Disconnected Mode Overview

Disconnected mode lets you use Sun xVM Ops Center without an Internet connection. This allows you to utilize all of Sun xVM Ops Center's features, including up-to-date patching, at sites where Internet connections are not allowed for security reasons.

In disconnected mode, the harvester script is set up on an Internet-facing system separate from the Enterprise Controller. The harvester script downloads a Knowledge Base (KB) bundle, which contains patch data. The KB bundle is then manually transferred to the Enterprise Controller, which sits on a separate system within the restricted site. With a KB bundle, Sun xVM Ops Center can patch systems and utilize all of its standard features with the exception of gear registration. The KB bundle can then be updated at any time to provide new patch data.

Once you have switched to disconnected mode, use Sun xVM Ops Center as normal. The procedures for uploading new patches and software are different in disconnected mode, as described below. Other procedures are identical in disconnected and connected modes.

You can keep an Enterprise Controller in disconnected mode permanently, or switch between modes. Connected mode is the default.

Disconnected Mode Architecture

Disconnected mode requires that you load the patches onto a portable media device, such as a CD or DVD, and then transfer the patches to the Enterprise Controller. To obtain the patch information, you can run the harvester script on a system that is connected to the Internet and download the patch information to a CD or DVD, or you can use existing media, such as the ICE DVD. This is represented in the illustration below.

Getting Started With Disconnected Mode

This section explains how to set your Enterprise Controller to disconnected mode.

1. Install and configure your Enterprise Controller.
2. Set up the harvester script.
3. Download a Knowledge Base bundle.
4. Upload the KB bundle to the Enterprise Controller.
5. Switch the Enterprise Controller to Disconnected Mode.

Installing and Configuring for Disconnected Mode

To use disconnected mode, install and configure your Enterprise Controller as described in Installation and Configuration page. Do not register the Enterprise Controller with Sun.

Setting Up the harvester Script

To configure your Enterprise Controller to run in disconnected mode, you must run the harvester script on a system that is connected to the Internet to download the Knowledge Base bundle from Sun. The KB bundle contains metadata and patches from Sun. You can use any system to run the harvester script, such as a laptop, that is running a compatible Solaris or Linux OS. You only need to connect the system to the Internet for the download.

Setting up the harvester script requires the following steps:

1. Identify a system that can connect to the Internet (the Internet-facing system).
2. Load the prerequisite software onto the Internet-facing system.
3. Transfer the harvester script to the Internet-facing system.

To Load Prerequisite Software

The harvester script requires that the Internet-facing system has wget version 1.11.13 installed. Perform the following steps to install the appropriate version of wget software.

1. To check what version of wget is installed on your system, run the wget command with the -V option. For example:

   # /usr/sfw/bin/wget -V
   GNU Wget 1.10.2
   
   Copyright (C) 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
   GNU General Public License for more details.
   
   Originally written by Hrvoje Niksic <hniksic@xemacs.org>.
   #
   

2. If an older version of wget is installed, download version 1.11.13 or later from sunfreeware.com, and install it on the Internet-facing system. For example:

   # pkgadd -d wget-1.11.4-sol10-sparc-local
   
   The following packages are available:
   1 SMCwget wget
   (sparc) 1.11.4
   
   Select package(s) you wish to process (or 'all' to process
   all packages). (default: all) [?,??,q]:
   
   Processing package instance <SMCwget> from </jf/wget-1.11.4-sol10-sparc-local>
   
   wget(sparc) 1.11.4
   Free Software Foundation
   Using </usr/local> as the package base directory.
   (output omitted)
   
   Installation of <SMCwget> was successful.
   #
   

3. wget version 1.11.4 depends on additional software:
   • openssl-0.9.8j
   • libiconv
   • libintl
   • /usr/local/lib/libgcc_s.so.1 and /usr/local/lib/libstdc++.so.6 – Installing libgcc-3.4.6 or gcc-3.4.6 installs these files.
     Download each of these objects from sunfreeware.com and install them on the Internet-facing system.
     
4. The wget command installs into the /usr/local/bin directory. With the additional software installed, check that the wget command runs. For example:

   # /usr/local/bin/wget -V
   GNU Wget 1.11.4
   
   Copyright (C) 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
   License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later
   <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
   This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
   There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
   
   Originally written by Hrvoje Niksic <hniksic@xemacs.org>.
   Currently maintained by Micah Cowan <micah@cowan.name>.
   #
   

Transferring the harvester Script to the Internet-Facing System

The harvester script is available on the Enterprise Controller in the /opt/sun/smsfacade/bin/ directory.
Perform the following steps to download the script:

1. Open a terminal window in the Enterprise Controller and go to the /opt/sun/smsfacade/bin/ directory.
2. Copy the harvester script onto portable media such as a CD or DVD that you can use to install the script on the Internet-facing system.
3. Copy the harvester script from portable media into any directory on the Internet-facing system.

Obtaining the KB Bundle

1. On the Internet-facing system, create a temporary directory, for example, /var/tmp/xVM, to hold the password file that you will create in this procedure.

   # mkdir -p /var/tmp/xVM
   

2. Create an empty file named /var/tmp/xVM/mypasswd, and set its permission mode to 400.

   # touch /var/tmp/xVM/mypasswd
   # chmod 400 /var/tmp/xVM/mypasswd
   

3. Edit the /var/tmp/xVM/mypasswd file so that it contains the password of your Sun Online Account. The following echo command appends the password to the /var/tmp/xVM/mypasswd file. (Replace password with the correct password.) For example:

   # echo 'password' > /var/tmp/xVM/mypasswd
   

4. Change the permmission mode of the harvester script to 744. For example:

   # chmod 744 harvester
   # ls -l
   total 36
   -rwxr--r-- 1 root root 17546 Jan 27 04:56 harvester
   #
   

5. Run the harvester script, with at least the -u and -p options:
   • -u SOA – Specify the SOA that you have registered with the Sun Inventory online environment.
   • -p password-file – Specify the full pathname of the file that contains the SOA password.
   • -d distribution-list – Optionally download all patches, or patches for the distributions that you specify. Specify a quoted, space-separated list of the names of Solaris OS distributions for which you want to download patches. When you do not specify a distribution list, all Solaris distribution patches are downloaded. When you do not use the -d option, the harvester script downloads only metadata. Available distributions are:
     • SOLARIS_10_0_SPARC
     • SOLARIS_10_0_X86
     • SOLARIS_9_0_SPARC
     • SOLARIS_8_0_SPARC
       

       # ./harvester -u username@sun.com -p /var/tmp/xVM/mypasswd
       Directory /export/home/public not found. This directory will be created.
       Setting up local directory structure at: /export/home/public
       Initialization: Downloading channels.xml
       Tue Jan 27 05:08:01 MST 2009 Clearing cookies to initialize new session.
       Distributions:
       Identifying and Downloading the Notifications and Seeker scripts
       Creating tarball...
       
       Tarball successfully created at /discon/standalone-0127.tar.gz
       
       Start time: Tue Jan 27 05:08:00 MST 2009
       Completion time: Tue Jan 27 05:08:01 MST 2009
       
       Tarball includes 0 distribution(s):
       
       
       Tarball includes only distribution metadata (no patches.)
       
       Please copy this file to a xVMOC server and
       use the BUI to configure Update Disconnected Mode.
       
       When you are finished you can delete the content in /export/home/public
       #
       

The harvester script without the -d option generates a .tar.gz file that contains the KB metadata only (no patch content). In this example, the harvester script created the /discon/standalone-0127.tar.gz KB bundle.

Loading the KB Bundle Onto the Enterprise Controller

1. Copy the KB bundle onto portable media that you can use to install the KB bundle on the Enterprise Controller.
2. Copy the KB bundle into a directory on a local file system of the Enterprise Controller.
3. Select Administration from the Navigation panel.
4. Select Setup Connection Mode from the Actions panel.
5. Choose a KB bundle and click Load KB Bundle.

Note – Unpacking and untarring can take some time depending on the size of the bundle. Also, the absolute path to the generated KB bundle must be specified when you load the bundle. For example, a bundle could be located at:

/tmp/standalone-0127.tar.gz

Switching to Disconnected Mode

1. Select Administration from the Navigation panel.
2. Select Setup Connection Mode from the Actions panel.
3. Select Switch to Disconnected Mode. You must first load a bundle or you will be unable to switch.

Using Disconnected Mode

Most Sun xVM Ops Center procedures will be identical in disconnected and connected modes. However, the following procedures related to patching are different in disconnected mode.

Uploading Software in Disconnected Mode

In disconnected mode, you must upload all required content manually. If the software and other files are not uploaded, an error message similar to "Not installable by current KB" is displayed when jobs are run that require local content.

The Bulk Upload Packages and Patches option is used to upload all the patches, packages, and RPMs content from an EIS DVD or Solaris CD/DVD. Multiple files or the entire contents of an EIS DVD or Solaris CD/DVD can be uploaded at the same time.

Uploading Software Using Bulk Upload

1. Select Libraries from the Navigation panel.
2. Select Updates Library from the Libraries tab.
3. Select Bulk Upload Packages and Patches from the Actions panel.
4. Select the Distribution on which you want to upload the files.
5. Select the Upload from Directory option.
6. Enter the directory path for the CD or DVD for the file location.
   Ensure that the directory has only the packages that need to be uploaded. Otherwise, other files in the directory are uploaded. You can use this functionality to upload entire contents of a directory or the entire contents of an EIS DVD or Solaris CD/DVD.
7. Click Submit to upload the files.
   The Upload Job is submitted.
8. Click Bulk Upload Results for the status of the upload.

Once the upload is completed, all the DVD content is identified as locally uploaded.

Uploading a KB Bundle

1. Obtain a KB bundle using the procedure described above.
2. Move the KB bundle to the Enterprise Controller using portable media.
3. Select Administration from the Navigation panel.
4. Select Setup Connection Mode from the Actions panel.
5. Choose a KB bundle and click Load KB Bundle.
6. Click Switch to Disconnected Mode.

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