Install Spectrum on Linux with no root password or sudo

Products

• Spectrum
• Network Observability

Issue/Introduction

When running a standard distributed install of Spectrum on Linux, you run sdiclinux.exe and feeds it the HII and Password files to use for the installation. sdiclinux.exe requires a password file that contains either the password of the root user or of a user that has been configured for sudo access as outlined in the "Grant Limited Root Permissions" section of the documentation. 

If you do not have sudo root privileges but can su or sudo su to the root user without having to enter a password, you can run the distributed install using the distinst program and feed it the same information from the HII file as when running sdiclinux.exe but without the need for a password file.

Environment

Spectrum install on Linux

Resolution

Instructions for running distinst:

1. Copy the install media to the local machine
2. Uncompress and untar the install media
3. su to the root user
4. cd to the <Install_Media>/sdic/linux directory
5. If sradmin is not currently installed, install sradmin using the instructions in the "Manually Install SRAdmin Deamon on Linux" section of the docs.
6. Create an HII file as described in the "HII File Parameters" section of the documentation the same way you would if you were going to run the standard sdiclinux.exe distributed install.
   For example:
   
   remote_host=spectrum.example.com
   l_handle=4
   install_dir=/app/spectrum
   install_owner=spectrum
   main_loc_serv=spectrum.example.com
   vcd_path=/app/repository/10_2_0
   ss_install=yes
   oc_install=no
   xtn_install=yes
   install_type=full
   locale=en_US
   
   7. Enter the following command where <HII> is the name of the HII file created:
   
   ./distinst from_file=<HII>
   
   You can also run the distinst command not using an HII file by specifying the parameters on the command line when running the distinst command.
   
   For example:
   
   ./distinst remote_host=spectrum.example.com l_handle=4 install_dir=/app/spectrum install_owner=spectrum main_loc_serv=spectrum.example.com vcd_path=/app/repository/10_2_0 ss_install=yes oc_install=no xtn_install=yes install_type=full locale=en_US

Additional Information

You many need or want to run the install without the password if you have special characters in the password and/or you cannot get around this error:

<hostname> UpdateVSRuntime: Unable to connect

For example:

sldclr4: Starting Test
sldclr4: Starting Test
sldclr4: UpdateVSRuntime: Unable to connect.
sldclr4: UpdateVSRuntime: Unable to connect.
sldclr4: Starting Test
sldclr4: UpdateVSRuntime: Unable to connect.
sldclr4: UpdateVSRuntime: Unable to connect.
sldclr4: Starting Test
sldclr4: UpdateVSRuntime: Unable to connect.
sldclr4: UpdateVSRuntime: Unable to connect.
sldclr4: Starting Test
sldclr4: Make sure the username and password are correct and the time on sldcr4 is within 2 minutes

Command syntax for distinst:

usage():  distinst
           install_dir=<path> (required)
           install_owner=<username> (required if not patch)
           vcd_path=<vcd path> (required)
           main_loc_serv=<location server> (required if not patch)
           remote_host=<remote host to install on>
           srad_user=<username for remote host>
           srad_pass=<password for remote host>
           locale=<locale for language files to be installed>
         [ install_type=full|minimal (default=full) ]
         [ exclude_parts=<PART-NUMBER>,<PART-NUMBER> ]
         [ ignore_disk_space=yes|no (default=no) ]
         [ l_handle=<landscape handle> (required unless ss_install=no)
         [ oc_install=yes|no (default=no unless OneClick install is detected) ]
         [ patch=yes|no (default=no) ]
         [ remove_vnmdb_lock=yes|no (default=no) ]
         [ rptdb_preserve=preserve|removealldata|removeeventdata (default=preserve) ]
         [ same=yes|no (default=no) ]
         [ overwrite=yes|no (default=no) ]
         [ server_password=<passwd> ( optional, Windows only ) ]
         [ server_username=<user> ( optional, Windows only ) ]
         [ srm_source_host=<hostname>
                  (optional if SRM install default=no migration) ]
         [ srm_source_password=<passwd>
                  (optional if SRM install default=no migration) ]
         [ srm_ss_servers=<serverlists>
                  (separated by ";", optional if SRM install
                   default=main location server) ]
         [ ss_install=yes|no (default=yes) ]
         [ test_only=yes|no (default=no) ]
         [ tomcat_port=##### (default=8080 on Unix)
                             (default=80 on Windows) ]
         [ tomcat_root=<tomcat root directory>
                  (default=oc install directory) ]
         [ xtn_install=yes|no (default=yes) ]
         [ huge_landscape_handle=yes|no (default=no)
                  ("yes" for huge landscape handle type ; "no" for legacy landscape handle type) ]

If you prefer to use the GUI install and your user has no password, make sure that the SRAdmin process is running as the install user and not root.

For instance:

1. You are going to install as specadmin.
2. You see SRAdmin is running as root, so you stop and restart it as your specadmin user:
   
   ./SRAdmin --start
3. Verify it is running as specadmin
4. Run the ./setuplin.exe as the specadmin user. 
5. The GUI will not ask for a username or password.