Using System Center Configuration Manager to Simplify BridgeWays Deployments

We make great effort in ensuring that getting the BridgeWays Management Packs up and running in any Operations Manager environment is as painless as possible.  When you consider the wide array of supported platforms, this isn't as easy as it might sound.  Different platforms expect different packaging technologies, as well as different commands to install them.  When deploying our providers to any of our supported Unix/Linux computers, we have implemented tasks in the management pack for taking care of this.  These tasks will make use of the same SSH and SFTP modules that the Operations Manager Unix/Linux Discovery Wizard uses to communicate with the machine, determine the platform and version, and then push and install the appropriate package to the machine.  You can deploy everything from the Operations Manager console without ever having to touch those target machines.

When deploying to Windows however, these tasks are not available.  But, if your organization is also using System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), this can also be simplified.  In the following steps, I will describe how SCCM can be used to deploy our providers to Windows machines.  The example I will use will illustrate how to deploy the BridgeWays WMI Provider for Oracle Database.

1) Copy the BridgeWaysWMIProviderForOracleDatabase.msi to an SCCM machine.

There are many different ways SCCM can be configured to deploy packages, but we'll keep it simple for this example.  I've copied the package to my "all-in-one" SCCM box.  For this example, I've copied the package to "C:\SCCM\BridgeWays".  Replace any future references to this path with wherever you've copied your package.

2) Create a Collection

We'll want to create a collection that is scoped to only the Windows Server machines that are running Oracle Database.  We don't want the package to be pushed to machines that don't need it.  I've created a collection named "All Windows Servers Running Oracle Database".  To create a collection, right click the Collections node (found under Computer Management) and select "New Collection".  A collection requires a membership rule to determine which machines belong to the collection.  This rule can be a direct assignment or a query.  Again, for simplicity, I've chosen the direct assignment approach.  When prompted for criteria, specify "System Resource" as the Resource class, "Hostname" as the Attribute name, and "%" as the Value.  This will return a list of all machines for you to select.  For large numbers of machines you will likely want to use a more scoped filter, or take a look at the query membership rule (outside of the scope of this discussion).  Select the machines that are running Oracle Database that you want to target and finish creating the collection. 

3) Create a Package

Under Software Distribution, right click the Packages node and select "New -> Package".  You must first give the package a name.  I've called mine "BridgeWays WMI Provider for Oracle Database".  I've left all other settings on the "General" page empty, but feel free to fill them in.  On the "Data Source" page select the "This package contains source files" checkbox.  Click "Set..." for "Source directory".  On the "Set Source Directory" dialog select "Local drive on site server" and use the "Browse..." button to select the directory you copied the package to in step 1.  I used "C:\SCCM\BridgeWays".  It's worth noting that the entire contents of this folder will be distributed as a package to the target machine once it's requested, so ideally this folder should only contain the BridgeWaysWMIProviderforOracleDatabase.msi.  Select the "Update distribution points on a schedule" checkbox and leave as default schedule (every day), or modify schedule as desired.  All other settings in the wizard can be left at their default values.       

4) Create a Program

Under Packages you should see the "BridgeWays WMI Provider for Oracle Database" package that we just created in step 3.  Expand that node, right click on the Programs node and select "New -> Program".  Provide a name (I used the same name as the package, but feel free to be more creative).  The "Command line" field should be set to "BridgeWaysWMIProviderForOracleDatabase.msi".  On the 'Requirements' tab, I've left all the values at their defaults, but feel free to scope the target platforms if you know Oracle Database is only running on certain platforms.  On the "Environment" tab, I've changed the "Program can run" option to "Whether or not a user is logged on".  You can proceed to the "Windows Installer" tab.  Select "Import..." and navigate to where you've stored the "BridgeWaysWMIProviderForOracleDatabase.msi" package.  You should see the "Windows Installer product code" and "Windows Installer file" options get filled in.  All other options can be left at their default values.

5) Create an Advertisement

Under Packages, right click the Advertisements node and select "New -> Advertisement".  Provide a name.  For the "Package" field, click "Browse..." and select the "BridgeWays WMI Provider for Oracle Database" package we created in step 3.  The "Program" field should automatically get filled in for you as it should be the only program in this package.  For the "Collection" field, click "Browse..." and select the "All Windows Servers Running Oracle Database" collection that we created in step 2.  Click "Yes" when prompted about distribution points not being specified for the package (that's coming in the next step).  On the "Schedule" tab, click the button for "Mandatory assignments" that looks like a yellow star.  On the "Assignment Schedule" dialog, click the "Assign immediately after this event:" option, and leave the setting as "As soon as possible" and click "OK".  Proceed to the "Distribution Points" tab.  Ensure the "Download content from distribution point and run locally" is selected in both places.  All other options can be left at their default values.

6) Create and Update Distribution Point

Under Packages you should see the "BridgeWays WMI Provider for Oracle Database" package that we created in step 3.  Expand that node, right click on the Distribution Points node and select "New Distribution Points".  On the "Copy Package" tab, select your SCCM server that you are using for your distribution point.  This needs to be the SCCM server where you copied the BridgeWaysWMIProviderForOracleDatabase.msi in step 1.  Finish creating the Distribution Point.  Right click the Distribution Points node again and this time select "Update Distribution Points" and select "Yes" when prompted.

Shortly after completing this step you should see the "BridgeWays WMI Provider for Oracle Database" package advertised on the machines listed in the "All Windows Servers Running Oracle Database" collection (as shown below). 

The status of the installed package is reflected in the SCCM Console on the Software Distribution node (as shown below).

 

If you have already imported the BridgeWays Management Packs for Oracle Database into Operations Manager and have discovered your Windows Servers running Oracle Database, monitoring data will start flowing without ever having to touch those machines!  Of course you can modify these steps to deploy any of the BridgeWays WMI Providers whether it's for Oracle Database, Apache, MySQL, JBoss, Apache Tomcat, etc.  Just modify the collection and package details as necessary.  Hopefully this saves you some time when you're faced with deploying the BridgeWays WMI Providers to many Windows machines.

Comments

[Cheap Compouters Canada]

These system center configuration sure help to simplify and also speeds it up.