Generating and Collecting Support Packages
The IPA agent enables you to collect Integrity Server data in the form of support packages. After successful installation of the IPA agent, the agent communicates with the Integrity Server to generate the support package. To generate the support package, it is not mandatory to have the IPA agent running on a computer where the Integrity Server is installed. The IPA agent can connect to any computer on which the Integrity Server is installed and generate the support package as long as there are no connectivity issues between the two computers.
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Note:
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The support package generation time is based on the time zone of the computer on which the IPA agent is installed.
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Configuration
The IPA agent is configured so that support packages are generated during a fixed time interval. This time interval is fixed for a given server and the default time is a random time between 12:00 midnight and 6:00 AM. You can also configure this time by specifying a value for the ptc.ipa.collectionTime variable in the IPAConfiguration.properties file.
The time format is <hours:minutes>, where hours are <= 23 and minutes are <= 59, such as 5.44 for 5 hours and 44 minutes. If you specify a valid value for hours and an invalid value for minutes, the value for minutes is reset to zero. Similarly, if you specify a valid value for minutes and an invalid value for hours, the collection time is reset to 00 hours (12:00 midnight).
Logging
Every attempt to generate the support package is logged in the ipaAgent.log file located in the <IPA_Install_Path>/bin/logger directory. These logs are useful for diagnosis if there is a support package generation failure. Similarly, all service start-up and stop logs are logged in the startup.log files located in the IPA_Install_Path>/bin/logger directory.
Support Package Files
The folder containing the support package data is created in the IPA installation location. This folder contains zipped files for all support packages generated at regular intervals. Each zip file is uniquely named with the format <sp_unique_ID_time-stamp>.zip. For example: sp_b936ec59-cfd9-4173-87f0-78ba1e7f4c37_1449660070510.zip where:
• sp—Indicates this is a support package.
• unique ID—A unique ID for Integrity that is generated during IPA installation.
• timestamp—The time in milliseconds during which the support package was collected.
The zipped support package files are deleted when the support package is sent successfully to PTC.