Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

This topic provides answers to frequently asked questions for BMC Server Automation.

The topic contains the following sections:

General questions

I’d like a PDF of just selected information. How can I do that?

The BMC Documentation portal gives you the ability to generate PDF exports of multiple pages in a space.  

Creating PDF exports

You can create a PDF of a page or a set of pages. (Non-English page exports are not supported.) You can also create a Word document of the current page.

To export to PDF

  1. Click the Export icon in the upper-right. 1744830844926-963.png
  2. From the Export menu, select PDF.
  3. Follow the prompts for page selection and other options.
  4. Click Export.

 

Depending on the number of topics included in the export, it might take several minutes to create the PDF. Once the export is complete, you can download the PDF.

When is the end of support for my version of BMC Server Automation? Is my version supported? (Should I be thinking about upgrading?)

For supported version information, see the following BMC Support Support page:
http://webapps.bmc.com/support/faces/az/prodallversions.jsp?seqid=164625
 Note that as of June 26, 2012, version 7.x releases are no longer supported.

Where can I find information about the platforms currently supported for BMC Server Automation product versions?

You can find information about the supported platform for BMC Server Automation on BMC Support Central, under Product Availability and Compatibility.

Where is the Knowledge Base?

The BMC Knowledge Base (which includes answers for common problems with BMC Server Automation) is located at https://kb.bmc.com/infocenter/index?page=answers.

What ports and protocols does BMC Server Automation require?

See the ports and protocols list.

Where can I find the build number for the version 8.2 releases?

You can find the build number for the various 8.2 releases (base version, SPs, and patches) in the "Current build information" section of the Supported-upgrade-paths topic.

Where can I find information about the integration of BMC Server Automation with BMC ProactiveNet?

See the following documentation resources:

Installation and upgrade questions

What are the Supported upgrade paths for BMC Server Automation?

You can find information about the supported upgrade paths for BMC Server Automation in the Upgrading section of the online technical documentation (in the Supported-upgrade-paths topic).

Where can I find deployment architecture recommendations for implementing BMC Server Automation?

You can find deployment architecture recommendations in the following Planning section: Deployment-architecture

What do I do if I just upgraded and am getting errors in Jobs that reference Custom/Server Objects?

See Upgrading-custom-configuration-objects.

Product usage

I'm having trouble with an RSCD agent. How do I open up the permissions temporarily?

Use the following process:

  1. Start by looking at the rscd.log. Who are your requests currently mapping to? If it is someone who does not exist in your users or users.local file, consider adding a temporary definition for them.
  2. Remove the "nouser" line from the users file.
  3. Change the contents of the exports file so that it contains a single line: "* rw,user=root" or "* rw,user=Administrator" (or the name of your local admin account).

Once you have finished troubleshooting, make sure to restore the original configuration.

What do I do if my Application Server will not start up?

The following list shows some common causes for this issue:

  • Review the Application Server log and look for a Java stack trace; this usually indicates the issue.
  • A few common things can cause problems with the Application Server start up:
    • The File Server RSCD Agent is not licensed (for pre-8.2 versions).
    • ACLs were pushed to the File Server agent.
      • Add a 'System:System  rw,map=<root|Administrator>' to the users.local on the File Server agent.
I have multiple Application Servers but I cannot see all Application Server status in the Infrastructure Manager window.

In this case, you need to synchronize the bladelogic.keystore across all Application Server deployments.

See To synchronize keystore files of multiple Application Servers and KA322144 for more information.

How do I configure NSH/ZSH command history to persist across sessions?

See the following Knowledge Article for information on this issue:
https://kb.bmc.com/infocenter/index?page=content&id=KA373609

Where can I find sizing recommendations for Application Servers?

You can find recommendations for sizing Application Servers in the following topics:

Where can I find "how to" information for specific user scenarios?

You can find a list of user contributed tutorial information in the BMC-Contributor-topics topic.

In addition, the taking the reins article on Communities includes additional videos and "how to" information.

Are videos available that help to explain how to accomplish specific user tasks?

You can find helpful videos in the following topics:

In addition, the taking the reins article on Communities includes additional videos and "how to" information.

Troubleshooting

How can I determine where BMC Server Automation is installed?

On UNIX, look in /etc/lib/rsc/HOME or /usr/lib/rsc/HOME. If that file does not exist, you are running a local or self-contained installation, and will need to derive the installation location from running processes. For example:

Linux:

ls -la /proc/`ps -ef | grep rscw | grep -v grep | awk '{print $2}'` | grep exe | awk '{print $11}'

Solaris:

pargs -l `ps -ef | grep rscd | head -1 | awk '{print $2}'`
Where are the RSCD Agent logs located?

On Windows: INSTALL_DIR\RSCD\rscd.log

On UNIX: INSTALL_DIR/[NSH|RSCD]/log/rscd.log

Where is the transaction or bldeploy log?

<INSTALLDIR>\Transactions\log\bldeploy-xxxx.log

Where is the BMC Server Automation Application Server log that contains deployment messages?

<INSTALLDIR>\br\<deployment name>.log
 
 The default deployment name is appserver, while other common deployments have names such as job-1.

How do I analyze the *Trace.txt* file that is generated by a Windows Patch Analysis Job?

For detailed instructions on analyzing the Trace.txt file, see How-to-analyze-Trace-txt-generated-by-a-Windows-Patch-Analysis-Job.

 

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