VMware Smart Assurance NCM: TelnetProxy does not work in NCM 10.1.1 version.

Products

• VMware

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:
Telnetproxy command "telnet <NCM server IP address> 1029" does not work when executed in NCM 10.1.1 setup.

Environment

VMware Smart Assurance - NCM

Cause

Lack of required jars in CLASSPATH section of /etc/xinetd.d/telnetproxy file. In the non-working scenario, CLASSPATH section of /etc/xinetd.d/telnetproxy consists of following jars-

CLASSPATH=.:/opt/smarts-ncm/cm/daemon/lib/zebedee-1.0.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/spring-security-core-5.1.6.RELEASE.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/spring-context-5.1.9.RELEASE.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/spring-core-5.1.9.RELEASE.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/spring-beans-5.1.9.RELEASE.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/log4j-1.2.16.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/commons-logging-1.1.1.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/spring-expression-5.1.9.RELEASE.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/services-9.4.0.0.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/httpclient-4.2.3.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/security-9.4.0.0.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/common-9.4.0.0.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/spring-web-5.1.9.RELEASE.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/spring-aop-5.1.9.RELEASE.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/aopalliance-1.0.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/httpcore-4.2.3.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/hibernate-core-3.5.0-CR-2.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/LB-3.0.1.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/LBJNI-3.0.1.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/tools/telnetproxy/TelnetProxyUtil.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/tools/telnetproxy:/opt/smarts-ncm/tools/telnetproxy/resources VOYENCE_HOME=/opt/smarts-ncm:./resources

Resolution

As of September 2020, this issue has been identified as a bug in NCM 10.1.1 setup. Fix for this issue would be part of upcoming release of NCM. To enquire about further details on the fix availability, open a Service Request with VMware Technical Support team and reference this KB article.

Workaround:

This workaround can be followed in NCM 10.1.1 setup for successfully using telnetproxy.

1. Take backup of existing file /etc/xinetd.d/telnetproxy and open the file /etc/xinetd.d/telnetproxy to perform following changes-

CLASSPATH section requires below changes:

a) Replacement of hibernate-core-3.5.0-CR-2.jar with hibernate-core-5.3.10.Final.jar
b) Addition of /opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/javax.persistence-api-2.2.jar. 
c) Resources can be removed from VOYENCE_HOME. Replace "VOYENCE_HOME=/opt/smarts-ncm:./resources" with "VOYENCE_HOME=/opt/smarts-ncm". 

After the changes, the content would look like below:

CLASSPATH=.:/opt/smarts-ncm/cm/daemon/lib/zebedee-1.0.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/spring-security-core-5.1.6.RELEASE.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/spring-context-5.1.9.RELEASE.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/spring-core-5.1.9.RELEASE.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/spring-beans-5.1.9.RELEASE.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/log4j-1.2.16.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/commons-logging-1.1.1.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/spring-expression-5.1.9.RELEASE.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/services-9.4.0.0.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/httpclient-4.2.3.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/security-9.4.0.0.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/common-9.4.0.0.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/spring-web-5.1.9.RELEASE.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/spring-aop-5.1.9.RELEASE.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/aopalliance-1.0.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/httpcore-4.2.3.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/hibernate-core-5.3.10.Final.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/javax.persistence-api-2.2.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/LB-3.0.1.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/ui/html/lib/LBJNI-3.0.1.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/tools/telnetproxy/TelnetProxyUtil.jar:/opt/smarts-ncm/tools/telnetproxy:/opt/smarts-ncm/tools/telnetproxy/resources VOYENCE_HOME=/opt/smarts-ncm

2. Save and close the file /etc/xinetd.d/telnetproxy.

3. Execute command "service xinetd restart". Xinetd restart command can differ in separate Linux OS versions.

4. The successful login to telnetproxy would be similar to below captured terminal output:

[root@ xinetd.d]# telnet 10.10.10.10 1029
Trying 10.10.10.10...
Connected to 10.10.10.10.
Escape character is '^]'.

Welcome to VMware Proxy
Copyright (c) 2020 VMware Inc

User Access Verification
Enter user name: sysadmin

Enter password: ********

Please wait...
Logged into VMware Smart Assurance Network Configuration Manager as sysadmin

To Log off and close this session, enter the 'q' or 'exit' commands.

VMware Proxy>q

Please wait...

Log off is successful...

VMware Proxy
Copyright (c) 2020 VMware Inc

Connection closed by foreign host.
[root@ xinetd.d]#