Walkthrough: Packaging applications with BLpackages
TrueSight Server Automation makes it easy to package and deploy software applications. This topic walks you through the process.
The topic includes the following sections:
- Introduction
- What do I need to do before I get started?
- How to package software applications with BLPackages
- Wrapping it up
- Where to go next
The video at right demonstrates the steps in packaging an application with a BLPackage.
Introduction
Most organizations need to deploy a range of software to the servers they provision. For example, you may need to deploy software used for monitoring, backup, security agents, server hardening, patching, and compliance validation. Sometimes these deployments can take days when performed manually.
Automating software deployment can provide substantial time savings, especially for complex software packages. There are many types of packages that you can deploy, which vary across the range of operating systems supported by TrueSight Server Automation. This walkthrough shows how to deploy a MSI (Microsoft Software Installer) package on a Windows system. For more information about the types of packages you can deploy, see BLPackage-overview.
What do I need to do before I get started?
- Obtain the software package as an MSI that includes a silent install. Most MSIs fit this requirement. The following example uses a compression utility called 7zip.
- After obtaining the MSI, store the package in a temporary location.
- Add a managed server to the TrueSight Server Automation system. See Walkthrough-Adding-a-Windows-managed-server.
For this walkthrough, you log on as BLAdmin, the default superuser for TrueSight Server Automation. Note that in live deployments, BMC recommends that you grant access based on roles with a narrower set of permissions.
How to package software applications with BLPackages
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1 | Using the TrueSight Server Automation console, open the Depot folder and navigate to a subfolder. Right-click and select New > Software > MSI Package. The Select Installable Sources dialog box opens. If necessary, you can create a subfolder by clicking the Depot folder, right-clicking, and selecting New > Depot Folder. |
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2 | Using the dialog box, navigate to the MSI package stored previously. Click OK to accept default behavior and copy the installer to the file server. The Add Software window opens. It provides many options for customizing the behavior of a software deployment. For this simple software deployment, you can accept the default behavior. |
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3 | Click Finish to accept the default behavior defined on the Add Software window. The MSI package is listed in the depot folder you selected. |
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4 | Right-click the MSI package and select Deploy. The New Deploy Job wizard opens. It lets you define a Deploy Job for the package. By defining the package itself and the Deploy Job, you can control how a software application can be moved from the Depot to a server. |
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5 | Provide a name, description, and place to store the Deploy Job. |
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6 | Click Next and click Next again. The Targets panel opens. Use it to specify a target where the software package should be deployed. |
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8 | Click Next. The Job Options panel opens. Change Logging level to All Information. This setting is a good practice while developing a new job. At a later time, if are you satisfied with the job's performance, you can edit the job and return this setting to Errors and Warnings. |
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9 | Click Finish. The job begins to execute. You can monitor its progress on the Tasks in Progress panel. |
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10 | When the job completes, open the Jobs folder and navigate to the job you have defined. Right-click the job and select Show Results. In the right pane, a tab opens and shows the results of the job. A green check indicates success. |
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Wrapping it up
In this walkthrough, you packaged a simple application and then created and executed a Deploy Job to deploy that application to a server.
Where to go next
Now you can potentially use the Deploy Job you created as part of a post-provisioning job that deploys an application to a new server after the operating system is installed.
You could also use the techniques shown here as an introduction to deploying more complex applications.