# User Guide

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Running Guardian with pre-V5 Java

Q: What happens if I run BEA Guardian in a Java Runtime Environment that's earlier than version 5 (also known as version 1.5) ?

A: Guardian will not start on a machine that is running a JRE older than version 5 (also known as version 1.5). If you attempt to run Guardian with an older JRE, you will get an error message such as, Could not create the Java virtual machine, or process terminated. See Supported Configurations for more details.

Please note that you can use Guardian to evaluate domains that are running an older JRE. See Supported Targets for more details. You can download the latest Java Runtime Environment from java.com.

### Running Guardian with Multiple Java Versions Installed

Q: I have more than one version of Java Runtime Environment installed, but Guardian can only use version 5 (also known as 1.5). How do I tell Guardian which Java Runtime Environment to use ?

A: You can tell Guardian which JRE to use with any one of the following methods (substituting your actual JRE directory path for the one shown in the example):

- Edit guardian.ini (in the Guardian installation directory) and add the following two lines:
  -vm
  c:\jre_1.5\bin\java.exe
- Start the Guardian Graphical User Interface from the command line with the -vm argument:
  guardian -vm c:\jre_1.5\bin\java.exe
- Create a Windows Shortcut to Guardian, right-click it to edit its Properties, and append the following to the existing Target property in the Shortcut tab:
  -vm c:\jre_1.5\bin\java.exe

### Running Guardian without an Internet Connection

Q: How can I download signatures and application updates or open support cases if my computer is not connected to the Internet for security reasons ?

A: To get the latest signatures from BEA, install Guardian on a computer that is connected to the Internet, click the Update button to download the signatures JAR file to the <installation directory>/repository/archives directory, and then manually copy it to the same directory on your secure computer. You'll have to restart Guardian for the changes to take affect.

To get the latest application updates from BEA, install Guardian on a computer that is connected to the Internet, click the Update button to download the latest application updates to the <installation directory>/features and <installation directory>/plugins directories, and then manually copy those directories to the same locations on your secure computer. You'll have to restart Guardian for the changes to take affect.

To create support cases, run the Support Case Wizard, select the Save Case Creation Archive option in the Select Case Destination dialog box, and then go to a computer that is connected to the Internet, open a support case on the BEA eSupport web site, and include the .CAR case archive file as an attachment. The .CAR case archive file is created by the Support Case Wizard. Although you specify its location, BEA recommends saving it in the Case Creation Archives sub directory of the Guardian Workspace directory you specified when you started Guardian.

### SSL Encryption

Q: What kind of encryption does Guardian use ?

A: Guardian uses 128 bit open source encryption for SSL. Please note that using this level of encryption may require you to take additional action to be in compliance with your country's import requirements.

### License Validation Error

Q: What should I do if I get an error message that says, "Exception ocurred while reading the license file" when starting Guardian ?

A: Although the evaluation version of Guardian is free for 60 days, it still requires a valid BEA license. To get this license, go to the BEA Guardian downloads page and right-click the "Download License Key Here' link. From the right-click pop-up menu, select "Save Target As", and save the license key file as "license.bea". Please note that the file name, "license.bea", is different than the default "Save As" file name, "license.xml". Also note that you need to save the "license.bea" file to the Guardian Installation directory where you installed Guardian. Then you can restart Guardian without getting a license validation error.

### Evaluations with Servers Down

Q: What happens if some of my servers are down during an evaluation ?

A: Guardian cannot perform an evaluation if the domain's Administration Server is unavailable. If the Administration Server is available, and some of the Managed Servers are unavailable, Guardian can perform an evaluation. But, the domain data missing from these Managed Servers could cause the evaluation to miss potential problems. BEA recommends performing evaluations with all of the target domain's servers up and running.

### Operating Systems

Q: On which operating systems does the Guardian user interface run ?

A: The Guardian user interface runs on Windows and Linux. But, Guardian can evaluate domains running on any operating system that BEA WebLogic supports.

### Domain Inventories

Q: What's in a Domain Inventory ?

A: The Domain Inventory includes descriptions of your servers, Java Virtual Machines, operating systems, and databases. The descriptions include product versions as well as some configuration settings. The Domain Inventory data comes from Guardian Agents installed on the domain that collect Java Management Extension (JMX) data, Java system properties, and database metadata for your JDBC connection pools.

### Change Management

Q: Can Guardian be used for change management - moving from Development to QA to Production ?

A: Yes. BEA recommends using Guardian at each stage of your development cycle, as described in the Usage Scenarios. As you move to each new stage, run an evaluation to take advantage of BEA's known best practices. The Guardian development team is considering additional functionality to aid in change management for a future release.

### Installation of Patches

Q: Does Guardian automatically push patches out to the Managed Servers of a domain as well as the Administration Server ?

A: Guardian does not install patches to any server. Guardian recommends actions, such as installing patches, but it is up to the user to implement them.

### Guardian Command Line Interface

Q: What is the command line interface? Is it the WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST) ?

A: No. The Guardian Command Line Interface is just a wrapper around the Java command.

### Scheduling Command Line Interface scripts

Q: Why doesn't Guardian include functionality to schedule command line scripts instead of leaving it up to the operating system, with commands such as crontab, or the Windows Task Scheduler ?

A: The Guardian development team decided to leave it up to the users to schedule scripts so they could monitor the output with their favorite management applications. The Guardian team is considering adding scheduling capabilities in a future release.

### Ignoring Detected Signatures

Q: Does Guardian have "ignore" or "remind me later" features for the signatures detected in an evaluation ?

A: No. The Guardian development team is considering adding those features in a future release.

### Deleting Signatures

Q: Can I delete signatures ?

A: To improve performance and save disk space, Guardian's signatures are kept in a Java Archive (.jar) file in the repository/archive directory of the Guardian installation directory. While you could delete signatures from that archive, BEA recommends not deleting signatures for the following reasons:

- Deleting signatures provides no real benefit. Before each evaluation, Guardian creates a Domain Inventory to determine which signatures are applicable to the target domain. Any signatures that aren't relevant aren't evaluated, so there's virtually no performance benefit to deleting them.
- If your domain changes, signatures that weren't applicable to your domain before may become applicable. Deleting those signatures would prevent them from being used in any future evaluations and reduce Guardian's effectiveness.
- If you download new signatures, the signatures you deleted will be replaced. Any deletions are likely to be undone in the normal course of Guardian operations.

### Multiple BEA Site Identifiers

Q: What should I do if I have multiple BEA Support site licenses ?

A: BEA recommends using one instance of Guardian per site license identifier. If you have a set of domains using one site license and want to evaluate them with Guardian, use an installation instance of Guardian that's set to use that site identifier. If you have another set of domains with a different site license identifier, use another installation instance of Guardian set to use that site identifier. Using separate instances of Guardian for each site identifier will make it easier to keep track of any support cases you may create.

### Integration with WebLogic Administration Consoles

Q: Why isn't Guardian integrated with the WebLogic Administration Console ?

A: One installation of Guardian can evaluate many domains. Because WebLogic Administration Consoles manage one domain at a time, integrating Guardian with the console would limit Guardian's ability to evaluate muliple domains.

### Web Interface

Q: Does Guardian have a Web interface ?

A: No. Guardian has an Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP) based Graphical User Interface and a Command Line Interface.

### BEA Smart Update

Q: Does Guardian work in conjunction with BEA Smart Update ?

A: No. Guardian will be integrating with BEA Smart Update in a future release to help customers download the patches recommended by Guardian signatures.

### Integration with WLDF

Q: How does Guardian work with the WebLogic Diagnostic Framework (WLDF) ?

A: Guardian does not currently integrate with WLDF, but the Guardian development team is considering it for a future release.

#### Related Concepts

- Evaluation
- Domain
- Guardian Agent
- Signature

#### Related Tasks

- Submit Support Case
- Update Guardian

#### Related Getting Started

- Installation
- Supported Configurations
- Supported Targets
- Usage Scenarios
- Starting the Graphical User Interface