Prerequisites for Automation Plan Engine (Multinode)

You can install the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode) on Linux® and Windows® platforms. Before installing the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode), make sure that your system meets all of the prerequisites. This section describes all of the prerequisite tasks that you must complete before installing the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode) and the instructions are the same for both Windows® and Linux®.

About this task

Before you begin completing the prerequisite tasks, make sure that the external content site, BES Support, is accessible. For each of the Fixlets or Tasks described here, there is normally a lag between the time you run one Fixlet or Task and when another becomes relevant and available.
Remember:
The number of plan engine instances are determined by the plan's batch size. It is recommended to start with 2 nodes, then evaluate the overall performance. Add additional instances only if they are necessary.
Remember:
A client machine's hardware configuration (vCPU) for the plan engine instances should be uniform, as the load is equally distributed across the nodes. Each plan engine instance should ideally have 8 to 16 cores for optimal performance.

Complete the following prerequisite steps in the order in which Tasks or Fixlets become relevant in the Server Automation domain. The Tasks or Fixlets only become relevant after you complete a dependent step.

Procedure

  1. Ensure you have a x86_64(or x64) bit processor architecture machine for Multinode Plan Engine installation.
  2. You must have BigFix V11.x installed to install the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode). For a Linux® installation, the BigFix console must be installed on a Windows® system.
  3. You must have Web Reports installed with your BigFix installation, and create a user with normal access rights in Web Reports. You must do this in Web Reports and this is a different user than the users that you create in the BigFix console. For more information about creating a user in Web Reports, see Web Reports User's Guide.
  4. You must have Automation Plan Distribution Service installed on the machine before you begin installing Automation Plan Engine (Multinode).
  5. Create a new BigFix console user for the installation with master operator privileges.
  6. Ensure that the site for the Automation domain, called Server Automation, is accessible. This site publishes the Task that installs the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode).
  7. Your computers must be subscribed to the Server Automation site. To subscribe the computers, select the Server Automation site from the Sites > External Sites section in the All Content domain. Click the Computer Subscriptions tab and subscribe the computers that you want to have access to the Server Automation site.

Results

After completing all of the steps described in this topic, the Task to install the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode) becomes relevant. You can now proceed to install the Automation Plan Engine (Multinode).