Installing the Capacity Agent

If you have installed the Gateway Server to collect data, you must install the Capacity Agent on the infrastructure that you want to monitor.

A Capacity Agent collects data from the managed systems in your environment. After collecting data, the Agent transfers it to the Gateway Server. You can install the Capacity Agent silently.

Preparing to install the Capacity Agent

On Windows

• Verify that the user account for installing the Capacity Agent has administrator rights. 
• BMC recommends that you configure the Terminal Services on systems to prevent the installer from deleting the temporary folder while exiting installation. Ensure that the installer does not use temporary folders for each session.

On UNIX and Linux

• Ensure that you are using a non-privileged and non-root user account for installing the Capacity Agent.
• If you are installing the Capacity Agent on a Ubuntu Linux system, ensure that the libxtst6 package is installed.
  

  To install the libxtst6 package:

  1. Download the package from  Ubuntu packages .
  2. Run the following command:
     dpkg -l | grep -i libxtst6

You must install the Capacity Agent on each managed system from which you want to collect data. You can use one of the following installation methods:

• Shell script: You can install the Agent using the shell script. The script uses the AgentSilentInstallOptions.txt file, which contains the parameters used for configuring the Agent.
• Docker container: You can install the Agent using a Docker container. The installation involves loading and running the Docker image on a Docker host. When you run the Docker image, the Docker container is created, and the Agent within the container is started. The Agent starts collecting the system-level metrics from the Docker host. The Docker host can be in an on-premises environment or a cloud environment, such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform.

To install the Capacity Agent using a shell script

To install the Agent on Windows systems, ensure that you open the command prompt as an administrator for running the commands.

1. Log in to the system where you want to install the Capacity Agent.
   
   • (Windows) Log in as a user with administrator privileges.
   • (UNIX and Linux) Log in as a non-root user.

2. Extract the Capacity Agent installer files to a temporary directory.

   • (Windows) Extract  TSCO_Agent_ver20.02_MSwindows.zip
   • (UNIX and Linux) Run the following command:
     

     TSCO_Agent_ver20.02.00_<platform>_<architecture or image>.tar
     For example, 

     TSCO_Agent_ver20.02.00_Linux_x86-64.tar
TSCO_Agent_ver20.02.00_Solaris_SPARC.tar

3. (Optional) To change the default values of the installation properties, complete these steps:

   1. Navigate to the directory that contains the extracted files.

   2. Open the AgentSilentInstallOptions.txt file.

   3. Update values of the required parameters.

       Installation parameters

      
      

      Parameter name	Description
      installLocation	Retain the following default installation directory path or type a new path: (Windows) C:\Program Files\BMC Software\Patrol3 (Linux) /opt/bmc/Patrol3 Examples:  (Windows) installLocation=C:\Program Files\BMC Software\Patrol3 (Linux) installLocation=/opt/bmc/Patrol3
      INSTALL_BPA_AGENT	Retain the default selection to install the Capacity Agent. Example: INSTALL_BPA_AGENT=true
      (UNIX and Linux) BPA_USER	Type the user name for installing the Capacity Agent. It is recommended to install as a non-root user. Default value: perform (root user) or any current non-root user Example: BPA_USER=Sam
      (Windows) PERFORM_AGENT_START_WINDOWS	Specify whether you want to start the Capacity Agent after installing the Gateway Server. Default value: True Example: PERFORM_AGENT_START_WINDOWS=True
      (UNIX and Linux) PERFORM_AGENT_START_UNIX	Specify whether you want to start the Capacity Agent after installing the Gateway Server. Default value: True Example: PERFORM_AGENT_START_UNIX=True
      PERFORM_AGENT_ENABLE_HISTORY	Specify whether you want to enable the collection of historical data. Default value: True Example: PERFORM_AGENT_ENABLE_HISTORY=True
      PERFORM_AGENT_HISTORY_REPOSITORY	Type a directory to store the collected historical data. Default value: (Windows) C:\Program Files\BMC Software\Patrol3\BEST1\<version_number>\History (UNIX and Linux) /opt/bmc/Patrol3/perform/history Example: PERFORM_AGENT_HISTORY_REPOSITORY=C:\Program Files\BMC Software\Patrol3\BEST1\20.02.00\History
      (UNIX and Linux) PERFORM_AGENT_COLLECT_REPOSITORY	Type a directory path to store the data collected daily. Default value: /opt/bmc/Patrol3/perform/collect Example: PERFORM_AGENT_COLLECT_REPOSITORY=/opt/bmc/Patrol3/perform/collect
      (Windows)  PERFORM_AGENT_MIGRATION	Specify whether you want to migrate old configuration files of Capacity Agents. Default value: True Example: PERFORM_AGENT_MIGRATION=True
      PERFORM_AGENT_PORT	Type the port number to be used by the Capacity Agent. Default value: 6767 Example: PERFORM_AGENT_PORT=6767
      PERFORM_INVESTIGATE_PORT	Type the port number to be used by the Investigate. Default value: 6768 Example: PERFORM_INVESTIGATE_PORT=6768
      PERFORM_AGENT_SERVICE_PORT	Type the port number to be used by the Agent service. Default value: 10128 Example: PERFORM_AGENT_SERVICE_PORT=10128
      (UNIX and  Linux) PERFORM_CREATE_DEFAULT_LINK	Specify whether you want to create a default link. Default value: True Example: PERFORM_CREATE_DEFAULT_LINK=True
      PERFORM_PROCESS_LENGTH	Type the process command length that the Agent must collect. Default value: 2048 Other possible values are 4096, 8192, 16384, and 32768 Example: PERFORM_PROCESS_LENGTH=2048
      PERFORM_SECURITY_CONFIGURATION_TYPE	Type Basic or Advanced security level that you want to use for communication between the Gateway Server and the Application Server. Use Advanced when a direct network connection does not exist between the Agent and the Gateway Server. Default value: BASIC Example: PERFORM_SECURITY_CONFIGURATION_TYPE=BASIC
      (UNIX and Linux) PERFORM_UNIX_MIGRATION	Specify whether you want to upgrade the existing version of the Capacity Agent if detected. Default value: True Example: PERFORM_UNIX_MIGRATION=True
      (UNIX and Linux) PERFORM_UNIX_UNINSTALL	Specify whether you want to uninstall the existing version of the Capacity Agent if detected. Default value: False Example: PERFORM_UNIX_UNINSTALL=False

   4. Save the changes. 
      

4. Create the following directory structure and grant the appropriate permission to the directory. By default, the Agent is installed in this directory.

   • (Windows): C:\Program Files\BMC Software\Patrol3
   • (UNIX and Linux): /opt/bmc/Patrol3

5. Run the following command to install the Agent:

   • (Windows) <path_to_install.bat>\install.bat -DOPTIONS_FILE=<path_to_AgentSilentInstallOptions.txt>
For example, C:\Users\Administrator\Downloads\installer\install.bat -DOPTIONS_FILE="C:\AgentSilentInstallOptions.txt"
   • (UNIX and Linux) ./install.sh -DOPTIONS_FILE=<path_to_AgentSilentInstallOptions.txt> 
     For example, ./install.sh -DOPTIONS_FILE=/installer/AgentSilentInstallOptions.txt

6. (UNIX and Linux) Run the following command as a root user to configure the Agent:

   1. Change to the root user.
   2. Change to the installation directory and run the following command:
      ./b1config<version>.sh
      where version indicates the version of the installed Capacity Agent.
7. Verify the Agent installation:
   
   • (Windows)
     
     1. At the command prompt, enter services.msc
     2. Check whether the BGS_SDService service is running.
   • (UNIX and Linux)
     Run this command to ensure that the agent daemon service (/etc/bgs/SD/bgssd.exe -d /etc/bgs/SD -s) is running as a non-root user:
     ps -ef | grep bgs

You can update values of the Agent configuration parameters whenever required. For more information, see Configuring the Capacity Agents.

To install the Capacity Agent using a Docker container

1. Log in as a root user to the Linux system where you want to install the Agent.

2. Change to the directory containing the Agent installer files that you downloaded from EPD.

3. Run the following command to load the zipped Docker image to a local repository:
   docker load -i ho-agent-linux-x86_64_<version>.tar.gz
For example,
   docker load -i ho-agent-linux-x86_64_20.02.00.0.0.tar.gz

4. Run this command to verify that the Docker image is loaded:
   docker images
   For example, 
   $ docker images | grep tsco-agent
   Sample output: bmcsoftware/ho-agent-linux-x86_64   20.02.00.0.0   7bbb7a3fae1d   29 hours ago   200MB

5. Run the following command to create a container from the image and start the Agent within the container:

   docker run -d --pid=host --network=host --ipc=host --privileged -v /:/host:ro tsco-agent-vol:/usr/adm/best1_agent_workspace bmcsoftware/ho-agent-linux-x86_64:<version>

   For example,

   docker run -d --pid=host --network=host --ipc=host --privileged -v /:/host:ro tsco-agent-vol:/usr/adm/best1_agent_workspace bmcsoftware/ho-agent-linux-x86_64:20.02.00.0.0

   
   where -v tsco-agent-vol is mounted in the container as the /usr/adm/best1_agent_workspace directory. This directory is used for storing data, logs, and state information. If you do not specify this parameter, agent data and logs are stored within the container instead of the volume on the host. 
   BMC also recommends adding the following arguments to the docker run command:

   Argument	Used to	Example syntax of the docker run command
   --name <value>	Provide a name to a docker container. You can use this name in other docker commands instead of docker ID. You cannot start a new container with a similar name in the following scenarios: A docker container with the same name is already running. An instance of a docker container that uses the same name is available in the docker container repository. BMC recommends using a container name such as tsco_agent. To start a container with the tsco_agent name that is already in use, do the following: Stop the docker container: $ docker stop tsco_agent Remove the stopped container. $ docker rm tsco_agent You can now start a new container instance with the tsco_agent name.	docker run --name tsco-agent -d --pid=host --network=host --ipc=host --privileged -v /:/host:ro tsco-agent-vol:/usr/adm/best1_agent_workspace bmcsoftware/ tsco-agent-linux-x86_64:20.02.00.0.0
   --restart=always	Restart a running docker container after rebooting the docker host.	docker run --name tsco-agent --restart=always -d --pid=host --network=host --ipc=host --privileged -v /:/host:ro tsco-agent-vol:/usr/adm/best1_agent_workspace bmcsoftware/tsco-agent-linux-x86_64:20.02.00.0.0

6. (Optional) Configure the Agent history by adding one of the following arguments to the Docker run command: [ -H e|d|D ]

   Argument	Example syntax of the docker run command	Result of running the Docker run command
   - H e	docker run --name tsco-agent --restart=always -d --pid=host --network=host --ipc=host --privileged -v /::/host:ro tsco-agent-vol:/usr/adm/best1_agent_workspace bmcsoftware/tsco-agent-linux-x86_64:20.02.00.0.0 - H e	The Agent history is enabled. This is the default setting.
   - H d	docker run --name tsco-agent --restart=always -d --pid=host --network=host --ipc=host --privileged -v /:/host:ro tsco-agent-vol:/usr/adm/best1_agent_workspace bmcsoftware/tsco-agent-linux-x86_64:20.02.00.0.0 - H d	The Agent history is disabled.
   - H D	docker run --name tsco-agent --restart=always -d --pid=host --network=host --ipc=host --privileged -v /:/host:ro tsco-agent-vol:/usr/adm/best1_agent_workspace bmcsoftware/tsco-agent-linux-x86_64:20.02.00.0.0 - H D	The Agent history is disabled and the old history files are deleted. You can use this option to remove the old history files after upgrading the Agent.

7. Run this command to check the status of the Agent process:
   ps -ef | grep bgsagent