Requirements to Install Supported Agent on a Remote Host

You can install supported agents on a remote host and run it as a service or a process.

To install the supported agents on a remote host, you require to create the remote.yaml file and use the same commands that you used for the primary host with an additional --remote parameter
Note: If you require to install the agent on any platform ensure that the primary host is running on the same platform.
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The remote.yaml file enables you to specify:

  • details to connect to one or more remote servers.

  • the protocols to use. For Windows, it is WinRM and for Linux it is SSH.

  • authentication methods.

  • other operational parameters.

This file supports global configurations that apply to all hosts and specific configurations that apply to specific hosts. To override the global configuration or include specific configuration per host, use the host parameter in the remote.yamlfile.

The following parameters are required for the remote.yaml file:
  • For Linux:
    Parameters Description
    max_concurrency

    Determines the maximum number of hosts that will be processed simultaneously. Default value is 4.

    The value for this parameter must be a positive integer. For example, if you specify max_concurrency: 3, Smart Agent starts installing the first three specified hosts. If one of the hosts gets installed while the other two are still processing, Smart Agent starts processing the next host to ensure three hosts are processed simultaneously.
    remote_dir The target directory on the remote host or hosts where operations such as, Smart Agent installation is performed. For example, /home/my-remote-user/appd/smartagent.
    protocol

    The protocol to connect to remote hosts. This includes the following sub parameters:

    • type: The type of the protocol. Specify the connection protocol as ssh.

    • auth: The authentication specific settings required for SSH protocol. These settings can be included as the sub-parameters:

      • username: The username for SSH authentication. This can be any username that has write permission on the remote directory.

        If user is ubuntu and want to install the supported agent on remote host at /opt/appdynamics/smartagent, ensure that the directory /opt/appdynamics is created and the ubuntu user owns it.

      • private_key_path: The path to the SSH private key file for authentication. For example, /Users/my-local-user/.ssh/private_key.
      • privileged: The option to get root access on the remote host. The value can be true or false. It is recommend to specify the value as true. By default the value is false and runs the processes using the provided user privileges.If you specify the value as true, the user gets root privileges on the remote host to install system-wide services.

      • known_hosts_path: The path to the SSH known_hosts file. This is used for host key verification.

        The default value is <user-home-dir>/.ssh/known_hosts.
    port

    The SSH port for the direct communication of primary and remote hosts. The proxy configuration is not supported for the SSH connection.

    The default value is 22.
    hosts The list of all the hosts. Each host includes the IP address or hostname of the remote server. You can also specify remote_dir and protocol within host parameter to override the values that are specified in the global remote_dir and global protocol respectively.
  • For Windows:
    Parameters Description
    max_concurrency Determines the maximum number of hosts that will be processed concurrently. Default value is 4.
    remote_dir The target directory on the remote host or hosts where operations such as, Smart Agent installation is performed. For example, c:\users\administrator\appd\smartagent.
    protocol

    This includes the following sub parameters:

    • type: The type of the protocol. Specify the connection protocol as winrm.

    • root_ca_cert_path: The path to the TLS root CA certificate file. For example, root-ca.pem. This is used for self-signed certificates to establish the trust.

    • use_plain_text: The option to use HTTP or HTTPS. The value can be true or false. If the value is true, HTTP is used for unencrypted communication. By default the value is false, so HTTPS is used for secure communication.

    • tls_skip_verification: The option to skip the TLS certificate verification process. If the value is true, Smart Agent skips the TLS certificate verification process. By default the value is false to ensure secure communication.

    • auth: The authentication specific settings required for WinRM protocol. For the settings that can be included as the sub-parameters, see auth.

    auth

    This is a sub parameter of Protocol and can include the following sub-parameter to specify the authentication-specific settings:

    type: The type of WinRM authentication method. The values can be certificate or basic.

    • For certificate, you require to specify the following parameters:

      • cert_path: The path to the client certificate. For example, winrm_client_cert.pem.

      • key_path: The path to the client certificate's private key file.

    • For basic, you require to specify one of the following password settings along with the username:

      • username: The username for authentication.

      • password: The password for the specified username.

      • passwordEnv: The name of an environment variable that stores the password. For example, WINRM_PASSWORD.
    port

    The port number for the connection.

    The default value is 5985 (HTTP) and 5986 (HTTPS).
    hosts The list of all the hosts. Each host includes the IP address or hostname of the remote server. You can also specify remote_dir and protocol within host parameter to override the values that are specified in the global remote_dir and global protocol respectively.