IBM Electronic Service Agent

IBM® Electronic Service Agent™ is offered to customers free of charge. Prior to V5R4, Electronic Service Agent provided only two functions: Hardware Problem Reporting and System Inventory Collection and Transmission.

Hardware Problem Reporting predicts and prevents hardware errors by early detection of potential problems, downloads fixes, and automatically calls IBM Service when necessary.

Note: To take full advantage of the hardware problem reporting functions of Service Agent, the IBM® Power™ Systems must be under warranty or have an active IBM Maintenance Services Agreement.

System Inventory Collection and Transmission collects and electronically sends system information to IBM to be used as input for problem analysis and problem prevention functions, and to assist IBM in providing improved service.

In V5R4, Electronic Service Agent added a function: Software Problem Reporting.

Software Problem Reporting identifies software problems with SRC B900FDC8 in a ready status, and it downloads fixes or sends primary APAR data based on the Service Monitors.

What can Service Agent Hardware Problem Reporting do for my system?

The primary purpose of the hardware problem reporting function of Service Agent is to inform you and, optionally, your service provider (usually IBM Service) whenever a hardware problem has occurred or is about to occur. It does this by analyzing entries in two logs: The Problem Log and the Product Activity Log. The Power Systems reports problems and status changes using a table look-up approach. Entries in these logs contain a Reference Code Translate Table (RCTT) field and a System Reference Code (SRC) field. The RCTT field identifies a table of possible problems that can occur on a specific hardware device type. The SRC field indicates a specific entry within the associated RCTT. Hardware problem reporting uses the RCTT and SRC to determine the severity of each log entry. If a matching SRC code is not found in the Service Agent threshold table, the Error Analysis Framework (EAF) flags are referenced. The Error Analysis Framework intercepts an error before it reaches the Product Activity Log, adds information to it, and sets various flags. The flags include if the problem is isolated, if EAF intercepted the error, and if Service Agent should report the error.

Hardware problem reporting can also automatically do problem analysis on problems before calling for service. When a hardware error is logged in the Problem Log, the system attempts to process any Problem Determination Procedures (PDPs) that exist for that particular SRC. Although the system is not able to complete the PDPs for every SRC, it completes as much problem diagnosis as possible so that your service representative will have a better understanding of the problem.

This function of Service Agent aids IBM Service personnel in problem source identification. System and I/O errors are dynamically monitored and analyzed. No user intervention is required. Service Agent further simplifies error analysis for some errors by giving the service representative a list of the most probable parts to be replaced and alternate plans of action for the problem.

The Service Agent application automatically reports problems to IBM for service via the Electronic Customer Support (ECS) link using the SDLC or TCP/IP protocol on the system.