Installing BMC Helix Platform Common services 24.4.00

The following video (3:23) provides a summary of installing BMC Helix Platform Common Services:

https://youtu.be/Vd5HG7txsdg

Before you begin

• Make sure that you have created a namespace to install BMC Helix Platform Common Services services.

• Verify that nothing is installed in the namespace by using the following command:

  kubectl get all -n <namespace>
• Make sure that you have configured the nginx-configuration configmap.
  For information about the nginx-configuration configmap parameter value requirements, see System-requirements.
• Make sure that you have permission to create ServiceAccount, Role, and RoleBinding in the BMC Helix Platform namespace.
  If you do not have permission, create a Service account, Role, and RoleBinding.

To create ServiceAccount, Role, and RoleBinding

To install BMC Helix Platform Common Services, you must have permission to create ServiceAccount, Role, and RoleBinding in the BMC Helix Platform namespace.

If you do not have permission, an administrator must perform the following steps to create a Service account, Role, and RoleBinding to enable you to install BMC Helix Platform Common Services:

1. In the commons/yaml_files/serviceAccount.yaml and commons/yaml_files/role_rolebinding.yaml file replace the following values:
   1. __SERVICE_ACCOUNT__with the name of the service account that you want to create.
   2. __NAMESPACE__with the BMC Helix Platform namespace.

2. To create a service account, run the following command:

   kubectl apply -f serviceAccount.yaml

3. To create role and rolebinding, run the following command:

   kubectl apply -f role_rolebinding.yaml
4. When you set the CUSTOM_SERVICEACCOUNT_NAME parameter in the infra.config file, replace helix-onprem-sa value with the service account name that you created.

Task 1: To download and extract the deployment manager

1. Log in to the controller or bastion machine from where the Kubernetes cluster is accessible.
2. Download the deployment manager helix-on-prem-deployment-manager-24.4.00-17 from BMC Electronic Product Distribution (EPD) and extract it to a temporary directory, if you haven't already.
   Download the deployment manager by selecting the BMC Helix Platform Common Services for Service Management Version 24.4.00 option. To download the files from EPD, see Downloading-the-installation-files.

3. Run the following command to change the permission of the downloaded file:

   chmod a+x helix-on-prem-deployment-manager-<release_version>.sh

    

4. To extract the deployment manager, run the following command:

   ./helix-on-prem-deployment-manager-24.4.00-17
   cd helix-on-prem-deployment-manager

   The updated files will replace the affected files in the workspace directory.

Task 2: To prepare for password encryption

1. Go to the commons/certs directory and open the secrets.txt file.

   Important

   Use the secrets.txt file that you downloaded along with the deployment manager.
   

2. Add the following passwords to this file and then save it:

   Important: The secrets.txt file is deleted after installation. You will need the values set in the secrets.txt file for future upgrades. Hence, save the secrets.txt in a secure location. 

   Property	Description
   IMAGE_REGISTRY_PASSWORD	Password for the Docker registry. Important: Do not use special characters in the password.
   SMTP_PASSWORD	Password to connect to the SMTP server.  In the configs/infra.config file, if the value of the SMTP_AUTH parameter file is NONE, leave the SMTP_PASSWORD value blank as shown:  SMTP_PASSWORD="" Important:  The password must meet the following requirements: Must have a minimum of 7 characters. Must contain at least one uppercase letter [A–Z] and one lowercase letter [a–z]. Must contain at least one digit [0–9]. Must not contain any special character.  Must not contain 'admin' and 'bmcuser'.
   PG_PASSWD	Password to connect to the PostgreSQL database. Important:  The password must meet the following requirements: Must have a minimum of 7 characters. Must contain at least one uppercase letter [A–Z] and one lowercase letter [a–z]. Must contain at least one digit [0–9]. Must contain at least one special character. The supported special characters are - !@#$% Must not start or end with a special character. Must not contain 'admin' and 'bmcuser'.
   MINIO_ACCESS_KEY	MinIO access key. Any username can be set as an access key. Important: The password must meet the following requirements: Must have a minimum of 8 characters. Must contain at least one uppercase letter [A–Z] and one lowercase letter [a–z]. Must contain at least one digit [0–9]. Must contain at least one special character.  Must not contain 'admin' and 'bmcuser'.
   MINIO_SECRET_KEY	MinIO secret key. Any password can be set as the secret key. Important:  The password must meet the following requirements: Must have a minimum of 7 characters. Must contain at least one uppercase letter [A–Z] and one lowercase letter [a–z]. Must contain at least one digit [0–9]. Must contain at least one special character.  Must not contain 'admin' and 'bmcuser'.
   ES_JKS_PASSWORD	This password is used for the Keystore that is created when custom CA-signed certificates are used and mounted inside the Elasticsearch pods.  Important: ES_JKS_PASSWORD is required only when you are using a Custom CA certificate, else keep the value as ES_JKS_PASSWORD="". The password must meet the following requirements: Must have a minimum of 7 characters. Must contain at least one uppercase letter [A–Z] and one lowercase letter [a–z]. Must contain at least one digit [0–9]. Must contain at least one special character. The supported special characters are - !@#$% Must not start or end with a special character. Must not contain 'admin' and 'bmcuser'.
   LOG_ES_PASSWD	(Optional) Starting with BMC Helix Platform Common Services version 24.3, applications will use a non-default user for Elasticsearch connections for Log Elasticsearch (Log ES).  To use a non-default user, change the default value of the LOG_ES_PASSWD parameter. Important: The password must meet the following requirements: Must have a minimum of 7 characters. Must contain at least one uppercase letter [A–Z] and one lowercase letter [a–z]. Must contain at least one digit [0–9]. Must contain at least one special character. The supported special characters are - !@#$% Must not start or end with a special character. Must not contain 'admin' and 'bmcuser'.

   Important

   Make sure that you provide all passwords in the secrets.txt file. If you fail to add any password in the secrets.txt file, the deployment fails with the following error:
   

   Sample secrets.txt file

   # cat commons/certs/secrets.txt
   #Please put the passwords in this file
   IMAGE_REGISTRY_PASSWORD=password123
   SMTP_PASSWORD=test123
   SMART_SYSTEM_PASSWORD=password123
   PG_PASSWD=pGTest2020
   KIBANA_PASSWORD=kibana123
   MINIO_ACCESS_KEY=admin
   MINIO_SECRET_KEY=admin123
   # ES_JKS_PASSWORD is required only when you are using Custom CA certificate, else keep value as ES_JKS_PASSWORD=""
   ES_JKS_PASSWORD=test@12
   
   ################## End OF THE FILE ####################
   

Task 3: To install BMC Helix Platform Common Services

1. In the helix-on-prem-deployment-manager/configs/infra.config file, modify the following parameters that are environment-specific:

   Important

   • The following load balancer hosts are required. You do not need any subdomains.
     • LB_HOST
       Ensure that the LB_HOST value is not the same as the tenant URL.

   • • TMS_LB_HOST
     • MINIO_LB_HOST
     • MINIO_API_LB_HOST
     • KIBANA_LB_HOST
     • Tenant URL that is derived based on the following parameters from the infra.config file:
       $TENANT_NAME-$TENANT_TYPE-$TENANT_ENVIRNONMENT.$DOMAIN

   • Make sure that you have created a storage class.
     BMC supports a Bring-Your-Own-Storage-Class model for any block storage supporting high performance IOPS. NFS is not supported for persistent volumes. CephRBD is certified by BMC.

    

2. In the helix-on-prem-deployment-manager/configs/deployment.config file, modify the following parameters:

   Parameter	Required value
   Docker registry project details
   BHOM_IMAGE_REGISTRY_ORG	Specify the value as lp0lz. BHOM_IMAGE_REGISTRY_ORG=lp0lz
   Infra services options
   DEPLOYMENT_SIZE	itsmcompact, itsmsmall, or itsmxlarge If you are installing BMC Helix Platform Common Service in a nonproduction environment, specify the value as itsmcompact. If you are installing BMC Helix Platform Common Service in a production environment, specify the value as itsmsmall. If you are installing BMC Helix Service Management extra large size, specify the value as itsmxlarge. BMC Helix Service Managementdoes not require BMC Helix Platform Common Services resources with deployment sizes such as medium or large. To optimize resources, the deployment sizes, itsmcompact and itsmsmall, are provided for BMC Helix Service Management installation. The itsmcompact size does not support high availability. Use itsmcompact for nonproduction environments. The itsmsmall size supports high availability, so use this size for production environments.
   INFRA	yes
   _PTPOSTGRESS	yes
   _KAFKA	yes
   _REDIS	yes
   _RSSO	yes
   _ELASTICSEARCH	yes
   _VICTORIAMETRICS	yes Important: If you are not using BMC Helix ITSM Insights, set this parameter to No.
   _MINIO	yes
   BMC Helix Dashboard services
   HELIX_DASHBOARD_SERVICES	yes
   BMC Helix ITSM Insights
   (Optional)ITSMINSIGHT_SERVICES	yes  If you are not using BMC Helix ITSM Insights, set the ITSMINSIGHT_SERVICES and _VICTORIAMETRICS parameter values to No.
   AR System services
   ARSERVICES	yes Important: Make sure that you specify the value as yes. This option registers the BMC Helix Innovation Suite services in BMC Helix Platform.
   BMC Helix Logging
   BMC_HELIX_LOGGING	yes

3. Perform the following steps to disable the credential service:
   1. From the working directory, navigate to helix-on-prem-deployment-manager/configs.
   2. In the <deployment size>.json file, in the tms section, in the override_param parameters, add the envMap.env.ADE_CS_ENABLED parameter value as false.
      For example, in the itsmcompact.json file, in the tms override section, add "envMap.env.ADE_CS_ENABLED": "false".

4. Install the product by running the following command:

   ./deployment-manager.sh

   After the BMC Helix Platform Common Service are deployed, the tenant administrator receives the following emails:

   • • An email with details about the BMC Helix Platform account
     • An email to change the BMC Helix Platform account password at the first login
       All installation logs are located in the helix-on-prem-deployment-manager/logs directory.

Task 4: To apply the hotfix

The zombie process generation issue on redis-haproxy-monitor pods and Kafka Zookeeper pods is fixed in the BMC Helix Platform Common Services 24.4.00.00.001 hotfix, addressing the following issues:

• DRRE3-7571
• DRRE3-7638

For more information about the issues, see Known-and-corrected-issues.

Perform the following steps to apply the hotfix:

1. Download the BMC_Helix_PCS_for_Service_Management_Version_24.4.00.001.tar.gz file from EPD and save it in the working directory.
   You can download the file by selecting the BMC Helix Platform Common Services for Service Management Version 24.4.00.001 option. See Downloading-the-installation-files.
2. If you are using a local repository for pulling images, make sure that the local image repository has referenced the following images in the 244_Helix_Platform_Images.txt file:
   • containers.bmc.com/bmc/lp0lz:24400001-v103-ade-infra-clients-alpine

   • containers.bmc.com/bmc/lp0lz:24400001-v102-bitnami-zookeeper-3.9.1-alpine-jdk11

     See Setting-up-a-Harbor-repository-to-synchronize-container-images.

3. Extract the BMC_Helix_PCS_for_Service_Management_Version_24.4.00.001.tar.gz file to the 24.4.00 workspace folder.

   tar -xvf BMC_Helix_PCS_for_Service_Management_Version_24.4.00.001.tar.gz

4. Run the hf_script.sh hotfix script file providing the full path of the 24.4.00 deployment manager directory.

   bash hf_script.sh </path/to/directory/24.4.00>/helix-on-prem-deployment-manager

   For example: bash hf_script.sh /data/24.4.00/helix-on-prem-deployment-manager

   Important

   • This command creates a new directory named /data/24.4.00/helix-on-prem-deployment-manager_HF1.YYYYMMDDHHMMSS, which is a copy of deployment manager directory.
     This directory contains the logs and configuration files.
   • No changes are made to the earlier deployment manager directory that was passed as the parameter.

Sample configuration files

Where to go from here