Walkthrough: Upgrading to version 8.7 for Linux
If you are running BMC Server Automation 8.5.x or later, and are running a 64-bit Linux platforms, you can use the unified product installer to upgrade to version 8.7.
The topic includes the following sections:
Related topics for version 8.7 upgrades
Walkthrough: Upgrading using the configurator and individual component installers (for component-level upgrades)
Notes
Review the supported upgrade paths information, available in the Supported upgrade paths section below.
If your BMC Server Automation environment includes BMC BladeLogic Decision Support for Server Automation, upgrade BMC BladeLogic Decision Support for Server Automation before upgrading BMC Server Automation. For more information, see the following topic in the Decision Support for Server Automation online technical documentation:
As of BMC Server Automation 8.6 SP1, the task of running SQL Update scripts, which was necessary in the past for any upgrade to a BMC Server Automation patch or service pack, is no longer required during an upgrade. The database upgrade is now handled internally by the unified product installer, which was introduced in version 8.6.
Upgrading using the unified product installer
Note
If you are not an experienced user, see the related topics listed in the table to review the required planning information for upgrading the product.
The unified product installer automatically upgrades the database, file server, Application Server, agents, PXE server and TFTP server, and console in your environment, with certain exceptions. The checklist below walks you through the process of upgrading Windows and Linux environments using the unified product installer.
Tip
Prior to upgrading your production environment, it is best practice to test the upgrade in a duplicated environment.
Step 1: Review requirements and limitations
The first step is to review the following requirements and limitations when using the unified product installer for product upgrade.
Supported upgrade paths
Requirements
Limitations when using the unified product installer
Category | Description of support or limitation |
---|---|
Multiple Application Server (MAS) environments | The unified product installer only supports upgrade of an homogeneous MAS environment, that is, either all Application Servers run on Linux 64-bit operating systems or all run on Windows 64-bit operating systems. |
"Mixed" Application Server/database environments | The unified product installer supports upgrade of "mixed" Application Server/database environments (for example, Linux Application Server + Microsoft SQL Server database). The UPI does not require the database or the file server operating system to match the operating system of the Application Servers. |
PXE servers | For PXE servers to be upgraded by the unified product installer, they must be:
If your environment includes hybrid PXE servers (that is, PXE servers not running Windows or Linux), you must perform a workaround for the upgrade |
Upgrade scenarios | The unified product installer does not support the following upgrade scenarios:
|
Step 2: Prepare the environment for upgrade
Perform these tasks in order. Many steps are prerequisites for other steps that occur later in the process.
- Back up the BMC Server Automation database. The data upgrade occurs in place. If, for any reason, it should become impossible to complete the upgrade, the only way to restore the database to its pre-upgrade state is from the backups.
- Ensure that the following components are up and running:
- All Application Servers
- PXE Server
- RSCD agents on Application Servers, PXE servers, and file servers.
- RSCD agents installed with the
–local
option on Application Servers, PXE servers, and file servers.
Back up the installation directories for all Application Servers and PXE servers. The default installation locations are:
- Application Server: /opt/bmc/bladelogic/NSH
- PXE Server: /opt/bmc/bladelogic/NSH
If you are upgrading the PXE server, follow the upgrade instructions for Windows or UNIX, to prevent loss of configuration settings.
Note that the user who installed the earlier version of the product might have changed the installation directory from the default location, so ensure that you have the right location. If your current installation is already an upgrade from a previous version, the paths might be different, due to differences in these locations in earlier versions of BMC Server Automation. If you do not know the installation location for BMC Server Automation components view the contents of the /usr/lib/rsc/HOME file (on Linux or UNIX) or the %WINDIR%\rsc\HOME file (on Windows).
Back up the BMC Server Automation file server storage location. For example, copy the entire contents of the storage location to a directory other than the current storage location.
Ensure that there is an agent installed on the Application Server. For agent installation on Linux or UNIX, use the
-local
option (as discussed in Installing components in non-default installation paths using the local flag). Similarly, if an RSCD agent and NSH are not already installed on the PXE server, install them now.- If you are not running the UPI/Application Server installer directly from a graphical desktop on the Application Server host, you must forward the X Window GUI to another system w/ an X Server or use silent mode to install the Application Server (Windows).
The most common method to set up forwarding in a secured environment is to tunnel the X Window connection over an SSH connect between the X Server (your system) and the X Client (the Application Server in this case). Review your SSH client’s documentation for specific instructions, but generally:- Set up the SSH client to forward the remote display across the SSH connection.
- When you log on to the remote system, set the DISPLAY environment variable to
‘localhost:11.0’
(for example). - Your system must run an X Server. For Windows, you can use MobaXterm (which is also an SSH client), Xming, Xmanager, Exceed, and so on. Linux supports X Server natively.
Ensure that the following 32-bit and 64-bit required package is installed:
For RHEL 7: libncurses
- For versions earlier than RHEL 7: libtermcap
- Ensure that you have 4 GB on disk with temp space and 4 GB on disk with installation directory.
Ensure that you have disabled the NSH proxy on all Application Servers in the environment to avoid failure during upgrade. To disable the NSH proxy, run the following command on the NSH client:
secadmin -m default -p 5 -T encryption_only -e tls -appserver_protocol clear
This command temporarily removes theappserver_protocol=ssoproxy
entry from the default line in the secure file (in the rsc folder).Note: After the upgrade completes, remember to add this entry back into the secure file. You can use the following command:
secadmin -m default -p 5 -appserver_protocol ssoproxy
Related topics: (See these topics for additional upgrade considerations and supported upgrade paths)
Preparing for a Linux or UNIX upgrade using the unified product installer
Minimum software requirements, especially Requirements for 32-bit and 64-bit libraries when installing on Red Hat Linux using UPI
Step 3: Download the files
Download and extract the installation files to a temporary location.
- Download the BBSA<bsaversion>-LIN64.zip file (which contains the unified product installation program files) and the BBSA<bsaversion>-RSCDAgent.zip file (which contains the RSCD Agents for all supported platforms) to the host computer of the Application Server that was set up as a configuration server.
- Extract the zip files. For example:
unzip BBSA<bsaversion>-RSCDAgents.zip -d /tmp/BBSA<bsaversion>-RSCDAgents
unzip BBSA<bsaversion>-LIN64.zip -d /tmp/BBSA<bsaversion>-LIN64
- Copy the rscd folder from inside /tmp/BBSA<bsaversion>-RSCDAgents to <temporary_location>/Disk1/files/installer/ before running the unified product installer. The unified product installer uses the RSCD installers while installing or upgrading BMC Server Automation in your environment.
Step 4: Run the unified product installer on the Application Server
Step | Description |
---|---|
Run the unified product installer on the Application Server. | The unified product installer automatically upgrades the database, file server, Application Server, agents, PXE server and TFTP server, and console in your environment, with certain exceptions (see . To run the unified product installer the Application Server
About the Discovered BladeLogic Server Automation Infrastructure screen If any of the remote servers do not have an RSCD Agent installed, the wizard first displays a list of those servers, and you must decide whether to manually install RSCD Agents on these servers or to provide connection details for enabling the unified product installer to perform the installation of an RSCD Agent on each of the servers. If you are running one or more PXE servers, the installer detects and lists them as part of your infrastructure. The unified product installer upgrades the PXE servers as part of the upgrade process. The checkbox for the Remote Site field controls how the PXE server installer files are copied to the PXE server, as described below.
Note: If problems arise during the upgrade, the on-screen error messages contain instructions and guidance to help you troubleshoot the problems, and further information is available in the log files. For a list of log files written during the upgrade process, see the Troubleshooting section. Related topic: Upgrading on Windows using the unified product installer |
Upgrade the console. | To upgrade the console If you had not enabled the BMC Server Automation Console Upgrade Service check box or if you are having the installation on a Linux platform, you need to manually upgrade the Console by running its individual component installer, see Upgrading the BMC Server Automation Console. Related topic: Upgrading the BMC Server Automation Console |
Upgrade components that were not upgraded | After the unified product installer completes the upgrade, you must manually upgrade any components that meet the following criteria. You can perform this step anytime after the upgrade.
Related topics: |
Run the Update Model Objects Job. | For custom configuration objects to work reliably, the version of the custom object should match the version of the agent. You can perform this step anytime after the upgrade.
Related topics: |
Upgrade Compliance Content. | Perform an over-the-top installation of the new Compliance Content add-ons. You can perform this step anytime after the upgrade. Related topic: Installing and configuring Compliance Content add-ons |
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