Upgrading the BladeLogic PXE server

Use this task to upgrade the PXE server, which are functional components required for the BMC Server Automation provisioning solution, on Microsoft Windows.

 This topic contains the following information:

Before you begin

• Do not run the installer on the same VM where you install the products; use a separate VM. You can recover this VM later, after you finish the cloud installation.
• Accept the default values in the installer unless you have a good reason to change them.
• Do not mix IP addresses and hostnames during product select in the Host Information panel. Enter all IP addresses or all hostnames, but do not combine them.
• Some special characters create problems during installation. For more information, see Restricting the use of certain characters in passwords.
  • For BMC Network Automation, do not use special characters except _. 
  • For BMC Server Automation, do not use #. 
• To perform the upgrade of the PXE server, you must have local Administrator privileges.
• If you are using Windows Terminal Services or Citrix Presentation Server to install or if you are installing on Windows 2003 or 2008, you must either:
  • Install in Install mode rather than Execute mode. For information, see Using Install mode instead of Execute mode.
    or
  • Install using the Windows Add or Remove Programs utility.
• On 64-bit Windows systems, confirm that the <WINDIR>\SysWOW64 directory contains a copy of the chcp.com file. The installer uses this file to set the code page of standard output (stdout). You can obtain the file from a 32-bit version of Windows.
• Modify the /etc/host (Linux) file or C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts (Windows) file to include the FQDN or short hostname to match what is present in the database. Issue a query to the database to check the hostname, For example:
  select * from application_server; 

To upgrade the PXE Server

1.  Record the following settings for the existing PXE server:
   • Installation directory. By default:
     • C:\Program Files\BMC Software\BladeLogic (Windows)
     • /opt/bmc/bladelogic (Linux)
   • Database connectivity information 
     The PXE server uses the same database as the Application Server. One way to obtain this information is to start the Application Server Administration Console (also known as the blasadmin utility) and enter the following command: 
     show database all
   • Host name and IP address of the PXE server
   • DHCP server location (local or remote)
   • TFTP root directory
     You do not have to record the name and location of the data store. By default:
     • C:\Program Files\BMC Software\BladeLogic\tftp (Windows)
     • /opt/bmc/bladelogic/tftp (Linux)
   • If the Multi-Database mode is being used, make a note of the additional database configuration parameters found in the <installDirectory>\PXE\br\deployments\_pxe\pxe-data-sources.xml file.
2. Make a backup copy of configuration files.
   If you are using the pxe.conf configuration override file, make a copy of the <installDirectory>\PXE\br\pxe.conf file.
3. Download the BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management solution from the EPD site, as instructed in Downloading the installation files.
4. Start the installer:
   
   • On Microsoft Windows, double-click the setup.cmd file.

   • On Linux, launch the installer by using Xmanager.
     With Xmanager, X applications installed on remote UNIX based computers run seamlessly with Windows applications side by side.

     You can also use VConsole to launch the installer.

5. In the lower right corner of the Welcome page, click Next.
6. Review the license agreement, click I agree to the terms of the license agreement, and then click Next.
7. On the Installation Prerequisites panel, review all the prerequisites that you must complete before you start the upgrade. 

8. Select the I have read the prerequisites check box and click Next. 
   (optional) Select the Do not display this panel for subsequent installations check box if you do not want to view the prerequisites again during other product upgrades.  
   

   If you have not completed any of the prerequisites listed on the Installation Prerequisites panel, exit the installer and complete the steps first.

    

9. On the Directory Selection panel, navigate to the location on the host where you want to install the planner and click Next.
   The default location is C:\Program Files\BMC Software\Planner.
10. On the Installation Preview panel, review the information and click Install.
11. If NSH is not installed, the system prompts you to install it.
    The default location is C:\Program Files\BMC Software\NSH. 

12. In the Select Installation Type panel, select Upgrade and then click Next.

13. In the Integrate Disclaimer Information panel, review the guidance.
    Make sure that upgrading does not impact your customizations or your system performance.
14. Click I agree to the terms of the disclaimer, and then click Next. 

15. On the BMC Installation Registry panel, select if you have a backup registry to use or if you are integrating from scratch, and then click Next. 

    The backup registry lists the target hosts and which products were installed on them. This example does not have an registry available to simplify the upgrade process. If you do not have a registry, you must compile your own list of target hosts.

     
    For more information, see Deployment architecture for other types to implement. 

16. In the BMC AR System Configuration panel, the installer prompts you if you use only one AR System server in your environment.
    Select Yes (I have only one BMC AR System server), and then click Next.
    
17. In the Select Deployment Template panel, select the template that matches your requirements (for example, Small Deployment), and click Next.
    
18. In the Deployment Tier Selection panel, select Control Tier, and then click Next.
     You can upgrade products in the Control Tier, in the Workload Tier, or in both tiers. The default is Both.

19. In the Host Information that appears for the Control Tier, enter all the product hosts in your environment, and then click Next.
    The installer validates all the hosts on the Control Tier, to ensure a successful integration. You do not need to enter a host name in every field on this panel, just the product hosts currently used in your environment. 
    

    The Host Information panel performs the integration that, in earlier releases, was a pre-upgrade procedure.

    
    

20. When the installer finishes integrating all the products, review the products, versions, and hosts listed in the Integration Summary panel, and click Next.

21. In the Select Deployment Type panel, select Upgrade to Cloud Lifecycle Management 4.5.00, and then click Next.
    All product hosts that you integrated with your BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management solution by running the 4.x installer are now visible in the Host Information panel. If the host name or the product that you chose for upgrade is incorrect, click Previous to correct the information.  

22. Clear all the other options except PXE Server (Optional), and then click Next.

23. Take a VM snapshot and database backup, as prompted by the installer.

24. Carefully review the uninstallation notification so that you understand the steps being performed by the installer, and then click Next. 
    The installer upgrades the network shell, uninstalls the existing PXE server, and then upgrades the PXE server.
     
25. Review the uninstall validation notification. Then manually verify that the remote install directory contains no files. Then click Next.
26. Enter the access information for the existing BladeLogic Application Server database, and then click Next.

27. Enter the PXE Server Options, and then click Next. 

    Field	Description
    Interface to bind	Ethernet interface that the PXE server uses to listen, for example, eth0 or eth1. Type the name of an interface. If you do not specify a valid interface, the PXE server binds to all active interfaces.
    Multicast address	IP address of the multicast group that the PXE server listens on. By default, the BMC Server Automation PXE server listens on the multicast address of 224.1.5.1. Multicast addresses must fall in the range 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255. If you check Use broadcast, you must set the Multicast address to the PXE server's IP address. This setting prevents the PXE server from continuing to use the multicast address.
    Listening port	Port on which the PXE server listens for connections from target machines being provisioned. By default, the PXE server listens on port 4011.
    Prompt timeout	Length of time (in seconds) that the boot prompt is displayed before the boot process begins. If the time-out expires without interruption, the default boot option runs automatically. If you enter0, the boot prompt is not displayed.
    PXE Server Domain	Domain of the PXE server.
    Use multicast	Check this option if the PXE server should listen to multicast requests. Then set the Multicast address.
    Use broadcast	Check this option if the PXE server should listen to broadcast requests. A broadcast transmits to an entire network and thus uses network bandwidth less efficiently than a multicast. If you check this option, enter the IP address of the PXE server for Multicast address.

28. Enter the TFTP Options, and then click Next. 

    Field	Description
    IP Address	IP address that the TFTP server listens on.
    Base Directory	Base directory of the file system used to store operating system bootstrap programs to be downloaded.
    MTFTP Settings	Multicast address that the TFTP server listens on.
    Client Port	Multicast port that servers being provisioned should use to communicate with the TFTP server.
    Server Port	Multicast port that the TFTP server should use to listen for communication from servers being provisioned.

29. In the DCHP Configuration panel, select where your DHCP server is located, and then click Next.

    The options are Locally (on this server) and Externally (on another server) (the default).

30. Review the PXE Server Upgrade storage area settings (typically you should accept the defaults, but you can leave the name blank to configure it manually), and then click Next.

31. Review the upgrade preview settings, and then click Next.

32. Review the installation summary,and then click Done to exit the installer and finish the session. 

Where to go from here

Perform the post-upgrade configuration tasks.