How Enterprise Manager Obtains Version Information

These steps explain the process through which Enterprise Manager obtains version information from a managed server Server that is managed by the Enterprise Manager application.. This process occurs as part of server discovery Process performed by the Enterprise Manager application in which the application regularly communicates with each server in the system to determine whether any new software (new release, service pack, hot fix, or patch) or server roles have been added or installed on the server., as discussed in Server Discovery.

  1. The administrator installs any of the following on a managed server:

    • A server Platform

    • A Service Pack

    • An Update Release

    • A component patch using an individual MSI. (A “component patch” is a single component installed to fix a particular problem. A component patch is not part of any Service Pack or Update Release.)

  2. The installation updates registry entries related to the installation.

  3. The Unified Configuration Management (UCM) application or Configuration Management Service (CMS) on the managed server monitors the registry settings. When it detects changes, it updates these two files residing on the managed server:

    • ServerVersionInformation.xml - Contains the latest version information for all components installed on a managed server.

    • PackageManifest.xml - Contains a list of components (including versions) that must be installed as part of an installation package.

      For more information on these files, see PackageManifest.xml and ServerVersionInformation.xml Files.

  4. The Enterprise Manager Agent Web application installed on every system server that communicates with the Enterprise Manager regarding any configuration changes or alarm messages for the relevant server. on the managed server monitors the two files noted in step 3 for updates.

  5. Enterprise Manager periodically performs a server discovery of each managed server to detect changes on the server. The server discovery process includes interacting with the Enterprise Manager Agent on the managed server to discover changes to the ServerVersionInformation.xml and PackageManifest.xml files.

    For more information on the server discovery process, see Server Discovery.

  6. As part of the server discovery process, Enterprise Manager Agent sends to Enterprise Manager the recently updated ServerVersionInformation.xml file.

  7. Enterprise Manager receives the ServerVersionInformation.xml file and updates the Framework Database Server role in the Data Center (also known as BPMain) that stores user, organization and group data, including user preferences and security data (roles, permissions, and license information). with the new version information. The version information is added to the following database tables:

    • INSTALLVERSION

    • INSTALLPATCH

    • INSTALLCOMPONENTPATCH

  8. The Version and Patches display page in Enterprise Manager uses the information in the database to display the latest version information for the recently discovered server. The version information includes Server, Service Pack, Update Release, and Component version information.