URL syntax for network data transmission

To identify a source file that can be deployed from a remote location to another remote location without making a local copy, you must create a URL using a special syntax that incorporates a protocol and a network location.

The URL syntax is shown below. Square brackets indicate optional components.

[[protocol:][//[Domain;][User][:password]@]Host[:port]]][/sharename]/Path

Omitting all components except /Path specifies direct access to the file system of the local host. When you provide only /Path, files are accessed using local system calls rather than networking.

The following list explains all components in a URL:

• protocol— specifies how to put or get files and directories to or from the specified Host. For the local host, the default approach is to use direct access to the file system. For remote hosts, the following protocols are supported:

  • rscd — Use the Network Shell protocol. This is the default approach.

    Note

    The rscd protocol does not work with the Agent mounts source for direct use at deployment option. 

  • file — Use the local file system.

  • nfs — Use UNIX file sharing.

    Note

    On some systems you might be required to have the nfslock and rpcbind or portmap services running for the nfs mount to be established properly. Ensure that these services are running before attempting an nfs-based deploy.

  • smb— Use Windows file sharing. For the SMB protocol, you must provide a Windows "share name" in front of the path. No other protocols require a share name. The SMB protocol also requires you to provide all necessary connection information (domain, user name, and password).

    Note

    Be aware of the following:

    • When defining a software package, you cannot instruct a Deploy Job to mount an SMB server using more than one set of connection information. This could occur, for example, when you use one set of connection information to access source files and another set of connection information to access support files. In situations like this a Windows limitation causes the job to fail. This limitation only applies when you select Agent mounts source for direct use at deployment when specifying a source file location; this limitation does not apply if you select Copy to Agent at staging.
    • When defining a URL for Windows patch payloads, you can only use the smb protocol.
• Domain — The Windows domain that provides user accounts. A domain is only necessary for the SMB protocol. When providing Windows user information, if you do not provide a domain, the user is presumed to be a user local to the host.
• User — The identity that should be used to access a device. A user is only necessary for the SMB protocol. The default value for User is the identity of the user who invoked the Deploy Job.

• password— The password for the specified user. A password is only necessary for the SMB protocol. URLs containing passwords are encrypted when passed between devices.

  Note

  To ensure that a password remains encrypted throughout the Deploy Job process, you can enter a password as a parameter, such as ??MOUNT_PWD??. The parameter can reference a local property on a BLPackage used to deploy a software package or it can reference a server property for the host to be mounted. The value of the property contains the actual password. When defining the property, choose a property type of Simple and set the type to Encrypted String.

• Host — The DNS host name or IP address (IPv4 or IPv6). The default value is localhost (127.0.0.1). If you specify an IPv6 address along with the NFS protocol or the SMB protocol, enclose the IPv6 address in brackets.
• Port — The IP port number that should be used to access the protocol service on the host. The default value is based on the selected protocol, such as 4750 for rscd or 2049 for nfs.
• ShareName — The name under which a directory is exported via Windows file sharing. This optional component should only be specified for the SMB protocol. Internally, BMC Server Automation converts the directory specified with ShareName into a UNC location and associates connection information (Domain, User, and password) that can be used to access the UNC location.
  For NFS, BMC Server Automation consults the NFS server to determine which initial sub-string in the path is exported. BMC Server Automation combines this sub-string with the absolute path defined using the Path component.
• Path — The path to a file or directory. Use forward slashes "/" as path delimiters.

Examples

/etc/passwd
# /etc/passwd on the current default host

//hp11dev/etc/passwd
# /etc/passwd on hp11dev, using the rscd protocol

nfs://hp11dev/etc/passwd
# Use an NFS mount of hp11dev export

smb://myDomain;BLuser:??MOUNT_PWD??@winXP37/REPO/HOSTS
# The HOSTS file is in a shared directory called REPO. Access the # HOSTS file 
# using an SMB map. 
# The user who can access the file is named BLuser in the domain called myDomain. 
# The password # is a parameter referring to a local property called MOUNT_PWD. 
# The host name is winXP37.