Administration Guide > Installation > New Installation > Installing the Agent for Rapid Automation

Setting Up the Agent for Rapid Automation

The following guide describes how to install an agent in an AE system in which authentication is not used. Additional installation steps are required before the agent can be started and used if you intend to use one of the available authentication methods. More detailed information is provided in the document Advanced Security.

Automic strongly recommends installing the agent in a separate directory (such as UC4/Agent/rapidautomation or C:\AUTOMIC\Agent\rapidautomation).

Before you start the installation, make sure that the Java agents can only connect to CP port numbers that are lower than 65536. If they use a higher port number, the agent cannot start and aborts with an error message. This limitation is caused by Java and affects the agents for JMX, Databases, SAP and RA.

Supplied Files

The files that belong to the RA agent are stored in the directory IMAGE:AGENTS\RAPIDAUTOMATION.

Procedure

	1.	Installing Java Standard Edition

This installation step can be omitted if the required version of Java Standard Edition is already available.

Admin computer and/or user computer
Check the current version of your system's Java Virtual Machine (VM) using the following command:

java -version

Note that the order of the indicated directories is relevant when specifying %PATH% or $PATH if several versions of JRE or Java SDK are installed on your computer. The Java Runtime Environment that is listed first is used.

Download the required Java Runtime Environment from http://java.sun.com and install it.

	2.	Setting up the Agent

Host
Create an extra folder for the RA agent and copy the supplied files to it. Under Windows, you can also use the program SETUP.EXE for the installation. It is available in the directory IMAGE:AGENTS\RAPIDAUTOMATION\WINDOWS.
The RA Solution to be used by the agent will be stored in the folder named "cache." Create this folder in the installation directory.
Several settings are available for adjusting the RA agent to your system environment. Of note are the agent and computer name, and the port of the communication process to which the agent should connect. Adjust the INI file.

	3.	Loading the RA Solution

Host
Start the utility AE.DB Load and select the RA Solution's JAR file. The utility will then load it to the AE databaseA database is an organized collection of data including relevant data structures.. The JAR file can be loaded via the graphical interface or the Java batch mode (ucybdbld.jar) of the utility AE DB Load. Loading with the AE DB Load in batch mode (ucybdbld.exe) under Windows is not possible.
After loading the RA solution, you need to restart the UserInterface.
The RA agent can only connect to one RA Solution. If you intend to use several RA Solutions, keep in mind that each solution requires its own RA agent.
Note that you cannot load the same JAR file of an RA Solution to several systems at a time. Any attempt to do so can cause the utility AE DB Load to abort.

	4.	Creating Connection objects

Host
Log on to system client 0000.
Depending on the RA Solution, one or more templates were generated for the required Connection objects during the loading process. They are stored in the folder named "TEMPLATE." Create the required Connection object(s) and fill in the fields in the corresponding tabs. This data is required for the RA agent.

	5.	Starting the Agent

Host
The RA agent only starts if an Agent object of the same name exists in system client 0000.
A template for the Agent objects to be used was generated when the RA Solution loaded. It is stored in the folder named "TEMPLATE." Create an Agent object in the folder HOST and fill in the relevant fields in its tabs (Connection objects, etc.).
Use the following command to start the agent via the command line (UNIX and Windows):

java -jar -Xrs -Xmx256M ucxjcitx.jar disable_cache

If you load the RA solution, then start the agent shortly afterward, you may get a cached agent rather than the one you just loaded. You can avoid this by adding disable_cache to the end of the start command. That way the loaded version is always started.

You can also start the agent via the ServiceManager.

Note that the storage limit should be set to at least 256MB (or 512MB) for starting Java agents (Databases, RA, JMX, SAP). You can specify a value for the storage limitation of Java applications by using the start parameter -XmX. Specifying a value that is too low can cause the agent to crash. The default value depends on the Java version that is used.

The Java parameter -Xrs ensures that the agent ends properly when a normal end is initiated. Automic recommends using this parameter. More detailed information is provided in the Java documentation.

	6.	Important notes for Job creation

Host
When the RA Solution is loaded, one or more templates for Job objects are stored in the folder named "TEMPLATE." Use templates to create jobs for the RA Solution.
RA jobs do not contain Login objects. Login data is stored in one or several Connection objects during the installation process and can be selected in the Agent object.