Installing

As an administrator, use BMC Helix Operations Management or TrueSight Operations Management to help keep your environment up and running at all times. Start by collecting metrics that contain information about the health and availability of the components of the environment. PATROL Agent and knowledge modules (KMs) help you collect the metrics. 

Based on the monitoring solution (BMC Helix Operations Management or TrueSight Operations Management) that you are using, the steps to install a KM differ.

The following image shows the process of installing a KM for both BMC Helix Operations Management or TrueSight Operations Management: 

Before you begin

Create the PATROL default account. PATROL Agent requires a default account to collect and access information. The default account must have administrator-level access in Windows and read, write, and execute access in Linux. For more information, see  Setting the PATROL Agent default account .

Task 1: Download the KM file from EPD  

Select and download the installation files for your platform; see the following table. Use your BMC Support credentials to access the EPD website. You might also be prompted to complete the Export Compliance Form.

Task 2: (TrueSight Operations Management only) To import a KM to your repository

1. In the TrueSight console, click Administration, select Repository, and then select the Installation Components tab.
2. ClickImport.
3. On the Import a Repository or Solution window, select Single Solution.
4. Click Browse and select the KM file that you downloaded from the EPD website.
   The selected file is displayed in the File Selected box.
5. Click Import.
   The selected archive file is imported into the repository and extracted. You can close the window during the import process.

To know how to import a KM in the BMC Helix Operations Management on-premises deployment, see  BMC Helix Operations Management (BHOM) OnPrem- How to import a KM into the repository .

Task 3: To create a deployable package

Add one or more KMs to a deployable package. Based on the operating system for which you are creating the package, the steps to create the package differ. Also, when a package contains PATROL Agent, there are additional steps to create the package. 

After you create the package, make a note of the package name. Use it to check the package deployment status later.

1. Click Administration and then click Repository.
2. Perform one of the following actions:
   • In BMC Helix Operations Management, click Create.
   • In TrueSight Operations Management, click Create Deployable Package.
     The Create Deployable Package wizard starts.
3. On the Installation Package Solution Selection Page, select the operating system for which you want to create a package, and then select the platform (version) on which you want to install the package.
   The list of components in the repository that are supported on the specified operating system and platform is displayed.
   After this step, the steps displayed in the wizard depend upon the operating system that you have selected.

4. Select the KMs and PATROL Agent that you want to add to the package.

   • In the Version list, the latest available version of the KM or PATROL Agent is selected. Change, if required.

   • Use the Latest option in the Version list to automatically update the package with the latest versions of the KMs or PATROL Agent when they are available in the repository.

5. (TrueSight Operations Management only) Select the JRE solution option.
   

   Important

   Do not add any of these components to the package:

   • PATROL Configuration Manager
   • PATROL Classic console
   • Oracle JRE only

6. (Optional) If available for the selected KMs, select the subcomponents to be added to the package.

7. Click Next and enter the installation directory.

   Important

   In Windows, the default installation directory is C:\Program Files\BMC Software and not C:\Program Files (x86)\BMC Software.

8. (For a Linux package) Enter the root or sudo user credentials with root privileges.
9. (For PATROL Agent in the package) Perform the following steps:
   These steps are displayed only if you have added PATROL Agent to the package.
   1. Specify the PATROL 3.x product directory.
      All KMs and PATROL Agents are installed in this directory.
   2. (For the Linux/UNIX package) Enter the System Root account details.
      Although you can continue to create the package without the System Root account, to ensure that the PATROL Agent runs without failure, complete the root configuration after installation.
   3. Enter the PATROL default account credentials and click Next.
      If you plan to use a domain account, enter DOMAIN_NAME\account name; otherwise, leave the fields blank to use the local system account as the default account.
   4. To allow the PATROL Agent to use the local system account as the default account, ensure that Continue is selected and click Next.
   5. Keep the default security level or select Certificate Validation for certificate-based communication.
      By default, PATROL Agent communicates with the data source and BMC Helix Operations Management or TrueSight Operations Management by using the Transport Layer Security (TLS) version 1.2. 
   6. Specify the PATROL Agent port number and select whether to restart PATROL Agent manually or automatically after installation and click Next. 
   7. In the Streaming Endpoint field, enter the host name for BMC Helix Operations Management or TrueSight Operations Management.
      The format to enter host name is protocol:host name:portnumber; for example: https:host name:<portnumber> or TCP:host name:<portnumber>.
   8. Enter the tags to identify PATROL Agent in the form of Key:Value pairs.
      If there is a space in the value, use double quotation marks. For example, Name:"Windows OS Monitoring".
      Use these tags to select the PATROL Agent while you are creating a monitor or infrastructure policy. You create these policies to start data collection. In these policies, you add criteria to identify PATROL Agents to help KMs to collect data.

   9. Enter the Infrastructure Management encryption key and the cell details in the Host/Port format.

   10. Select whether to route events through an Integration Service.

       Important

       To route events through an Integration Service, set the /EventSetup/Configuration/ForwardEventsToIS configuration variable to Yes. 

10. (For the Windows package) Select whether you want to add the package items to the Firewall Exception List automatically.

11. Review the package details and enter the name of the package and an optional description.
    Use only the following characters in the name: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, and underscore (_).

12. (Optional) Change the format of the package file to be deployed.

13. To deploy the package immediately, click Save and Download, or to download it later, click Save.
    The package is listed on the Repository page on the Deployable Packages tab.

Task 4: To deploy the package

You can deploy a package either manually or silently. To deploy the package manually, use the option available on the UI. To deploy the package silently, either download the package and run the silent installation commands or copy the install script and run it.

Deploying the package manually

1. Click Configuration and select Agents (in BMC Helix Operations Management) or Managed Devices (in TrueSight Operations Management).
2. Perform one of the following actions:
   • To deploy and install packages on a single PATROL Agent, click the action menu.

   • To deploy and install packages on multiple PATROL Agents, select the devices by holding the Shift key and selecting them, and then click the action menu from the column heading.

     Important

     For deploying a package on multiple PATROL Agents or when you upgrade PATROL Agents, only the instance or service names that contain the word "PatrolAgent" are supported. The instance or service names are not case-sensitive.

3. Click Deploy and Install Packages and select your package name.
   View the current installation status by hovering your mouse over the icon in the Deploy Status column.
   If a package deployment fails in validation, an error message is displayed. Any remaining compatible packages are deployed and installed on the PATROL Agent.

Deploying the package silently

1. If you have not downloaded the package, download it by following these steps:
   1. Click Administration and select Repository.
   2. On the Repository page, from the package menu, select Download.
2. Copy the downloaded file to the server where you want to deploy the package.
3. Extract the package file.
   The bmc_products directory or folder is created.
4. Open the folder and run the following command:
   • Linux: RunSilentInstall.sh 
   • Windows: RunSilentInstall.exe

Deploying the package silently and automatically

1. On the Repository page, select Deployable Packages and from the package menu, select Copy Install Script.
2. On the computer where you want to deploy the package, paste it on the command line.

Task 5: To verify the deployment status

1. Perform one of the following steps:
   • In BMC Helix Operations Management, click the Configuration menu and select Agents.
   • In TrueSight Operations Management, click the Configuration menu and select Managed Devices.
2. Click the Managed Devices Actions menu or Agents Actions menu and select View Deployment and Installation Summary.
3. Search for your package by the package name.
4. In the Status column, verify that the deployment status is Successful.
   If the status is Aborted or Failed, redeploy the package.

Where to go from here

Configuring Kubernetes monitoring profile