Walkthrough: Installing on Linux using the unified installer

You can import multiple servers by specifying a text file that contains a list of server names and properties assigned to each server.

Create a server import text file using a comma-separated values (CSV) format, use the following syntax:

• The first line of the file must contain the column header Name followed by optional comma-separated property names for any properties you want to set for each server. Any property name you include in this import file must already exist in the Property Dictionary. For information about how to add a property to the property dictionary, see Managing properties using the Property Dictionary.

• Subsequent lines of the file must contain valid host names for each server you want to add, followed by optional comma-separated property values for each server.

Save the text file (say Servers.txt) at any location in the default Application Server node.

For this walkthrough we will be adding two servers to the BSA environment (without properties).

• clm-pun-016803 – Windows (64 bit)
• clm-pun-016809 – Linux (64 bit)

Name
host1
host2
host3

Name,Customer
host1,CustomerA
host2,CustomerB
host3,CustomerC

Name,Customer
host1,"Customer A"
host2,"Customer B"
host3,"Customer C"

Log on to the BSA Console.

1. Start the BSA Console.
2. Log on to the Console using the BLAdmin username and password that you created during installation.
3. The system uses a default authentication profile (defaultProfile) to log you on to the Console. BSA clients use authentication profiles to facilitate single sign-on feature. For more information about why we use Authentication Profiles, see System capabilities related to security.
4. Click Connect.

The quick start page (BMC Welcome Page) appears.

To enroll servers, click Enroll, under Server Enrollment.

Alternative step: To Import Servers wizard, right-click the Servers folder and select Import Servers.

The Import Servers wizard appears.

Use the File selection tree to select the text file (Servers.txt) you created at the beginning. Ensure that the If agent does not exist, install using Agent installer job option is not selected. We will be installing agents on the servers later in the walkthrough.

Click Finish.

Note: For the purpose of this walkthrough, we do not need to add any additional ACL policies. However if you need to control server access with agent ACLs click Next.

For more information about the UI elements on the Permissions screens, see Import Servers - Permissions.

For more information about ACL policies, see Controlling server access with agent ACLs. 

The next step is to install RSCD agents on the enrolled servers.

From the quick start page, under Server Enrollment, click Install, on the quick start page.

Alternative step: To start the unified agent installer, right-click the Servers folder and select Unified Agent Installer.

The Unified Agent Installer wizard appears.

Provide a prefix that is attached to the name of all objects that unified agent installer creates.

Click Next.

Perform the following steps:

1. Select the platforms on which agents can be installed.
2. Specify the depot folder where agent bundles are stored.
3. Click Next.

Note: The unified agent installer uses the information you provide on this panel to create an agent bundle. For detailed information about this type of object, see Creating an agent bundle.

The Remote Host Authentication (non-Windows) window lets you provide the following information, which is used for authenticating to agentless devices. If you are installing on multiple platforms, typically you define at least one set of authentication information for each platform.

1. Select SSH (Non-Windows) to execute commands directly on an agentless host using the credentials defined in an automation principal that you specify on this panel.
2. Specify the SSH port number that is used by the SSH service running on the remote host. The default port is 22.
3. Select Create new automation principal. You must provide a user name and password for the automation principal. These credentials are used to execute commands on your agentless hosts.
    
4. Click OK.

For more information about the different authentication protocols that you can use, see Unified Agent Installer - Remote Host Authentication (non-Windows). This page also provides information about selecting an existing automation principal. 

The Remote Host Authentication (Windows) window lets you provide the following information, which is used for authenticating to agentless devices. If you are installing on multiple platforms, typically you define at least one set of authentication information for each platform.

1. Select or create one of the following automation principals:
   
   • Select existing automation principal  - Click Browse to navigate to an automation principal.
   • Create new automation principal - Provide a user name and password for the automation principal. Optionally, you can identify a domain for the user.
2. PsExec server — Identify a live Windows server where PsExec is installed. Multiple remote host authentication definitions can use the same PsExec server.
3. Click OK.
4. Click Next.
   
   

Click Add  to open the New Rule wizard.

The unified agent installer uses the information you provide on this panel to create remote host authentication rules. These rules match remote host authentication definitions with agentless devices. For detailed information about this type of object, see Creating or modifying rules for remote host authentication.

Click Add Property Condition. A window opens.

1. In the first text box at left, click . You can view a subordinate list of properties by clicking the right arrow that appears next to the TARGET* property. When defining remote host authentication rules, use any of following subordinate properties:
   • TARGET.FQ_HOST — Fully qualified name of the target device
   • TARGET.IP_ADDRESS — IP address (IPv4 or IPv6) of the target device
   • TARGET.NAME — Name of the target device
   In this walkthrough we are using the TARGET.NAME property.
2. In the next drop-down box to the right, select equals.
3. Use the next field to the right to specify the name of the target that we want to set this condition for, 
4. Click OK. The Rule Definition panel shows the condition. Click Next.

Select the non-Windows remote host authentication (created earlier) that should be used to authenticate the clm-pun-016809 server. Click the right arrow to move your selection to the list on the right.

Click Finish.

Create a similar rule for clm-pun-016803, but this time using the Windows remote host authentication that we created.

Click Next.

1. Select the desired options for the agent installer job as described below.
   • • Update Server Properties: Update the system with properties from the target servers on which you are installing agents.
     • Update Configuration Objects Registration: Register any configuration objects that are found on the agent and defined in the Configuration Object Dictionary.
     • Push Agent ACLs: Push agent ACLs to the servers that this job targets.
       To push ACLs, the system converts the access control list defined for a server into a users configuration file and pushes that file to the agent. The access control list is derived from user permissions defined in the RBAC system.
     • Preserve Staging Area On Failure: Information copied to a staging area on a target server during installation should be preserved if the installation fails. By default, when the system has finished installing an agent, it automatically deletes all files in the staging area.
2. Specify the folder to store the Agent Installer Job that is created by the unified agent installer.
3. Click Next.

1. Specify the operating system of the servers you want to select. To display servers running any operating system, select All.
2. Select the servers that you want to run the Agent installer job on the left and click the right arrow to move your selection to the list on the right.
3. Select the Execute job now option to run the Job immediately after the exiting the unified agent installer.
4. Click Next.

Navigate to the directory containing installation files and run the installation program for the console. Different installers are provided for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows.

In this example, we are running the BBSACONSOLE87-WIN64 file on the Windows machine on which you plan to install the console.

Select a language to use for the installation and click OK. 

The installer extracts the installation files, and the Introduction window opens.

Ensure that you have closed all applications before you proceed.

Click Next.

The Review License Agreement window opens.

Read the End User License Agreement (EULA) and select I agree to the terms of the license agreement if you wish to proceed.

Click Next.

The Directory Selection window opens.

The default installation location for the console is C:\Program Files\BMC Software\BladeLogic. Click Next to use the default location.

Alternatively, you can click Browse to change the installation location.

A window opens in which you can select components to install. By default, all components are selected.

The Network Shell is automatically installed when you install the console.

Note: If you clear the BMC Server Automation Console Upgrade Service check box, the BMC Server Automation Console Upgrade Service is not installed. This service is required for automatically upgrading the BMC Server Automation Console when you upgrade the Application Server.

Click Next.

The window displays your selections.

Click Install.

The window displays installation progress, then displays a message when installation is complete.

The console and Network Shell are installed on your machine.

In case you encountered any errors while installing you can click View Log to view a detailed report of the installation.

Tip: BMC recommends that you save a copy of the log, before you contact technical support for further assistance. You can also find more information about resolving common issues in Troubleshooting the unified product installer.

If all operations are completed successfully, click Done to exit the wizard.

Start the console.

To configure the console so that it connects to the default Application Server, click Options.

Click on the Authentication Profiles tab and click Add.

BSA clients use authentication profiles to facilitate single sign-on feature. You must create an Authentication profile before you start using the Console. For more information about why we use Authentication Profiles, see System capabilities related to security.

Enter the following information.

1. Assign a name to the authentication profile. For example, you could assign a name such as QATeam or DevTeam.
2. Enter the name or IP address (IPv4 or IPv6) of the default Application Server to which the client should connect.
3. Enter an Authentication Port number to which the client should connect. The same port is used for all BMC Server Automation authentication mechanisms. The default Port is 9840. For more information about Console ports, see BMC Server Automation ports.

4. Select any one authentication mechanism for the authentication profile:

   • Secure Remote Password.
   • AD/Kerberos Single Sign-on.
   • Domain Authentication.
   • LDAP.
   • RSA SecurID Authentication.
   • Public Key Infrastructure Authentication.
   In this walkthrough we will use the Secure Remote Password mechanism. For information about implementing the other authentication mechanisms, see Implementing authentication. 
5. Click OK.

You can now log on the the Console using the BLAdmin user that is created while installing the default Application Server node, see step 10.

The quick start page is the first page that is displayed once you log on the the BSA Console. It introduces you to the main use cases of BMC Server Automation and allows you to execute them from a centralized UI immediately after installing the BSA set up. For information about using the quick start page, see Quick start page.

For general information about the UI of the BSA Console, see Navigating the interface.

Navigate to the directory that contains the installation file for PXE/TFTP.

<path_to_extracted_packages>/BBSA-LIN64/files/installers/appserver_64/

Run the installation script for BMC Server Automation, which in this case is BBSA87-LIN64.sh. Script names typically follow the convention: BBSAversion-platform.sh

Note: Do not execute the installation script from a non-root account.

sh BBSA87-LIN64.sh

Read through the acknowledgments, third-party software license agreements, and terms and conditions, as follows:

1. A welcome message is displayed, followed by a prompt to read the third-party software license agreements. Press Enter.
2. An acknowledgment is displayed, listing the third-party software that BMC Server Automation uses. Press Enter.
3. A message prompts you to review the terms and conditions for using this software. Press Enter.

4. The following message is displayed:
   Do you agree to the terms of the license agreement (y for Yes)?
   Enter y.

Perform the following:

1. For successful provisioning, the RSCD agent must be installed on the same host computer as the PXE server and TFTP server. Therefore, in this step, enter 1pt.

   A plus sign (+) appears next to RSCD agent, PXE server, and TFTP server, indicating that you have chosen to install them.

2. Enter 9 to start the installation.

3. A message lists the components that you have chosen to install and asks if you want to continue. Enter y.

Enter a password for a self-signed certificate, so that the Application Server can use the TLS protocol. The password must be 6 characters.

Confirm the password by entering it again.

Specify the max heap size for the Application Server JVM. Specify a size between 512 - 2048 megabytes.
A series of messages indicate the progress of the installation.

Note: If you are installing on Linux and one of the following conditions is not satisfied, the installer warns that some BMC Server Automation components do not function until the appropriate RPM is installed.

• On Red Hat Linux, the compat-libstdc++ RPMs must be installed. Also, the XFree86-libs or xorg-x11-libs RPMs must be installed.
• On SUSE 9.x, either the compat or compat-32bit RPM must be installed and the xf86 RPM must be installed.
• On SUSE 10.x, either the compat or compat-32bit RPM must be installed and the xorg-x11 RPM must be installed.

1. A message lists the host name and IP address of this server. This information is needed to configure a connection with the TFTP server and the data store. If the information identifies the server correctly, press y.

2. Specify whether your DHCP server is located on this server or a separate machine.
   
   

    Click here for more information ...

   If the DHCP server is located on another server, the installation program automatically configures this server to function as a DHCP proxy. You must configure the DHCP server differently, depending on whether it is installed on the same host computer as the PXE Server. For more information on configuring the DHCP server, see Configuring a DHCP server on Windows and Configuring a DHCP server on Linux.

3. Specify whether you want to use digitally signed logs for RSCD agents.

4. Specify whether you want use keystroke logs for nexec commands.

Enter y (yes) or n (no) for the following series of questions:

1. Specify whether you want to provide root permissions to the root clients on this host (root equivalency). By default, the RSCD agent does not provide root permissions to root clients.
2. Specify whether you want a particular client associated with a local user on this machine. If you enter y, you must enter the name of the user and the client that you want to map to.

Specify whether you want to manually start the RSCD agent or have it  automatically started by the system on reboot.

Enter the directories in which you want to save the RSCD log files and the temp files. To accept the default values provided by the system, press enter.