Configuring the Containerized Unix Agent to Execute Jobs (Login Object / Host Characteristic Setup)
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Configuring the Containerized Unix Agent to Execute Jobs (Login Object / Host Characteristic Setup)

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Article ID: 448671

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Updated On:

Products

Automic Automation Automic SaaS CA Automic One Automation CA Automic Oracle CA Automic Service Orchestration - Automation Engine CA Automic Workload Automation - Automation Engine

Issue/Introduction

A prebuilt containerized Unix Agent (agent-unix) deploys successfully and connects to the Automation Engine (AE), appearing as connected in the Automic Web Interface (AWI). However, jobs assigned to it fail to start with one or more of the following errors:

  • U00011168 Could not find any entry in Login object '<name>' of Job '<job>' (RunID '<id>') for host '<agent>'.
  • U00011167 Could not find Login object '' for Job '<job>' (RunID '<id>').
  • U02001007 User 'default' is unknown or an invalid password has been provided.
  • U00011000 '<job>' (RunID: '<id>') could not be started on '<agent>'. See next message.

Environment

  • Automic Automation / Automic Automation Kubernetes Edition (AAKE) 26.0.0
  • Prebuilt containerized Unix Agent Helm chart (agent-unix)

Cause

The containerized agent runs as a non-root OS user without setuid capability. It is designed for anonymous (non-authenticated) execution. While the agent side defaults to login_check=no, the Automation Engine side requires specific configuration to allow anonymous job execution and resolve Login object entries for the new agent. Without this AE-side setup, the system attempts standard OS-credential authentication, which the container cannot satisfy

Resolution

1. In client 0, create a Dedicated Host Characteristic Variable

Do not edit UC_HOSTCHAR_DEFAULT directly, as this affects all agents. Duplicate it instead.

  1. Open UC_HOSTCHAR_DEFAULT, copy it, and rename the copy (e.g., UC_HOSTCHAR_CONTAINER).
  2. In the new object, set the key ANONYMOUS_JOB=Y.
  3. Set ANONYMOUS_FT=Y and ANONYMOUS_FE=Y if the agent will run file transfers or file events.

2. Link the Agent to the Host Characteristic

The recommended method is the Agent-side declaration via the agent's configmap:

  1. Patch the configmap to set the UC_EX_HOSTCHAR suffix:
    kubectl -n <namespace> patch configmap agent-unix-config --type merge \  -p '{"data":{"AUTOMIC_VARIABLES_UCEXHOSTCHAR":"CONTAINER"}}'
  2. Restart the deployment:
    kubectl -n <namespace> rollout restart deployment/agent-unix

Note: The environment variable name is AUTOMIC_VARIABLES_UCEXHOSTCHAR (no underscores between UC, EX, and HOSTCHAR).

3. Create the Login Object Entry

AE requires a non-empty Login reference even in anonymous mode.

  1. Open or create a Login object.
  2. Add a row: Agent/Name = exact agent name, Username = default, Password = blank.
  3. Assign this Login object to the Job object (e.g., JOBS.UNIX.LS.TEST)

Additional Information

Confirm that the environment variable has been picked up after an agent restart.

kubectl -n <namespace> exec <pod-name> -- env | grep AUTOMIC_VARIABLES_UCEXHOSTCHAR

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