Defining a custom binary payload

Administrators can define a custom binary payload and deploy it across environments. A binary payload file can contain binary files, configurations files and executable files such as batch or Shell scripts. For example,  you can promote changes to your custom plugins from your development environment to the production environment.

Related topics

Defining-and-deploying-a-binary-payload

Setting-the-component-ranking-order-before-deploying-a-binary-payload

To create a custom binary payload

In the AR System Administration console, open the AR System Single Point Deployment Payload form and perform the following procedure:


Instruction

Panel instruction

1

Go to the Basic Information panel

  1. Click New Request.
    The Deployment ID field is automatically populated with a new Deployment ID.
  2. Enter the Deployment Payload Name.
  3. Enter a new Deployment Payload Group Name or select from the list. 
  4. (Optional) Enter a Payload Description.
  1. (Optional) If you want to run a payload from the command line interface, enter the operating system command.
  2. (Optional) In the Processing Group Name field, enter a group name for the logical group of payloads that correspond to a particular process.
  3. (Optional) If your payload is dependent on any other payload, select an ID from the Dependent on ID list .
  4. To add a file to the payload, click Add .
    For more information, see Add below.

  5. To add instruction to the file, click Instructions and select one of the following options:

    • Replace and Restart
    • Execute
    • Copy

    For more information, see Instruction below.

2

Go to the Operations panel

To select automatic rollback on failure and to deploy the payload, select appropriate value for the following fields:

  • Automatic roll back on failure—Starts rollback when payload deployment fails.
    For more information, see Automatic Rollback on Failure below.
  • Available for download—Starts the binary payload deployment, depending on the filedeployer.localDeploymentRequired parameter. 

3

Go to the Deployment Details panel

  1. Select an operating system from the OS Type list.
  2. In the Destination Path field, enter either the relative path, absolute path, or the environment variable where you want to deploy the payload. Use the arrow keys to add or remove an option.

  3. From the Where to deploy list, select where you want to deploy the package from the following options:

    • All Servers
    • Admin Server
    • Specific Server
      For this option, select the server name in the Server Name field.
    • All Servers of a Type
      For this option, select the required option from the Monitor Type field.

    For more information, see Where to deploy below.

  4. Select the required process type from the Process Type field.
    You must select the Process Type if you select the Replace and Restart option from the Instruction list. For more information, see Process Types.

4

To create a binary payload click Save and click Close.

5

(Optional) To start the binary payload deployment select Yes from the Available for download option.

6

(Optional) To view the status of the binary payload, click View Payload Status and click Close.
For more information about viewing the status, see Viewing-the-status-of-a-binary-payload.

To deploy previously deployed binary payload onto the new server in a server group

Perform the following steps when you add a new server to a server group, and you want to deploy a previously deployed binary payload (such as patches or hotfixes) onto the new server.

  1. Open the AR System Single Point Deployment Payload form.
  2. Enter the Deployment Payload name and click Search. 
    Records matching with the given  Deployment Payload name are fetched.
  1. Create a copy of each matching record by clicking CTRL+ ALT+C on the keyboard.
  2. Select No from the Available for Download option.
  3. Select Specific Server from the Where to Deploy field.
  4. Select the new server name from the Server Name field.
  5. Click Save.
  6. Repeat this procedure for all the matching records fetched in step 3.
  7. Search all the new records by using the Specific Server Name.
  8. Select all the new records by clicking Select All
  9. Click Modify All
  10. Select Yes from the Available for Download option. 
  11. click Save.

AR System Single Point Deployment Payload form fields

The following image shows the fields available on the AR System Single Point Deployment Payload form:

221_ARSingle Point Deployment Payload form.png

The following table describes how to set the fields in AR System Single Point Deployment Payload form.

Field

Description

Basic Information panel

Deployment ID

Contains a unique identifier for binary payload that is automatically populated when you click New Request.

Deployment Payload Name

Descriptive name for the payload entry, such as serverfix.

Deployment Payload Group Name

Deployment payload group name that consists of multiple binary payloads, such as patch001.

This group name is reflected on the AR System Deployment Management form when you create a package by using the AR System Deployment Management Console.

Deployment Payload Description

Description related to the fix that you are providing in the payload.

Status

For each component, shows one of following status for the binary payload deployment:

  • Pending—Indicates that a new payload is in Pending state.
  • In Progress—When the Available for Download option is set to Yes, the payload deployment status changes to In Progress. 
  • Successful—Indicates a successful payload deployment. 
  • Failed—Indicates that the payload deployment failed.
  • Rollback In Progress—Indicates that the payload rollback has started.
  • Rollback Successful—Indicates a successful payload rollback.
  • Rollback Failed—Indicates that the rollback failed.
  • User Cancelled—Indicates that you cancelled a payload deployment. 
    When you cancel the payload deployment in a server group, the payload deploys on the server where the deployment is in progress. However, the payload deployment is cancelled for the other servers.
  • Partial Success—Indicates that the payload deployment was partially successful in a server group.
    For example, If the payload deployment is successful on five servers and fails on two servers, the status is displayed as Partial Success. 
  • Skipped—If a server is not available for any reason, such as no writer permissions to the installation directory, the deployment is skipped on that server. 

Status Details

Displays the overall status of the payload.

Command Line

Runs the given operating system command, such as (UNIX) \opt\bmc\run.sh

Processing Group Name

Logical group of payloads that correspond to a particular process. Consider the following validations:

  • All payloads must be in a sequential order.
  • Definitions files or arx files are not allowed between payload entries.
  • Dependent payloads must have the same processing group name.

Dependent on ID

Signifies the dependency of current payload with another payload.

Extract Zip Attachment

Extracts the attached zip file. The default value is Yes.

Add

Adds a file to the payload. If you have multiple files, create a zip file. 

BMC supports files only in .zip format.

Instruction

Specifies instructions to the file based on one of the following options. 

  • Replace and Restart—This option is associated with a Process Type. When you select this option, the process that you have specified in the Process Type field is stopped. After the system checks for an existing file, the process starts again based one of the following conditions:
    • If a file exists, the system takes a back-up of the existing file and copies the attached file.
    • If no file exists, the system copies the attached file. 
  • Execute
    • Runs the attached executable file. You can choose to stop the process before you run the attached file.
    • You can also run operating system commands that you have entered in the Command line field. For example, On UNIX, mv midtier_linux.war arsys.war
  • Copy—Copies or replaces the attached file and takes a back-up of the existing file. 

Operations panel

Available for Download

Instructs the AR System server to start the payload deployment. Once you select Yes, you cannot reset it to No.

Cancel Deployment

Cancels the active payload deployment.

When you choose this option in a server group environment, the payload deployment finishes on the server where the deployment is in progress. However, the payload deployment on the other servers will be cancelled.

Start Rollback

Removes a successfully deployed payload.

Automatic Rollback on Failure

Determines the action performed when a payload deployment fails on any server in a server group based on the following options:

  • Yes—The payload is rolled back from all the servers in the server group.
  • No—The payload is rolled back from only the servers where the deployment has failed. The successful payload deployment is not rolled back.

For example, when you set the value to Yes, if the package deployment is successful on the first two servers but fails on the third server, the payload is rolled back from all the servers in the server group. If you set the value to No, then the successfully deployed payloads on the first two servers are not rolled back.

Deployment Details panel

OS Type

Binary payload deployment is supported on the following operating systems:

  • Windows
  • Unix

Destination Path

The path to the directory where you want to deploy the binary payload. You can specify the following types of paths:

  • Relative path
    • (Windows) \lib\start\startlevel7
    • (UNIX) ./lib/start/startlevel7 
  • Environment variable
    • (Windows) %BMC_AR_SERVER_HOME%\lib\start\startlevel7
    • (UNIX) $BMC_AR_SERVER_HOME/lib/start/startlevel7 OR ${BMC_AR_SERVER_HOME}/lib/start/startlevel7 
  • Absolute path
    • (Windows) C:\Program Files\AR System\lib\start\startlevel7
    • (UNIX) /opt/bmc/AR System/lib/start/startlevel7

Where to Deploy

Select one or multiple servers. Choose one of the following options:

  • All Servers—Deployes the payload on all the registered servers.
  • Admin Server—Deploys the payload on only the Admin Server.
  • Specific Server—Deploys the payload on the server you have selected from the Server Name list.
  • All Servers of a Type—Deploys the payload on the component that you specified in the Monitor Type list, such as ARServer.

When you select the Specific Server option and you have a specific server that has multiple components with File Deployer services, the binary payload is deployed to all the File Deployers on that particular server. To select a specific File Deployer, first, you must specify the process, then start the process of binary payload deployment.

Server Name

Select a particular server. Choose one of the following options:

The Server Name is only displayed if you select the Specific Server option from the Where to Deploy field.

Monitor Type

Select Monitor Type. Choose one of the following options:

  • ARServer
  • Midtier
  • Smart Reporting
  • Smart IT 

The Monitor Type is displayed only if you select the All Server of a Type option from the process type Where to Deploy field

Process Types

Select process type for the binary payload. Choose one of the following options:

When you select a process type from the list, that particular process is stopped and the attached binary payload is deployed. After the binary deployment is successful, the process starts again. When the deployment fails, an automatic rollback is triggered and the process is started after the original binary is restored.

For example, if you select the BMC:JavaPlugin option from the Process Type list, the Plugin Server is stopped, but the other armonitor processes are still running. The binary is deployed for the Plugin Server. If the binary deployment is successful, the Plugin Server starts again. However, if the binary deployment fails, the original binary is restored after which the Plugin Server starts.

  • BMC:ARDispatcher
  • BMC:ARServer
  • BMC:AR Server Extension—Enter an extension file name.
    For example, for the CMDB Engine, enter the cmdb-9.1.04-SNAPSHOT.jar     in the Extenstion File Name field.
  • BMC:CarteServer
  • BMC:CMDBDispatcher
  • BMC:DSOJServer
  • BMC:EmailEngine
  • BMC:FlashBoardServer
  • BMC:JavaPlugin—enter the Java Plug-in in the Plugin Name field where you want to deploy the binary. If you want to specify multiple plug-ins, use the arrow keys to add or remove the plug-ins. For example, ARSYS.ARDBC.LDAP
  • BMC:JavaPluginServer—When you choose to deploy a binary payload on the Java Plug-in Server, all the Java plug-in servers in your environment are stopped. The Java Plug-in Server starts again after the binary payload is successfully deployed. If the binary payload deployment fails, an automatic rollback is triggered and the Java Plug-in Server starts again after the original binaries are restored.
  • BMC:MidtierWebServer
  • BMC:NativeDSOServer
  • BMC:NativePluginServer
  • BMC:ReconciliationEngine
  • BMC:SLMBRService
  • BMC:SLMCollectorService
  • BMC:SLMDaemon

Important: If a process defined in the armonitor.cfg or armonitor.conf file such as Email Engine or Flashboards is down, the process is automatically started after successful package deployment, provided the process restart is required.

Plugin Name

If you select the BMC:JavaPlugin process type, you enter the Java plugin name as specified in your environment. This field is case sensitive.
For example, ARSYS.ALRT.TWITTER.

System Information panel—Displays audit information for a particular package. This information is automatically populated.

View Payload Status

Shows the payload status. For more information about viewing the status, see Viewing-the-status-of-a-binary-payload.

Close

Closes the form.

 

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