Installing the eG VM Agent on a Linux VM

Follow the steps below to install an eG VM agent on a Linux VM: 

1. The standard eG VM agent software for 32-bit Linux hosts is provided as a tar file named eGvmagent_linux.tar. For installations on 64-bit Linux hosts, the eGvmagent_linux_x64.tar file is provided. An accompanying script drives the installation process for the eG VM agent. On 32-bit Linux hosts, this script is called iVMAgent_linux, and for 64-bit Linux hosts, this is called iVMAgent_linux_x64. You can download the tar file and installation script suitable to your environment from the eG web site to the target VM.

2. After downloading, give execute permissions to the iVMAgent_linux or the iVMAgent_linux_64 script (as the case may be). For that, go to the Shell prompt, switch to the directory to which you have downloaded the script(s), and issue the following command:

   chmod +x <script_name>

   For instance, to grant execute permissions to the iVMAgent_linux script, the command should be:

   chmod +x iVMAgent_linux

3. Then, execute the iVMAgent_linux or the iVMAgent_linux_x64 script (as the case may be). When executing, make sure that the corresponding tar files - i.e., with the eGvmagent_linux.tar file or the eGvmagent_linux_x64.tar file (as the case may be) - are located in the same directory as the script files.

   Note:

   The eG VM agent installation must be performed from a super-user account.

4. Next, specify the user account to be used for executing the eG agent. First enter the name of the eG user. The default value taken is “egurkha”.

   This script will install the eG VM agent. The eG VM agent must be installed and executed by a separate user.

   Enter the name of the eG user [egurkha]:

   Note:

   You can specify the name of an existing user or a new user here. If you provide the name of a new user, then the eG VM agent installer will automatically create an eG user with that name. By default, the user account so created will only be a normal user account, and not a service account. Because a service account is more secure, administrators of high-security environments may prefer to use a service account for VM agent installation and operations, instead of a normal account. Such administrators can do the following:

   • Start the VM agent installation process by running the following command on a 32-bit Linux VM:

     iVMAgent_linux -s

     On 64-bit Linux VMs, run the following command:

     iVMAgent_linux_x64 -s

   • When prompted for a user name, specify the name of the eG user account you want the installer to create. Once you provide a user name, the installer will automatically create a service account with that name.
   • Then, proceed with the installation as described by steps 3 to 8 below.

5. Next enter the path to the directory in which the eG VM agent will reside. The default base directory for the eG VM agent is /opt. A subdirectory named egurkha will be created under the base directory. If the base directory is not /opt, a symbolic link will be created from the egurkha subdirectory of the base directory to /opt/egurkha.

   Enter the directory in which the eG VM agent should be installed [/opt]:

6. Then, enter the group with which the eG user is to be associated. The default value taken is “egurkha”. The installation will attempt to create the user account if it does not exist on the system. If you specify an existing user name, then this group prompt will not appear.

   Enter the group to which the eG user is to be associated [egurkha]:

7. The install process will now request the user to confirm installation of the auto-restart feature. This feature will enable the VM agent to start automatically every time the VM reboots. Now, press y to install the auto-restart feature, or n to proceed without installing the same.

   Would you like the eG VM agent to auto-restart on system boot-up? y/n [n] :

8. Finally, the following message will be displayed depicting the success of the installation.

   The eG VM agent has been successfully installed! Please login as <eG user name> and run the script /opt/egvmagent/bin/setup_vmagent to configure the VM agent.

If you install an eG agent using the procedure discussed above, then you will have to run a setup procedure later to configure agent-manager communication. To know how setup the eG agent, refer to the Setting Up eG VM Agent on Linux VMs.