Using silent mode to install BMC Server Automation components (Linux or UNIX)
You can perform an unattended (silent) installation of the Application Server and other components on a Linux or UNIX system.
You can install all of the following components or a subset.
- Application Server
- RSCD agent
- Network Shell
- PXE server
- TFTP server
Note
- Choose all components you need for the installation with the COMPONENT_CHECKED variable. If you choose not to install a component, you cannot add it to the installation later by running this installation script again.
- If installing the PXE/TFTP services note that a RSCD agent is required on the datastore system (which is often the PXE/TFTP server) so ensure you select to install the RSCD agent if you plan to use the PXE/TFTP server as a datastore for provisioning.
Before you begin
- This installation does not install the BMC Server Automation Console. To view the console, you must install it. For information, see Using silent mode to install the BMC Server Automation Console (Linux and UNIX).
- Application Server Component
- Performing a silent installation of the application server creates a UNIX user called bladmin and a UNIX group called bladmin. The BMC Server Automation Application Server runs as the bladmin user.
- If a user wants to use BMC Server Automation and does not have root privileges, the user must first be added to the bladmin group to gain access to essential configuration files.
- This installation does not set up a Network Shell Proxy Server. For instructions on setting up and customizing a Network Shell Proxy Server, see Setting up a Network Shell proxy server.
- The application server will still need to be configured using blappconf or blasadmin after a silent install.
- Network Shell Component
- The NSH installation does not install the blcli or blcred utilities. For those utilities you must install the Application Server or the BMC Server Automation Console. For information, see Using silent mode to install the BMC Server Automation Console (Linux and UNIX).
- If the host computer on which you are installing the Network Shell has:
- A supported version of Perl installed — The Network Shell installation automatically installs the Network Shell Perl module. (For information about the Perl versions that BMC Server Automation supports, see Perl support.)
- An unsupported version of Perl installed — The installation copies files that allow you to install the Perl module after you have installed the supported version of Perl.
- RSCD Component
- For information about installing an agent on a VMware ESX server, see Adding and configuring an agent-based vCenter server.
- As of vSphere 5.0, VMware supports only installation of ESXi, which is an appliance OS, and does not support installing an RSCD agent. All management of ESXi must be done via an RSCD agent on the vCenter Control server, as described in Setting up a VMware vSphere environment.
To install the BMC Server Automation components in silent mode
The installer will take silent install parameters via environment variables, a file named nsh-install-defaults in /tmp and arguments passed to the installer.
- On the target server, create a text file named nsh-install-defaults in the /tmp directory. The file must be readable by the user running the install.
In the file, create an entry for each variable you want to set. Then for each variable you enter in the file, create another entry to export the variable. For example:
COMPONENT_CHECKED=23
export COMPONENT_CHECKED
NSH_INSTALL_SKEL=1
export NSH_INSTALL_SKEL
Note
Ensure that the file is in UNIX format (a format in which a line feed (not a carriage return) specifies the end of a line), otherwise the install will fail.
The following table describes how to set each variable or argument. If there is an overlap between the argument and variable, the argument will override the variable.
Variable/Argument
Component Description
INSTALL_DIR
All Specifies an installation directory other than the default installation directory of /opt/bmc/bladelogic.
CERT_PASSWORD
Application Server (Required) The BMC Server Automation Application Server installation program needs a certificate password to generate a self-signed X.509 certificate. Communication between BMC Server Automation and servers being provisioned and between the Application Server and the process spawner uses the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol and X.509 certificates. The password must be at least 6 characters. For more information about certificates and the TLS protocol, see Authentication.
COMPONENT_CHECKED
All By default, running a silent installation installs all possible components in the installation. To override the default, set the
COMPONENT_CHECKED
variable. The components that you install can be any combination of values. For example, to install a PXE server, TFTP server, Network Shell, and RSCD agent, you would specifyCOMPONENT_CHECKED=13PT
. You can specify the following values:
1
— RSCD agent,2
— Application Server,3
— Network Shell,P
— PXE server, andT
— TFTP server.IS_SECURE_AGENT_LOGS
RSCD Set this variable to
1
to enable secure agent logging. When secure agent logging is enabled for an agent, agent logs are periodically rolled and digitally signed as they are rolled.IS_KEYSTROKE_LOGS
RSCD Set this variable to
1
to enable keystroke (nexec) logging on an agent. When keystroke logging is enabled on an agent, remote commands run against the agent using nexec are captured and logged in an encrypted manner in keystroke logs. These logs are periodically rolled and digitally signed as they are rolled.INSTALL_BLPRNG
-random
All Set this variable to
1
to install the BladeLogic Pseudo Random Number Generator Daemon (PRNGD). BMC Server Automation uses random data to encrypt communication securely. Most systems already have a random number generator device; you might not need this setting. However, if a server on which you are performing a silent installation does not include a hardware device for generating random numbers, the installation program installs the PRNGD.NSH_ROOT_HOST
-root
RSCD Set this value to identify a client on which users are granted root privileges for this server. This option sets the
root=
flag in the exports configuration file. By default, no clients are specified.NSH_USER_FROM NSH_USER_TO
-map
RSCD Set these values to configure a default user mapping in the users.local file. By default, no users are mapped. The values set with this variable create an entry in the users.local file that says:
NSH_USER_FROM rw,map=NSH_USER_TO
or
-map NSH_USER_FROM NSH_USER_TO
For example, by defining values for these variables, you can create an entry in users.local similar to the following example:betty rw,map=root
For information about the users.local file, see Configuring the users or users.local files.NSH_INSTALL_SKEL
-skel
NSH By default, a silent installation does not include the .nsh/etc/skel files. Set this variable to
1
to install those files.TMP_DIR
RSCD Specifies a location where the installer should decompress the sysinfo installation file before the file copy.
INSTALL_FILES_TEMP All Temporary directory location to extract the installation files, otherwise the INSTALL_DIR/install_dir will be used. For more information, see Methods for reducing installation space on Linux and UNIX. STARTUP_AIX RSCD Specifies the type of startup script used for silent installation of the RSCD agent on AIX. You can specify these values: 1
– At system bootup, use the /etc/rc.tcpip file2
– Manually (I will do it myself)3
– At system backup, use the /etc/rc.d/init.d/rscd fileKEEPLOCAL -local All Perform a self-contained installation. All installation files are stored in a single directory. For more information, see Installing components in non-default installation paths using the local flag. Set the KEEPLOCAL variable to 1 or pass -local to perform a local install. -silent All Perform a silent install. -port RSCD Set the default port on which the RSCD agent listens on. -start RSCD, Application Server Define the startup type as: manual or auto. -autostart RSCD, Application Server Set the start up type to automatic. -protocol RSCD, NSH Set the protocol used by NSH and RSCD agent. See the Configuring the secure file for more information on the protocol value. -noyum RSCD Do not install blyum.
- Save /tmp/nsh-install-defaults.
- To run the silent installation, enter the following command:
sh <Installer-platform.sh> -silent
For example:
sh RSCD89-LIN64.sh -silent
-port 5750
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