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How do I install ENA for Linux?

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Stuart Hill
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1. Linux packages that are required for ENA

2. Maximum number of processes per non-root user

3. Preparing for installation

4. Installing ENA

5. Auto starting/stopping ENA as part of a Linux server startup/shutdown procedure

6. Checking Linux firewall configurations

 

This covers a fresh installation and configuration of ENA for Linux.

If you want to know how to upgrade an installation, please take the Installation and Upgrade course on our training site or contact our support team. 

 

Important: Please review the list of Known Issues before starting installation.

 

1. Linux packages that are required for ENA:

When installing ENA to Red Hat Linux 6 or Oracle Linux 6, a particular set of 64-bit packages must already be installed. These are as follows:

  • alsa-lib.x86_64
  • glibc.x86_64
  • libaio.x86_64
  • libgcc.x86_64
  • libgrcrypt.x86_64
  • libgpg-error.x86_64
  • libICE.x86_64
  • libSM.x86_64
  • libstdc++.x86_64
  • libuuid.x86_64
  • libX11.x86_64
  • libXau.x86_64
  • libxcb.x86_64
  • libXext.x86_64
  • libXi.x86_64
  • libxml2.x86_64
  • libxslt.x86_64
  • libXtst.x86_64
  • libXt.x86_64
  • ncurses-libs.x86_64
  • nss-softokn-freebl.x86_64
  • rpcbind.x86_64
  • zlib.x86_64

When running any of the BMC integrations shipped with ENA, there are four additional 32-bit packages that are required:

  • compat-libstdc++-33.i686
  • glibc.i686
  • nss-softokn-freebl.i686
  • libgcc.i686

 

Checking if a package is installed:

From the server command line, you can use the RPM Package Manager (RPM). For example, to check if the rpcbind.x86_64 package is installed, enter:

rpm -q rpcbind.x86_64

  • If the package is not installed, RPM returns:

    rpcbind.x86_64 is not installed

  • If the package is installed, RPM returns full details of the package, e.g.:

    rpcbind-0.2.0-9.e16.x86_64

You can also check all packages through one instruction, an example of which is displayed below. This example does not include the packages required for the BMC integrations. This example can be copied and pasted to the command line as it includes the multi-line indicator \.

for i in alsa-lib.x86_64 glibc.x86_64 libaio.x86_64 libgcc.x86_64 \
libgcrypt.x86_64 libgpg-error.x86_64 libICE.x86_64 libSM.x86_64 \
libstdc++.x86_64 libuuid.x86_64 libX11.x86_64 libXau.x86_64 \
libxcb.x86_64 libXext.x86_64 libXi.x86_64 libxml2.x86_64 \
libxslt.x86_64 libXtst.x86_64 libXt.x86_64 ncurses-libs.x86_64 \
nss-softokn-freebl.x86_64 rpcbind.x86_64 zlib.x86_64; \
do rpm -q $i ;done

 

To install missing required packages:

You must install any missing packages to the server before installing ENA. We recommend you consult the Linux documentation before installing the missing required packages.

Red Hat Linux users must register their system with Red Hat Network to receive updates.

Oracle Linux users can obtain the required packages from Oracle Public Yum Server. You can use the command line package utility Yellowdog Updater, Modified (YUM) to install missing packages. You can install all packages through one instruction, an example of which is displayed below. This example does not include the packages required for the BMC integrations. This example can be copied and pasted to the command line as it includes the multi-line indicator \.

yum install alsa-lib.x86_64 glibc.x86_64 libaio.x86_64 libgcc.x86_64 \
libgcrypt.x86_64 libgpg-error.x86_64 libICE.x86_64 libSM.x86_64 \
libstdc++.x86_64 libuuid.x86_64 libX11.x86_64 libXau.x86_64 \
libxcb.x86_64 libXext.x86_64 libXi.x86_64 libxml2.x86_64 \
libxslt.x86_64 libXtst.x86_64 libXt.x86_64 ncurses-libs.x86_64 \
nss-softokn-freebl.x86_64 rpcbind.x86_64 zlib.x86_64

 

rpcbind Service:

The rpcbind package is the Linux RPC port mapper. ENA uses the portmap (rpc.portmap, portmap or rpcbind) service to obtain unused ports for its internal communications, e.g. licensing functions cannot run without access to available ports, and therefore ENA cannot run.

After installing the rpcbind package, you should check that the rpcbind service is running. By default, rpcbind only starts when the server boots up.

  1. To check if rpcbind is running, enter:

    service rpcbind status

    • When the service is not running, Linux returns:

      rpcbind is stopped

    • When the service is running, Linux returns:

      rpcbind (pid nnn) is running ...

  2. To start rpcbind, enter:

    service rpcbind start

  3. We recommend you ensure that rpcbind starts every time the server starts, by entering:

    chkconfig rpcbind on

 

2. Maximum number of processes per non-root user

You can run ENA using a non-root user account. However, Red Hat Linux 6, Oracle Linux 6 and RHEL 7.x default the maximum number of processes per non-root user to 1024. ENA requires a higher limit - we recommend a value of 4096.

To check the current value of maximum user processes, from the server command line enter:

ulimit -a

To set the maximum number of processes per non-root user:

  1. From /etc/security/limits.d/90-nproc.conf, or /etc/security/limits.d/20-nproc.conf, amend the soft nproc value to 4096:

    * soft nproc 4096

  2. Restart the Linux server to apply the change.
  3. From the server command line, run ulimit to check that the value of max user processes is now set to 4096.

 

3. Preparing for installation:

  1. For direct customers, Entuity uses a secure FTP server to distribute its network analytics software. The Entuity FTP server is located here: ftp.entuity.com. Access to the Entuity FTP site requires a valid username and password that can be obtained from Entuity Support. For added security, the FTP site requires connection via SFTP. BMC customers obtain ENA via BMC EPD (Electronic Product Distribution).
  2. You need a valid account to access the server:
    • If you have purchased the software, please contact Entuity Support and they will be able to provide you the necessary details.
    • If you are trialing ENA software, please contact your Sales Engineer and they will be able to help you.
  3. Open the ftppub folder, and then open the /Images/17.0 folder. This folder includes the Windows version, Linux version, and the checksum file. The Linux version is entuity_17_0_p1_red.iso.gz. Download the ENA image (which contains ENA v17.0 and patch P01 together), which is a compressed file.

 

4. Installing ENA:

Please find below instructions on how to install ENA, with the commands required at each step. Note that the commands in [square brackets] are not fixed - the user will need to create their own input.

  1. Navigate to the compressed image

    • cd /[folder path]

  2. Decompress the image

    • zcat ./entuity_17_0_red.iso.gz > /tmp/Entuity.iso

  3. Create mount point

    • mkdir /mnt/EntuityInstaller

  4. Mount image

    • mount -o loop /tmp/Entuity.iso /mnt/EntuityInstaller

  5. Run installer

    • /mnt/EntuityInstaller/install

  6. Accept the terms and conditions with yes or y.
  7. Specify an install directory by entering the path. Note, it is important to use an absolute path, because relative paths will break Entuity. This means that every path must start at the root, starting with /.
  8. Run configure

    • /[install path]/install/configure

  9. On Linux, configure runs from the command line, and so responses need to be typed out. Absolute paths need to be provided where applicable. For more help and information, please see How do I configure ENA from the command line?
  10. Start Entuity

    • /[install path]/bin/starteye

 

5. Auto starting/stopping ENA as part of a Linux server startup/shutdown procedure:

  1. On Linux, ENA does not automatically register a service with the operating system. Therefore, users desiring an automatic startup on Linux will need to copy the following to a new file called "entuity" that should be created within /etc/init.d/ on their server:

    #!/bin/bash
    #
    # chkconfig: 345 92 35
    # description: Starts and Stops Entuity service
    #
    ### BEGIN INIT INFO
    # Provides: eye
    # Default-Start: 3 4 5
    # Default-Stop: 0 1 2 6
    ### END INIT INFO

    entuity_home="/Entuity"

    # Waits up to 2 hours
    graceTime=7200
    # Checks every 10 seconds
    sleepInterval=10


    # Source function library.
    . /etc/init.d/functions


    [ -d $entuity_home/bin ] || exit 0

    RETVAL=0

    umask 077

    start() {

    exec 4>&1
    exec >/dev/null
    if status starteye
    then exit 0

    else
    exec >&4
    echo -n $"Starting up Entuity: "

    fi
    daemon $entuity_home/bin/starteye
    RETVAL=$?
    echo
    [ $RETVAL -eq 0 ] && touch /var/lock/subsys/entuity
    return $RETVAL


    }

    stop() {

    status starteye || exit 0
    $entuity_home/bin/stopeye
    elapsedTime=0
    RETVAL=0
    status starteye && RETVAL=1
    while [ $RETVAL -eq 1 ] && [ $elapsedTime -lt $graceTime ];do
    sleep $sleepInterval
    if status starteye
    then RETVAL=1

    else
    RETVAL=0
    break

    fi
    let elapsedTime=elapsedTime+$sleepInterval

    done
    echo
    if [ $RETVAL -eq 0 ]
    then rm -f /var/lock/subsys/eye
    else echo "Gave up waiting for Entuity to stop"
    fi
    return $RETVAL


    }

    restart() {

    stop
    start


    }

    case "$1" in
        start)
            start
          ;;
        stop)
            stop
          ;;
        restart|reload)
            restart
          ;;
        status)
            status starteye
          ;;
        *)
            echo $"Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart|status}"
            exit 1
    esac

    exit $?

  2. If ENA has been installed to a directory other than /Entuity, you must edit the above by changing the line entuity_home="/Entuity" to match where you have installed the software.
  3. ENA can then be controlled using service start | stop | restart | status.
  4. To configure the service to automatically start with the operating system startup, enter the following:
    • On Red Hat 6:
      chkconfig --add entuity
      chkconfig entuity on
    • On Red Hat 7:
      systemctl enable entuity

 

6. Checking Linux firewall configurations:

Netfilter can have a default configuration to block inbound traffic to the standard webserver ports.

  1. To check existing firewall rules:

    iptables -L

  2. If inbound webtraffic is blocked, you need to enable it:

    iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT

  3. Or, if TLS is enabled:

    iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT

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