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Installing the HP Insight Manager Agent on VMware ESX 3.5 pushes ProLiant hardware health (fans, drives, power supplies, memory, temperature) into the service console so HP Systems Insight Manager and the System Management Homepage can monitor the host over SNMP. This guide walks the full deployment of the hpmgmt-8.2.0-vmware3x bundle end to end — prerequisites, the pre-install IPMI reboot, the interactive installer, SNMP and firewall answers, verification, and rollback — with the source pitfalls corrected.

Important context: VMware ESX 3.5 and the HP Insight Manager Agent 8.2.0 are both long past end of life. The classic ESX “service console” architecture was removed entirely in vSphere 5.0, and HP rebranded these tools to HPE Agentless Management / iLO for modern gear. Keep these steps for legacy estates and migrations, but for any current build use the HPE ESXi Offline Bundle (a vibsdepot VIB installed with esxcli) plus out-of-band iLO rather than an in-guest SNMP agent.

What the HP Insight Manager Agent actually does on ESX 3.5

Out of the box, ESX 3.5 has no idea a fan has failed or a RAID member has dropped — VMware reports the virtualization layer, not the physical chassis. The HP agent bundle bridges that gap by adding three cooperating pieces inside the Linux-based service console:

• hpasm — the HP Advanced Server Management daemon (hpasmd) that reads the ProLiant Health ASIC and IPMI sensors for temperature, fans, power, and ECC memory events.
• Storage and NIC agents — surface Smart Array controller, logical/physical drive, and network adapter status.
• SNMP ProLiant extension + System Management Homepage (hpsmh) — expose all of that over SNMP traps and a local HTTPS dashboard on port 2381 so HP SIM can discover and alert on the host.

The net result: a failing disk or overheating CPU on the ProLiant DL385 G5 generates an SNMP trap to your management station instead of silently degrading until the host crashes.

Prerequisites before you install the HP agent on ESX 3.5

Confirm every item below first — skipping the version check or the hostname resolution step is the most common cause of a failed run.

• Supported platform: the 8.2.0 bundle supports ESX 3.0.2 Update 1 and above, which includes ESX 3.5. Verify the exact build with vmware -v (the source host reported build 110268).
• HP hardware: a genuine ProLiant with the ProLiant ASM ASIC or an iLO Advanced Server Management ASIC. The agent is intended to run only on HP servers; on white-box hardware it will refuse or misbehave.
• Root SSH access to the service console (PuTTY/SSH).
• The correct bundle: hpmgmt-8.2.0-vmware3x.tgz — the vmware3x build matched to the ESX 3.x service console, not the generic Linux build.
• A maintenance window with vMotion clear or VMs powered off — the pre-install step forces a host reboot for IPMI.
• Your HP SIM / management-station IPs and a planned SNMP community string ready before you start, because the installer is interactive.

Step 1 — Connect and prepare name resolution

Log in to the ESX host as root over SSH, then make sure the host can resolve your HP management station(s) by name. Add the entries to /etc/hosts so traps and discovery work even without DNS:

1. SSH in: ssh root@dms-vsbase-4
2. Edit the hosts file: vi /etc/hosts
3. Add one line per management station, IP then a single tab/space then the hostname:

   172.17.111.165    bsh-base-qa-2
   172.17.111.166    bsh-base-ua-2

4. Save and confirm resolution: ping -c2 bsh-base-qa-2

Pitfall corrected: the original notes used long runs of   between the IP and name — those non-breaking spaces come from a wiki paste and will break parsing if pasted literally. Use real spaces or a tab.

Step 2 — Copy and extract the HP Insight Manager bundle

Transfer the tarball to a working directory such as /tmp (use scp or WinSCP), then unpack it:

1. From your workstation: scp hpmgmt-8.2.0-vmware3x.tgz root@dms-vsbase-4:/tmp/
2. On the host, change in: cd /tmp
3. Decompress the gzip layer: gunzip hpmgmt-8.2.0-vmware3x.tgz
4. Unpack the tar archive: tar -xvf hpmgmt-8.2.0-vmware3x.tar
5. Enter the installer directory: cd ./hpmgmt/820

Tip: you can do both decompress and extract in one command — tar -xzvf hpmgmt-8.2.0-vmware3x.tgz — which avoids leaving the intermediate .tar behind. Also note the dash before xvf must be a plain ASCII hyphen; the source rendered it as an en-dash (–), which the shell will reject.

Step 3 — Run the pre-install setup and reboot for IPMI

The pre-install script checks for the BMC/IPMI device and, on the DL385 G5, will require a reboot so the IPMI driver is cleanly available before the agents load. Run it from the 820 directory:

1. ./PreInstall_Setup.sh
2. The script reports something like: Pre install detects IPMI device on this system – ProLiant DL385 G5. Reboot of system is required before installation of agents.
3. At Reboot the system (y/n) answer y. The ESX host reboots immediately, so make sure VMs are migrated or shut down first.

After the host comes back up, SSH in again and return to the package directory: cd /tmp/hpmgmt/820.

Step 4 — Run the HP Insight Manager Agent installer

Launch the main installer with the --install flag:

./installvm820.sh --install

The installer banner should confirm it sees the right system, for example: HP Insight Manager Agent 8.2.0-31 Installer for VMware ESX Server, Target System is VMware ESX Server 3.5.0 build-110268, Server: ProLiant DL385 G5. If the target line says anything other than your actual host, stop — you have the wrong bundle.

Answer the early prompts as follows (defaults are almost always correct here):

• Continue install? — y
• Shut down Pegasus CIM to manipulate the agents? — y (required so the installer can replace the CIM provider files).
• Enable hpim port 2381 in the firewall? — y (this is the System Management Homepage HTTPS port).
• Enable discovery port 2301? — y (lets HP SIM discover the host).
• Enable certificate port 280? — y (used to import the HP SIM certificate into SMH).

The hpasm / kernel module prompts

Next the hpasm package installs. Confirm these:

• HP server ASIC confirmation (blank is y) — press Enter or y.
• 32-bit ProLiant Management Extension notice — press Enter to continue.
• Load HP modules even though they may “taint” the kernel? — y. The “taint” flag is normal and expected for vendor modules; it does not break support on this legacy stack.
• Require SNMP agents? — y
• Require Storage Agent support? — y
• Require NIC Agent support? — y

Step 5 — Configure SNMP for HP SIM integration

This is the security-sensitive part. The installer offers to reuse an existing snmpd.conf; choose no to configure cleanly:

• Use an existing snmpd.conf? (blank is n) — n

You then answer a series of SNMP questions. Plan your community strings in advance and treat them like passwords — they are typed without echoing on screen, so you must re-enter each one to confirm it matches.

Security correction: the original walkthrough left some Read-Only and trap communities at public. Never ship the default public/private strings — they let anyone on the network query or spoof your hardware monitoring. Always change them and restrict access to named management stations. If you later need advanced restrictions, see the hpasm(4) man page for VACM entries in snmpd.conf.

The agent installation then runs and takes roughly 10 minutes. Success looks like:

HP Insight Manager agents have been installed successfully!

Step 6 — Verify the installation

Do not assume success from the installer banner alone. Confirm the agents are actually running and reachable:

1. Check the management daemons are up:

   service hpasm status
   service hpsmhd status
   service snmpd status

   If hpasm is not running, restart it with service hpasm restart.
2. Confirm the firewall ports opened (ESX 3.5 uses esxcfg-firewall):

   esxcfg-firewall -q | grep -E '2381|2301|280'

3. Open the System Management Homepage from any browser on the management network:

   https://dms-vsbase-4:2381

   Log in with the host’s root OS credentials. The dashboard should show overall server status with green health for system, storage, NIC, and temperature subsystems.
4. From the HP SIM console, run a discovery against the host’s IP and confirm it is identified as a ProLiant DL385 G5 and that a test trap arrives.
5. Optional SNMP spot check from a management station: snmpwalk -v1 -c <your-RO-string> dms-vsbase-4 .1.3.6.1.4.1.232 should return entries from HP’s enterprise OID tree (232 = Compaq/HP).

Common pitfalls and how to fix them

• Wrong bundle for the platform. Using a generic Linux hpmgmt build instead of the vmware3x build breaks CIM. Match the bundle to ESX 3.x.
• En-dash / non-breaking spaces from copy-paste. –install and   are not valid shell input. Retype commands with plain ASCII hyphens and real spaces.
• Skipping the IPMI reboot. If you decline the pre-install reboot, hpasmd may fail to read sensors. Always complete the reboot before installvm820.sh.
• Leaving default SNMP communities. A real security exposure — change public everywhere and bind to named stations.
• Port 2381 blocked. If the Homepage will not load, re-open the port: esxcfg-firewall -o 2381,tcp,in,hpsmh then service firewall restart.
• CIM/Pegasus conflict. If hardware status is blank in vCenter after install, restart the CIM stack: service pegasus restart (or wbem on later builds).
• Trying this on ESXi. These service-console steps do NOT apply to ESXi. On ESXi you install an offline VIB with esxcli software vib install -d /path/bundle.zip — there is no SSH-driven shell installer.

Rollback: uninstalling the HP Management Agent

If the agents cause instability or you are decommissioning the host, remove them cleanly from the same 820 directory:

1. cd /tmp/hpmgmt/820
2. ./installvm820.sh --uninstall
3. Confirm removal of the daemons and, if you opened them, close the firewall ports.

Then verify the services are gone with service hpasm status (should report “unrecognized service”) and re-check vCenter hardware status.

The modern equivalent (do this on current hardware)

If you are building anything newer than ESX 3.5/4.x, the in-console SNMP agent model is obsolete. The supported approach today:

• iLO out-of-band management — hardware health is reported by the iLO BMC independently of the hypervisor, with its own web UI and Redfish API. This is the primary monitoring path now.
• HPE Agentless Management Service (AMS) VIB — install the matching HPE ESXi Offline Bundle from vibsdepot with esxcli software vib install -d <bundle.zip>, then surface health through CIM/WBEM and vCenter.
• HPE OneView / iLO Amplifier replaces the old HP SIM console for fleet-wide monitoring.

The concepts you learned here — hardware health agent, SNMP/CIM exposure, a management console for discovery and traps — carry straight over; only the delivery mechanism changed from an SSH shell installer to a signed VIB plus out-of-band iLO.

Key Takeaways

• Match the bundle and verify the platform — use hpmgmt-8.2.0-vmware3x on ESX 3.x and confirm the installer banner names your exact host before continuing.
• Run PreInstall_Setup.sh and complete the IPMI reboot first — migrate or shut down VMs because the host reboots immediately.
• Never accept default SNMP communities — replace every public/private string and restrict to named management stations.
• Verify, don’t assume — check service hpasm status, open https://host:2381, and confirm a trap reaches HP SIM.
• For modern gear, switch to iLO + the HPE AMS VIB — ESX 3.5 and Agent 8.2.0 are end-of-life and the service-console method no longer applies to ESXi.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does HP Insight Manager Agent require a reboot before installation on ESX 3.5?

The pre-install script detects the IPMI/BMC device (on a ProLiant DL385 G5, for example) and needs the IPMI driver cleanly initialized before hpasmd binds to the hardware sensors. The reboot guarantees a known state so the agents load correctly. Always do it during a maintenance window with VMs migrated or powered off.

Which firewall ports does the HP agent open on ESX 3.5?

Three: 2381 for the System Management Homepage (HTTPS dashboard), 2301 for HP SIM discovery, and 280 for importing the HP SIM certificate into SMH. SNMP traffic also uses UDP 161/162. You can re-open any of them later with esxcfg-firewall.

How do I uninstall the HP Insight Manager Agent if it causes problems?

Return to the installer directory and run ./installvm820.sh --uninstall. Then confirm service hpasm status reports the service is gone and re-check hardware status in vCenter. Close any firewall ports you no longer need.

Does this guide work on VMware ESXi instead of ESX?

No. These steps depend on the classic ESX service console, which VMware removed in vSphere 5.0. On ESXi you install the HPE ESXi Offline Bundle VIB with esxcli software vib install and rely on iLO for out-of-band hardware monitoring instead of an in-guest SNMP agent.

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