Creating and deploying packages

A deployable package is a set of monitoring solution components, or installation components, that can be installed together on one or more systems. You can reuse deployable packages across multiple devices. Deployable packages include knowledge modules (KMs) and PATROL Agents. The installation components make sure that the package can be deployed reliably and securely across different environments.

The following deployable packages are available out-of-the-box:

• Predefined_Package_For_Linux_x64
• Predefined_Package_For_Windows_x64

As an administrator, packages to install and upgrade monitoring solutions to PATROL Agents. The deployable package is copied to the file system of the target PATROL Agents. It is subsequently extracted and installed on the target PATROL Agents..

In BMC Helix Operations management, navigate to the Administration > Repository page and click the Installation Components tab to view the list of available installation components. 

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You can deploy the third-party components for which you have a license. These components appear with a locked icon ​on the Installation Components page. Contact BMC Support to get a component enabled.

To create deployable packages

1. In the BMC Helix Operations ManagementBMC Helix Operations ManagementBMC Helix Operations Management console, navigate to Administration > Repository > Deployable Packages and click Create.
2. Select the operating system and platform for which you want to create a package.
   The list of platforms changes according to the operating system that you select.

3. Select the components and their versions for the package, and click Next.
   If you have selected the PATROL Agent Patch for Windows or PATROL Agent Patch for Unix and Linux component, make sure that the base image of the respective PATROL Agent is already installed.
   The PATROL Agent for Unix and PATROL Agent patch for Unix and Linux components support all Unix and Linux flavors, which include Linux, Solaris, AIX, and HP-UX.

4. In the BMC Software Products Installation Directory field, type in the installation directory for the components that you selected.

   Warning

   Important

   If a PATROL product was previously installed, type in the PATROL installation directory. For example, if PATROL3.4 was previously installed, type in /opt/patrol as the installation directory.

5. Perform one of the following steps:
   1. If you have selected the PATROL Agent as one of the components, provide the Root or Sudo user credentials for the PATROL Agent and click Next.
   2. If you have not selected the PATROL Agent as one of the components, provide the Root user credentials and click Next.
6. In the PATROL 3.x Product Directory field, type in the installation directory for the PATROL products.
   If a PATROL product was previously installed, type in the PATROL product directory as the installation directory. For example, if PATROL3.4 was previously installed, /opt/patrol is the BMC software products installation directory, and PATROL3.4 is the PATROL 3.x product directory.
7. If you have selected the PATROL Agent as one of the components, perform the following steps:
   1. Provide the login credentials for the PATROL Agent and click Next.
   2. Select a security option and click Next.
      The security level is the default level of security for the PATROL Agent to communicate with the Integration Service. The communication is over TLS 1.2.
      The following options are available:
      • No Certificate Validation
      • Certificate Validation
8. Add the PATROL Agent port number, choose to restart the PATROL Agent automatically or manually, and click Next.
9. If you have selected the PATROL Agent as one of the components, perform the following steps:
   1. Select a level of access control and click Next.
      If you select the Restricted Access Control (default) action, access to the PATROL Agent from pconfig and PatrolCli is restricted only to the default account. We recommend this option.
      If you select the Full Access Control option, all users can use pconfig and PatrolCli to access the PATROL Agent.
   2. Enter the following details:
      1. The streaming endpoint details for the PATROL Agent. If you have not configured a streaming endpoint for the PATROL Agent, leave this field blank.

      2. Tags to associate the PATROL Agent with the monitoring policy.
         We recommend tagging Agents when you want to apply a monitor policy to an Agent. You can tag Agents to provide precise Agent selection criteria when you create and assign a policy to an Agent. With the correct tags, the policy is automatically applied to an Agent when the Agent checks into BMC Helix Operations ManagementBMC Helix Operations ManagementBMC Helix Operations Management.
          

         Click here to see an example

         Consider an environment that has the following databases or platforms to be managed:

         • Oracle databases running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux
         • Microsoft SQL Server databases running on Windows
         • Apache running on Windows and Red Hat Enterprise Linux
         • WebLogic running on Windows and Red Hat Enterprise Linux

         Create packages and tags as listed below:

         Linux/UNIX Agent, Linux/UNIX OS Knowledge Module	LinuxOS, OracleDB	Tags
         SQLWin	Windows Agent, Windows OS Knowledge Module	WinOS, SQLDB
         ApacheWin	Windows Agent, Windows OS Knowledge Module	WinOS, Apache
         ApacheRHEL	Linux/UNIX Agent, Linux/UNIX OS Knowledge Module	LinuxOS, Apache
         WebLogicWin	Windows Agent, Windows OS Knowledge Module	WinOS, WebLogic
         WebLogicRHEL	Linux/UNIX Agent, Linux/UNIX OS Knowledge Module	LinuxOS, WebLogic
         Oracle	Oracle Database Knowledge Module	N/A
         SQLServer	SQL Server Database Knowledge Module	N/A
         Apache	Internet Server Manager Knowledge Module	N/A
         WebLogic	WebLogic  Knowledge Module	N/A

10. Add a name and description for the package, and select the format.
    The maximum number of characters for the package name is 100.
     

    Best practices for naming a package

    • Provide a meaningful name.
      Add the information with the maximum impact at the beginning of the package name. For example, for a basic package to monitor Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) operating systems that would be deployed to most of the RHEL systems in your environment, use the name “RHELOSBasic”.
    • Do not use special characters in package names.
    • Enter complete descriptions in every package description field. Add the most important information at the beginning of the description so that it is readily visible without you having to hover the mouse over it.

    

11. Save the deployable package.

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.

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. You can deploy a package by using one of the following methods:

• Deploy packages by using the action menu
• Deploy packages by using the Copy Install Script option. 
• Deploy packages by using the API key

The Copy Install Script and API key options use an API key for deploying packages. An API key is used for metric ingestion from PATROL Agents and event and log ingestion from event and log sources. PATROL Agents use the API key to authenticate themselves when sending messages to BMC Helix Operations ManagementBMC Helix Operations ManagementBMC Helix Operations Management. By setting up configurations to rotate the API key after a specific interval, you keep systems more secure in case the API key gets compromised if it is shared unintentionally.

Validations performed during the 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.

The following additional validations are performed to handle mismatched checksum and missing chunks errors:

• The checksum for the chunks in the package is validated in the file system of the Integration Service and PATROL Agents. If the checksum validation for one or more chunks in the package fails, the package deployment does not proceed, and the following message is displayed.
  Checksum mismatch : <chunk filename> on PATROL agentChecksum mismatch : <chunk filename> on PATROL agent
  
• The presence of chunks is validated in the file system of the PATROL Agent. If chunks are missing from the package, the deployment does not proceed, and the following message is displayed.
  Chunk missing : <chunk filename> on PATROL agentChunk missing : <chunk filename> on PATROL agent
  

If a monitoring solution fails to deploy, perform the following steps to understand the reason for the failure:

1. In BMC Helix Operations Management, navigate to Configuration > Agents.
2. Click the Agents action menu and select View Deployment and Installation Summary.
3. Use the filter for failed Agents, and click the failed Agent count.
4. In the Reason column, view the reason why the monitoring solution failed to deploy.

To deploy packages by using the action menu

1. In BMC Helix Operations management, navigate to Configuration > Agents:
2. 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.

     Warning

     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.

     

3. 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 by using the Copy Install Script option

1. In BMC Helix Operations Management, navigage to Administration > Repository.
2. Determine whether the package that you want to deploy contains a PATROL Agent. Pre-defined packages contain a PATROL Agent.
   To do this, click the package and view its summary.
3. If the package contains a PATROL Agent, do the following
   1. Go to the computers where you want to deploy the package, and create a new PATROL Agent user.
   2. In the home directory of the new user, create a directory.
   3. Provide read/write/execution permission to the PATROL user for the directory.
   4. 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.
   5. Provide the following information when prompted:]
      • (Linux) Root login name and password
      • PATROL default account login name and password
4. 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 by using the API key

1. In BMC Helix Operations Management, navigate to Administration > Repository.
2. Obtain the API key of the package that you want to deploy by performing the following steps:
   1. Click Copy API key. 
      The API key is copied to the clipboard. If you have configured a rotation interval for the API key in BMC Helix Portal, make sure that you use the latest API key each time the key rotates. For instructions about configuring a rotation interval, see Using API keys for external integrations.
3. Download and copy the package.
4. Go to the computer where you want to install the package.
5. If the package contains a PATROL Agent, make sure that the PATROL user directory has the read/write/execution permission.
   Pre-defined packages contain a PATROL Agent. Here is the default directory for predefined packages:
   • (Linux) /opt/bmc
   • (Windows) <installation_directory>\BMC Software
6. Paste and extract the package.
7. From the bmc_products directory, run the following command depending on whether the package contains a PATROL Agent.
   • Custom package with PATROL Agent
     The API key in the following command is 

     the key that you retrieved earlier. PATROL Agents use the API key to authenticate themselves when sending messages 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.

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

     

     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
     • (Linux) RunSilentInstall.sh
     • (Windows) RunSilentInstall.exe
8. When prompted, provide the PATROL default account login name and password.
   For Linux, if the package contains a PATROL Agent, provide the root login name and password when prompted.

To view the deployment status and icons

1. In BMC Helix Operations Management, navigate to Configuration > Agents.
2. On the 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:

To view and export the deployment and installation summary

1. In BMC Helix Operations Management, navigate 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.

Aborting the deployment of a package

You can abort the deployment of a package to PATROL Agents if the following conditions are true:

• 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.

1. In BMC Helix Operations Management, navigate to Configuration > Agents.
2. Click the Agents action menu and select View Deployment and Installation Summary.
3. Refresh the Deployment and Installation Summary page before you abort a deployment so you can view the latest deployment status.
4. Abort a deployment by performing the following steps:
   • For a single deployment, click the action menu for the deployment that you want to abort and click Abort Deployment. 
   • For multiple deployments, select the deployments that you want to abort, click the action menu in the table header, and click Abort.
     ​
5. 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.
6. 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

1.  In BMC Helix Operations Management, navigate to Configuration > Agents.
2. For monitoring solutions that contain sub-components, select the specific sub-components to uninstall.

3. 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>

After you initiate the uninstallation of a monitoring solution by using the BMC Helix Operations Management console, do not try to manually uninstall it from the PATROL Agent host computer.

To uninstall PATROL Agents

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

List of available KMs

The Infrastructure Management–PATROL Repository (Repository) is a collection of all Monitoring Solutions or KMs managed by BMC. 

BMC-managed KMs

Sentry-managed KMs