VMware VCENTER CONFIGURATION MANAGER 5.3 - SOFTWARE CONTENT REPOSITORY TOOL... User manual

vCenter Configuration Manager
Software Content Repository Tool Guide
vCenter Configuration Manager 5.3
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Contents
About This Book 5
About the Software Content Repository Tool 7
How It Works 7
What to Do First 8
Prerequisites for the SCR Tool 9
Host Machine andSoftware 9
User Credentials for Downloads 10
Supported Agent Machines 10
Installing the SCR Tool 11
Install the Repository Software 11
Download the Java Runtime Environment 11
Test the Java Runtime Environment Installation 11
Download and Install the Java Cryptography Extension (optional) 12
Preparing the Host Machine for Use with the SCR Tool 13
Review the Directory Structure 13
Change the Working Directory 13
Update the Replication Scripts 13
Connect the VCM-Managed Machines to the SCRTool 16
Set Logging Levels and Output File Names 16
Using the SCR Tool 19
Download the Patch Content 19
How to Schedule Downloads 19
Maintaining the Software Content Repository 20
Troubleshooting 21
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About This Book
About This Book This guide, VMware vCenter Configuration Manager Software Content Repository Tool Guide, provides
procedures for:
nPreparing for the installation of all components and tools
nInstalling all components and tools
nGetting started with all components and tools
Intended Audience
This document contains information intended for system administration personnel tasked with managing
users and resources within their network, and performing system maintenance.
To use the information in this book effectively, you need to have a basic understanding of how to
configure network resources. You also need to fully understand your network’s topology and resource
naming conventions.
Document Feedback
VMware welcomes your suggestions for improving our documentation. If you have comments, send
your feedback to [e-mail].
Software Content Repository Tool Documentation
The Software Content Repository Tool documentation consists of this document. Related documents
include the VCMHardware and Software Requirements Guide, online Help, and Release Notes.
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Technical Support and Education Resources
The following technical support resources are available to you. To access the current version of this book
and other books, go to http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
Online and Telephone
Support
To use online support to submit technical support requests, view your product
and contract information, and register your products, go to
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Customers with appropriate support contracts should use telephone support for
priority 1 issues. Go to http://www.vmware.com/support/phone_support.html.
Support Offerings To find out how VMware support offerings can help meet your business needs,
go to http://www.vmware.com/support/services.
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Courses are available onsite, in the classroom, and live online. For onsite pilot
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environment. To access information about education classes, certification
programs, and consulting services, go to http://www.vmware.com/services.
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About the Software Content Repository
Tool 1
About the Software Content Repository Tool The Software Content Repository (SCR) Tool is a standalone Java client software application that builds a
software content repository of UNIX/Linux patches, and then provides automated downloading of
operating system (OS) vendor patch content to the repository.
How It Works
The SCR Tool client downloads content used to patch your UNIX/Linux machines. These files include the
patch signature files (.pls), deploy package files (.plp) (not currently used), and OS vendor patch content
files (.rpm, .gz, .tar, .zip) used in the patching background processes.
As shown in the following diagram, the SCR Tool downloads the UNIX/Linux patch content. Using VCM
on another Collector machine, you can then update the VCM-managed (Agent) machines using the VCM
Patching UNIX/Linux patching capability.
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After downloading patches, you will use the VMware vCenter Configuration Manager (VCM) to assess
your UNIXmachines. To deploy the patches, you will need to use the alternate source mapping in VCM
Patching, and then deploy the patches to the UNIXmachines. For additional information,see the VCM
online Help.
NOTE The SCR Tool is not required for UNIX patch assessments or deployments, nor does it assess the
configuration or downloaded patch content used by VCM Patching. To deploy the patches, you will use
VCM Patching.
What to Do First
Before installing the SCR Tool, you must complete the following prerequisites.
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Prerequisites for the SCR Tool 2
Prerequisites for the SCR Tool The prerequisites for installing the SCR Tool include the following machines, software, and user
credentials.
Host Machine andSoftware
The machine used to host the SCR Tool must be a Red HatEnterprise Linux AS/ES machine (32-bit). For
further detail, see the VCM Hardware and Software Requirements Guide. If all of the requirements are met,
this machine can also run as a guest in a virtualized environment.
IMPORTANT The host machine must be used solely for the SCR Tool execution and repository storage.
Before installing the SCR Tool, it is highly recommended that any non-Sun Java versions be removed from
the machine that will be hosting the SCR Tool.
The host machine must be equipped with the following:
nInternet access
n500 GB of storage (recommended, depending on the platforms for which you will require patches). The
estimated storage requirements to store the patch content files and patch payload for the supported
platforms are as follows. You must allow sufficient disk space to download the content for each
platform being supported.
Supported Platform Minimum Storage Required for Patch Content Files and Payload
AIX 90 GB
HP-UX 6 GB
Mac OSX 70 GB
Red Hat 250 GB
SUSE 40 GB
Solaris 12 GB
Table 2-1. Platforms and Storage
NOTE The patch content will grow as vendors release additional patches. Ensure that you monitor the
disk space available on the host machine to avoid any problems in continuing to download and store the
patch content files and payload.
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nSun Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version 1.5 or later, 32-bit only. JRE nstallation is described in the
following section, Installing the SCR Tool.
nSun Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) Unlimited Strength Jurisdiction Policy Files corresponding to
the JRE version installed (required only for Red Hat and Solaris patch content). JCEinstallation is
described in the following section, Installing the SCR Tool.
User Credentials for Downloads
To download OS-vendor subscription-only content for Red Hat and Solaris machines, you must have user
credentials to the OS vendor sites.
Supported Agent Machines
The VCM-managed (Agent) machines that are supported for connecting to the machine hosting the SCR
Tool include: Solaris, Red Hat, HP-UX, AIX, SUSE, and Mac OSX. These Agent machines must be running
the VMware vCenter Configuration Manager.
For a list of supported machine/OS versions, see the VCM Hardware and Software Requirements Guide.
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Installing the SCR Tool 3
Installing the SCR Tool Use this chapter to install the SCR Tool and test its functionality.
IMPORTANT Before installing the SCR Tool, you must have performed the prerequisites.
Install the Repository Software
On the Red Hat host machine:
1. Locate the VMware vCenter Configuration Manager CD or go to the Download VMware vCenter
Configuration Manager (http://downloads.vmware.com/d/info/datacenter_downloads/vmware_
vcenter_configuration_manager/5_0).
2. Unzip the SCR Tool files from SCR-2.0-release.tar.gz to the directory where the application files will
reside on the Red Hat machine. The default installation directory is SCR-2.0.
After extracting the vCenter SCRTool files, a root directory is created, containing sub-directories and files.
The root directory is referred to as <scr_root> in this document.
Download the Java Runtime Environment
On the Red Hat host machine:
1. Access http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp.
2. Download and install Java Runtime Environment (JRE) version 1.5 or later. Each platform-specific link
includes detailed installation instructions. Use the instructions for your platform.
Test the Java Runtime Environment Installation
On the Red Hat host machine:
1. Access http://www.java.com/en/download/help/testvm.xml.
2. Verify the JRE is installed and configured properly.
3. Alternatively, from a Red Hat terminal session, you can run the java -version command to display
the currently installed version of Java.
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Download and Install the Java Cryptography Extension (optional)
On the Red Hat host machine:
The Java Cryptography Extension (JCE) is required only if you need to encrypt passwords when using
third-party credentials in the shell scripts for downloading Red Hat and Solaris patch content.
1. Access http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page or search for Other Downloads, and then click Download. If this page
does not automatically detect your current Java version, you may need to manually locate the correct
JCE package.
3. To install the JCE, follow the instructions in the README.txt contained in the JCE zip file.
IMPORTANT If you have multiple Java SE (Standard Edition) Development Kit (JDK)/JRE installations
on the same machine, make sure you are updating the correct JDK/JRE instance.
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Preparing the Host Machine for Use with
the SCR Tool 4
Preparing the Host Machine for Use with the
SCR Tool
To prepare the Red Hat host machine for use with the SCR Tool, perform the following steps.
Review the Directory Structure
The sub-directories created in the root directory are organized by platform type and payload.
nThe .pls files are stored in the directories for each platform (./aix, ./hpux, ./osx, ./redhat, ./solaris, ./suse).
IMPORTANT The .pls files, which are stored in the platform sub-directories of <scr_root>, are used to
confirm whether the patches are available. Make sure that you do not delete these files.
nDirectories starting with "payload" contain the platform vendor patch files and the .plp files.The
individual payload directories will contain the patch content after the SCR downloads the content from
the Content Download Network (CDN).
nThe Mac OSX payload folders contain only .plp files, which embed the vendor patches.
After extracting the vCenter SCRTool files, a root directory is created, containing sub-directories and files.
The root directory is referred to as <scr_root> in this document.
NOTE The default root directory is SCR-2.0.jar. If desired, you can change the name of the root directory
because the execution of the replication scripts is based on relative paths under the <scr_root> directory.
Change the Working Directory
To prepare the SCRTool machine for use, follow these steps:
1. From the <scr_root> directory, open a terminal session.
2. On the machine, from the root directory, run chmod -R a+x **/*. This command grants execute
permission to all of the repository application files.
3. Change the working directory to <scr_root>/bin.
Update the Replication Scripts
Replication scripts are supplied for each platform type, and are used during the download process to
replicate the patch content.These scripts contain the environment settings and java calls needed to
download the patch content for each supported platform, along with user credentials.
The naming convention of these scripts is: start_<platform>_replication.sh
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IMPORTANT By default, each replication script is configured to require between 512 MB of RAM
(minimum) and 1 GB (maximum). If you will be running multiple scripts simultaneously on a single
machine, ensure that the machine has sufficient memory to support each process. Insufficient memory
may cause errors.
You may need to update each platform's replication script to change the path, platform, distribution,
architecture, third-party credentials, extract parameter, output file, and input file path. You can use any
combination of platform, distribution, and architecture.
To update the replication scripts, follow these steps.
1. Locate the UNIX/Linux replication scripts in the directory named
<scr_root> SCR-2.0\bin. The script names are as follows:
Platform Shell Script Name
Red Hat start_rh_replication.sh
AIX start_aix_replication.sh
HP-UX start_hp_replication.sh
SUSE start_suse_replication.sh
Solaris start_sol_replication.sh
Mac OS X start_osx_replication.sh
2. Obtain an encrypted password using the password encryptor tool (pwd_encryptor.sh) by following
these steps:
a. At the root prompt, enter:
# ./pwd_encryptor.sh
The encryptor tool will return the string "MyPassword".
b. Enter your password twice, ignoring the strings returned by the encryptor tool.
c. When the encryptor tool returns the encrypted password string, you will copy the string into
encrypted password field of the -thirdparty -user <username> -pwd <encrypted
password> string in the replication script, as described in the next step.
3. Update the command line parameters in the replication scripts for the platforms you will be using.
CAUTION The command line parameters listed here are the only parameters that may be modified in
a typical installation environment.
-checkPayload
The -checkPayload option defaults to false if it is not included on the command line, or is
not explicitly set to true. If -checkPayload is false (or not provided), the behavior is to
download and loop through each new/modified .pls file, downloading any payload data (.plp
files and vendor patch files) that correspond to each .pls file downloaded during the process.
If true, the SCR Tool validates every payload file for every .pls file, whether new/modified or
not. This feature allows the SCR Tool to audit/verify payload content for .pls files,
downloading or replacing payload files if they do not match what the .pls/.plp files indicate
they should be.
-folder <SCR_output_folder>
Defines the root folder where the SCR Tool output will be stored. By default, this
folder is set to /tmp/SCR/download.The SCR Tool automatically creates the
following sub-directory tree under the root output folder.
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<SCR_output_folder>
<platform>
<architecture> (contains .pls files)
<payload>
<platform>
<architecture> (contains patch content files, such as .plp, .zip, .rpm, .htm, .jar, .etc)
-platform <platform_name> -dist <distribution>
-arch <architecture1>,<architecture2>
The -platform and -arch parameters are required to specify the patch content to
be downloaded. For Linux platforms (Red Hat, SUSE), the -dist parameter is also
required.
The -arch parameter value must include one or more valid architecture strings for
the specified platform or platform/distribution combination. Multiple architectures
must be comma-delimited with no spaces.
Valid parameter values for -platform,-dist, and -arch are listed below.
platform dist arch
AIX POWERPC
HP_UX PA_RISC,ITANIUM
OSX X86,PPC
LINUX REDHAT X86,X86_64
LINUX SUSE X86,X86_64
SOLARIS X86,SPARC
Table 4-1. Supported Platforms, Distributions, and Architectures
-thirdparty -user <username> -pwd <encrypted password>
For Red Hat and Solaris platforms, which require third-party credentials when downloading
subscription patch content directly from the OS vendor, the -thirdparty,-user, and -pwd
parameters must be supplied. The -user parameter is always required for Red Hat, and is
only required for Solaris when the patch is specifically only available with subscription to
SunSolve.
NOTE The -thirdparty parameter will always accompany the -user and -pwd on the
Java command line in the replication scripts that require third-party credentials.
When processing platforms whose vendors require subscription credentials, the -pwd
parameter expects an encrypted password. To encrypt a password, a script is provided, and
is included in <scr_root>/bin. this file is named pwd_encryptor.sh.
The encryption script accepts a clear text password, and then returns a 32-bit character
encrypted string to be used as the argument to the -pwd parameter. Use the encrypted
password returned from the password encryptor tool, as described in the previous step.
-extractOSX <true|false>
The -extractOSX parameter specifies that embedded vendor patch files (*.dmg) should be
extracted from the corresponding .plp files when executed for the Mac OS X platform. This
parameter has no effect when used with any other platform.
Preparing the Host Machine for Use with the SCR Tool
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-configlog <config_log_file_path>
The -configlog parameter specifies an output file where a list of command line parameters
and values will be written. These values reflect the parameter configuration used during the
last (or current) execution of the SCR Tool. This information can be used for troubleshooting.
-Djava.util.logging.config.file=<logging_config_file_path>
The -Djava.util.logging.config.file parameter specifies the input file path to a
custom application logging configuration file. This file specifies the logging granularity and
output log file path. See the section about setting logging levels for details.
You can automate running the scripts using the OS schedulers, such as cron or at. See "Using the SCR Tool"
on page 19.
Connect the VCM-Managed Machines to the SCRTool
To connect the VCM-managed (Agent) machines to the SCR Tool, you must create a mount point to the
appropriate directory on the host machine that contains the patch payload for the platform.
Alternatively, you can use a remote command to mount the Agent machine at the time of patch
deployment, or use a remote command to ftp the files to the Agent machine at deployment time.
Set Logging Levels and Output File Names
The SCR Tool provides flexible logging settings. Using the
-Djava.util.logging.config file command line parameter, you can specify custom logging levels
and output file names for each execution of the SCRTool. By default, all scripts will log data to the same
filename pattern at the INFO logging level.
NOTE You can optionally change any of the logging properties.
To set up custom logging:
1. Copy the <scr_root>/bin/logging.properties file to a new custom file, such as
logging.properties.aix.
2. Change the -Djava.util.logging.config.file command line parameter in the SCR replication
script to refer to the new logging properties file.
3. Edit the new logging properties file.
4. Change the logging level values for the following properties:
n.level=<logging_level>
ncom.lumension.level=<logging_level>
The com.lumension.level property determines the logging level of the repository component.
The FileHandler.level should be set to the same or higher level.
The allowable logging level values are:
nSEVERE
nWARNING (valid, but not used)
nINFO (recommended for production)
nCONFIG (valid, but not used)
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nFINE (debug)
nFINER (debug)
nFINEST (debug)
5. To customize log file names, change the output log_filename_pattern parameter. The entry
resembles:
java.util.logging.FileHandler.pattern = <log_filename_pattern>
The <log_filename_pattern> should contain the path. For example:
../logs/scr-messages-rh-%g.log
The %g entry is described in the following list of special substitution variables that can be used to aid in
automatically generating distinct filenames:
n"/" - local pathname separator
n"%t" - system temporary directory
n"%h" - value of the "user.home" system property
n"%g" - generated number to distinguish rotated logs
n"%u" - unique number to resolve conflicts
n"%%" - translates to a single percent sign "%"
6. Change the handlers=<handler_name> property to choose where the log stream will be written.
Valid values are:
njava.util.logging.FileHandler (log file)
njava.util.logging.ConsoleHandler (stderr)
7. Change java.util.logging.FileHandler.limit=<bytes> to increase or decrease the number
of bytes written to the log files before they will rotate.
8. Change java.util.logging.FileHandler.count=<log_file_count> to specify the maximum
number of log files to be kept before overwriting the oldest.
9. Set the java.util.logging.FileHandler.append = true. When set to true, the SCR Tool will
attempt to append the last used log file. When set to false, the SCR Tool will roll over to a new log file
for writing.
Preparing the Host Machine for Use with the SCR Tool
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Using the SCR Tool 5
Using the SCR Tool The SCR Tool downloads patch content files from the Content Download Network (CDN) (managed by
Akamai, the hosted content service provider), obtains any additional patches from the Red Hat and Solaris
vendor sites, and saves those patches in the path(s) that you define.
The SCRTool performs delta downloads. After the first download, successive downloads will retrieve only
the differences in patch content since the last download. When the files are downloaded, the patch source,
CDN, Vendor, and other information is recorded in the log files.
IMPORTANT The patch signature (.pls) files are stored in the platform sub-directories of <scr_root>, and
are used to confirm whether the patches are available. Make sure that you do not delete these files.
Download the Patch Content
To download patch content onto the Red Hat host machine, follow these steps:
1. Run the updated replication scripts using crontab to specify the shell commands to be executed on a
particular schedule.
2. If you want to interactively track the progress of the download, open a terminal session and execute
the following commands:
date; df -kh | grep /home; du -kh | grep payload/
3. When the patch download process is complete, use VCM Patching to patch the UNIX machines.
How to Schedule Downloads
The SCR Tool does not provide embedded scheduling. You can automate running the scripts using OS
schedulers, such as cron or at.
NOTE If multiple platforms connect to the same repository, schedule the execution of the replication
scripts for each platform separately.
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Maintaining the Software Content Repository
All activities are logged in the log files named logging.<platform>.properties. A separate log file is
used for each platform type. For example: logging.aix.properties
You should monitor the size of the log file. If you specify a rotation in the log file properties, you should
not need to clean up the log file content. Otherwise, be sure to clean up the log file content so that it does
not consume unnecessary amounts of memory.
IMPORTANT You should monitor and check the available disk space before running the scripts or
scheduling downloads.
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