why the ASM OPMS installer requires root permissions

Products

• CA App Synthetic Monitor

Issue/Introduction

I am struggling to get root access to a linux host to install CAASM on prem station due to security reasons.

I understand that installation is only possible with root.

Is root needed for the app to work or is there a different option?

Environment

DX ASM

Resolution

Here's a breakdown of why the OPMS installer requires root permissions:

 

The installer needs root access to:

* Create a dedicated Docker network for container API access.

* `systemctl daemon-reload` (for Docker proxy configuration changes)

* `systemctl restart docker` (for Docker proxy configuration changes)

* `systemctl restart syslog` (for ASM container logs configuration)

* Start and stop Docker or Podman containers using entry points that require root permissions (e.g., `docker compose start/stop`).

* Execute commands as root within containers to import custom CA certificates (e.g., `docker exec -u 0 ...`).

 

Other commands are executed as root because the installer itself runs with root privileges, but these specific commands do not inherently require root permissions:

* `uname` (to identify the system architecture)

* `docker / podman [compose] version` (to check minimum required version)

 

It's important to note that root permissions are dropped once the CA certificates have been imported. The only exception is the `webdriver` agent, which needs to start other containers to record video and run the Selenium proxy for each check.

Additional Information

Techdocs ASM OPMS