Upgrading using the unified product installer

This topic describes how to use the unified product installer to interactively upgrade BMC Server Automation on 64-bit Linux and Windows platforms. It includes the following sections:

Note

You can alternatively use the unified product installer to upgrade in an unattended (silent) mode. For more information, see Upgrading-silently-using-the-unified-product-installer.

List of components that are upgraded by the unified product installer

The unified product installer upgrades the following product components that were installed as part of the previous 8.3.x, 8.5.x, or 8.6.x installation (click to expand):

Upgraded component	Notes
Database schema	The unified product installer upgrades the BMC Server Automation schema (not the database software) on the following supported platforms: Linux: Oracle Express Edition, Oracle Enterprise Edition, or Oracle Standard Edition Microsoft Windows: SQL Server
File server	If the file server is separate from the Application Server, then it is upgraded only if it resides on a 64-bit platform.
Components on the computer that hosts the Application Server:
Application Server (including its profiles — such as configuration server, job server, or NSH proxy server)	Do not shut down Application Servers when upgrading using the unified product installer. Shutting down the Application Servers during the upgrade can cause the upgrade to fail. Configuration changes will not be applied on Application Server machines that are down during the upgrade.
Network Shell (NSH)	Based on whether the host computer on which you are installing Network Shell has a supported version of Perl installed, either of the following is performed: 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 installer copies files that allow you to install the Perl module after you have installed the supported version of Perl.
RSCD Agent	As of version 8.6, BMC Server Automation requires an RSCD Agent installed on each Application Server. Therefore, during the upgrade, the unified product installer automatically installs RSCD Agents on the Application Servers, if they are not already present on them. The unified product installer installs the RSCD Agent at the following locations based on the operating system of the Application Server: (Windows)<system-windows-dir>\Program Files\BMC Software\BladeLogic (Linux)/opt/bmc/bladelogic Note that if an RSCD agent is already present on the Application Server, the unified product installer upgrades the RSCD agent automatically.
PXE server and TFTP server	Only those PXE Servers that have a status of up and running in the Infrastructure Management Window are upgraded. You need to upgrade the remaining servers manually (as described in Upgrading-a-PXE-server-on-Windows or Upgrading-a-PXE-server-on-Linux-or-UNIX).

List of components that are not upgraded by the unified product installer

The unified product installer does NOT upgrade the following components (click to expand):

Component NOT upgraded	Notes
BMC Server Automation Console	After completing the upgrade using the unified product installer, you can attend to the upgrade of the console, according to the following scenarios: If you had enabled the BMC Server Automation Console Upgrade Service check box while installing the previous 8.3.x or later installation, the console will automatically be upgraded by the system (see BMC-Server-Automation-Console-Automatic-Upgrade-Windows-only). 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.
RSCD Agents in certain scenarios	RSCD Agents in the following scenarios are not upgraded: RSCD Agents not on target (managed) servers RSCD Agents on a separate file server running on Linux, with an Application Server running on Windows (applies only to version 8.6; this limitation was fixed in 8.6 SP1) RSCD Agent on an online or offline patch repository RSCD Agent on a basic/standard repeater RSCD Agent on an advanced file server RSCD Agent on a VMware vCenter server
Multiple RSCD agents running on a single host computer	Depending on which version of BMC Server Automation you are on, the unified product installer may or may not upgrade multiple RSCD agents that are installed on single machine. For details on different versions, see the following: BMC Sever Automation 8.6 SP1 and later versions In BMC Server Automation 8.6 SP1 and later versions. The local RSCD agents (installed using the -local option) are automatically upgraded by the unified product installer. Note that the local RSCD agents must be running when the unified product installer is executed, so that it can detect and upgrade the local RSCD agents.
NSH clients on non-Application Server host computers	Use the instructions in Upgrading-the-Network-Shell.
Custom configuration objects	Upgrade any custom configuration objects that you have created and distributed, as described in Upgrading-custom-configuration-objects.
Compliance Content	Perform an over-the-top installation of the new Compliance Content add-ons, as described in Installing-Compliance-Content-add-ons.
A dual database used for provisioning
PXE and TFTP servers that reside on separate host computers	When you upgrade a PXE server on a different subnet than the target server, you need to copy the installation files to the remote machine and upgrade the remaining servers manually, as described in Upgrading-a-PXE-server-on-Windows or Upgrading-a-PXE-server-on-Linux-or-UNIX.
BMC BladeLogic Decision Support for Server Automation server	For upgrade instructions, see Upgrading in the BMC BladeLogic Decision Support for Server Automation online documentation.
BladeLogic Portal	For BladeLogic Portal upgrade instructions, see Upgrading in the BladeLogic Portal online documentation.

Before you begin

Ensure that your environment meets the requirements discussed in Preparing-for-a-Windows-upgrade and Preparing-for-a-Linux-or-UNIX-upgrade.

Note

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.

To upgrade BMC Server Automation using the unified product installer

Tip

Prior to upgrading your production environment, it is best practice to test the upgrade in a duplicated environment.

Warning

Ensure that you use a fresh copy of the installation folder (and its contents), for each environment that the unified product installer is run in. The unified product installer saves environment-related information in the installation folder (Disk1), which will cause errors if the same copy is used for upgrading different environments.

Download and extract the installation package appropriate for the operating system level and hardware platform in a <temporary location>. The package follows the naming convention BBSA<version>-<platform>.zip, and contains the unified product installation program files.
Download this package to the host computer of the Application Server that was set up as a configuration server (for more about this type of Application Server setup, see Application Server types).
Extract the RSCDAgent.zip file and copy the rscd folder to one of the following locations before running the unified product installer (The unified product installer uses the RSCD installers while installing or upgrading BMC Server Automation in your environment):
- (Windows) <temporary location>/files/installer/
- (Linux):
  - Version 8.6.01 and later <temporary location>/Disk1/files/installers
If you are on a Linux machine, assign executable permission to the temporary directory by entering the following command:
chmod +x -R <temporary directory>
In addition, if the temporary directory is at the end of a path (that is, has at least one parent directory), assign read permission to the others class for all directories in the path. To do this, execute the following command on the top-level directory in the path:
chmod o+r -R <top-level directory>
Run the installation file for BMC Server Automation (setup.exe for Windows or setup.bin for Linux).
Note
For Linux, BMC recommends that you execute the installation from a root shell. Do not execute the installation file from a non-root account.
Follow the instructions in the installation wizard and click Next. Enter your Authentication profile credentials to proceed with the upgrade procedure. The profile that you specify must be associated with the same Application Server where you are performing the upgrade. Note that only secure remote password (SRP), LDAP, or Domain Authentication type profiles can be used with the unified product installer. For more information, on Authentication profile credentials, see Setting-up-an-authentication-profile and Implementing-authentication.
The unified product installer program displays the different types of servers that are present in the BMC Server Automation environment and their count.
If the unified product installer was successful in connecting with all servers, you can proceed with the installation. Skip to step 8.
Otherwise, click Next to continue to step 7.

If any of the remote servers do not have an RSCD Agent installed, the wizard displays a list of those servers. You can choose from the following options:
- Manually install an RSCD Agent on each of the listed remote servers, and then resume the installation through the unified product installer.
- Authorize the unified product installer to install an RSCD Agent on each of the listed remote servers by providing the following information:
  - The name of a local super user (root or root-equivalent user on Linux, local Administrator or Administrator-equivalent local user on Windows) to which the RSCD Agent should map incoming connections during the installation.
    The default is root on Linux and Administrator on Windows.
  - Host name or IP address of the PSExec host computer.
  - User credentials (user name and password) for establishing an SSH connection to the remote hosts.
    If user credentials are the same on all remote servers, select the Use Common Credentials check box, and enter credentials in the fields below the check box. Otherwise, clear the check box and enter credentials for each of the servers directly into the table that lists the servers.
  After entering the required information, click Next.
Click Install to proceed with the upgrade of all BMC Server Automation components that are present in your environment.
Notes
If product components are detected during the upgrade on remote Windows machines in the BMC Server Automation environment, installers are automatically copied to the C:\BBSAInstallerDumpDir directory on the remote machines. These installers are used to automatically upgrade product components on those machines.
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.
After performing the recommended troubleshooting steps, you can return to the installer and safely resume the upgrade from the point where you left off. You might do this in one of the following ways:
- If the installation wizard is still open, click the Previous button. This takes you to a new Summary window, which now lists only those components and servers that have not yet been successfully upgraded. Click Accept to re-attempt the upgrade of those components.
- If you were forced to close the installation wizard (typically the case for longer troubleshooting procedures), you can re-launch the installer. After several initial windows, an updated Summary window lists only those components and servers that have not yet been successfully upgraded. Click Accept to re-attempt the upgrade of those components.
During the upgrade, the original Application Server deployments are backed up. The backup files are stored in <installation directory>/br.

Where to go from here

(For BMC Server Automation 8.6 SP1 and later) The unified product installer automatically installs agent installer jobs and depot objects such as agent installers and agent bundles that can be used for installing or upgrading agents on servers in the environment. The agent installers, agent bundles, and agent installer jobs are present in the following locations:

Object	Depot Path	Can be used for
Installers	/Depot/BMC Maintenance/Agent Installers/	Agent install and upgrade
Bundles	/Depot/BMC Maintenance/Agent Bundles/	Agent upgrade
Jobs	/BMC Maintenance/Agent Installer Jobs/	Agent upgrade

For more information about using these objects, see Installing one or more agents using the BMC Server Automation Console and Upgrading-RSCD-agents.

WarningModifying the name or path of these depot objects may cause errors in the agent installation process.

Upgrade any remaining product components that were not upgraded by the unified product installer.
If you adjusted security settings before the upgrade (as described in the troubleshooting instructions for security settings), remember to re-adjust your security settings, based on your unique needs and the IT security policies at your organization.
For Windows patching, you may still be using the PD5.cab, or HF7b.cab configuration files for Windows patching. However, BMC Server Automation 8.6 and later versions do not support the PD5.cab, or HF7b.cab configuration files, and you must use the PD5.xml, or HF7b.xml files instead. The Windows catalog update job fails if you use the .cab configuration files. To update the configuration files used for Windows patching see, Global configuration parameters.
On SuSE 11, the Application Server does not start automatically at the end of the upgrade. You must start the Application Server manually at the end of the upgrade using the following command:
/etc/init.d/blappserv start
You may still be using the PD5.cab, or HF7b.cab configuration files for Windows patching. However, BMC Server Automation 8.6 and later versions do not support the PD5.cab, or HF7b.cab configuration files, and you must use the PD5.xml, or HF7b.xml files instead. The Windows catalog update job fails, if you use the .cab configuration files.
Update the configuration files used for Windows patching, see Global configuration parameters.