Installing the New Automation Plan Engine (Multinode)

You can install the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode) on Windows® and Linux® systems. To install the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode), you run a Task from your BigFix console. The Task to install the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode) becomes relevant only if the plan engine is uninstalled correctly. The Automation Plan Engine (Multinode) can be installed on any BES Client machines that are reporting to the BigFix server. The installation procedure is the same for both Windows® and Linux®.

About this task

Before you begin installing the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode), make sure that your system meets the prerequisites as described in Automation Plan Engine prerequisites. There is one Task for installing and upgrading the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode) and another Task for uninstalling the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode). Each of these Tasks becomes relevant depending on whether you already installed the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode). When you install the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode), the Task that installs it becomes non-relevant and the Task that uninstalls it becomes relevant. After you install the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode), it can take a few minutes for the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode) installation Task to become non-relevant.

Complete the following steps to install the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode).

Procedure

  1. Log on to the BigFix console as the master operator and navigate to the Server Automation domain.
    Note: For a Linux® installation,
    • the console must be installed on Windows®.
    • ensure if dos2unix package is available for RHEL (To check this, open the terminal with Admin privilege/root access and enter the command dos2unix. If the command is not found, install the package using the command yum install dos2unix).
  2. From the Automation node, click Setup and Maintenance > Fixlets and Tasks and select the Install and Configure Latest Automation Plan Engine (Multinode) task from Tasks, irrespective of your platform.
  3. Click Take Action.
  4. From the Take Action dialog box, target the system on which the BigFix server is installed.
  5. Click OK. The Task runs and installs the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode). The default location for the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode) installation is in the following directory:
    • For Windows® platforms, the C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Client\Applications\PlanEngine directory.
    • For Linux® platforms, the /var/opt/BESClient/Applications/PlanEngine directory.
    It can take a few minutes for the Install and Configure Latest Automation Plan Engine (Multinode) installation Task to become non-relevant. The uninstallation Task now becomes relevant.

Results

After the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode) is installed, the BigFix server starts it automatically. The Automation Plan Engine (Multinode) log file, pe_console.log, is available in the following location, depending on your platform:
  • For Windows®, the pe_console.log log file is available in the \BES Client\Applications\Logs subdirectory of the installation directory, for example, C:\Program Files (x86)\BigFix Enterprise\BES Client\Applications\Logs directory.
  • For an installation with default values on Linux®, the pe_console.log log file is available in the /var/opt/BESClient/Applications/Logs directory.
Remember:
Before scheduling or executing an automation plan, ensure that the deployed instances are accurately reflected in the Plan Engine Instance Information analysis.
To verify that the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode) is installed correctly and has started, check for the following lines at the start of the log file:
2013-08-23 13:15:20,235 INFO [main] (cli.PlanEngineLauncher:255) :: IZNENG025I \
Plan Engine (build number 0.49) starting in JVM with PID (4508) ... 
2013-08-23 13:15:20,235 INFO [main] (cli.PlanEngineLauncher:259) :: IZNENG026I \
Plan Engine CLI initializing ... 
2013-08-23 13:15:20,235 INFO [main] (cli.PlanEngineLauncher:130) :: IZNENG001I \
Received command: "start"