Multiple errors in Infrastructure Manager (IM) Messages window after login - "No valid connection with NIS Database" and other errors

Products

• DX Unified Infrastructure Management (Nimsoft / UIM)
• CA Unified Infrastructure Management On-Premise (Nimsoft / UIM)
• CA Unified Infrastructure Management SaaS (Nimsoft / UIM)

Issue/Introduction

Errors displayed in the Infrastructure Manager (IM) Messages window upon login.

! No valid connection with NIS Database
! Unable to connect to NIS Database 
! DB operation failed
! Database error: Provider cannot be found. It may not be properly installed
and/or
! [Microsoft][ODBC Driver Manager] Data source name not found and no default driver specified

and/or

! No valid connection with NIS Database
! Error on command:get_connection_string
! Communication error on request (get_connection_string)
! communication error on command:_status
! communication error on request (_status)

Environment

• Release: DX UIM 20.4 and higher 
• UIMIMG : UIM -  INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGER
• Any OS

Cause

• Background: In the past, the IM client could connect to the UIM database to create Account Contact users but this has been deprecated from IM and is now handled by the AccountAdmin portlet in UMP/OC.

Resolution

All of the IM client errors mentioned in this KB Article are benign and can be ignored.

Furthermore, the Infrastructure Manager (IM) code is frozen and no further development will be done, hence IM will not be updated by Development/Engineering to eliminate/fix these errors.

If you would still like to follow the steps to replace the nimbus.dll on the Primary hub to try and eliminate the errors when opening IM client on the Primary, follow the instructions below.

Before taking the time to follow this resolution, please note that updating the nimbus.dll may NOT resolve the issue on any other hub other than the Primary hub.

Hotfix Release Date: 3-March-2019

Hotfix Description: Database Errors after login to Infrastructure Manager

 

Steps to apply the patch:

The patch has to be applied manually by replacing the binary (nimbus.dll). Please follow the steps below:

1. Close the Infrastructure Manager client application (all local IM client sessions on the Primary hub)
2. Go to “C:\Program Files (x86)\Nimsoft\lib”.
3. Take a backup of the file nimbus.dll by moving it to another folder and logout of IM.
4. Copy the updated nimbus.dll to “C:\Program Files (x86)\Nimsoft\lib”
5. Using the Windows command prompt, you MUST choose 'Run as Administrator' and run the following command to register the DLL.

         regsvr32 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Nimsoft\lib\nimbus.dll"

      6. Start the IM GUI and verify there are no more errors seen in the message window by choosing 'View Messages.'

NOTES:

• In the above steps, replace “C:\Program Files (x86)\Nimsoft" with the appropriate path where IM is installed. 
• If IM is installed on the hub, then there will be two nimbus.dll's one in the hub install folder, and another in the IM install folder.
• Please perform the above steps on the IM install folder.
• The nimbus.dll and release notes are attached to this KB Article.
• This attached nimbus.dll has been tested on UIM 20.4 (CU3) and it resolved the issue but only for the Primary hub IM session.
• Once the errors are resolved by replacing the nimbus.dll, exit any IM client sessions and login again, and/or choose Security->Login. Here is what you should see when logging in to IM:
  
  

IMPORTANT NOTE:
This process of replacing and re-registering the new nimbus.dll may be completed on any computer where you're running and using the Infrastructure Manager not just the Primary hub. Otherwise, the messages will persist in the IM Alarm subconsole. It seems to work as expected on the Primary Hub but it does not seem to work on remote hubs or robots where IM is installed.

Note that in your environment, there may also be other instances of the nimbus.dll installed on other drives/install paths that need to be updated.

It's worth a try to see if the errors are eliminated, but in one particular test scenario, this workaround worked successfully on the Primary hub in a UIM 20.4 CU3 environment (hub and robot v9.35), but it did NOT work on a laptop running IM which was being used to connect to the Primary hub.

Additional Information

This process was recently retested in UIM 20.4 with no CU updates applied (20.4.0).

It worked as expected on the Primary hub. It only works when these steps are completed on the Primary hub.

1. Close all IM client sessions on the Primary hub.
2. Download the nimbus.dll to the Primary hub.
3. Rename the existing nimbus.dll in the Program Files (x86)\Nimsoft\lib directory.
4. Replace the nimbus.dll with the new one.
5. Open the Windows command prompt on the Primary hub, Rt-click and "Run as administrator."
6. Register the nimbus.dll by running the command shown below.
   
      regsvr32 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Nimsoft\lib\nimbus.dll"
   
   
7. Then the window should display which indicates that the nimbus.dll was successfully registered.

     8. Click Ok
     9. Open IM client and Login, and the errors should no longer be displayed. (live results/example shown below)

Caveats

=======

This solution might not work for all scenarios. There are scenarios where the provided nimbus.dll does not help to remove the false error messages.

• This fix will not remove these benign error messages when using MySQL or Oracle.
• This fix won't remove these benign error messages when using Secure-Bus and Secure-Robots (IM alarm window not supported with sec-hub and sec-robots)
• We have seen these benign errors persisting despite the nimbus.dll when using newer versions of MSSQL or with TLS enabled.
• In some cases, the .dll does not fix removing those messages in UIM 9.2 or UIM 20.1. 
• The Infrastructure Manager code is closed and will not be updated. New technology supported by UIM may not be back-supported by IM which may throw similar errors.
• These errors can be safely ignored along with any other IM alert that is displayed in the deprecated IM "Messages" view.
• The IM Message window is no longer supported nor developed, therefore, these errors can be ignored.
• It is expected that despite installing the updated nimbus.dll you may still see those messages in IM in UIM v20.3 or higher.
• Even if you are successful in following this process and eradicating those IM client error messages, once the UIM Is upgraded or reinstalled, the errors will reappear in IM and the process must be repeated.