Install agent on UNIX and Linux using the Discovery Wizard

Use the Computer and Device Management Wizard to discover and install agents on UNIX and Linux computers. For a list of the supported operating system versions, see Supported Operating Systems and Versions.

Before you run the wizard, gather the following information:

• The host name, IP address, or range of IP addresses of the UNIX or Linux computers that you want to discover.

• At a minimum, you'll need a low-privileged account established on the UNIX or Linux computer to discover it. To install an agent, you'll need privileged access. For more information, see Planning Security Credentials for UNIX and Linux Computers.

• If defined, the name of the resource pool created to monitor UNIX or Linux computers. Resource pools can contain management servers or gateways for monitoring UNIX or Linux computers. For more information, see Resource Pool Design Considerations.

Discover and install an agent on a UNIX or Linux computer

Follow these steps to discover and install an agent on a UNIX or Linux computer:

1. Sign in to the Operations console with an account that is a member of the Operations Manager Administrators role.

2. Select Administration.

3. At the bottom of the navigation pane, select Discovery Wizard.

4. On the Discovery Type page, select Unix/Linux computers.

5. On the Discovery Criteria page, do the following:

   1. Select Add to define a discovery scope. In the Discovery Criteria dialog, do the following:

      a. For the Discovery scope, select the ellipsis button … to specify the host name, IP address, or range of IP addresses of the UNIX- or Linux-based computers to be discovered.

      b. For the Discovery type, select Discover all computers or Discover only computers with the UNIX/Linux agent installed.

      If you choose to discover only computers with the agent installed, the only credential that you'll need to provide is for the agent verification. This can be a low-privileged account on the UNIX or Linux computer.

      Important

      Discovering only computers with the agent installed requires that the agent is currently installed and configured with a signed certificate.

      c. To specify the credentials for installing an agent, select Set credentials. For detailed instructions, see Credentials for Installing Agents in Setting Credentials for Accessing UNIX and Linux Computers.

      Alternatively, to use default credentials, check the box Use Run As Credentials. If this option is selected, a default Run As account must be defined in the UNIX/Linux Action Account and UNIX/Linux Agent Maintenance Account Run As profiles. The default account is the one that is associated with All Managed Objects.

      d. Select Save.

   2. Select a resource pool to monitor the UNIX or Linux computer.

6. Select Discover to display the Discovery Progress page. The time it takes to finish discovery depends on many factors, such as the criteria specified and the configuration of the environment. If a large number (100 or more) of computers are being discovered or agents are being installed, the Operations console won't be usable during discovery and agent installation.

7. On the Computer Selection page, on the Manageable computers tab, select the computers that you want to be managed. The Additional results tab lists any errors and computers that are already being managed.

8. Select Manage.

9. On the Computer Management page, after the deployment process is completed, select Done.

You must have, at a minimum, a UNIX/Linux Action Account profile configured with a Monitoring Run As Account to monitor the UNIX or Linux computer. For more information, see How to Configure Run As Accounts and Profiles for UNIX and Linux Access.

Note

Solaris Zones are supported on Solaris 10 or newer versions. In monitoring a computer with Zones, each Zone is treated like a separate computer. You must install the agent on each computer that you want to monitor. Install the agent on the global zone first, because sparse zones share files with the global zone. If you try to install on a sparse zone first, the installation fails. For more information about troubleshooting, see Operating System Issues.

Next steps

• For more information on how to install the agent and understand the steps for signing the agent certificate, see Install Agent and Certificate on UNIX and Linux Computers Using the Command Line.

• To learn how to configure object discovery rules and disable discovery of a specific object, see Applying Overrides to Object Discoveries.

• To understand how to perform agent maintenance on UNIX and Linux computers, see Upgrading and Uninstalling Agents on UNIX and Linux Computers.

• To understand what options and steps need to be performed to properly uninstall the agent from your UNIX and Linux computers, review Manually Uninstalling Agents from UNIX and Linux Computers.