Using silent mode to install TrueSight Server Automation components (Linux or UNIX)


You can perform an unattended (silent) installation of the Application Server and other components on a Linux or UNIX system.

You can install all of the following components or a subset.

  • Application Server
  • RSCD agent
  • Network Shell
  • PXE server
  • TFTP server

Note

  • Choose all components you need for the installation with the COMPONENT_CHECKED variable. If you choose not to install a component, you cannot add it to the installation later by running this installation script again.
  • If installing the PXE/TFTP services note that a RSCD agent is required on the datastore system (which is often the PXE/TFTP server) so ensure you select to install the RSCD agent if you plan to use the PXE/TFTP server as a datastore for provisioning.

Before you begin

  • This installation does not install the TrueSight Server Automation Console. To view the console, you must install it. For information, see Using silent mode to install the TrueSight Server Automation Console (Linux and UNIX)
  • Application Server Component
    • Performing a silent installation of the application server creates a UNIX user called bladmin and a UNIX group called bladmin. The TrueSight Server Automation Application Server runs as the bladmin user. 
    • If a user wants to use TrueSight Server Automation and does not have root privileges, the user must first be added to the bladmin group to gain access to essential configuration files. 
    • This installation does not set up a Network Shell Proxy Server. For instructions on setting up and customizing a Network Shell Proxy Server, see Setting-up-a-Network-Shell-proxy-server
    • The application server will still need to be configured using blappconf or blasadmin after a silent install.
  • Network Shell Component
  • If the host computer on which you are installing the Network Shell has:
      • A supported version of Perl installed — The Network Shell installation automatically installs the Network Shell Perl module. (For information about the Perl versions that TrueSight Server Automation supports, see Perl support.)
      • An unsupported version of Perl installed — The installation copies files that allow you to install the Perl module after you have installed the supported version of Perl.
  • RSCD Component

To install the TrueSight Server Automation components in silent mode

 The installer will take silent install parameters via environment variables, a file named nsh-install-defaults in /tmp and arguments passed to the installer.

  1. On the target server, create a text file named nsh-install-defaults in the /tmp directory. The file must be readable by the user running the install.
    1. In the file, create an entry for each variable you want to set. Then for each variable you enter in the file, create another entry to export the variable. For example:
      COMPONENT_CHECKED=23
      export COMPONENT_CHECKED
      NSH_INSTALL_SKEL=1
      export NSH_INSTALL_SKEL

      Note

      Ensure that the file is in UNIX format (a format in which a line feed (not a carriage return) specifies the end of a line), otherwise the install will fail.

      The following table describes how to set each variable or argument. If there is an overlap between the argument and variable, the argument will override the variable.

      Variable/Argument

      Component

      Description

      INSTALL_DIR

      All

      Specifies an installation directory other than the default installation directory of /opt/bmc/bladelogic.

      CERT_PASSWORD

      Application Server

      (Required) The TrueSight Server Automation Application Server installation program needs a certificate password to generate a self-signed X.509 certificate. Communication between TrueSight Server Automation and servers being provisioned uses the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol and X.509 certificates. The password must be at least 6 characters. For more information about certificates and the TLS protocol, see Authentication.

      COMPONENT_CHECKED

      All

      By default, running a silent installation installs all possible components in the installation. To override the default, set the COMPONENT_CHECKED variable. The components that you install can be any combination of values. For example, to install a PXE server, TFTP server, Network Shell, and RSCD agent, you would specify COMPONENT_CHECKED=13PT. You can specify the following values:
      1 — RSCD agent, 2 — Application Server, 3 — Network Shell, P — PXE server, and T — TFTP server.

      IS_SECURE_AGENT_LOGS

      RSCD

      Set this variable to 1 to enable secure agent logging. When secure agent logging is enabled for an agent, agent logs are periodically rolled and digitally signed as they are rolled.

      IS_KEYSTROKE_LOGS

      RSCD

      Set this variable to 1 to enable keystroke (nexec) logging on an agent. When keystroke logging is enabled on an agent, remote commands run against the agent using nexec are captured and logged in an encrypted manner in keystroke logs. These logs are periodically rolled and digitally signed as they are rolled.

      INSTALL_BLPRNG

      -random

      All

      Set this variable to 1 to install the BladeLogic Pseudo Random Number Generator Daemon (PRNGD). TrueSight Server Automation uses random data to encrypt communication securely. Most systems already have a random number generator device; you might not need this setting. However, if a server on which you are performing a silent installation does not include a hardware device for generating random numbers, the installation program installs the PRNGD.

      NSH_ROOT_HOST

      -root

      RSCD

      Set this value to identify a client on which users are granted root privileges for this server. This option sets the root= flag in the exports configuration file. By default, no clients are specified.

      NSH_USER_FROM NSH_USER_TO

      -map

      RSCD

      Set these values to configure a default user mapping in the users.local file. By default, no users are mapped. The values set with this variable create an entry in the users.local file that says:
      NSH_USER_FROM rw,map=NSH_USER_TO

      or

      -map NSH_USER_FROM NSH_USER_TO
      For example, by defining values for these variables, you can create an entry in users.local similar to the following example: betty rw,map=root
      For information about the users.local file, see Configuring-the-users-or-users-local-files.

      NSH_INSTALL_SKEL

      -skel

      NSH

      By default, a silent installation does not include the .nsh/etc/skel files. Set this variable to 1 to install those files.

      TMP_DIR

      RSCD

      Specifies a location where the installer should decompress the sysinfo installation file before the file copy.

      INSTALL_FILES_TEMP

      All

      Temporary directory location to extract the installation files, otherwise the INSTALL_DIR/install_dir will be used. For more information, see Methods for reducing installation space on Linux and UNIX.

      STARTUP_AIX

      RSCD

      Specifies the type of startup script used for silent installation of the RSCD agent on AIX. You can specify these values:
      1 – At system bootup, use the /etc/rc.tcpip file
      2 – Manually (I will do it myself)
      3 – At system backup, use the /etc/rc.d/init.d/rscd file

      KEEPLOCAL -local

      All

      Important

      The KEEPLOCAL parameter is specific to the shell installer and does not apply to the native installer.

      Perform a self-contained installation. All installation files are stored in a single directory. For more information, see Installing-components-in-non-default-installation-paths-using-the-local-flag. Set the KEEPLOCAL variable to 1 or pass -local to perform a local install.

      -silent

      All

      Perform a silent install.

      -port

      RSCD

      Set the default port on which the RSCD agent listens on.

      -start

      RSCD, Application Server

      Define the startup type as: manual or auto.

      -autostart

      RSCD, Application Server

      Set the start up type to automatic.

      -protocol

      RSCD, NSH

      Set the protocol used by NSH and RSCD agent. See the Configuring-the-secure-file for more information on the protocol value.

      -noyum

      RSCD

      Do not install blyum.

      ROOTONLY

      RSCD Agent

      Set this parameter to 1 to enable the rootonly mapping configuration. Conversely, set this parameter to 0 to disable the rootonly mapping configuration.

      For more information, see Enhancing Security with the rootonly option in the RSCD agent.

      New in 24.4.01REMOVE_OVALDIRSCD Agent

      If SCAP compliance isn't a requirement for your use case and you'd like to exclude the Ovaldi/Libcurl files, you can opt for this configuration during fresh or upgrade installations.

      Additionally, if you want to remove these files from future upgrades, be sure to select this option each time you perform an update.

      Important

       The removal of libcurl files is a non-reversible operation. Recovering them requires a full RSCD agent redeployment from the original installation sources.

      For Linux Shell or Native Installer:

      Create a file named nsh-install-defaults in the /tmp directory. Add the following command to the file.

      1. REMOVE_OVALDI=1
      2. export REMOVE_OVALDI

      For Linux Shell Installer Only:

      Pass the -removerovaldi flag during installation. For example, ./<RSCD INSTALLER>.sh -removerovaldi

       

         
  2. Save /tmp/nsh-install-defaults.
  3. To run the silent installation and generate the artifacts like the install log file in the /tmp directory, enter the following command:

    sh <Installer-platform.sh> -silent
    For example:
    sh RSCD<version>-LIN64.sh -silent -port 5750

    To run the silent installation and generate the artifacts like the install log file in an accessible temporary directory (for example, /var/tmp), when the /tmp directory is not accessible, enter the following command:

    sh <Installer-platform.sh> -silentlog /var/tmp/<logfilename>.log -silent
    For example:
    sh RSCD<version>-LIN64.sh -silentlog /var/tmp/rscdinstallation.log -silent -port 5750

    Important

    The -silentlog option is essential for the silent installation to create the installation log file.

 

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