Walkthrough: Adding multiple target servers to the environment

This topic walks you through the process of adding target servers to your TrueSight Server Automation environment and installing RSCD agents on them using the unified agent installer. 

This topic includes the following sections:

Introduction

This topic is intended for system administrators preparing to add target servers to the TrueSight Server Automation environment after successfully setting up the default application server node. We will add target servers in the following two phases:

  1. Enrolling multiple target servers to the TrueSight Server Automation environment using the Import Servers wizard
  2. Installing RSCD agents on the target servers using the unified agent installer

What is the Import Servers wizard?

The Import Servers wizard allows you to add multiple servers to a server hierarchy by specifying a text file that contains a list of server names and properties assigned to each server. You can import servers to the Servers node (the top node in the Servers folder) or a server group. When you import servers to the Servers node, the system adds those servers to its internal list of servers being managed.

What is the unified agent installer?

Unified agent installer performs the tasks necessary to install agents on servers. The unified agent installer is a wizard that steps you through the entire process needed to install agents on multiple agentless devices. The unified agent installer creates the following objects, which are all necessary to install agents:

  • Agent bundle
  • Remote host authentication (for Windows targets, non-Windows targets, or both)
  • Remote host authentication rules
  • Agent Installer Job

What does this walkthrough show?

In this walkthrough, we will use the quick start page to add the following two servers into the TrueSight Server Automation environment:

  • clm-pun-016803 – Windows (64 bit)
  • clm-pun-016809 – Linux (64 bit)

What do I need to do before I get started?

Perform the following prerequisite steps before executing this walkthrough:

  • Install and set up an Application Server, console, database and file server in your TrueSight Server Automation environment.  If you are using the unified product installer to install TrueSight Server Automation, you must install the default Application Server node successfully.
  • If you want the unified agent installer to automatically install the RSCD agent on your Windows target, you need to download the Microsoft Sysinternals Suite from the Microsoft tech support site and copy the PsExec file to the %PATH% variable (typically C:\Windows\System32\) on any Windows machine that you plan to use as a PsExec server. 

How to add target servers and install agents

 

 

Step

Example screen

 1

You can import multiple servers by specifying a text file that contains a list of server names and properties assigned to each server.

Create a server import text file using a comma-separated values (CSV) format, use the following syntax:

  • The first line of the file must contain the column header Name followed by optional comma-separated property names for any properties you want to set for each server. Any property name you include in this import file must already exist in the Property Dictionary. For information about how to add a property to the property dictionary, see Managing-properties-using-the-Property-Dictionary.
  • Subsequent lines of the file must contain valid host names for each server you want to add, followed by optional comma-separated property values for each server.

Save the text file (say Servers.txt) at any location in the default Application Server node (for example, C:\Program Files\BMC Software\BladeLogic\appserver).

For this walkthrough we will be adding two servers to the TrueSight Server Automation environment (without properties).

  • clm-pun-016803 – Windows (64 bit)
  • clm-pun-016809 – Linux (64 bit)
Click here to see more samples of server import files with properties for each server.

The first example shows the simplest syntax — you simply list the host names of the servers you want to add:

Name
host1
host2
host3

The following example shows how to set the Customer property for each server:

Name,Customer
host1,CustomerA
host2,CustomerB
host3,CustomerC

If you need to include spaces in a property value, you must enclose the property value in double quotes:

Name,Customer
host1,"Customer A"
host2,"Customer B"
host3,"Customer C"

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 2

Log on to the Console.

  1. Start the Console.
  2. Log on to the Console using the BLAdmin username and password that you created during installation.
  3. The system uses a default authentication profile (defaultProfile) to log you on to the Console. TrueSight Server Automation clients use authentication profiles to facilitate single sign-on feature. For more information about why we use Authentication Profiles, see System-capabilities-related-to-security.
  4. Click Connect.

The quick start page (Welcome Page) appears.

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3

To enroll servers, click Enroll, under Server Enrollment.

Alternative step: To Import Servers wizard, right-click the Servers folder and select Import Servers.

The Import Servers wizard appears.

 

 

 

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 4

Use the File selection tree to select the text file (Servers.txt) you created at the beginning. Ensure that the If agent does not exist, install using Agent installer job option is not selected. We will be installing agents on the servers later in the walkthrough.

Click Finish.

Note: For the purpose of this walkthrough, we do not need to add any additional ACL policies. However if you need to control server access with agent ACLs click Next.

For more information about the UI elements on the Permissions screens, see Import-Servers-Permissions.

For more information about ACL policies, see Controlling-server-access-with-agent-ACLs. 

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 5

The servers are successfully added to your environment.
 

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6

The next step is to install RSCD agents on the enrolled servers.

From the quick start page, under Server Enrollment, click Install, on the quick start page.

Alternative step: To start the unified agent installer, right-click the Servers folder and select Unified Agent Installer.

The Unified Agent Installer wizard appears.

2015-09-15 20_02_42-clm-pun-016802 - Remote Desktop Connection.png 

7

Provide a prefix that is attached to the name of all objects that unified agent installer creates.

Click Next.

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8

Perform the following steps:

  1. Select the platforms on which agents can be installed.
  2. Specify the depot folder where agent bundles are stored.
  3. Continue to click Next in the wizard until you arrive at the Remote Host Authentication (non-Windows) window.

Note: The unified agent installer uses the information you provide on this panel to create an agent bundle. For detailed information about this type of object, see Creating-an-agent-bundle.

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9

Click Add g_V95_AddIcon.png to open the Add Remote Host Authentication (non-Windows) window.

2015-09-15 20_11_09-clm-pun-016802 - Remote Desktop Connection.png

 

 

10

The Remote Host Authentication (non-Windows) window lets you provide the following information, which is used for authenticating to agentless devices. If you are installing on multiple platforms, typically you define at least one set of authentication information for each platform.

  1. Select SSH (Non-Windows) to execute commands directly on an agentless host using the credentials defined in an automation principal that you specify on this panel.
  2. Specify the SSH port number that is used by the SSH service running on the remote host. The default port is 22.
  3. Select Create new automation principal. You must provide a user name and password for the automation principal. These credentials are used to execute commands on your agentless hosts.
     
  4. Click OK.

For more information about the different authentication protocols that you can use, see Unified-Agent-Installer-Remote-Host-Authentication-non-Windows. This page also provides information about selecting an existing automation principal. 

2015-09-15 20_12_32-clm-pun-016802 - Remote Desktop Connection.png 

11

  1. Click Next to go to the the Remote Host Authentication (Windows) window in the wizard.
  2. Click Add g_V95_AddIcon.png to open the Add Remote Host Authentication (Windows) window.

2015-09-15 20_14_49-clm-pun-016802 - Remote Desktop Connection.png 

12

The Remote Host Authentication (Windows) window lets you provide the following information, which is used for authenticating to agentless devices. If you are installing on multiple platforms, typically you define at least one set of authentication information for each platform.

  1. Select or create one of the following automation principals:
    • Select existing automation principal  - Click Browseg_V95_BrowseIcon.gif to navigate to an automation principal.
    • Create new automation principal - Provide a user name and password for the automation principal. Optionally, you can identify a domain for the user.
  2. PsExec server — Identify a live Windows server where PsExec is installed. Multiple remote host authentication definitions can use the same PsExec server.
  3. Click OK.
  4. Click Next to open the Remote Host Authentication Rule window.

For Windows 7 and Windows 2008 target servers

BMC recommends that when you install agents on Windows 7 and Windows 2008 devices that are not enabled for a domain, specify a PsExec server that is not part of a domain. When you install agents on Windows 7 and Windows 2008 devices that are enabled for a domain, specify a PsExec server that belongs to the same domain. Ensure that the automation principals you are using to access the agentless devices are associated with the same domain.

2015-09-15 20_16_57-clm-pun-016802 - Remote Desktop Connection.png

 

13

Click Add g_V95_AddIcon.png to open the New Rule wizard.

The unified agent installer uses the information you provide on this panel to create remote host authentication rules. These rules match remote host authentication definitions with agentless devices. For detailed information about this type of object, see Creating or modifying rules for remote host authentication.

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14

Click Add Property Condition. A window opens.

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15

Create property conditions to identify the two target servers we want to install the agents on.

  1. In the first text box at left, click Select property.png. You can view a subordinate list of properties by clicking the right arrow that appears next to the TARGET* property. When defining remote host authentication rules, use any of following subordinate properties:

    • TARGET.FQ_HOST — Fully qualified name of the target device
    • TARGET.IP_ADDRESS — IP address (IPv4 or IPv6) of the target device
    • TARGET.NAME — Name of the target device

    In this walkthrough we are using the TARGET.NAME property.

  2. In the next drop-down box to the right, select equals.
  3. In this walkthrough, enter the system name (for example, clm-pun-016809, the Linux target server). You can also view a subordinate list of properties to specify the target that we want to set this condition for.
  4. Click OK. The Rule Definition panel shows the condition. Click Next.

2015-09-15 20_22_28-clm-pun-016802 - Remote Desktop Connection.png 

2015-09-15 20_22_28-clm-pun-016802(1) - Remote Desktop Connection.png

 

16

Select the non-Windows remote host authentication (created earlier) that should be used to authenticate the clm-pun-016809 server. Click the right arrow to move your selection to the list on the right.

Click Finish.

2015-09-15 20_22_53-clm-pun-016802 - Remote Desktop Connection.png

 

17

Create a similar rule for clm-pun-016803, but this time using the Windows remote host authentication that we created.

Click Next.

2015-09-15 20_23_20-clm-pun-016802 - Remote Desktop Connection.png 

18

  1. Select the desired options for the agent installer job as described below.

      • Update Server Properties: Update the system with properties from the target servers on which you are installing agents.
      • Update Configuration Objects Registration: Register any configuration objects that are found on the agent and defined in the Configuration Object Dictionary.
      • Push Agent ACLs: Push agent ACLs to the servers that this job targets.
        To push ACLs, the system converts the access control list defined for a server into a users configuration file and pushes that file to the agent. The access control list is derived from user permissions defined in the RBAC system.
      • Preserve Staging Area On Failure: Information copied to a staging area on a target server during installation should be preserved if the installation fails. By default, when the system has finished installing an agent, it automatically deletes all files in the staging area.

      • New in 8.9.02

        Install Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable (Windows Only): Specifies whether to install Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Redistributable Update 3 on the target server before agent installation. By default, this option is selected.

  2. Specify the folder to store the Agent Installer Job that is created by the unified agent installer.
  3. Click Next.

 

AIJ_MSVC.png
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19

  1. Specify the operating system of the servers you want to select. To display servers running any operating system, select All.
  2. Select the servers that you want to run the Agent installer job on the left and click the right arrow to move your selection to the list on the right.
  3. Optionally, select Execute job now to run the Job immediately after the exiting the unified agent installer. By default, this option is not selected, as shown in this walkthrough. You can execute the job later from the specified job folder.
  4. Click Next.

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20

Click Finish.

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21

The RSCD agents are successfully installed on the target servers.

Tip

To verify the successful installation of an RSCD agent on a target server, you can execute a custom command that provides you with agent information. Perform the following steps:

  1. Right-click the server under the Servers folder, and select Run Custom Command.
  2. In the Command Selection dialog box, select Agent Information (this is an out-of-the-box custom command).
  3. Agent information appears in a new tab in the editor. Verify that the correct agent release is listed.

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Wrapping it up

Congratulations! You have successfully added your target servers to your TrueSight Server Automation environment.

Where to go from here

For more information about the various tools, processes, and UIs that an administrator uses to manage the TrueSight Server Automation environment, see Administering.

You can also reference the Managing-servers section, for additional server management tasks.

 

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