Deploy SolarWinds Platform Agents manually to a Linux/Unix-based computer

Use this method to install SolarWinds Platform Agent if you cannot use push deployment to Linux/Unix-based devices over SSH. For example, when the device is behind a NAT or is hosted in the cloud. This approach uses wget, curl, or perl to download the installation files from your chosen polling engine. This installation method is known as a pull deployment.

Review Linux/Unix target server requirements

• Pull deployment requires that the SolarWinds Platform Web Console is accessible from the target Linux computer.

• Agents are supported on the following Linux/Unix operating systems.

  • Amazon Linux 2 / AMI, 64-bit
  • CentOS 6.x, 32-bit
  • CentOS 6.x, 7.x, 8.x, 64-bit
  • IBM AIX 7.1 and 7.2
  • Oracle Linux 6.x, 7.x, 8.x, 64-bit
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x, 32-bit
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x, 7.x, 8.x, 9.x, 64-bit
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11.x - 15.x, 64-bit
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11.x, 32-bit
  • Ubuntu 14.x - 16.x, 32-bit
  • Ubuntu 14.x - 22.x, 64-bit

  Linux distributions not listed above, such as Debian or Fedora, are not supported.

  If your operating system is not listed, select the closest match to your Linux/Unix distribution. SolarWinds cannot guarantee that the software will work as intended on a non-supported OS, but will attempt to install the software for the distribution you select.

Run a script to deploy a SolarWinds Platform Agent on a Linux/Unix computer

1. Click Settings > All Settings in the menu bar.

2. Under Product Specific Settings, click Agent & Remote Collector. Then, on the Agent Management view, click Download Agent Software.

   In Orion Platform 2020.2 and earlier, click Agent Settings to get to the Agent Management view with the Download Agent Software link.

3. Click Unix/Linux, and Next.

4. Click Manually Install by Downloading Files via URL, and click Next.

5. Select your Distribution and Communication Mode.

6. Enter the Connection Settings.

   Agent Initiated (Recommended)

   For agent-initiated communication (active), select or enter the polling engine that will collect the agent's data.

   If you connect through a proxy, click Advanced and specify the proxy.

   Server Initiated

   For server-initiated communication (passive), enter the listening port number used to communicate with the SolarWinds Platform server or additional polling engine. By default, this is port 17790.

   Disable TLS validation

   If you configure your SolarWinds Platform Web Console to use HTTPS, the certificate is validated before SolarWinds Platform Agent installation file is downloaded. If the certificate cannot be validated on the target Linux/Unix computer, you may select the Disable TLS validation option to skip the certificate validation.

7. Click Generate Command.

8. Copy and paste the command in the terminal open to the Linux/Unix computer. The command downloads the software from the selected polling engine.

9. On the Manage Agents page, select the new agent, and then click Choose Resources.

10. Select the items you want to monitor, and click Submit.

When the installation is successful and communication between the agent and the SolarWinds Platform server is successful, the agent is listed on the Manage Agents page.

Use an already deployed SolarWinds Platform Agent (server-initiated communication)

You can also use an already deployed agent if you want to use server-initiated communication (passive).

1. In the SolarWinds Platform Web Console click Settings > All Settings, and then click Manage Agents in Node & Group Management.

2. Click Add Agent, select Connect to a previously installed agent and click Next.

3. Enter the Agent Name, select Server-initiated communication, and provide , IP address or hostname of the agent.

4. To adjust the port used by the agent, expand Advanced and adjust the port number.

5. To use a proxy, expand Advanced, select Use proxy, and specify the details. See What is a proxy?

When the installation is successful and communication between the agent and the SolarWinds Platform server has been established, the agent appears in the agent list on the Manage Agents page.

Run an installer file to deploy a SolarWinds Platform Agent on a Linux/Unix computer

You can choose to copy the installer file to the Linux/Unix computer manually and then install it instead of using wget, curl or perl.

1. On the Download Agent Software page, select your distribution.
2. Click Download Agent Software File for Manual Installation.
3. Move the file to the Linux/Unix computer and extract it.
4. Follow the instructions in the readme.txt file.