Adding Agents in AWI

As an administrator, you have various options to install Agents, depending on the type or environment that you have (see Agents (HOST)). If you install an Agent, its Agent object is created automatically and it is available in AWI, in the Administration perspective (Rapid Automation Agents are an exception. They are not created automatically upon installation, you must create them manually after you have loaded the Rapid Automation solution in the database using the AE.DB Load utility or using the AE REST API. For more information, see Rapid Automation and Installing the Agent for Rapid Automation.).

There is another option to add Agents, though. You can add an Agent object directly in AWI, either in the Administration or in the Process Assembly perspective (in Client 0) and then download a preconfigured Agent from Broadcom's Marketplace. This Agent already contains all the definitions that the Agent needs to start working with it.

This topic explains how this works.

Tip: You may need to work with many objects, lists and monitors simultaneously. To make your work easier, you can open them in different browser windows and arrange them side by side on your screen. For more information about this and other useful functions, see Opening and Arranging Multiple Views.

More information:

This page includes the following:

Adding and Downloading Agents in AWI

This applies to UNIX, Windows, all Java based Agents (also in containers) and the TLS Gateway.

Make sure that the certificate the Agent or ingress needs is available. You can store the certificate in the Automation Engine by uploading it to the UC_TRUSTEDCERTS storage object. For more information, see UC_TRUSTEDCERTS Storage Object.

Important! You have to upload the relevant certificate with the name JCP_CERT, otherwise, the system does not recognize which certificate to use for the downloaded Agent.

Once the certificate is uploaded it is available on the trustedCertFolder, which is the one defined in the INI file of the Agent.

Watch the Video: Adding and Downloading UNIX Agents in AWI

Prerequisite! The Packs required for a Centralized Agent Upgrade (CAU) must be installed before you can download an Agent from the Administration perspective. You can download the CAU packs from https://marketplace.automic.com/. Once you have downloaded them, you have to install them in Client 0. You can do so from the Packs page in the Administration perspective. For more information, see Centralized Agent Upgrade (CAU).

Adding Agents - Process Assembly

You can create Agents manually in Client 0 in the Process Assembly perspective. This allows you to create an Agent Object without any definition. You can then download a pre-configured Agent definition to the Agent object that you have created.

To Add an Agent

  1. You have two options:

    • Right-click anywhere on the list and select Add > Add Object.

    • Click the Add Object button on the toolbar.

  2. On the Add Object dialog, you have two options:

    • Expand the Agent (AGENT) list to display all Agents and select the relevant Agent.

    • Start typing the type of object you want to create in the Search field.

  3. Click the Add button. The Object Name dialog is displayed.

  4. Enter a descriptive Name, see Name, Title, and Alias

  5. Optionally, enter a short and descriptive Title that helps you recognize the purpose of the object.

  6. Click OK.

The new Agent object is available in the Agents list and you can use it to download a pre-configured Agent definition for it, see Downloading Agents.

For more information on how to edit the Agent definition in AWI, see Configuring the Agent Properties.

Adding Agents - Administration Perspective

You can create a new Agent directly from the Administration perspective in any Client in the system. However, the Agent object is always also available in Client 0. This allows you to create an Agent Object without any definition. You can then download a preconfigured Agent definition to the Agent object that you have created. You get the preconfigured Agents on Broadcom's Marketplace, see .https://marketplace.automic.com/

When you download a preconfigured Agent, you don not have to make any additional definitions, but you can change them in Client 0, if needed.

To Add an Agent

  1. Open the Administration perspective and select Agents & Groups > Agents from the navigation pane on the left.

  2. You have two options:

    • Right-click anywhere on the list and select Add > Add Agent

    • Click the Add Agent button on the toolbar

  3. Select the relevant Agent from the list and click the Add button. The Object Name dialog is displayed.

  4. Enter a descriptive Name.

  5. Optionally, enter a short and descriptive Title that helps you recognize the Agent.

  6. Click OK.

The new Agent object is available in the Agents list and you can use it to download a pre-configured Agent definition for it, see Downloading Agents.

For more information on how to edit the Agent definition in AWI, see Configuring the Agent Properties.

Downloading Agents

Prerequisite! The Packs required for a Centralized Agent Upgrade (CAU) must be installed before you can download an Agent from the Administration perspective. You can download the CAU packs from https://marketplace.automic.com/. Once you have downloaded them, you have to install them in Client 0. You can do so from the Packs page in the Administration perspective. For more information, see Centralized Agent Upgrade (CAU).

The Java Agents require a JRE (version 11 or higher) and the latest version of the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package.

You can download an Agent either in the Process Assembly or in the Administration perspective. To do so, you have to locate the relevant Agent:

  1. Once you have located the relevant Agent you have to options:

    • Select the Agent and click the Download Agent button on the toolbar

    • Right-click the relevant Agent object and select Download Agent

    The Download Agent dialog is displayed. The Name field is populated automatically.

  2. Define the corresponding Operating System and Architecture.

  3. Optionally, select the ServiceManager checkbox.

    Note: When the Service Manager checkbox is not selected, the Operating System and Architecture fields are disabled for Java based Agents. Also, when you select a Windows Agent, the Operating System is Windows by default and the field is disabled.

  4. Optionally, select the Java Runtime Environment checkbox. This allows you to get a compatible JRE.

    Important! Make sure that you have downloaded the JRE Pack and installed it in Client 0. The JRE and Agent packs must have the same major and minor version, for example, 24.2.x. If you have more than one JRE pack for the same major/minor version, the system uses the latest version. If there is no JRE or no JRE with a matching version, an error message is displayed.

  5. Once you have defined all parameters, click Download. Your browser notification shows the Agent .zip file is being downloaded.

  6. Unpack the .zip file on the same machine on which the Agent runs.

  7. The .zip file also contains the Agent's INI file. Adjust the INI file of the Agent to your system environment, see Agents INI Files.

  8. Once the file is unpacked, you must do the following for UNIX and Windows agents:

    UNIX (Linux) Agents

    1. Register to the host with your user ID, for example, AE.

    2. Ensure that all files have the correct owner and group entry. The owner must be the same user you used to register (AE) and the group must correspond to the code of the user (AE). Only a privileged user, such as root, can make these modifications.

      Example

      • chown AE * changes the owners of all files to AE

      • chgrp Group_name * changes the user groups of all files.

    3. For actual operation, the ucxj??? file can be given the permissions of a privileged user such as root.

      • Change the owner to root: chown root ucxj???

      • Set S-Bit (Set-Userid): chmod 4755 ucxj???

      Note: You need at least the permissions 755 for executable objects such as agents.

    4. Set the SSL_CERT_DIR and SSL_CERT_FILE environment variables with the User which will start the Agent.

      These variables allow you to load the certificates from the TLS/SSL store. The certificates can be stored either in one file per certificate or all certificates in one .pem file :

      • SSL_CERT_DIR location of the trusted CA certificates with each certificate in a separate file, for example,/etc/ssl/certs/

      • SSL_CERT_FILE location of the .pem file with all the trusted CA certificates, for example, /etc/pki/tls/certs/ca-bundle.crt

    5. Run the ucxjlx6 binary file to start the Agent.

    Windows Agents

    Do one of the following:

    • Update the trustedCertFolder= parameter in the [AUTHORIZATION] section of the INI file of the Windows Agent, see Agent Windows 64-bit

    • Import the JCP cert into the Windows OS store

    The downloaded Agent is ready to work.

Using Scripts

You can use scripts to easily create, download and extract Agent packs, as well as start agents running on a Windows or UNIX system.

We have gathered a number of deployment script examples for SQL, REST, Windows, and UNIX agents. They allow you to deploy and start the agents without having to create your own script. You can also merge separate scripts used in the examples into one large script.

More information:

For more information on how to edit the Agent definition in AWI, see Configuring the Agent Properties.

See also: