Administer Host Groups › Host Group Implementation Process

Host Group Implementation Process

You can configure a host group on any existing agent. An agent does not need to be configured as a touchpoint to host a host group. The agent host for the host group uses SSH to access and execute actions on a remote host. Part of host group preparation is to enable SSH authentication. When content designers target a member of a host group in an operator definition, they reference the target host by its IP address or FQDN.

Prepare to use a host group by performing the following tasks and procedures. Topics providing procedural details follow this process overview.

1. Create a Host Group.
2. Configure the Host Group Properties. That is, specify values for all settings except SSH Keys Path.
   • For help on entering patterns, see How to Define Remote Host Name Patterns Using Regular Expressions.
   • (Optional) For public key authentication, configure SSH Keys Path.

     Note: CA Process Automation gains access with public key authentication only when access fails with the user account credentials.

3. From the agent host for the host group, verify that Java Virtual Machine (JVM) version 1.7 or 1.6 (no later than version 1.6.0_45) is installed. JVM comes with the JRE or JDK. Both 32-bit JVM and 64-bit JVM are supported for agents that are installed on hosts with Windows operating systems. Use the following command to verify that your Java version is a valid version. An example follows:

   java -version
   

   Example response:

   Java version "1.6.0_x", a valid version
   

4. Create SSH credentials on hosts in a host group. Define a user account with the SSH credentials that are specified in the host group properties for Remote User Name and Remote Password.
5. From each remote UNIX host that the host group references, verify that the Korn shell is installed. If the Korn shell is not installed, take one of the following actions:
   • Install the Korn shell.
   • Create a soft link from an existing Bash shell to the Korn shell using the returned location. For example:

     ln -s  /bin/bash /bin/ksh
     

6. Take the following steps to complete the configuration for public key authentication. These steps apply to an SSH Keys Path specification.
   • Verify that the path you entered for SSH Keys Path in the host group configuration exists on the agent host. If it does not, create it. For example:

     Windows: C:\PAM\Sshkeys

     UNIX: /home/PAM/Sshkeys

   • Verify that you have the ssh-keygen utility or download it. On a Windows system, the ssh-keygen.exe appears in the C:\Program Files\OpenSSH\bin directory. The bin directory also contains other files that enable you to use UNIX commands.

     You use this utility to generate the private/public key pair.

   • Verify that you can copy a file from one host to another. If needed, download a copy utility such as scp or Winscp.

     You copy the public key from the agent host to each remote host.

   • Create the destination directory and destination file for the public key.
   • Create a trust relationship to a remote host referenced by a host group.

     Important! Follow these instructions carefully. Steps include CA Process Automation-specific requirements that vary from the standard implementation of DSA key pairs.

More information:

CA Process Automation-Specific Requirements for SSH Connectivity