpzcentralconnecthardwaremonitor.rpm: rsa sha1 (md5) pgp md5 OK

Supported Events¶

The ZCentral Hardware Monitor scans the health of the Power Supply Units on HP ZCentral 4R workstations while the OS is running. The dual Power Supply Units (PSUs) on a 4R are each in 1 of 3 states: 1. Uninstalled. 2. Installed and Providing Power. 3. Installed and Not Providing Power.

Additionally, when 2 Power Supply Units are installed, they are configured in Redundant or Non-redundant (Aggregate) mode depending on the workload of the workstation. This configuration is done through BIOS and the Hardware Monitor gathers this information during start-up.

The following is a list of states that the Hardware Monitor is aware of:

• 2 Power Supplies installed and providing power running in redundant mode. (Good State)
• 2 Power Supplies installed and providing power running in non-redundant mode. (Good State)
• 1 Power Supply installed and providing power. (Good State)
• 2 Power Supplies installed but only 1 providing power running in redundant mode. (Error State)
• 2 Power Supplies installed but only 1 providing power running in non-redundant mode. (Error State)