invscout Command

Purpose

Surveys the host system for currently installed microcode or Vital Product Data (VPD).

Syntax

invscout [ -c ] -v [ -m machine_type_and_model ] [ -s serial_number ] [ -q ]

invscout [ -u [ mask] ] [ -e ] [ -r ] [ -m machine_type_and_model ] [ -s serial_number ] [ -catl microcode_catalog_path ] [ -q ]

invscout [ -U | -UF [ mask] ] [ -e ] [ -m machine_type_and_model ] [ -s serial_number ] [ -catl microcode_catalog_path ] [ -fl microcode_file_path ] [ -q ]

invscout [ -h | -g ]

Description

The invscout command executes one instance of the stand-alone version of the Inventory Scout process. The invscoutd command starts the server daemon side of a client-server version.

The Inventory Scout process supports two survey types:

Microcode Survey

A Microcode Survey gathers data from the host system on currently installed microcode for invscout-supported systems, devices and adapters. The following table describes the types of data that the Microcode Survey gathers and the files in which it stores the data.

Table 1. The data captured and the files produced by the Microcode Survey
File Data stored Associated flag Display and print methods
Microcode Survey Upload File A comparison of the gathered microcode levels and the latest levels available. None. Use the invscout command with no flags to create a Microcode Survey Upload File. Display locally with the webSM GUI, or upload to a Web server over the Internet.
Microcode Update Results Formatted Text Report File Contains a subset of the information recorded in the Microcode Survey Upload File. The subset includes the following information:
  • Information about the invscout execution itself.
  • The previous level of microcode that was installed on each device.
  • The level of microcode that is currently installed on each device.
  • The latest level of microcode that is available for each device.
  • For each device, the results of an attempted action to update the microcode to the latest level.
 Use the -U option to create a Microcode Update Results Formatted Text Report File. Print or display on a monitor.
Microcode Survey Results Formatted Text Report File Contains a subset of the information recorded in the Microcode Survey Upload File. The subset includes the following information:
  • Information about the invscout execution itself.
  • The level of microcode that is currently installed on each device.
  • The latest level of microcode that is available for each device.
  • A suggested action for each device that can be applied according to the downloaded catalog.mic file.
 Use the -u flag to send the file to the screen from where you invoked the invscout command. Print or display on a monitor.
Microcode Survey Formatted Text Report File
Attention: The Microcode Survey Formatted Text Report File is deprecated. Use the Microcode Survey Results Formatted Text Report File instead.
 Contains a subset of the information recorded in the Microcode Survey Upload File. The subset includes the following information:
  • Information about the invscout execution itself.
  • The level of microcode that is currently installed on each device.
 Use the -r flag to send the file to the screen from where you invoked the invscout command.
Attention: The -r flag is deprecated. Use the –u option instead.
 Print or display on a monitor.

All of the previous reports can contain information on the following:

VPD Survey (-v)

A VPD Survey stores the system VPD in a VPD Survey Upload File that can be uploaded to a Web server via the Internet . Once on a Web server, a CGI forwards the file to a repository and produces a Web page indicating the status of the operation.

No formatted text report is available for VPD Surveys.

Survey Results Concatenation (-c)

This option concatenates two or more Microcode Survey Upload Files into a single Microcode Survey Concatenated Upload File or two or more VPD Survey Upload Files into a single VPD Survey Concatenated Upload File. A Concatenated Upload File can be uploaded to a Web server using the Internet and processed by the server CGI to give the same results as would have been obtained by uploading and processing all the component files individually. The input files can be any valid upload files but, typically, this operation is done to simplify the task of uploading the results from several host systems.
  • The version of the command executing the concatenation and the versions of the commands that produced the files to be concatenated must all be the same.
  • Microcode Survey Upload Files cannot be concatenated with VPD Survey Upload Files.
  • Versions 2.1.0.0 and subsequent versions of this command do not require concatenation of Microcode Survey Upload Files, because the files are processed locally.

To concatenate a set of existing Microcode Survey upload files, do the following:

  1. Copy the files into the Microcode Survey Concatenation Input Directory.
  2. Execute: 
    invscout -c
  3. Find the output Microcode Survey Concatenated Upload File in the same directory as the upload file for a Microcode Survey.

To concatenate a set of existing VPD Survey upload files, do the following:

  1. Copy the files into the VPD Survey Concatenation Input Directory.
  2. Execute: 
    invscout -v -c
  3. Find the output VPD Survey Concatenated Upload File in the same directory as the upload file for a VPD Survey.

Flags

Item Description
-v Sets the survey or concatenation type to VPD (the default is Microcode).
-c Concatenates existing survey upload files (the default is to perform a new survey).
-r For a Microcode Survey, sends a copy of the formatted text report file to the screen from which the command was invoked. This flag is ignored if either the -v or the -c flag is used.
Attention: This flag is deprecated. Use the –u option instead.
-m machine_type_and_model For a VPD survey, allows input of the host platform machine type and model for hosts that use/require this information.
-s serial_number For a VPD survey, allows input of the host serial number for hosts that use or require this information.
-catl microcode_catalog_path Overrides the default location of the microcode catalog path.
-g Displays the versions of this command and of the logic database currently in use.
-q Suppresses most run-time messages.
-h Generates a help (usage) statement. If this flag is used, all other flags are ignored.
-U mask Updates devices with available microcode updates. This flag requires that the following items exist on the system:
  • A valid microcode catalog file
  • Valid microcode images

Valid options for mask include any combination of the following values:

  • L, l: Latest
  • C, c: Current
  • P, p: Previous
  • A, a: Available
  • O, o: Outcome
  • D, d: Description
  • E, e: Effect
  • S, s: Suggested action
-UF mask Updates devices and the system firmware with available microcode updates. This flag requires that the following items exist on the system:
  • A valid microcode catalog file
  • Valid microcode images
This flag might reboot the system.

Valid options for mask include any combination of the following values:

  • L, l: Latest
  • C, c: Current
  • P, p: Previous
  • A, a: Available
  • O, o: Outcome
  • D, d: Description
  • E, e: Effect
  • S, s: Suggested action
-u mask Generates a formatted text report that identifies hardware for which microcode updates are available. This flag requires that a valid catalog file exists on the system.

Valid options for mask include any combination of the following values:

  • L, l: Latest
  • C, c: Current
  • P, p: Previous
  • A, a: Available
  • O, o: Outcome
  • D, d: Description
  • E, e: Effect
  • S, s: Suggested action
-fl microcode_file_path Changes the default path name of the microcode files. These files are stored in an .rpm format.
-e Must be used with the –U, –UF, or -u flags. The -e flag sets catalog.mic and retrieves the updates from the fix central database.

Exit Status

This command returns the following exit values:

Item Description
0 Indicates successful completion.
Non-zero Indicates an error occurred.

If an error occurs, the command writes an error log.

Security

This command is owned by root, and is installed with the setuid bit ON so that any user can run it.

Examples

  1. To run one Microcode Survey and send the results to a formatted text report file and an upload file, type: 
    invscout
  2. To run one VPD Survey and send the results to an upload file, type: 
    invscout -v
  3. To concatenate previously produced Microcode Survey upload files into a single upload file, type: 
    invscout -c
    Note: Only applicable to Versions of this command prior to 2.1.0.0.
  4. To concatenate previously produced VPD Survey upload files into a single upload file, type: 
    invscout -v -c

Files

Item Description
/usr/sbin/invscout Contains the invscout command.
/var/adm/invscout/host.mup Microcode Survey Upload File. The host variable is the host name of the system represented in the file.
/var/adm/invscout/host.vup VPD Survey Upload File. The host variable is the host name of the system represented in the file.
/var/adm/invscout/invs.con.mup Microcode Survey Concatenated Upload File.
/var/adm/invscout/invs.con.vup VPD Survey Concatenated Upload File.
/var/adm/invscout/invs.err Error log written if the command encounters an error.
/var/adm/invscout/invs.mic.con.inp Microcode Survey Concatenation Input Directory.
/var/adm/invscout/invs.mrp Microcode Survey Formatted Text Report File.
/var/adm/invscoup/invs.murp Microcode Update Results Formatted Text Report File. This file identifies hardware updates that have been successfully applied.
/var/adm/invscout/invs.murrp Microcode Survey Results Formatted Text Report File. This file identifies hardware for which updates are available.
/var/adm/invscout/invs.vpd.con.inp VPD Survey Concatenation Input Directory
/var/adm/invscout/invscout.log Log file.
/var/adm/invscout/microcode Directory for microcode-related actions. Default location for microcode catalog file.
/var/adm/invscout/microcode/catalog.mic Default microcode catalog file.
/var/adm/invscout/tmp Holds invscout temporary files. All files in this directory are deleted at the start of every execution of this command.