Installing the Agent for NSK

This page guides you through the installation of a NSK Agent in an Automation Engine 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. For more information, see Agent Authentication.

A three-character code is assigned to each supported NSK version. It is shown in the agent's file name (NS1 for NSK, Version D40 and later).

This page includes the following:

Requirements

Make sure you have the following requirements in place:

Network protocol TCP/IP
User ID created for the installation
Entry #set #informat tacl in the TACLCSTM file for each user who executes jobs in AE
OSS and NetBatch installed to be used for job executions

Also, make sure that the agent runs with the SUPER.SUPER user in order to avoid problems when processes are canceled.

For information about CallAPI files and their implementation, see CallAPI for NSK.

Connecting to the Automation Engine

Important! The Automation Engine uses TLS/SSL to communicate only with the Windows, UNIX, and Java Agents. This particular Agent is not a TLS/SSL Agent and therefore connects to a communication process (CP) and uses non-TLS/SSL encryption. The communication between a TLS/SSL and a non-TLS/SSL Agent can be established using the TLS Gateway.

More information:

Non-TLS/SSL Agents, when used for the Automic Automation Kubernetes Edition, establish a connection to a TCP load balancer, which must be reachable for the Agent. The address of the load balancer must be defined on both sides: the Automation Engine and the Agent.

Important! When you install or upgrade Agents manually for an Automic Automation Kubernetes Edition system, you have to make sure that you configure your Agents and/or TLS Gateway to reach the TCP or HTTPS load balancer and not the CP or JCP directly. Also, make sure that your HTTPS load balancer has the required certificates in place. For more information, see Connecting to the AAKE Cluster.

Installing the Agent for NSK

In the admin computer, transfer the files to the host. To do so, establish a connection to the host via an FTP client and transfer the two supplied files OINSTALL and UC4AR to a common sub-volume.

Notes:
- The file OINSTALL must be transferred in text mode (code 101) and UC4AR in binary mode (code 0).
- It is best to store these files in an empty sub-volume.
- The file UC4AR is a self-extracting archive that contains all the files that the NSK agent requires.
On the host, start the installation procedure.
1. Start a terminal emulation program and log on using the user who should be the program owner.
2. Change to the sub-volume to which the two files have been transferred.
3. Set the O OINSTALL command in the TACL input line.
  
  This unpacks the INSTINI file in the sub-volume. It must remain in the same sub-volume as the other installation files in order to ensure that the installation can continue.
On the host, adjust the INSTINI configuration file. This file contains several parameters that must be adjusted to your system environment. Lines that start with the characters with %% are comments. Blanks can be ignored, they are irrelevant.

Specify the parameters in the following format: <parameter name>=<value>. The parameter name is predefined and cannot be changed. Its corresponding value depends on your system.

The INSTINI file must be stored in the same sub-volume as all other installation files (OINSTALL, INSTALL). It is best to use empty sub-volumes for volume specifications in order to avoid conflicts with other programs.

Parameters
- AE-PROGRAM-SUBVOLUME=
  
  Description: Sub-volume for the executable agent files.
- AE-STATUS-STORE-SUBVOLUME
  
  Description: Sub-volume for the StatusStore files of file transfers.
  
  The agent automatically created StatusStore files. They store the restart information of active file transfers. This mechanism ensures that aborted file transfers can be restarted from a particular file position (= last restart point). Restart points are created in regular intervals (setting FT_RESTART_INTERVAL in the UC_HOSTCHAR_DEFAULT variable). On Nonstop systems, the StatusStore files are the following 4 Enscribe Files with the default names: UC4SST, UC4SSD, UC4SSL, UC4SSH. You can subsequently change these file names in the INI file of the NSK agent. For more information, see Agent NSK.
- AE-STATUS-STORE-AUDITED=
  
  Description: Stores StatusStore files of file transfers as Audited Files (TMF protection)
  
  Allowed values: Y (default) and N
- AE-TCPIP-PROCESS=
  
  Description: Name of the NonStop TCP/IP process name that the agent should us. By default, $ZTC0 is specified (system standard).
  
  Note: If you specify a different process name, the required ADD DEFINE TACL statement is automatically inserted in the startup obey file.
- AE-SERVER-PORT
  
  Description: Port number of the Automation Engine's communication process to which the agent should connect. Ensure that all affected firewalls are configured for this port.
- AE-AGENT-PORT=
  
  Description: Port number that the agent should use in order to contact other agents. This port cannot be used by other programs.
- AE-SERVER-IP-ADDRESS=
  
  Description: IP address or computer name of the Automation Engine.
- AE-AGENT-PROCESS=
  
  Description: Process name of the agent process.
- AE-OC-PROCESS=
  
  Description: Process name of the Automation Engine output collector process.
- AE-TSIM-PROCESS=
  
  Description: Process name of the Automation Engine terminal simulator process.
- AE-SYSTEM-NAME=
  
  Description: Logical name of the Automation Engine system.
- AE-AGENT-NAME=
- Description: Logical name of the agent instance.
  
  By default, the system name of the NonStop Server without \ is used as the agent name: AE-AGENT-NAME=%NODENAME%
  
  You can also extend the agent name using pre- or postfixes: AE-AGENT-NAME=UC4%NODENAME%EXE
- AE-TEMP-SUBVOLUME
  
  Description: All temporary files, such as job reports and job files, are stored in this sub-volume.
The INI file of the Agent NSK is completed using the data that is specified here. After a successful installation, you can change these values at any time.
Continue with the installation.
1. On the host, set the RUN INSTALL command in the TACL input line.
  
  You receive notifications about the installation progress and can terminate it at any time. In this case, a manual cleanup process may be required.
  
  A connection to the Automation Engine is established when the installation is complete.
2. On the admin or server computer, verify that the Agent is logged on to the Automation Engine.
  
  Newly logged on Agents are not assigned to a client automatically and can only be viewed in Client 0. Once you have logged in to Client 0, access the Administration perspective and select Agents & Groups.
  
  Assign the new Agent to clients with the required rights using the Agent object definition. For more information, see Authorizations Page.
On the host, start and stop the agent. To do so, in the TACL input line, change to the agent's subvolume and set O EXSTART to start the agent or O EXSTOP to stop it.