Preinstallation on Linux systems

The following preinstallation tasks are applicable to all agents:

Non-root user installation

You must have read, write, and execute permissions for the installation directory. Otherwise, the installation is canceled. For more information about non-root user installation, see Installing agents as a non-root user.

70-character limitation for installation path

The installation directory and the path to it must be no more than 70 characters.

The following preinstallation tasks are applicable to the specified agents:

DataPower® agent

You must run the ulimit -d unlimited command to ensure that the max data segment size system environment variable is set to unlimited.

HTTP Server agent

If you install this agent as a root user, you must use the same user ID to run and configure the agent.

If you install and run the agent as a non-root user, the non-root user must have the same user ID as the user who started the IBM HTTP Server. Otherwise, the agent has problems with discovering the IBM® HTTP Server. You can use the same user ID to run and configure the agent.

Linux KVM agent

The Linux KVM agent is a multi-instance and multi-connection agent and supports connections to the Enterprise Linux based KVM hypervisor and Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager (RHEV-M) environments. You can create multiple instances of this agent to monitor multiple hypervisors in an RHEV-M or KVM hypervisor environment. You can monitor virtualized workloads and analyze the resource capacity across different virtual machines. To connect the agent to a virtual machine in the KVM hypervisor environment, you must install the required prerequisites: libvirt*.rpm and Korn Shell Interpreter (pdksh). The agent collects metrics by connecting remotely to a libvirt hypervisor that manages the virtual machines.

MySQL agent

To monitor a MySQL environment, the MySQL server and MySQL JDBC driver must be installed before you install the Monitoring Agent for MySQL. For example, to install the JDBC driver on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, use the following command:

yum install mysql-connector-java

After you start the agent installation and during the prerequisite check for the MySQL package name, you might get a warning if a provider other than Red Hat is used, such as Oracle. If the MySQL Server and JDBC driver are available, the warning does not cause the installation to fail, and you can disregard the message. Sample output:

Scenario: Prerequisite Scan
KSE - Monitoring Agent for MySQL Prerequisite Checker [version 01000005]:
Property                      Result Found       Expected 
========                      ====== =====       ======== 
os.package.mysql-server         WARN Unavailable mysql-server-5.1.12+
os.package.mysql-connector-java WARN Unavailable mysql-connector-java-5.
1.12+

Node.js agent

The version of Node.js that you use to run your monitored application must be the same as the default installed version.

Currently Node.js v5 is not supported.

Oracle Database agent

On Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 5 and version 6 and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server version 11 and version 12 x64, if the Oracle Database agent monitors the Oracle database remotely, you must install the Oracle instant clients first. Install the Oracle instant clients from Oracle Technology Network - Instant Client Downloads.

The instant client v10.x, v11.x, and v12.x are supported by the Oracle Database agent.

PHP agent

If the PHP application is deployed by using the root user, you must use the root user to install, configure, start, or stop the agent. If the PHP application is deployed by using a non-root user, you can use root user or the same non-root user to install, configure, start, or stop the agent.

You must have an existing WordPress application installed. The PHP agent monitors WordPress V3.7.1 or later.

The agent evaluates only the performance of PHP requests in WordPress applications. CSS and JS loading are not evaluated.

The agent does not use URL arguments to identify URLs.

PostgreSQL agent

You must install the PostgreSQL JDBC driver before you install this agent. Otherwise, you cannot configure the agent properly.

You must modify the postgresql.conf configuration file to add pg_stat_statements:

1. Use the following statement to open the postgresql.conf file in a text editor and update the shared_preload_libraries line:

   shared_preload_libraries = 'pg_stat_statements'

   If you want to monitor SQL functions, you must specify the following statements:

   shared_preload_libraries = 'pg_stat_statements'
   pg_stat_statements.track_utility = false

2. Restart the PostgreSQL server after you add the pg_stat_statements.
3. Execute the following SQL command by using psql:

   create extension pg_stat_statements; 
   select pg_stat_statements_reset();

Python agent

If the Python application is deployed by using the root user, you must use the root user to install, configure, start, or stop the agent. If the Python application is deployed by using a non-root user, you can use root user or the same non-root user to install, configure, start, or stop the agent.

The Apache server must include mod_wsgi V3.2 or later.

The Python agent monitors Django V1.4.10 or later.

The agent evaluates only the performance of view requests in Django applications.

The agent does not use URL arguments to identify URLs.

Response Time Monitoring Agent

If the environment that you want to monitor includes an IBM HTTP Server V8.0 or later, ensure that HTTP Server agent V8.1.1 or later is installed before you install the Response Time Monitoring Agent V8.1.1 or later. If the HTTP Server agent is not installed, the Response Time Monitoring Agent installation fails.

To verify the installation and configuration of the agents, complete the following steps:

1. Check that the mod_wrt.so script is running as shown here:

   [root@tivfpvm1 ˜]# ps -ef | grep httpd
   root 398 1 0 10:28 ? 00:00:00 /opt/IBM/HTTPServer/bin/httpd -d 
   /opt/IBM/HTTPServer -k start
   nobody 403 398 0 10:28 ? 00:00:00 /opt/IBM/HTTPServer/bin/httpd -d 
   /opt/IBM/HTTPServer -k start
   nobody 406 398 0 10:28 ? 00:00:00 /opt/IBM/HTTPServer/bin/httpd -d 
   /opt/IBM/HTTPServer -k start
   nobody 407 398 0 10:28 ? 00:00:00 /opt/IBM/HTTPServer/bin/httpd -d 
   /opt/IBM/HTTPServer -k start
   root 2082 15746 0 11:15 pts/0 00:00:00 grep httpd
   [root@tivfpvm1 ˜]# lsof -p 398 | grep wrt
   httpd 398 root mem REG 8,3 142075 1449713 /opt/ibm/apm/agent/lx8266
   /hu/lib/mod_wrt.so-

2. On the Performance Management Console, check that the IBM HTTP Server Response Time module is enabled.

SAP HANA Database agent

1. Install SAP HANA database client HDBSQL version 1.00.102.06 or later on the Linux system.
   Important: For the RHEL 5.x 64-bit operating system, install the Linux SUSE 9 on x86_64 64bit SAP HANA database client instead of Linux on x86_64 64bit. For the RHEL 6.x, or later 64-bit operating systems, install the Linux on x86_64 64bit SAP HANA database client.
2. Run the following command to add the path of the installation directory to the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable:

   export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:install_directory_path

   Example: export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/usr/sap/hdbclient, where /usr/sap/hdbclient indicates the installation path of the SAP HANA database client.

Important:

If the installation path of the SAP HANA database client is not added to the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable, the prerequisite scanner returns the FAIL result.

The environment variable that you added by using the export command persists only for a particular session of the terminal. Therefore, ensure that you run the agent installation script from the same terminal that was used for adding the environment variable.

Synthetic Playback agent

To install the Synthetic Playback agent, the operating system user requires the following permissions:

• Enable read and execution permission for the installation image
• Enable write permission for the agent home

To run the Synthetic Playback agent, the operating system user requires the following permissions:

• Enable read, write, and execution permission for the agent installation location and its subdirectories and files.
• Enable permission to run Mozilla Firefox.
• Ensure that the Mozilla Firefox execution binary is in the PATH environment variable of the user's profile.

Before you install the Synthetic Playback agent, you must complete the following steps:

1. Synchronize agent installation locations with the Performance Management console.
2. Install Mozilla Firefox and the Xvfb display server.
3. Verify that the Xvfb display server is working. Run the command:

   # Xvfb -ac

   There should be no error output.

4. Check that the Xvfb process is running. Run the following command:

   # ps -ef|grep Xvfb

   Sample output:

   root 7192 1 0 Jan14 ? 00:00:14 Xvfb -ac
   root 20393 17900 0 02:05 pts/0 00:00:00 grep -i xvfb

5. Stop the Xvfb process. Run the following command:

   # kill -9 7192

6. Navigate to install_dir/etc/hosts and edit the beginning of the hosts file to include the following parameters:

   127.0.0.1 localhost

   Then, save and close the hosts file.

If you want to test the playback of the Performance Management user interface, you must first disable BrowserMob Proxy:

Important: If you disable BrowserMob Proxy, the Synthetic Playback agent cannot collect HTTP timing breakdown data.

1. Navigate to install_dir/lx8266/sn/bin and open javaLauncher.sh in a text editor.
2. Find the command exec java in the file and add -DDISABLE_BMP=true to the line.

   For example:

   exec java -Djava.class.path=$USE_CLASS_PATH $CLIENTSAS $CLIENTSOAP
       $CLIENTSSL -DDISABLE_BMP=true -DAGENT_REF_FILE=$AGENT_REF_FILE  
   -DBINARCH=$ITM_BINARCH
       -DCP_$CLASSNAME  
   $COMMAND_ARGSCE_LEVEL=$JAVA_TRACE_LEVEL $JAVA_JVM_ARGS

3. Save and close the file.