Automic Workload Automation

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Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

Legacy User

Legacy UserJan 29, 2018 01:02 PM

John O

John O'MullaneFeb 28, 2018 09:44 AM

  • 1.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 02, 2017 09:53 AM
    Hi.

    I'm just in the process of "installing" the shiny new version 12.1.

    I have found the following exciting tidbit in the change notes between 12.0 and 12.1:

       "AF_INET6 (Address family IPv6) is mandatory for all components in V12.1.0."

    That's quite a major change for a minor release, seeing as how many companies (including my own) seem to like to pretent IPv6 will go away again if nobody looks at it too directly.

    I have, however, previously seen a distinct problem with this combination of applications enabling IPv6 support and companies having broken IPv6 setups:

    For added IPv6 support in applications to make any sense, manufacturers need to make IPv6 the default method. The application then starts to do, for example, IPv6 DNS lookups (AAAA queries) by default. Many a companies broken IPv6 setup meant that this runs into a timeout before returning, and the application will only then try IPv4 as the fallback mechanism. Thus, the application hangs for, say, 30 seconds every time it does a DNS lookup. This is, partially, the reason why many tools and applications in Linux have a distinct switch to disable IPv6 support.

    V12.1 is fresh and I haven't had a long test run with it yet, and it remains to be seen if Automic defaults to IPv6 and if so, runs into any such issues for someone. But I'd like to point out this possibility, and pose these question to the community, and Automic:

    • out of curiosity, is your company ready for IPv6 across the entire Automic landscape (including agent machines?)
    • please share your experiences with 12.1 and IPv6 in this thread, if any
    • mostly at Automic: will 12.1 default to IPv6 over IPv4 with ANY functionality in ANY component, and if so, can the use of IPv6 be disabled at application level (and if so: how?)
    Thanks.


    p.s. and mostly at Automic:

    Your release notes tell the user to check "dmesg | grep ipv6t". This is not significant. dmesg is a ring buffer, and things rotate out of ring buffers. On my server, for example, this returns nothing eventhough I believe my kernel DOES have IPv6 support in the kernel, but not bound to any interfaces.

    A better test may be to check for the presence of /proc/net/if_inet6.

    p.p.s. yes, I definetly have IPv6 support in kernel, because:

    # netstat -anp | grep ucybsm
    tcp6       0      0 :::8871                 :::*                    LISTEN      3922/ucybsmgr
    udp6       0      0 :::8871                 :::*                                3922/ucybsmgr


  • 2.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 02, 2017 11:41 AM
    The documentation for 12.1 states:
    P dual stack available: The Automation Engine is now fully IPv6 compatible while IPv4 can still be used.


  • 3.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 02, 2017 11:47 AM
    Patrick Tiller said:
    The documentation for 12.1 states:
    P dual stack available: The Automation Engine is now fully IPv6 compatible while IPv4 can still be used.
    Yes, thanks, I know that. Dropping IPv4 completely in 2017 would be commercial suicide :)

    But which is the default, or how is the default configured? It must be either IPv4, or IPv6 first.


  • 4.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 02, 2017 11:53 AM
    I just ran into this. It seems IPv6 is not enabled on the sandbox system where I planned to perform initial testing of AE v12.1. The v12.1 service manager is aborting with this error message:
    20171002/163508.058 - U00022034 Socket call 'socket' returned error code '97'.
    20171002/163508.059 -          Address family not supported by protocol
    20171002/163508.059 - U00022002 Automic Service Manager, Version '12.1.0+build.920' ended abnormally.
    How does one force the program (SMgr, AE, agents, etc.) to use IPv4?


  • 5.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 02, 2017 11:59 AM
    Patrick Tiller wrote:
    The documentation for 12.1 states:
    • IP dual stack available: The Automation Engine is now fully IPv6 compatible while IPv4 can still be used.
    The document that makes this claim is AWA v12.1 Release Highlights.


  • 6.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 02, 2017 12:05 PM
    How does one force the program (SMgr, AE, agents, etc.) to use IPv4?


    Unfortunately, as per the 12.1 documentation (here), you can't. Or at least: You can't get it to work with no IPv6 in the kernel. Specificially:

    AF_INET6 (Address family IPv6) is mandatory for all components in V12.1.0. There may be older linux kernels still active within the kernel in which the IPv6 module can be disabled. In this case, the Automation Engine and all its linux components cannot be started.

    (emphasis mine)


  • 7.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 02, 2017 12:08 PM
    I just installed V12.1 on WIN today and everything seems to run with IPv4

    despite some minor bugs :-)


  • 8.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 02, 2017 12:12 PM
    Mine runs as well on IPv4, but for one thing I didn't yet test all of it (who knows if there is some odd lingering function now defaulting to IPv6 because of some library?). And of course, inquiring minds still want to know how to force it to one or the other.

    Because to rehash that point: It must be one over the other. There's no having the IPv6 cake and eating tasty, delicious, only slightly stale IPv4 frosting with the same bite ;)

    edit:

    Oh, and this possibly less of an initial issue on Windows, because on Windows (at least for servers), most admins leave IPv6 enabled these days, as critical Windows functions depend on it, at least in a domain. It's mostly Linux shops who disable it entirely, in my humble experience. Of course, if your application starts doing IPv6 requests, and your IPv6 routing or DNS setup is broken, this will potentially hurt on Windows, too :)


  • 9.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 02, 2017 12:18 PM

    despite some minor bugs :-)
    Them md5'suming your logo.png and supressing it is not a bug FrankMuffke , that's probably even somewhere in the release notes :D


  • 10.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 02, 2017 12:58 PM
    :p

    Just staring in the release notes....

    I am talking of an IPv6 Error message that isn't an IPv6 error message.

    Context: starting the DB Service Agent:
    (IP 127.0.0.1 is fin in this case, because on the same server, as mandatory from Automic....)
    20171002/100937.466 - Failed to connect to any CP.
    20171002/100937.466 - U02000159 Initiate reconnect to the AE system.
    20171002/100937.466 - U02000072 Connection to system 'V121' initiated.
    20171002/100937.466 - U02000012 Connection to Server '127.0.0.1:12117:12117' denied.
    20171002/100937.466 - java.net.UnknownHostException: 127.0.0.1:12117: invalid IPv6 address
    20171002/100937.466 - U02000012 Connection to Server '127.0.0.1:12117:12118' denied.
    20171002/100937.466 - java.net.UnknownHostException: 127.0.0.1:12117: invalid IPv6 address
    20171002/100937.466 - U02000012 Connection to Server '127.0.0.1:12117:12121' denied.
    20171002/100937.466 - java.net.UnknownHostException: 127.0.0.1:12117: invalid IPv6 address
    20171002/100937.481 - U02000012 Connection to Server '127.0.0.1:12117:12119' denied.
    20171002/100937.481 - java.net.UnknownHostException: 127.0.0.1:12117: invalid IPv6 address
    20171002/100937.481 - U02000012 Connection to Server '127.0.0.1:12117:12120' denied.
    20171002/100937.481 - java.net.UnknownHostException: 127.0.0.1:12117: invalid IPv6 address
    20171002/100937.481 - Failed to connect to any CP.

    after playing around a bit and while opening an INC at Automic I found out, its caused by the definition of the CP Port in the DBSERVICE section ....

    does NOT work:
    cp=127.0.0.1:12117

    DOES work:
    cp=127.0.0.1

    Does work as well (assumption from Support)
    ;cp=127.0.0.1:12117





  • 11.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 04, 2017 03:47 AM

    Does work as well (assumption from Support)
    ;cp=127.0.0.1:12117


    But leading semicolons denote a comment in that file me thinks? So the support assumes that some comment works as ... erm ... a comment? Or are they saying, not specifying any CP at all works because it automagically assumes 127.0.0.1?


  • 12.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 04, 2017 04:29 AM
    So the support assumes that some comment works as ... erm ... a comment?
    => in most cases, yes :-P

    Or are they saying, not specifying any CP at all works because it automagically assumes 127.0.0.1?
    => I think so, because - (My assumptions):

    It came to my attention:
    The DB Service Agent must be installed on the same computer as the Automation Engine.
    As far as I remember, this is new...

    https://docs.automic.com/documentation/webhelp/english/AWA/12.1/DOCU/12.1/AWA%20Guides/help.htm#Installation_Manual/InstallAgents/InstallAgentDatabase_Variables.htm%3FTocPath%3DInstallation%2520Guide%7CNew%2520Installation%7CInstallation%2520Types%7CManual%2520Installation%7CInstalling%2520the%2520Agents%7CInstalling%2520the%2520Agent%2520for%2520Databases%7C_____2

    It does not need an IP and the CP port is specified in its INI file....


    cheer, Wolfgang


  • 13.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 04, 2017 04:43 AM
    It came to my attention:
    The DB Service Agent must be installed on the same computer as the Automation Engine.
    As far as I remember, this is new...

    This is opening a can of worms I would rather not open anymore :) I had major discussions with various people at Automic about the install location for the SQL agent, and at some point I got information from two people at Automic which claimed exactly the opposite of one another.

    I believe this is because the DB Service Agent can TECHNICALLY be installed anywhere, but some people (not all) in Automic claim it's forbidden for pure licensing reasons. (edit: and it may pose an additional security issue, too). I can only advise you to take any documentation about it with a grain of salt (or a metric ton of said sodium chloride ...), as I found part of it to be vague or simply wrong.

    I have my own fact sheet on the SQL agent and who said what and what facts about it I believe are established and which are plain wrong, kept in our corporate Wiki. If you have to deal with the SQL agent and want to know all the details, I can post it here after some strategic name redacting to protect the innocent (it's in German though). Just say the word.

    Best,
    Carsten


  • 14.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 04, 2017 04:48 AM
    Wolfgang Brueckler said:
    So the support assumes that some comment works as ... erm ... a comment?
    => in most cases, yes :-P

    :AIT, are you saying there were bugs in some places with the handling of comment characters!? That would
    :REATE a whole new outlook on the matter ...

    :D


  • 15.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 04, 2017 06:19 AM
    Carsten Schmitz said:
     the DB Service Agent can TECHNICALLY be installed anywhere, but some people (not all) in Automic claim it's forbidden for pure licensing reasons.
    I do not see any license misuse but ok... I am a TECHNOPHILIC person so I will give the technically possibility my vote :-)

    Carsten_Schmitz_7883
    Thanks for your offer regarding SQL agent - for my purposes an SQLI VARA or SQL VARA mostly does the job. But yes - always interested to learn new things. could you snd it via mail please?

    Carsten Schmitz said:
    :AIT, are you saying there were bugs in some places
    I do never say anything !!!!!!!!!!
    ... avoiding that some of my postings will disappear with or without comment...

    As there is no more "known Bugs" section withing Download Centre I would assume there are no more bugs in the software.

    cheers, Wolfgang


  • 16.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 04, 2017 08:44 AM
    Just a quick summary:

    The document “Upgrading an AE System from Version 12 to Version 12.1” states:
    AF_INET6 (Address family IPv6) is mandatory for all components in V12.1.0.
    The document “Automic Workload Automation 12.1 Release Highlights” states:
    IP dual stack available: The Automation Engine is now fully IPv6 compatible while IPv4 can still be used.
    I opened an incident to get clear & unambiguous answers to the following questions:
    1. Does AWA v12.1 actually require IPv6? If so, in what way is IPv6 required, and by which components?
    2. Is there a way to force the AWA programs (SMgr, AE, agents, etc.) to use IPv4? If so, how?
    I will report back here when I learn more.


  • 17.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 11, 2017 05:41 AM

    Have you heard anything regarding that problem from automic support?

    We had the same problem with smgr, ae etc (Address family not supported by protocol)

    In our Company we have no ipv6 at all (Network Switches not configured for that etc.)

    Therefore we often deactivate ipv6 support in our operating Systems completely.

    For testing i just activated it (sles 11 sp4) in yast and there error was gone.

    Agents and AWI can connect with no error so far.

    However, i wish i would not have to activate ipv6 support in the os only because of whatever this is needed for in ipv4-only Environments.

    So please automic give us a switch that ae components are forced to use ipv4 only.





  • 18.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 11, 2017 06:44 AM
    In our Company we have no ipv6 at all (Network Switches not configured for that etc.)

    Your switches and infrastructure don't need to be, as long as the IPv6 stack on the individual machine is not disabled entirely.

    On Linux, you can chose to not bind IPv6 to any interface, as long as it's enabled in the kernel, things should start up. That's how we handle it at present time. This may actually be your best bet for the time being in a pure IPv4 network, because I think this will probably prevent the Automic components from even trying to speak IPv6 (and possibly run into problems, like the aforementioned DNS AAAA query timeouts).

    But I whole heartedly agree, I also wish for Automic to give us some reliably facts and assurances on their implementation of the added IPv6 support, either in response to this, and/or Michael's incident.


  • 19.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 11, 2017 08:16 AM
    MatthiasWelker606920Matthias Welker wrote:
    Have you heard anything regarding that problem from automic support?
    Yes, here is the response from Automic Support:
    [IPv6] just has to be activated in the kernel, not necessarily used.
    Carsten Schmitz wrote:
    On Linux, you can chose to not bind IPv6 to any interface, as long as it's enabled in the kernel, things should start up. That's how we handle it at present time.
    This is the approach I have been exploring. Unfortunately, our systems are currently configured so that they automatically generate IPv6 addresses on network interfaces if IPv6 is enabled in the kernel. Plus, our UNIX guys are pretty adamant that that they do not wish to enable IPv6, even just in the kernel. They expect the AWA programs to handle the choice of IP stack intelligently, using just the IPv4 stack if IPv6 is unavailable.


  • 20.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 11, 2017 08:29 AM
    Michael_Lowry

    Is your Incident still ongoing?

    I also still expect Automic to provide some way to force IPv4 over IPv6. There are good reasons for such a switch, and nearly any other recent, multi-stack tool has one.

    wget --inet4-only
    curl --ipv4
    host -4
    ping -4
    (...)

    Those that don't oftentimes can be compiled without IPv6 support ...





  • 21.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 11, 2017 08:39 AM
    That is a very good point, Carsten_Schmitz_7883.  The incident is still open. I included your suggestion in the incident.


  • 22.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 12, 2017 11:57 AM

    Automic Support informed me that the product is working as designed. At their suggestion, I opened an enhancement request for this:

    Eliminate dependency on IPv6 

    Currently, at least on UNIX, Automic Workload Automation is completely  dependent on IPv6. The product will simply not work if IPv6 is not  enabled.

    Many enterprises have deliberately chosen to disable IPv6 to limit the  complexity of their environments and to reduce operational risk.  Dependence on IPv6 severely limits the environments within which AWA can  be used. Even for those organizations that can enable IPv6, this hard requirement imposes non-negligible costs in both financial and technical terms.

    Automic Workload Automation (including the Service Manager, Automation  Engine, and Agents) should be updated so that the programs do not  require IPv6                    

    If you like the idea, please vote for it.



  • 23.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Oct 24, 2017 02:42 PM
    We've voted for the idea that Michael submitted to Eliminate the IPv6 dependency in V12.1.

    We hit this issue while deploying 12.1 in our lab in preparation of a larger upgrade effort. I want to point out that Automic's Support organization was not aware of the IPv6 requirement in 12.1, and it took a few days of case updates and sharing this URL for them to acknowledge, then confirm that IPv6 is mandatory in 12.1. 

    Like many other customers, this IPv6 requirement does not fit in our existing enterprise architecture (IPv6 is not routable, IPv6 is disabled in the kernel of Linux builds, unsure of how other products will react with IPv6 enabled on the system, etc). This is simply overhead we should have the ability to opt out of.


  • 24.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Nov 07, 2017 04:57 AM
    Hi all,
    thanks for your input and sharing your first experiences on V12.1
    Our Product Management & Engineering teams are currently working on a plan to remove the restriction to IPv6 modules on OS level. We will keep you posted on timeline and next steps


  • 25.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Nov 07, 2017 06:22 AM
    Is this a requirement for AE on Windows as well or limited to UNIX ?


  • 26.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Nov 07, 2017 07:54 AM
    Hi Keld_Mollnitz ,
    on windows you actually don´t face the described problem as all current MS Window Server Editions per default have IPV6 embedded


  • 27.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Nov 08, 2017 01:16 PM
    Robert Schausberger said:
    on windows you actually don´t face the described problem as all current MS Window Server Editions per default have IPV6 embedded
    Robert_Schausberger_8294

    See above:

    Having IPv6 enabled on a machine won't do you any good when your IPv6 network setup is broken and (for instance) your DNS server responds to AAAA queries with a timeout. If your DNS servers or caches run on a non-Windows machine (as many companies are wont to do), there may still be major issues. Then your UC4 Windows components will start just splendidly, yes, but they may not run all that well.

    This is admittedly less likely to happen in a pure Windows shop, because many things in a domain environment don't work well if IPv6 is disabled, so people just don't disable it. That, and Microsoft telling you best not to do it. Which really is the only difference to Linux. Most major distros also ship IPv6-enabled these days, but many admins routinely disable it, because unlike on Windows, there really are little repercussions to doing so, nobody forbids it, and it solves problems with networks that don't do IPv6 properly.

    But then, even Microsoft will tell you to disable IPv6 on the network adapter at times. See for instance the solution to "Outlook doesn't play nice". They have to actually advise people to disable IPv6 on Windows machines to get Outlook to behave. Why? Because they didn't build the switch to force IPv4 into Outlook. This will probably break a bunch of stuff, but I guess as long as Outlook works ...  *facepalm*

    So please don't make the same design mistake, because your support eventually (possibly) having to tell a customer to either fix their network, or else turn off IPv6 on Windows (!) will probably not go down all that well ...

    All of that is, btw, not even remotely touching the can of worms that is automatic IPv6 tunneling to IPv4 networks in Windows, which includes 6to4, ISATAP, 6over4, Teredo (depending on your Windows version), and possibly more, all of which can produce interesting behaviours at times.

    So IMHO, any software company is well advised to have a switch to hard-select IPv4 until IPv4 is truly gone, and that is absolutely no different whether there happen to be penguins in it, or not.

    Just my $0.02.


  • 28.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Dec 06, 2017 05:41 AM
    Michael_Lowry
    Carsten_Schmitz_7883

    I'm glad I found this article, thanks you for posting it.

    I've been trying to upgrade from 12.0 to 12.1 for the last 2 days but kept on getting this error 

     Socket call 'socket' returned error code '97'.
     Address family not supported by protocol

    Our Sysadmin team tell me it's going to be a while before we allow IPV6 as our network is not ready for it.



  • 29.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Dec 06, 2017 06:47 AM

    I'm glad I found this article, thanks you for posting it.

    Glad it was of some help, thanks for letting us know. So far there are no news however, so I encourage everyone to keep voting on Michael's idea, if they didn't thus far :)

    Best,
    Carsten



  • 30.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Dec 22, 2017 04:56 PM
    In our Organization, IPV4 is being used and no plans of switching to IPV6 or opening up IPV6 network, as we are not ready.
    I have voted for Michael's idea.
    We hope, by the next update (supposedly Jan 15, 2018) we could see the changes implemented by removing the IPV6 requirement.

    Regards,
    Ramanujam.



  • 31.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Dec 28, 2017 09:22 AM
    Also voted for Michael's idea
    We mainly have problems with running the v12.1 agent on Solaris 10 SPARC systems, with jobs hanging 'forever'. Also issues with trying to bind an agent to a specific address.

    We reverted to version 12.0.2 agents on these systems (IPv4) and gone are all our problems.


  • 32.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Jan 02, 2018 08:06 AM
    Wim Langhmans said:
    Also voted for Michael's idea
    We mainly have problems with running the v12.1 agent on Solaris 10 SPARC systems, with jobs hanging 'forever'. Also issues with trying to bind an agent to a specific address.

    This sounds much like the problem of a lacking/broken IPv6 DNS server I am (sadly) familiar with from other software. You could run "truss" against the agent and it's children and see if it hangs at DNS queries (not that there would be any recourse, this would just be for diagnostic reasons and peace of mind ...)


  • 33.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Jan 10, 2018 06:21 AM
    Robert Schausberger said:
    Hi all,
    thanks for your input and sharing your first experiences on V12.1
    Our Product Management & Engineering teams are currently working on a plan to remove the restriction to IPv6 modules on OS level. We will keep you posted on timeline and next steps

    Any Updated timeline here?
    Tried to tag @robert Schausberger but doesn't seem to work for certain users..


  • 34.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Jan 10, 2018 07:12 AM
    I have no news, but I can seemingly tag him.

    So ... paging Robert_Schausberger_8294 :)



  • 35.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Jan 11, 2018 03:39 AM
    AE v12.1.1 is currently planned to be released at the end of January (2018-01-29). Perhaps the fix will be included.


  • 36.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Jan 29, 2018 11:22 AM
    Michael Lowry said:
    AE v12.1.1 is currently planned to be released at the end of January (2018-01-29). Perhaps the fix will be included.
    Alas, the day has come and gone,
    the sun has set, my world at peace.
    The bet with MatthiasSchelp I've won,
    for I'm going home, with no Automic release.


  • 37.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Jan 29, 2018 11:31 AM
    If recent releases are a reliable guide, you may have to wait until EOB in Hawaii.  :D


  • 38.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Jan 29, 2018 01:02 PM
    IPv4 will have a comeback with 12.1.1


  • 39.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Jan 30, 2018 04:01 AM
    Alexander Trenker said:
    IPv4 will have a comeback with 12.1.1

    But do you know when it will be released,
    so fans of IPv4 will finally be pleased?
    The download site is about it shy,
    now day has broken in Hawaii.
    Here's hoping also for an urgent event fix,
    besides that funky stuff about IPv6.

    I'll let myself out.



  • 40.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Jan 30, 2018 04:16 AM
    Carsten_Schmitz_7883: I just posted another discussion asking for an answer to this question.


  • 41.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Jan 31, 2018 02:16 PM
    It was released today and is available on our Download Center.


  • 42.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Jan 31, 2018 06:21 PM
    It was released today and is available on our Download Center.

     I was able to test this and can confirm this IPv6 restriction has been removed 


  • 43.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 01, 2018 04:50 AM
    Excellent news, thanks Michael_Lowry  for making this happen.




  • 44.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 23, 2018 06:28 AM
    Hi there,
    I updated my Testengine to Version 12.1.1 also. Everything is fine so far, except that I get an error when Automic attempts to send emails via CALL-object or SEND_MAIL.
    The error is: U00050030 The SMTP client cannot create socket, error code '9', error description: 'Bad address format'.
    Looks like the sendmail function of Automic still needs IPv6 or some address mismatch is happening.
    Automic support opened a problem-ticket for this error today:
    PRB00220659
    I just wanted to let you know.
    Regards, Nicole Böger


  • 45.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 23, 2018 06:33 AM

    The error is: U00050030 The SMTP client cannot create socket, error code '9', error description: 'Bad address format'.
    Looks like the sendmail function of Automic still needs IPv6 or some address mismatch is happening.
    Automic support opened a problem-ticket for this error today:
    PRB00220659
    I just wanted to let you know.
    Regards, Nicole Böger

    Hi,

    It would be interresting to know what your setup is. What platform is your engine on, on which platform is the SMTP server/relay, and do those have IPv6 enabled or disabled in the kernel?

    Because we're on 12.1.1 as well with out test environment, we do not have a fully functional IPv6 environment (but have the module enabled in the kernel, as described above), and people have sent emails from CALL objects without issue.

    Best,
    Carsten




  • 46.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 23, 2018 07:25 AM

    Dear Carsten,

    thanks for getting back to me. It's interesting that your environment works with sending emails.
    Our test engine is running on SLES11 SP3. IPv6 is disabled in the kernel, so IPv6 is not even used internally. When I tried version 12.1.0, even the servicemanager was not able to start any engine processes.

    The email server is Microsoft Exchange. But that cannot be any issue, because I sniffed the network traffic outgoing from my engine to the email server, and there was no traffic at all during some CALL object tests.

    Take care, Nicole





  • 47.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 23, 2018 07:56 AM
    I just sent myself a test mail from a CALL object and straced the workers. This is the kernel call I got from the worker process:

    [pid 29163] connect(17, {sa_family=AF_INET6, sin6_port=htons(25), inet_pton(AF_INET6, "::ffff:ip_of_my_mail_server", &sin6_addr), sin6_flowinfo=0, sin6_scope_id=0}, 28) = 0
    Emphasis mine. On AF_INET6. That thing that denotes IPv6 :D

    (Plus, I replaced the true IP of my mail server in the output above to protect the innocent ... erm ... servers :)

    And this is what the connect call for a pure IPv4 SMTP communication looks like, if I'm not mistaken (courtesy of strac'ing the BSD mail command talking, obviously, to the local MTA):

    [pid 17013] socket(AF_INET, SOCK_DGRAM, IPPROTO_IP) = 4
    [pid 17013] connect(4, {sa_family=AF_INET, sin_port=htons(0), sin_addr=inet_addr("127.0.0.1")}, 16) = 0


    So, yes, it looks as if the mail sending is still attempted using IPv6 with dual-stack failover to IPv4 (via the ::ffff:IPV4 convention that denotes dual stack in Linux), which probably falls flat for those who don't have IPv6 enabled at least in the kernel.

    So it is my current belief that Automic should revisit that.

    Cheers,
    Carsten


  • 48.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 23, 2018 09:51 AM
    Hi all,
    I am about to upgrade from 12.0 to 12.1 next Monday in our Development environment.
    I did install 12.1 in a Test environment but I don't think I tested the CALL or SEND_MAIL function.

    I know we don't have IVP6.

    We definitely need CALL and SEND_MAIL to work..

    Should I hold off on this upgrade?

    John.



  • 49.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 23, 2018 09:57 AM
    John O'Mullane said:
    Hi all,
    I am about to upgrade from 12.0 to 12.1 next Monday in our Development environment.
    I did install 12.1 in a Test environment but I don't think I tested the CALL or SEND_MAIL function.

    I know we don't have IVP6.

    We definitely need CALL and SEND_MAIL to work..

    Should I hold off on this upgrade?

    John.

    Dear John,
    I definitely would test either CALL or SEND_MAIL in the Test-Environment before upgrading the Development Environment. The Automic support could not give me any workaround. I have to wait for a bug fix.
    Nicole
    My Problem is, that I have only one environment for testing and developing... :/


  • 50.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 23, 2018 10:03 AM
    Nicole Böger said:
    The Automic support could not give me any workaround. I have to wait for a bug fix.
    NicoleBöger605686
    What about sending the mail via OS call e.g. mailx or via Powershell?

    cheers, Wolfgang


  • 51.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 23, 2018 10:04 AM
    Hey John,

    If you have IPv6 enabled in the kernel of the machine running the engine, but your network does not have IPv6 (and you didn't hit the OTHER problems that can hit you there and which I described in much detail above, thus far), then you should be okay with this one. If you have IPv6 support disabled in the kernel, then you might very well be affected by this.

    But IANAAE (I am not an Automic Employee), so take that with a grain of salt.

    Can't you simply re-test that particular function on the test installation to be certain?

    Best,
    Carsten


  • 52.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 23, 2018 10:06 AM
    Wolfgang Brueckler said:NicoleBöger605686
    What about sending the mail via OS call e.g. mailx or via Powershell?

    cheers, Wolfgang
    Sending an email via OS call does work in my environment. That's not the point. But I don't want to implement the automic funktionality of CALL objects by myself. I use CALL objects for error handling for example.
    So, that's not an alternative, I think.
    Regards, Nicole


  • 53.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 27, 2018 07:35 AM
    So glad I found this before upgrading...
    Getting same error on CALL 

    U00050030 The SMTP client cannot create socket, error code '9', error description: 'Bad address format'.

    Not getting error on SEND_MAIL but not getting email either!

    Going to see if we can enable IVP6 on my host.



  • 54.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 27, 2018 08:24 AM
    Dear John,

    I have a new idea: I am able to send an email via SEND_MAIL by specifying an agent on a server, that had IPv6 enabled in it's kernel.
    If your scripts use SEND_MAIL without specifying an agent, you can set the agent and login-object (for unix) in UC_CLIENT_SETTINGS for your entire client (Key SEND_MAIL_DEFAULT - see documentation).
    Maybe you can also specify a windows agent for sending the emails - I heard that it is not possible to disable IPv6 in Windows anymore. Or maybe you can use an agent for sending emails that still has the 12.0.x-Version.

    Unfortunately, this works only for SEND_MAIL commands, not for CALL-Objects. My production packages use CALL-objects for error handling and notification of users. I would need to change too much using SEND_MAIL instead of CALL-objects.

    Did you open a support case at automic? If they find out that more customers are affected, they might offer a hotfix earlier. They did not even promise me to give me a hotfix. Maybe I have to wait for the next release - does anyone know when the next release-date is?

    Take care and regards, Nicole



  • 55.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 27, 2018 08:33 AM
    Maybe you can also specify a windows agent for sending the emails - I heard that it is not possible to disable IPv6 in Windows anymore.

    Technically possible, yes. Practical in a domain - no. I believe as coincidence has it, I even mentioned this earlier in this thread, so you might even have read it here ;)

    Maybe I have to wait for the next release - does anyone know when the next release-date is?

    Same here, I have another bug for which I am requesting a hotfix, but thus far I have not had any reassurances about that :(

    The next release as scheduled would be 12.1.2 on 2018-05-21. You can oftentimes find the next release date on https://downloads.automic.com/downloads/quick_start/awa.

    Hth,
    Carsten


  • 56.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 27, 2018 09:09 AM
    Thanks Carsten_Schmitz_7883 and NicoleBöger605686
    We have some many existing CALL object that I don't want to implement a work around at this stage.
    Will focus on enabling IPV6 on my host and see how that goes.




  • 57.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 28, 2018 06:59 AM
    so my sysadmin enabled  IVP6 on our application host but still getting same error  :-(

    These are they steps he followed....

    Re-enabling IPv6 support in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

    1. Review      the files under/etc/modprobe.d/and remove (or comment out) any of the      following lines:

    Raw

    options ipv6 disable=1
    install ipv6 /bin/true
    blacklist ipv6
    alias ipv6 off
    1. Configure      theip6tablesservice to start at boot by issuing the following command:

    Raw

    # chkconfig ip6tables on
    1. Make      sure the following options to your/etc/sysctl.confare set to default value '0'

    Raw

    # ipv6 support in the kernel, set to 0 by default
    net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6 = 0
    net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6 = 0
    1. Make      sure the following line exists in/etc/hostsand is not commented out:

    Raw

    ::1         localhost localhost.localdomain localhost6 localhost6.localdomain6
    1. Edit/etc/netconfigfor the lines starting with udp6 and tcp6;      change the"-"(hyphen/dash) in the third column to"v"
    2. Reboot      the system to activate IPv6 support.




  • 58.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 28, 2018 07:48 AM
    Dear John,
    what do you mean by application host? The emails send by CALL objects are sent by the automic engine. So IPv6 is needed on the engine host, not on any agent host.
    I checked whether IPv6 is installed with the following command: ifconfig. If IPv6 is installed, the output has a line with "inet6" for each network interface.
    I hope this helps. I don't have much insights in server administration though.
    Did you open a support case yet?
    Regards, Nicole


  • 59.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 28, 2018 08:04 AM
    JohnO'Mullane

    check ifconfig, as NicoleBöger605686 suggested, or better yet check for the presence of /proc/net/if_inet6. If you have it, you have ipv6 kernel support. On my servers, I have /proc/net/if_inet6, but I don't have anything in ifconfig (or ifconfig -a).

    Don't rely on "dmesg | grep ipv6t" - though I've read that as the "official" RH recommendation, it doesn't work on any of my RH machines (not much surprise: dmesg is a ring buffer, stuff rotates out of it).

    And yes, you probably need that on your AE server, not on the agent machine.

    Rgds,
    Carsten


  • 60.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 28, 2018 09:26 AM
    Yes, I mean my engine host.
    This is what comes back when I type ifconfig on my engine host.

    xsj-tvapwla01 [/mis/XTREE/logs/REMOTE_USERS/johnom ] <3> ifconfig
    eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:50:56:BC:60:61
              inet addr:172.19.154.129  Bcast:172.19.155.255  Mask:255.255.252.0
              UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
              RX packets:361943 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:53110 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
              RX bytes:31831181 (30.3 MiB)  TX bytes:5953601 (5.6 MiB)

    eth1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:50:56:BC:2E:80
              inet addr:10.10.36.251  Bcast:10.10.39.255  Mask:255.255.248.0
              UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:9000  Metric:1
              RX packets:19524 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
              RX bytes:1197586 (1.1 MiB)  TX bytes:168 (168.0 b)

    lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
              inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
              UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
              RX packets:22008 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
              TX packets:22008 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
              collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
              RX bytes:2730492 (2.6 MiB)  TX bytes:2730492 (2.6 MiB)

    btw, I didn't say we installed, just enabled it.



  • 61.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 28, 2018 09:33 AM
    As I said, "ifconfig" is not neccessarily the definitive place.

    Please post the output of:

    stat /proc/net/if_inet6



  • 62.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 28, 2018 09:40 AM
    xsj-tvapwla01 [/mis/XTREE/logs/REMOTE_USERS/johnom ] <6> stat /proc/net/if_inet6
    stat: cannot stat `/proc/net/if_inet6': No such file or directory
    xsj-tvapwla01 [/mis/XTREE/logs/REMOTE_USERS/johnom ] <7>



  • 63.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 28, 2018 09:44 AM
    should I see something here if enabled correctly?



  • 64.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 28, 2018 09:52 AM
    should I see something here if enabled correctly?

    yes. This is from my system, where it works. Your output should look similar:

    stat /proc/net/if_inet6
      File: ‘/proc/net/if_inet6’
      Size: 0               Blocks: 0          IO Block: 1024   regular empty file
    Device: 3h/3d   Inode: 4026532371  Links: 1
    Access: (0444/-r--r--r--)  Uid: (    0/    root)   Gid: (    0/    root)
    Access: 2018-02-28 15:33:12.073242473 +0100
    Modify: 2018-02-28 15:33:12.073242473 +0100
    Change: 2018-02-28 15:33:12.073242473 +0100
     Birth: -

    "cannot stat" or "file not found" errors mean there is no such file, and that file is a pseudo file which is the kernel's IPv6 dummy interface. No such file, no IPv6 support in kernel ... I'm afraid your admins will have to have another go ...

    Hth,
    Carsten




  • 65.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 28, 2018 10:04 AM
    Carsten_Schmitz_7883
    Do you only have IPV6 enabled on this host or do you have IVP6 install on your network?


  • 66.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Feb 28, 2018 10:11 AM
    We have no IPv6-ready network. You only need the basic kernel support on the particular machine, just enough for it to not fall flat on it's face, but for it to decide "meh, I'm gonna try IPv4 instead" :)

    So you don't need an IPv6 interface, you don't need any protocol bindings, and as I just discovered, you can even disable the entire stack in sysctl, as long as it's enabled in the kernel as a whole. This is my output from sysctl:

    # sysctl net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6
    net.ipv6.conf.all.disable_ipv6 = 1

    #sysctl net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6
    net.ipv6.conf.default.disable_ipv6 = 1
    But you need to have that kernel support which manifests itself in the /proc file. I currently believe that's not a kernel module (because I can't find a module in my lsmod output), but it's probably statically compiled into the RedHat kernel these days.

    Therefore, also have a look at /etc/default/grub: Apparently some people disable it there, too (see https://www.thegeekdiary.com/centos-rhel-7-how-to-disable-ipv6/), if you had it disabled in that way at boot, that would probably not work for Automic.

    (edit: fixed code output to show both "all" and "default" settings)




  • 67.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Mar 01, 2018 07:07 AM
    Hi all,
    just to let you know I got this information from automic support:

    We wanted to inform you about the following update on problem PRB00220659.
    The fix for this problem is preliminary planned for the following versions:

    • Automation.Engine 12.1.1 HF3 - Date not yet defined
    • Automation      Engine 12.2.0 - Planned release date: 2018-06-19
    • Automation      Engine 12.1.2 - Planned release date: 2018-05-21

    You will be informed when the version are released.




  • 68.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Mar 05, 2018 06:39 AM
    Thanks NicoleBöger605686 
    Please let us know when you hear about release date for HF3.

    Were you are to proceed by enabling IVP6 on your engine host?



  • 69.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Mar 08, 2018 10:35 AM
    Just to let everyone know, we got this working :-)
    We will keep it in place until HF3 is released.
    Thanks to NicoleBöger605686and Carsten_Schmitz_7883  for your help.
    Will buy you a beer in Frankfurt if your are going.


  • 70.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Mar 08, 2018 10:52 AM
    John O'Mullane said:

    Will buy you a beer in Frankfurt if your are going.
    Not sure yet. Depends on whether FOKUS (German User's Meet) happens in Frankfurt at the same time. If it does, I'll be there, but probably not for most of AutomicWorld (I have attention span limits when it comes to Automation news :D ).

    If it works out, happy to meet up for chat and beer :)

    Best,
    Carsten


  • 71.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Mar 09, 2018 03:31 AM
    Dear JohnO'Mullane and Carsten_Schmitz_7883,

    My Admins finally are able to switch on IPv6. Your hint with the file /proc/net/if_inet6 was very helpful, thank you so much, Carsten! I'll update my production environment on Tuesday, March 13th.

    I also plan to be in Frankfurt in June and would be happy to meet you both, too!
    I got an Email from Fokus, that they plan a meeting the day before CA Automation Summit, June 25th, but need some volunteers for presentations. If the meeting will take place, I plan to be there at both events. Because I'm a newbe  B) , I am still interested in all features that possibly could be helpful for us.

    Take care, Nicole


  • 72.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Mar 09, 2018 04:30 AM
    events. Because I'm a newbe  B) , I am still interested in all features that possibly could be helpful for us.
    Hi Nicole,

    well, if you're new to FOKUS, I can promise that I found these meetings to be very valuable. Both for meeting people, and in terms of the content and discussions.

    While at the same time, there is also some cause for concern, due to the facts that FOKUS (or european customers as a whole) does not appear to have quite the same standing with Automic it once had. Plus, FOKUS is seriously lacking on member participation (i.e. in terms of presentations), but I am guilty of that myself, too.

    Either way, looking forward to meeting everyone as well.

    Cya probably all in F'furt :)
    Carsten


  • 73.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Mar 26, 2018 10:17 AM
    NicoleBöger605686
    Hi Nicole, I see HF3 has been released, but I don't see your Problem listed in the bug fixes addressed by the HF.

    Do you know if PRB00220659 is now resolved?


  • 74.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Mar 26, 2018 10:19 AM
    Opps.. I see it now listed, although it doesn't mention IVP6 in the title.

    An issue has been fixed where the reported error 50030 would contain the wrong error code and wrong error description thus shadowing the real issue. In some cases this could also prevent connection retries due to temporary connection refusal.


  • 75.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Mar 26, 2018 10:59 AM
    So that cryptic thing about the error code covering another error actually means they patched IPv6 out of the email code?

    I have heard of the Obfuscated Perl Contest, but if so, this must be straight from the Obfuscated Changelog Contest ... :p


  • 76.  Automic 12.1 requires IPV6 - thoughts?

    Posted Apr 03, 2018 03:09 AM
    Hi guys, I'm back. I had two weeks vacation before easter, thats why I did not respond.

    As I understand it: they already had implemented IPv4 back into the code in Version 12.1. When sending an email, the server first tries to do it with IPv6. If it gets an error, then it should try sending by IPv4. The bug is that the error is not treated right, so the engine threw that error instead of trying again with IPv4.
    So the bug report is right but does not show what consequences this error had for the customers. I hate reading these update informations, I always feel like I don't get what they mean.

    Before my vacation we turned IPv6 on with the hints Carsten gave (thanks again!  :) ).
    There are some important jobs that have to run in the next weeks on my system, so I don't install that Hotfix now. Because our business has quarterly phases, I'll wait until the system is not so heavily needed.

    Take care and I hope to see you in June, Nicole