IBM eserver p Series Service Manual page 536

Service Processor System Monitoring - Surveillance
Surveillance is a function in which the service processor monitors the system, and the system monitors the
service processor. This monitoring is accomplished by periodic samplings called heartbeats.
Surveillance is available during two phases:
v System firmware bringup (automatic)
v Operating system runtime (optional)
Note: Operating system surveillance is disabled in partitioned systems.
System Firmware Surveillance
System firmware surveillance is automatically enabled during system power-on. It cannot be disabled by
the user, and the surveillance interval and surveillance delay cannot be changed by the user.
If the service processor detects no heartbeats during system IPL (for a set period of time), it cycles the
system power to attempt a reboot. The maximum number of retries is set from the service processor
menus. If the fail condition persists, the service processor leaves the machine powered on, logs an error,
and displays menus to the user. If Call-out is enabled, the service processor calls to report the failure and
displays the operating-system surveillance failure code on the operator panel.
Operating System Surveillance
Note: Operating system surveillance is disabled in partitioned systems.
Operating system surveillance enables the service processor to detect hang conditions, as well as
hardware or software failures, while the operating system is running. It also provides the operating system
with a means to detect a service processor failure caused by the lack of a return heartbeat.
Operating system surveillance is not enabled by default, allowing you to run operating systems that do not
support this service processor option.
You can also use service processor menus and AIX service aids to enable or disable operating system
surveillance.
For operating system surveillance to work correctly, you must set these parameters:
v Surveillance enable/disable
v Surveillance interval
The maximum time the service processor should wait for a heartbeat from the operating system before
timeout.
v Surveillance delay
The length of time to wait from the time the operating system is started to when the first heartbeat is
expected.
Surveillance does not take effect until the next time the operating system is started after the parameters
have been set.
If desired, you can initiate surveillance mode immediately from service aids. In addition to the three options
above, a fourth option allows you to select immediate surveillance, and rebooting of the system is not
necessarily required.
If operating system surveillance is enabled (and system firmware has passed control to the operating
system), and the service processor does not detect any heartbeats from the operating system, the service
516 EserverpSeries 650 Service Guide