Deploying packages

After creating a deployable package, download it before deploying it. For example, download the package and then move it to the Windows environment that you want to monitor.

To download deployable packages

Navigate to the Administration > Repository > Deployable Packages tab and perform the following actions:

1. Click the Download  icon against the package that you want to deploy.
2. From the package menu, select Download.
   You can deploy the packages using the action menu or the API key, which is a unique identifier of the tenant.

Even if a monitoring solution is already installed on a PATROL Agent, you can force a deployment of the same version of the monitoring solution on the same PATROL Agent. This action is useful if the first deployment is not successful.

To deploy packages using the action menu

Navigate to Configuration > Agents:

1. Perform one of the following actions:
   • To deploy and install packages on a single device, click the device action menu.

   • To deploy and install packages on multiple devices, select the devices by holding the Shift key, and click the action menu from the column heading.

     Important

     For deploying a package on multiple PATROL Agents or when you upgrade PATROL Agents, only the instance or service names that contain the word "PatrolAgent" are supported. The instance or service names are not case sensitive.

2. Click Deploy and Install Packages.
   You can hover your mouse over the icon in the Deploy Status column to view the current installation status.

If a package deployment fails in validation, an error message is displayed. The remaining compatible packages, if any, are deployed and installed to the PATROL Agent.

To deploy packages using the Copy Install Script option

Use the Copy Install Script option to deploy pre-defined and custom packages.

On the Administration > Repository page do the following:

1. Determine whether the package contains a PATROL Agent. Pre-defined packages contain a PATROL Agent.
   To do this, click the package and view its summary.

2. If the package contains a PATROL Agent, do the following:

   1. From the package menu, click Copy Install Script.
   2. Go to the computers where you want to deploy the package, and create a new PATROL Agent user.
   3. In the home directory of the new user, create a directory.
   4. Provide read/write/execution permission to the PATROL user for the directory.
   5. Paste and run the install script in this directory. For pre-defined packages, the default directory is:
      (Windows) <installation_directory>\BMC Software
      (Linux) /opt/bmc.
      Note: Use PowerShell version 5 or later.
   6. Provide the following information when prompted:

   • 
     
     • (Linux) Root login name and password
     • PATROL default account login name and password
3. If the package does not contain a PATROL Agent, do the following:
   1. In the package menu, click Copy Install Script.
   2. Go to the computers where you want to deploy the package.
   3. In the directory that has read/write/execute permission for the PATROL user, paste and run the install script.

To deploy packages using the API key 

Use this procedure for deploying predefined and custom packages by using the API key. On the Administration > Repository page, do the following:

1. Retrieve the API key of the package that you want to deploy. Do the following:
   1. Click Copy API Key. The API key is copied to the clipboard.
   2. Paste the API key in a text file. You will require this key when you run the installation utility.
2. Download and copy the package.
3. Go to the computer where you want to install the package.
4. If the package contains a PATROL Agent, ensure that the PATROL user directory has the read/write/execution permission. Pre-defined packages contain a PATROL Agent.
   (Linux) For pre-defined packages, the default directory is /opt/bmc.
   (Windows) For pre-defined packages, the default directory is <installation_directory>\BMC Software.
5. Paste and extract the package.
6. From the bmc_products directory, run the following command:

   • Custom package with PATROL Agent:  

     #Syntax - Windows
     runRunSilentInstall.exe -apikey=<apikey> -proxyserver=<FQDN of the PATROL Agent forward proxy server>:<port> -proxyuser=<Proxy Username> -proxypasswd=<password for the proxy server>
     
     #Syntax - Linux
     RunSilentInstall.sh -apikey=<apikey> -proxyserver=<FQDN of the PATROL Agent forward proxy server>:<port> -proxyuser=<Proxy Username> -proxypasswd=<password for the proxy server>
     
     #Example
     RunSilentInstall.exe -apikey=a1236789-123f-1d23-12d4-1234abc12345 -forwardProxyServer=proxyServer.bmc.com:3128 -forwardProxyUser=user1 -forwardProxyPasswd=user123

     API key

     The API key in this command is the key that you retrieved earlier. PATROL Agents use the API key to encrypt message requests sent to BMC Helix Operations Management. You can set the API key when you install PATROL Agents as shown in the preceding example. Alternatively, you can set the API key after installing PATROL Agents. For more information, see Support for HTTP communication.
     

     Proxy server

     You can configure PATROL Agents to communicate with BMC Helix Operations Management through a forward proxy server to create an additional layer of security. Setting up a proxy server is optional. For more information, see Configuring PATROL Agents to support a forward proxy server

   • Custom package without PATROL Agent:

     • (Windows) RunSilentInstall.exe
     • (Linux) RunSilentInstall.sh

     Note: Do not use the API key and proxy server options to deploy a package that does not contain a PATROL Agent.

7. Provide the following information when prompted:
   
   • Linux - If the package contains a PATROL Agent
     Root login name and password
     PATROL default account login name and password
   • Windows
     PATROL default account login name and password

To view installation components

In the BMC Helix Operations Management console, on the Administration > Repository page, click the Installation Components tab to view the list of available installation components.

To abort deployment of packages to PATROL Agents

You can abort deployment of a package to PATROL Agents if:

• The package is not in the Install in Progress status.
• The assembly of the deployable package on the PATROL Agent is not complete and the installation has not started.

When you abort a deployment, it applies to all PATROL Agents that the deploy and install process was initiated on.

For example, you deploy and install deployable package PKG1 on PATROL Agents PA1 and PA2. The Deployment and Installation Summary page lists PKG1. If you abort PKG1, deployment to both PA1 and PA2 is aborted.

In the BMC Helix Operations Management console, on the Configuration > Agents page, follow these steps:

1. Click the Agents action menu and select View Deployment and Installation Summary.
   
   

   Tip: Viewing the latest deployment status before aborting

    Refresh the Deployment and Installation Summary page before you abort a deployment so you can view the latest deployment status.

2. Click the action menu for the deployment you want to abort and click Abort Deployment. 
   To abort multiple deployments, select the deployments you want to abort, click the action menu in the table header, and click Abort.
   
   
   
   
3. In the confirmation window, click Yes.
   On the Deployment and Installation Summary page, the Status column displays Aborted if the deployment was successfully aborted; else it displays the In Progress status.
4. If you want to view the detailed status of the abort process, in the PATROL Agents Applied To column, click the PATROL Agent count and see the PATROL Agent Details page.

To uninstall packages and monitoring solutions

On the Configuration > Agents page, do the following: 

1. From the PATROL Agent menu, click Uninstall Monitoring Solutions. For monitoring solutions that contain sub-components, you can select specific sub-components to uninstall.

2. Click Uninstall. The PATROL Agent restarts.
   You can view the uninstall status in the Deploy Status column.

The uninstall log is available at <install_directory>\tmp\ Uninstall_Log\<yyyy_mm_dd_hh_mm_ss_job_id>

To uninstall PATROL Agents

You can uninstall PATROL Agents using the command line option. For more information, see Uninstalling PATROL Agents.

Validations performed during deployment

Before deploying packages, BMC Helix Operations Management performs specific validations. 

The deployment runs silently with the information that is entered when a package is created. The package is copied to the file system of the targeted PATROL Agents, extracted, and installed. You can also upgrade a PATROL Agent to the latest version by using the same functionality. 

The following validations are performed before packages are deployed:

• PATROL Agent version—Packages are deployed only to PATROL Agents, version <Helix> and later.
• Operating system—Packages that match the operating system of the target PATROL Agents are deployed.
• Installation directory—If the directory is not specified or if an incorrect directory is specified, the correct directory is automatically selected through the BMC_Base variable during installation.
• Disk space—The PATROL Agent host must have free disk space of at least four times the package size.
• Monitoring solution version—If a package contains monitoring solutions that are of earlier versions than what are available on the PATROL Agent, the package is not deployed.

Deployment status and icons

On the Configuration > Agents page, use the Deploy Status column to view the deployment and installation status of a package. The following table describes the icons and the status:

Viewing and exporting the deployment and installation summary

To view the deployment status of a package, follow these steps:

1. Go to Configuration > Agents.
2. Click the Agents menu and click View Deployment and Installation Summary.
   
   
   If a PATROL Agent fails to deploy, use the Deployment and Installation Summary page to understand the reason.  On the View Deployment and Installation Summary page, use the filter for failed Agents, and click the failed Agent count. In the Reason column, you can see the reason why the Agent failed to deploy.
3. To export the summary, from the View Deployment and Installation Summary page, select the required devices and click Export.
   The installation summary is saved as a .csv file in your preferred location.