Documentation forSolarWinds Service Desk

Agent installation for Linux

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Introduction

In SolarWinds Service Desk (SWSD) you can use the information in the following sections to install the Discovery Agent on a single Linux machine. After the agent is installed, it automatically updates future code enhancements and all core libraries it runs on.

SolarWinds doesn't push anything to the agent/scanner from our servers. The agent is designed to check for updates from the server.

When updates are available they get installed. On average, the agent is updated quarterly.

In addition, the SolarWinds Discovery Agent Watchdog Service keeps watch on the Solarwinds Discovery Agent Service, and restarts it if it stops for any reason.

Navigation

Setup > Discovery & Assets > Installation.

Prerequisites

Ensure that all the following prerequisite requirements are met before installing.

OpenSSL 3

Ensure OpenSSL3 is installed on Ubuntu machines before installing the agent.

  • For Ubuntu versions 22.04 and above, OpenSSL 3.1 is installed by default.

  • For other versions, install or upgrade OpenSSL to version 3.

You can use this command to test the OpenSSL version: openssl version -a

Supported platforms

The Discovery Agent is supported on the following platform:

Operating System Ubuntu 18.04 or higher
See Download and run the agent setup for Ubuntu for important instructions related to OpenSSL.

Firewall requirements

The following domains and ports must be allowed.

Purpose Destination IP TCP/UDP Destination Port Protocol
Report asset data to the SWSD platform

agt.samanage.com

+ agteu.samanage.com
(EU accounts only)

TCP 443 HTTPS
Obtain the external IP address for monitored devices opendns.com UDP 53 DNS

Although the required firewall settings are only for outbound traffic (Destination IP and Port), when a session is initiated from inside the firewall, it allows incoming traffic because it knows it is a response to a legitimate request.

Installation

The first step in the installation process is to download the Linux Discovery Agent. After downloading, you have the following options for installing it on a single computer:

Download and run the agent setup for Ubuntu

Prerequisite: For customers using Ubuntu versions earlier than 22.04, it is necessary to upgrade OpenSSL from version 1.1 to 3.0. This update is crucial to ensuring the successful installation and operation of the agent and to securing OpenSSL with the latest security fixes. For new installations being installed on Ubuntu 22.04 or later, OpenSSL 3.0 is preinstalled and no upgrade of OpenSSL is required.

  1. Navigate to Setup > Discovery & Assets > Installation.

  2. Next to Discovery Agent Linux, Ubuntu is preselected. Click Download.

  3. Run the Discovery Agent setup wizard

  4. At the Welcome screen, click Next to begin.

  5. Select I accept the agreement, and then click Next.

  6. In the Ready to Install dialog, click Next.

  7. When prompted, click Finish to complete the installation.

    When the installation is complete, the Discovery Agent runs an inventory scan for the first time. This may take several minutes to complete.

  8. When the scan is completed, the installer displays an Install Succeeded message. Click Close.

  9. The agent then begins reporting on the preconfigured parameters (that is, hardware, software, etc.). It may take a few moments for the information to display in your SWSD instance.

Perform silent installation using a command line

To install the Discovery agent using a command line:

Execute the installation using the following command line arguments.

sudo ./Solarwinds_Discovery_Agent_#{installer_version}_osx_installer.app/Contents/MacOS/installbuilder.sh --mode unattended

Install remotely on a Linux machine using PuTTY

Use PuTTY when installing the Discovery Agent from a Windows machine. These instructions also apply to any other SSH client.

If you cannot download the installer and run the wizard on your Linux machine, download the installer to a Windows machine. Then complete the following steps to transfer the installer to the Linux machine and run it remotely. Although these instructions use PuTTY, you can perform the same actions using any SSH client.

  1. Be sure prerequisite requirements are met.

  2. Download PuTTY (www.putty.org).

  3. Open a Command Prompt window.

  4. To transfer the file using SCP, execute the following command:

    "C:\Program Files\PuTTY\pscp.exe" -scp

    followed by the path to the installation file on your computer.

    For example:

    "C:\Program Files\PuTTY\pscp.exe" -scp [PATH_TO_DOWNLOADED_FILE] [linux_user@linux_ip]

  5. Close the Command Prompt window.

  6. Log in to your Linux server using PuTTY.

  7. Execute the following commands in the terminal:

    tar -xzvf Solarwinds_Discovery_Agent_[version]_installer.tar.gz

    sudo ./Solarwinds_Discovery_Agent_[version]_linux-x64_installer.run

The installation is complete.

Uninstall the Agent on a Linux machine

Open a Terminal window and run the following command:

sudo /usr/share/SolarwindsDiscoveryAgent/agent/src/mini_kernel/utils/linux/removeSolarwindsDiscoveryAgent.sh

Force an inventory refresh for the Discovery Agent

After you enable the Discovery Agent, the agent inventory automatically updates every 24 hours. The agent runs as a separate package and triggers a refresh based on that schedule.

To optimize for outbound bandwidth utilization, the agents randomize the next inventory refresh within a 24-hour time frame. This process prevents all agents from reporting at the same time.

Optionally, you can force the agent on a targeted machine to manually push an update. To push the update, open a terminal and run the following commands or copy the code into the terminal. If the terminal does not return an error message, the procedure completed successfully.

sudo /usr/share/SolarwindsDiscoveryAgent/agent/ruby/run.sh /usr/share/SolarwindsDiscoveryAgent/agent/src/mini_kernel/cmd.rb -f

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