Configuring the TrueSight Server Automation connector

TrueSight Server Automation connector is used to establish a connection between Automation Console and the TrueSight Server Automation Application Server. Automation Console sends notifications for jobs such as updating catalogs, and running patching jobs to the connector, which sends it to the TrueSight Server Automation. The connector ensures that even if the application server is in an air-gapped environment, communication between Automation Console and the application server is uninterrupted. 

By default, the connector establishes a connection over the HTTPS protocol using out-of-the-box self-signed certificates. To ensure seamless communication, you must provide the connector information in the hosts file on Server Automation server as mentioned below:

You create a service account and specify the data refresh interval while configuring the connector. The Data Refresh capability monitors jobs that affect the status of the missing patches and managed assets and regularly updates the job data in Automation Console. This service account is also used for change automation while obtaining approvals from BMC Remedy IT Service Management. 

If you have multiple Application Servers (MAS) set up in your TrueSight Server Automation environment, in case of failure of one of the instances, you can edit the connector configuration and specify a different TrueSight Server Automation server. 

Before you begin

Before running the connector, ensure that the connector is installed and run on Windows and Linux operating systems that match the following criteria:

• Port requirements:

  Port	Protocol	Source	Destination	Inbound /outbound
  9843 OR <Customer configured port>	HTTPS	Connector	TSSA Application Server	Outbound
  443	HTTPS	TSSA Application Server	Connector	Inbound

To update the Server Automation connector for TrueSight Automation Console

When you install TrueSight Automation Console, the TrueSight Server Automation connector is already configured and running. From the briefcase menu, go to Connectors and the TrueSight Server Automation connector is shown as running. 

On the Connectors > Manage Connectors page do the following:

1. Click the  option against the TrueSight Server Automation connector and then click Edit.
   On the Update a Connector page, the TrueSight Server Automation server details, service account user details, and the data refresh interval is displayed.
2. In the Application Server Configuration area, modify the host name, port, and the Server Automation administrator role name.
3. In the Service Account Profile area, modify the username, password, role, and the authentication method for the service account. 
   This account is used to log on to BMC Helix Automation Console with a Server Automation user profile. 
   After entering the password, click Save.
   

4. In the TSSA properties, enter the TSSA properties separated by a comma. These properties will be managed as Managed Asset Tags in the Automation Console. For more information on Managed Asset Tags see, Importing Server Automation asset properties as managed tags.
   

   Important

   • The tags specified here will override the tags specified in the CSV, if they already exist. The latest data import takes precedence and overrides the existing tags. The import could be through a CSV file or by the tags that are specified while configuring the TSSA connector.
   • TSSA properties that are entered on the TSSA connector page should only be of the simple property type such as a string, an integer, a decimal, or a boolean value defined in Server Automation. Additionally, their default values should also be plain strings, without being selected by a macro.
5. In the Collection Mode area, specify the data collection interval. 
   By default, the time interval is 60 minutes. Minimum acceptable is 5 minutes and maximum is 10080 minutes.
6. Save the connector configuration.
7. Click > Enable to run the connector with the new changes. 

To import Server Automation asset properties as Managed Asset Tags into TrueSight Automation Console

As a security compliance analyst, you can import Truesight Server Automation asset properties by specifying values in the TSSA properties field, while configuring the Truesight Server Automation connector. Upon successful connector sync operation, TrueSight Automation Console loads all the specified TSSA properties as Managed Asset Tags along with the asset metadata.

By using the Managed Asset Tag filter in Advance filters in the Patch dashboard and Managed Assets page, you can filter the imported  Truesight Server Automation assets data based on their properties such as supplier name, system environment, customer, location, and so on to generate a customized reports for respective stakeholders to perform remediation actions.

To enable debug mode

BMC recommends that you do not modify any other configuration files available in the /config directory. However, you can enable the debug mode on the connector to obtain detailed logging information.

Do this:

1. Press CTRL+C twice to stop the connector.

2. Go to <ConnectorLocation>/config, open the log4j.properties file, and change the logging option to debug.

   #
   #Logging related Properties
   logging.level.com.bmc.dem.bsaconnector=DEBUG
3. Start the connector.

Where to go next?

Log in to Automation Console with the appropriate credentials to successfully verify the connector installation. See Accessing-and-navigating-the-Automation-Console-interface.