Best Practices: BSA Packaging & Deployment

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Copyright 9/10/13 BMC So4ware, Inc

BSA Best Prac=ces Webinar

Packaging & Deployment
Sean Berry
Customer Engineering

Agenda
! Whats the value? Whats it do?
! Plaborms / Technologies
! How does it work?
! Advanced Topics

Copyright 9/10/13 BMC So4ware, Inc

Whats the value? Whats it do?

Value!
! Deploy:
-
-
-

So4ware
Congura=ons
Applica=ons

! Na=ve rollback (never have to make up the rollback on a change

=cket again)

! Flexible Packaging
-

Parameters, passwords

Copyright 9/10/13 BMC So4ware, Inc

Common use cases

(What do you want to do?)
! Install packaged so4ware
-

Executables

! Install unpackaged so4ware

! Push a congura=on
-
-
-
-
-

Cong le entries (resolv.conf, /etc/passwd, hosts, etc.)

User accounts
Add user to Administrators group
New/updated les
Enable automated rollback

Copyright 9/10/13 BMC So4ware, Inc

How Packages Are Used

! One copy of the package, stored in BSA as a golden package
-
-

Some=mes subject to greater control

Audit trail

! Externally referenced package

-
-

Maintained by others?
Updated/owned externally

! Embedding a process
-

Infrastructure agents
Pre-ight
So4ware Execu=on
External tasks: restarts/user adds

Copyright 9/10/13 BMC So4ware, Inc

Whats the promise?

! Package any piece of so4ware, in 4.2 seconds, with no eort

whatsoever, and deploy EVERYWHERE

Copyright 9/10/13 BMC So4ware, Inc

Whats the reality?

! You can- package almost anything
! But commands lines can be hard
! Not all applica=ons behave well when silently installed
! Not all applica=ons can be- silently installed
! What installs easily on one system may fail due to dierences or

dependencies on another

Copyright 9/10/13 BMC So4ware, Inc

Cut to the chase: Im impa=ent!

! Upgrade to a Modern BSA version!
-
-
-

(at least in your lab!)

(8.2 SP4+/8.3 SP1+ preferred as of early August 2013)
Actually, much of this Just Works, and has for a long =me.

! Content Packs!
! BSA Packaging Docs
-
-

hrps://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/public/bsa83/Deploying+les+and
+applica=ons+using+packages+and+depot+objects
hrps://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/public/bsa83/Adding+or+removing
+Windows+users

! Get it working on the command line then- package the install

! Keep undo & log les when tes=ng deployments!

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PlaOorms/Technologies/Buzzwords

Why package instead of just scrip=ng + le deploys?

! GUI Packaging is available to everyone with the console
! Built-in rollback
! Built-in commands (dont need to teach your users arcane command

lines to deploy their apps)

! Strong error handling

-
-

Pass or con=nue on known error codes

Manage reboot requirements

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What kinds of packages are there?

!

BLPackages
-
-

Patented
Almost any kind of congura=on object
Most other depot objects
Local users & groups
Cong Files & Entries
Files & Directories
Executables & Scripts
External Commands

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So4ware Packages
!

hrps://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/public/bsa83/So4ware+package
+overview

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Patches & Service Packs

! Commonly added via Patching Jobs
! Manually: Depot -> New -> So4ware -> Hobix

hrps://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/public/bsa83/Adding+a+hobix+to
+the+Depot

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How does this stu generally work?

How does so4ware get into BSA?

! Patches/payloads: via Patch Catalog Updates or Patch Remedia=on
! 3rd Party So4ware: usually manually added, commonly used for install/

uninstall

! In-house applica=ons: most commonly packaged automa=cally from

components

! Audit / Snapshot results

hrps://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/public/bsa83/Bundling+snapshot+results+into+a
+BLPackage

! Op=on: Mount at install =me! (NFS)

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So4ware Installs
! Ideally use exis=ng packages
! Start with a known working package, or test installs on already-built

boxes,

! Don't use automated provisioning to test so4ware install commands

un=l you know they work (poten=ally very long lead =me & very
frustra=ng)
-

Build one fresh instance of the machine and work on the install on that
machine

! Dont delete So4ware Deploy Jobs, change their payloads or targets

(dependency trees)

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Strengths / Weaknesses of Dierent Kinds of Packages

!

BLPackage
-

-
-

-
-
-

Very strong roll-back, stop-on failure, XML-based, parameterizable, can

include all kinds of objects. Great for packaging in-house apps from
components: baked in parameteriza=on. -> then usually need to add post-
install commands
Great way to bake process into deployment, pre-ight checks, ability to
check state, roll back on error, prevent further deployment etc.
Trivially package adding user accounts, service stop/start, bake most
congura=on items into process without needing to know command lines
& trap failure modes.
Many les: In older versions some issues seen with many many les
(10-100k+) as every instruc=on needs to be read/parsed/executed +
rollback stored. Consider using a zip le to extract many les.
Also only does so well with very large les (Several GB+).
Supports repeaters
Nothing wrong with wrapping "net use" into a BLPackage if it's signicantly
faster to do/there is good organized leserver availability in your org.

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Strengths / Weaknesses of Dierent Kinds of Packages

! So4ware Packages (OS-specic):
-
-

Generally berer handling for OS-specic packages (MSIEXEC, Solaris SysV

answer les, etc.), but OOTB examples are dated at this point.
Supports repeaters

! File Deploy Job:

-

-
-

"rsync-like" characteris=cs, works with any le anywhere there's a BSA

agent (or any lesystem mounted on a BSA agent, in the case of SMB/NFS
le servers)
Some=mes -great- for large website content (think 100,000 les,
permissions, etc.).
Contrast with audit->deploy, which creates a BLPackage, may be much
faster than audit/deploy for many objects, avoids leserver footprint

! NSH Script:
-

Very exible, doesn't bring payloads along, no parameteriza=on. Doesn't

support repeaters

! "File:
-

great for things that don't need code to deploy them (standalone binary
executables, web content, etc.)

Copyright 9/10/13 BMC So4ware, Inc

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Ways to Build Packages

! Direct crea=on in the GUI (s=ll very common)
! Package from Component
! Automated:
-
-
-

Scripts
BLCLI
SOAP

! Ini=ated by:
-
-
-

Web Portals
Patching Job Remedia=on
Change requests

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Ways to deploy packages

!

BLDeploy Job
-
-
-

targe=ng BLPackage,
has good simula=on, check for space,
Be carefule with very large payloads + small installed disk footprint.

! So4ware Deploy Job, targe=ng so4ware package

! File Deploy Job
!

hrps://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/public/bsa83/Crea=ng+a+Deploy
+Job

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Next Steps

Parameterized Packaging
! Create a template with a simple part, like a directory.
! Add a local property to the template
! Parameterize the part: C:\App becomes ??DEPLOY_PATH??
! Create/discover components on two hosts
! Package, set property, deploy.

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Where can I get Content?

!

Blade Essen=als Content Packages

! Security & Compliance Content (EPD)

-

Includes remedia=on instruc=ons for many common security

congura=ons

! Communi=es!

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Global Deployments
! Repeaters vs. Data stores
! Replica=on
-
-

File Deploy Jobs

NAS-based

! Longer =meouts

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Server Proper=es
!

hrps://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/public/bsa83/Server+proper=es
+controlling+Deploy+Job+behavior

! IS_DEPLOYABLE
! TRANSACTIONS_DIR
! DEPLOY_ALLOW_NFS_DURING_SUM
! JOB_TIMEOUT
! JOB_PART_TIMEOUT

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RBAC
! Common to build packages with .Read: anyone can deploy them
! Common to migrate using the Promote to QA / Promote to Prod

type Authoriza=on Proles

! File server *must* be setup correctly or weird errors will happen (map

to single user in ACLs)

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External Commands
! Use na=ve syntax: C:\Windows vs. /C/Windows
! cmd /c preferred over start /wait
! Can use su - if mapping to root

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Setup
! Where should I set this up

(the rst =me)?

-
-

A lab!
(not that kind of Lab!)

! Somewhere you have:

-
-
-

control or knowledge of the

network,
know the environment, and
can quickly troubleshoot issues.

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For More Informa=on

! Next =me: dierent format!
-
-

More videos, in advance!

More focused Q&A

! BMC Communi=es Server Automa=on:

hrps://communi=es.bmc.com/community/bmcdn/
bmc_service_automa=on/server_congura=on_automa=on_bladelogic

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Q&A

Learn more at www.bmc.com

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