Managing the Linux Image provider

The Linux Image provider component is needed for reimaging Linux systems in your environment

To deploy images on Linux targets in your network, you must install the Linux image provider component on the relays to which your Linux targets are connected. You cannot install the Image Provider component on relays that are Bare Metal OS Deployment servers, because this component is already embedded. If your targets are connected directly to an IBM® BigFix server, you must install this component on the server.

Before you deploy Linux systems, you must update the IBM Endpoint Manager Server whitelist to enable the Linux Image Provider to dynamically download the necessary files.

Installing the Linux Image Provider

From the OS Deployment and Bare Metal Imaging site, click Maintenance and Configuration. Select the corresponding task. When you deploy the action, the list of applicable relays is displayed in the Take Action menu. Select one or more relays from the list and click OK to begin installation.

This component is installed in C:\Program Files\OSdImageProvider. When the installation ends, the component is started automatically. The log file rbagent.log and trace file rbagent.trc are stored in the installation directory

Useful commands

You can start the Linux Image provider by running the "Start Linux Image Provider" Fixlet, which you can also include in your Server Automation Plans.

You can also run the following batch files to start or stop the Image Provider:

To start the Image provider process:
```
StartImageProvider.bat
```
To stop the Image provider process:
```
StopImageProvider.bat
```

To increase the log level for problem determination purposes, you can edit the StartImageProvider.bat file. For example:

osdimageprovider.exe -d -v 4 -o rad -startimageprovider

raises the log level to 4 from the default level of 3.

Uninstalling the Linux Image Provider

To remove the Linux Image Provider from a relay in your environment, run the "Uninstall Linux Image Provider " task on the relevant relays.