Agent Installation Guide › Installing an Agent on Linux Systems

Installing an Agent on Linux Systems

You can install an agent on either a Linux 32-bit system or a RHEL 5 x64-bit system.

This section contains the following topics:

Least-Privileged User Requirements

The agent installation for CA User Activity Reporting Module agents does not offer automatic user or user group creation. Use a root account to install the agent.

While you can run the agent as a root user, it is a better security practice to create a least-privileged account for the agent to use. You can give this user any account name you like, such as elmagentusr.

The agent installation adjusts the permissions on the existing user account you specify during installation. The folder permissions include the following:

Permission 775 (rwxrwxr-x) over the CA User Activity Reporting Module Agent installation folder, its sub-directories, and files.
As owner, the account has full permissions for all of the files and directories in the agent install directory.
Other accounts have read and execute permissions.
The caelmupdatehandler executable has the setuid bit set.

How to Install Manually

Use the following procedures to install an agent:

Create an authorized user for the agent.
View or set the agent authentication key.
Load the agent installer on the server where you plan to install the agent.
Install the agent with the provided shell script.

More information:

View or Set the Agent Authentication Key

Download Agent Binaries

Install the Agent

Create an Authorized User for an Agent

The agent installation for CA User Activity Reporting Module agents on Linux systems does not offer automatic user or user group creation. We recommend that you create an authorized user with the lowest set of privileges required to run the agent before you install.

You must have root access to add a user, and you need to have, or create, a group to contain that user first.

Note: The following procedures assume that the directory, /usr/sbin is in the system path.

To add a group and a user account

Log into the target agent host as a root user and access a command prompt.
Run the following command:
```
groupadd <groupname>
```
This creates the group in the /etc/group file.
Run the following command:
```
adduser <username> -g <groupname>
```
This adds the user specified by <username> to the group, <groupname>.
Set the new user's password with the following command:
```
password <username>
```
This command prompts you to enter and to confirm a new password for this user.

View or Set the Agent Authentication Key

If you are a CA User Activity Reporting Module Administrator, you can set the agent authentication key or view the current setting.

To view or set the agent authentication key

Click the Administration tab and then click the Log Collection subtab.
The Log Collection Explorer displays in the left pane.
Select the Agent Explorer folder.
A toolbar appears in the main pane.
Click Agent Authentication Key.
Take one of the following actions:
- Record the configured name so you have it ready to enter during agent installation.
- Set or reset it by entering and confirming the agent authentication key to be used for the agent installation.
Note: The default value is: This_is_default_authentication_key.
Click Save.

Download Agent Binaries

You can download the agent binaries directly from the management CA User Activity Reporting Module server.

To download the agent binaries

Log on to the target host computer where you want to install the agent.
Open a browser, connect to the CA User Activity Reporting Module interface, and log on with Administrator credentials.
Click the Administration tab.
The Log Collection subtab displays the Log Collection Explorer in the left pane.
Select the Agent Explorer folder.
A toolbar displays in the main pane.
Click Download Agent binaries .
Links for the available agent binaries appear in the main pane.
Click the link for the desired platform.
The dialog, Select location for download by <IP address>, appears.
Select a directory to which the CA User Activity Reporting Module server downloads the installation files.
Click Save.
The CA User Activity Reporting Module server downloads an installation file for the agent. A message showing the download progress of the selected agent binary appears, followed by a confirmation message.
Click OK.
If you downloaded to the desktop, the agent installation launcher appears there.

Install the Agent

Use this procedure to install an agent on Red Hat Linux, SuSe Linux, and VMware ESX Server systems. Before you begin, gather the following information:

Host name of the CA User Activity Reporting Module server to which the agent is to return events
Agent authentication key that is configured in the CA User Activity Reporting Module server
Note: The agent authentication key is called the authentication code in the installation wizard.
The root credentials on the target agent host server
The agent installation tar file location on the host server
(Optional) An exported connector file

To install a Linux agent

Log in as root on the computer on which you want to install the agent.
Access a command prompt and navigate to the directory where you saved the agent tar file.

Extract the tar file with the following command.

For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.x:

tar -xvf elm_agent_linux_k24_32_x_x_x_x.tar

For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.x:

tar -xvf elm_agent_linux_k26_32_x_x_x_x.tar

For VMware ESX Server 3.x:

tar -xvf elm_agent_linux_k24_32_x_x_x_x.tar

For SuSe Linux 11.x:

tar -xvf elm_agent_linux_k26_32_x_x_x_x.tar

Run the installation script, sh install_ca-elmagent.
Press Enter, read the end user license agreement, indicate your acceptance of the terms to continue by entering Yes, and press Enter.
Enter the IP address or host name for the CA User Activity Reporting Module server to which this agent forwards the log it collects, and then enter the authentication code.
Enter the IP address or host name for the CA User Activity Reporting Module to which this agent forwards the logs it collects, and then enter the authentication key.
Important! Enter the host name if the CA User Activity Reporting Module is assigned its IP address dynamically.
Enter the authorized user credentials for the Agent user credential information and press Enter.
Enter yes or no to choose whether to install in FIPS mode, and press Enter.
The agent FIPS mode you choose should match the FIPS mode for the CA User Activity Reporting Module server which manages it. However, the agent automatically detects the server FIPS mode and restarts itself as needed regardless of the mode you choose.
Accept the default installation path, or change it, and click Next.
(Optional) If you want to configure default connectors, enter yes and press Enter. Type the path and file name for the connector configuration and press Enter.
The agent installation process completes.

More information:

How to Protect Agents from Impact of Server IP Address Changes

How to Install Silently

Installing a CA User Activity Reporting Module agent silently on Red Hat Linux, SuSe Linux, and VMware ESX systems involves the following steps:

Review the setup checklist.
Set up a response file.
Invoke the silent install.
(Optional) Verify the silent installation.

After you create an initial response file, you can also install silently using a customized response file with the following steps:

Prepare a response file for re-use.
Install silently with a customize response file.

Review Setup Checklist

While installing an agent on Linux systems, you may need to edit the following parameters in the response file, ca-elmagent.rsp, to fit your requirements:

Field	Description
ELM_SERVER	The Host name or IP address of the CA User Activity Reporting Module server. Enter the host name rather than the IP address if the CA User Activity Reporting Module server is assigned its IP address dynamically through DHCP.
AGENT_AUTHKEY	The Agent Authentication Key in the Agent Explorer UI under the Administration tab. Select the Agent Authentication Key button to display the panel. The agent authentication key displays as clear text. Take precautions not to divulge the key to persons not authorized to use it. Note: The agent service will not start after installation if the key value you enter during installation is invalid.
AGENT_USER	The user name with which you want to run the CA User Activity Reporting Module agent. The default name is root. We recommend that you create a lower-privilege user account to run the agent before starting the agent installation.
INSTALL_DIR	The directory in which agent is to be installed. The default directory is opt/CA/ELMAgent.
DEFAULT_CONNECTORS	The path and file name of an XML file for a default connector. You can create a default connector in the CA User Activity Reporting Module Agent Explorer by exporting an existing connector configuration to XML. After you create the export file, move it to the target host before running the installation script. Leave this field blank if you do not plan to install a default connector.

More information:

How to Protect Agents from Impact of Server IP Address Changes

Set Up a Response File

On Linux and VMware ESX systems, you can create a response file for installing an agent using this procedure. Creating the silent response file does not actually install an agent on the local server.

You only have to create the silent response file once. After that, you can use it for any agent you want to install with the same set of configuration parameters.

Note: You may want to edit the response file for reuse to change the installation directory, user name, or password so that it is specific to the target agent host.

To create a silent response file for an agent

Log on to a Linux computer as a root user.
Open a browser, log into the CA User Activity Reporting Module server, and download the agent binary files.
Log off the CA User Activity Reporting Module server.
Access a command prompt and navigate to the directory that contains the installation files.
Run the following command to create a silent response file:
```
./install_ca-elmagent -g <name of response file>
```
Respond to the prompts exactly as if you were installing the agent locally.
When you finish creating the file, you are ready to install agents silently on another host.

More information:

Prepare a Response File for Re-use

Invoke the Silent Install

You can invoke a silent installation of an agent on a Linux server. Use the response file that you created, or updated, with values for this agent installation. You must be logged in as a root user to run a silent installation.

To invoke a silent install

Navigate to the directory where you saved the binary and response file.
Run the following command to install an agent silently:
```
./install_ca-elmagent -s <name of response file>
```
The agent is installed using the settings you provided when you recorded in the response file.

View the Agent Status Details

The Agent Explorer lists new agents as they are installed. The Agent Status Details for a selected agent displays whether the agent service is Running.

To view the agent status details

Log on to the CA User Activity Reporting Module interface with Administrator credentials.
Click the Administration tab.
The Log Collection subtab displays the Agent Explorer.
Expand Agent Explorer and then expand the Default Agent Group.
The name of the computer on which you installed the agent appears.
Click the agent name and verify on Agent Status Details that the Status is displayed as Running.
Note: The status of Not Responding indicates that the agent, watchdog, or dispatcher process is not running. Take remedial action specific to the operating environment.

Prepare a Response File for Re-use

Setting up a response file minimizes installation time when installing many agents. You do not have to type in each parameter manually for each installation. For example, if you want to install an agent on 1000 systems, you can automate the process by reusing the first response file you create as a template.

When you create a new agent user account on a target server, keeping the same name and password specified in the response file may offer an advantage. When the account credentials match the response file, you can reuse it without change, because the agent registers with the same CA User Activity Reporting Module server. This means that the authentication key does not change.

To prepare to reuse the response file

Log into the Linux server where you created the response file.
Navigate to the directory where the original response file resides.
Copy the response file and give it a different name.
Log into a different Linux system.
Create a user account for the agent.
Copy the modified response file from the first server to the desired directory on the target agent host.
Edit the file to customize it for your requirements. Examples of the data in the response file that you can modify includes the following:
- Change the installation directory path:
  INSTALL_DIR=/opt/CA/ELMAgent
- Change the path of the default connectors, if any:
  DEFAULT_CONNECTORS=/temp/connectors.xml
- Change the IP address of the CA User Activity Reporting Module server:
  ELM_SERVER=127.00.0.29
- Change the agent authentication key:
  AGENT_AUTHKEY=agent authentication key text
- Change the User account credentials for the agent:
  AGENT_USER=root

Install Silently with a Customized Response File

Use this procedure to install an agent silently using a customized response file.

Note: This procedure assumes that you have created a response file and customized it.

To install silently with a custom response file

Copy the customized response file to the target server, if it is not already there.
Invoke the silent install with the following command:
```
./install_ca-elmagent -s <name of response file>
```
In this command, replace the sample file name with your actual file name.

Maintenance Considerations

Maintenance considerations involve the following:

Uninstall an Agent

More information:

Prepare a Response File for Re-use

Uninstall an Agent

You can uninstall an agent on a Linux computer using this procedure.

To uninstall an agent on a Linux system

Log in as a root user.
Run the following command to remove the agent:
```
rpm -e ca-elmagent
```
The agent is uninstalled.