Installing the Agent for SAP IBP

This topic guides you through the installation of the SAP IBP Agent in an AE system without using authentication. If you want to use one of the authentications methods available you need to follow additional installation steps. For more information, see Agent Authentication.

Tip! This page refers only to the manual installation process. If you want instructions on how to install a containerized Java agent, see Installing Containerized Java Agents.

It is best to install the agent in a separate directory (such as C:\AUTOMIC\AGENTS\SAPIBP or Automic/Agent/sapibp).

Important! Before installing the SAP IBP Agent, check the version compatibility information at compatibility matrix. For information about how to use the compatibility matrix, see Compatibility Information.

This page includes the following:

Connecting to the Automation Engine

The Automation Engine and the Windows, UNIX, and Java Agents communicate using TLS/SSL. These agents establish a connection with the Java communication process (JCP), which uses trusted certificates to prove their identity to other communication partners.

Note: The TLS/SSL implementation does not apply to the HP-UX Agent, as it is no longer supported as of version 21.0.

ADD HERE WHERE THE AGENT SEARCHES FOR THE CERTIFICATES (STANDARD LOCATION) AND IF THE CERTIFICATE IS NOT THERE THEN YOU NEED TO SPECIFY IN THE INI FILE WHERE TO FIND THEM

SO: THE RESPECTIVE STORE IS NOT CORRECT? DO WE NEED MORE? the respective store; that is the Java trust store for Java Agents, the Windows OS store for Windows Agents, or the TLS/SSL store for UNIX Agents.

You can use the trustedCertFolder=, agentSecurityFolder=, and keyPassword= parameters in the respective INI file to point to the relevant certificates. If the trustedCertFolder= parameter is not set, the certificates should be installed in the respective store; that is the Java trust store for Java Agents, the Windows OS store for Windows Agents, or the TLS/SSL store for UNIX Agents. For more information, see Securing Connections to the AE (TLS/SSL).

For additional information about the different certificate types and examples of how they could be created and used, see What Kind of Certificates Should I Use for Automic Automation v21.

Important! Please note that these are only examples, not a requirement for Automic Automation and they are not meant to replace the product documentation.

TLS/SSL Agents (in containers or on-premises) and the TLS Gateway, when used for the Automic Automation Kubernetes Edition, establish a connection to an ingress / HTTPS load balancer and not the JCP directly. The ingress / HTTPS load balancer must be reachable and requires a certificate for authentication. The address of the load balancer must be defined on both sides: the Automation Engine and the Agent / TLS Gateway.

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.

Java Runtime Environment (JRE)

On the admin and/or user computer, install the Java Runtime Environment (JRE).

If you have JRE installed, you can ignore this step. For a list of compatible java versions, see compatibility matrix

Use the following command to check the version of the current Java virtual machine (VM):

java -version

If several JRE or Java SDK Versions are installed on the computer, make sure that the order of the directories is correct in the %PATH% or $PATH settings since the first JRE that is found in the list of directories is used.

You can download the required JRE from https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/.

Supplied Files

The SAP IBP core includes the following files:

  • ecc-ae-sheet-ra-sap-ibp.jar

    Contains the AWI panels.

  • uc.msl

    Message library

  • ucxjcitx.ini

    Agent configuration file

  • ucxjsapibp.jar

    Agent core for the Agent

  • setup.exe

Installing the Agent

  1. If you have not already done so, install the Java Runtime Environment (JRE).

  2. Download the installation package from https://docs.automic.com/documentation.

  3. On the host, install the Agent:

    UNIX

    1. Log in using the AE user.

    2. Transfer the ucxjsapibp.tar file to a directory, for example sapibp.

    3. Switch to the sapibp directory: cd sapibp.

    4. Unpack the .tar file:

      gzip -d ucxjsapibp.tar

      tar xvfo ucxjsapibp.tar

      Make sure all files have been unpacked correctly and to note all .tar messages, which can come from various owners. After that you can delete the .tar file if you like.

    5. Make sure all files have the correct owner and group entries.

    6. Rename the supplied INI file ucxjcitx.ori.ini to ucxjcitx.ini.

    7. Adjust the INI file to your system environment.

      • Use the trustedCertFolder=, agentSecurityFolder=, and keyPassword= parameters in the respective INI file to point to the relevant certificates. If the trustedCertFolder= parameter is not set, the certificates should be installed in the respective store; that is the Java trust store for Java Agents, the Windows OS store for Windows Agents, or the TLS/SSL store for UNIX Agents. For more information, see Securing Connections to the AE (TLS/SSL).

        ADD HERE WHERE THE AGENT SEARCHES FOR THE CERTIFICATES (STANDARD LOCATION) AND IF THE CERTIFICATE IS NOT THERE THEN YOU NEED TO SPECIFY IN THE INI FILE WHERE TO FIND THEM

        SO: THE RESPECTIVE STORE IS NOT CORRECT? DO WE NEED MORE? the respective store; that is the Java trust store for Java Agents, the Windows OS store for Windows Agents, or the TLS/SSL store for UNIX Agents.

        For additional information about the different certificate types and examples of how they could be created and used, see What Kind of Certificates Should I Use for Automic Automation v21.

        Important! Please note that these are only examples, not a requirement for Automic Automation and they are not meant to replace the product documentation.

      • name

        Name of the Agent object.

        Maximum length: 32 characters

        Allowed characters: "A-Z", "0-9", "_", ".", "$", "@", "-" and "#".

        Hyphens ("-") are only allowed in Agent names. They must not be used in the names of any other objects.

        Although Agent names are limited to 32 characters, you should keep them under 25 characters. The last seven characters are used for adding the suffix '.NEW.nn' when a new Agent is created from its template.

      • system

        Automation Engine system name. This entry must be identical to the entry in the .ini file of the Automation Engine server.

      • ra

        Used for additional trace. Before starting a newly installed or upgraded Agent, it is a good idea to turn Rapid Automation trace on by adding ra=99. This will give more troubleshooting information if something goes wrong during the install. After a successful Agent start, you can set ra=0, and restart the Agent to turn Rapid Automation trace off.

      • connection

        Address of the communication process in the Automation Engine system to which the Agent should connect itself. The format is:

        <DNS name or TCP/IP address>:<port number>

      For more information, see Agent RA Core INI file.

    WINDOWS

    1. Run setup.exe to start the program.

    2. Adjust the INI file to your system environment.

      • Use the trustedCertFolder=, agentSecurityFolder=, and keyPassword= parameters in the respective INI file to point to the relevant certificates. If the trustedCertFolder= parameter is not set, the certificates should be installed in the respective store; that is the Java trust store for Java Agents, the Windows OS store for Windows Agents, or the TLS/SSL store for UNIX Agents. For more information, see Securing Connections to the AE (TLS/SSL).

        ADD HERE WHERE THE AGENT SEARCHES FOR THE CERTIFICATES (STANDARD LOCATION) AND IF THE CERTIFICATE IS NOT THERE THEN YOU NEED TO SPECIFY IN THE INI FILE WHERE TO FIND THEM

        SO: THE RESPECTIVE STORE IS NOT CORRECT? DO WE NEED MORE? the respective store; that is the Java trust store for Java Agents, the Windows OS store for Windows Agents, or the TLS/SSL store for UNIX Agents.

        For additional information about the different certificate types and examples of how they could be created and used, see What Kind of Certificates Should I Use for Automic Automation v21.

        Important! Please note that these are only examples, not a requirement for Automic Automation and they are not meant to replace the product documentation.

      • name

        Name of the Agent object.

        Maximum length: 32 characters

        Allowed characters: "A-Z", "0-9", "_", ".", "$", "@", "-" and "#".

        Hyphens ("-") are only allowed in Agent names. They must not be used in the names of any other objects.

        Although Agent names are limited to 32 characters, you should keep them under 25 characters. The last seven characters are used for adding the suffix '.NEW.nn' when a new Agent is created from its template.

      • system

        Automation Engine system name. This entry must be identical to the entry in the .ini file of the Automation Engine server.

      • ra

        Used for additional trace. Before starting a newly installed or upgraded Agent, it is a good idea to turn Rapid Automation trace on by adding ra=99. This will give more troubleshooting information if something goes wrong during the install. After a successful Agent start, you can set ra=0, and restart the Agent to turn Rapid Automation trace off.

      • connection

        Address of the communication process in the Automation Engine system to which the Agent should connect itself. The format is:

        <DNS name or TCP/IP address>:<port number>

      For more information, see Agent RA Core INI file.

      The SAP IBP Agent is an AE background program and it is generally started as a service in the ServiceManager. For more information, see ServiceManager.

  4. Start the Agent.

    1. Make sure that the AE system is running on the server computer. For more information, see Multi-Server Operations.

    2. On the host, start the Agent with the following commands:

      • Windows:

        <path to java> -Xrs -jar ucxjsapibp.jar

        If java is installed in a folder which contains spaces the command needs to be placed in quotes.

        Example

        "C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre8\bin\java" -jar -Xrs -Xmx1G ucxjsapibp.jar

      • UNIX:

        <path to java> -jar ucxjsapibp.jar

        Example

        /usr/bin/java -jar ucxjsapibp.jar

    3. 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.

Use the ServiceManager to start or end the Agent as a service. For more information, see ServiceManager.

Working with the SAP IBP Agent

Once you have finished the installation, the SAP IBP Agent is available in the Administration perspective in Client 0.

For information about how to work with Agent, see:

See also: