Cisco UCS Director PowerShell Agent Installation and Configuration Guide, Release 6.0

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Book Title

Cisco UCS Director PowerShell Agent Installation and Configuration Guide, Release 6.0

Chapter Title

Installation of Cisco UCS Director PowerShell Agent

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Updated:
September 16, 2016

Chapter: Installation of Cisco UCS Director PowerShell Agent

Installation of Cisco UCS Director PowerShell Agent

This chapter contains the following sections:

Prerequisites

Before you install Cisco UCS Director PowerShell Agent, make sure that the following software has been installed on the machine:

  • Supported Windows operating system

  • Supported .NET Framework (Full Package)

  • Supported Windows PowerShell

For more information about the system requirements and supported software, see the Compatibility Matrix for Cisco UCS Director.


Note

Cisco UCS Director executes scripts (commandlets) on the target server via remote execution. The target server's northbound PowerShell APIs must support remote invocation.

Downloading Cisco UCS Director PowerShell Agent

You download the installer for PowerShell Agent from Cisco UCS Director.

    Step 1   In Cisco UCS Director, choose Administration > Virtual Accounts.
    Step 2   Choose the PowerShell Agents tab.
    Step 3   Click the Download Installer button.
    Step 4   Review the list of installation requirements in the Download Agent Installer dialog box and ensure that you have them available on the target computer where you plan to install Powershell Agent.
    Step 5   Click Submit.

    The PSASetup.exe file is downloaded to the default download folder on the target computer.

    What to Do Next

    Install Cisco UCS Director PowerShell Agent on the target computer.

    Installing Cisco UCS Director PowerShell Agent

    Installing a newer version of the PowerShell Agent requires that you uninstall the older version first. To remove the older version of PowerShell Agent, stop the Cisco PSA Service first and then uninstall the agent.


    Note

    If you do not install the new version of PowerShell Agent for Cisco UCS Director, Release 5.5, the Execute Power Shell Task and the Execute Command options on the PowerShell Agents tab will not work correctly.

    Before You Begin

    You need system administrator privileges to complete this task.

      Step 1   If necessary, copy the PSASetup.exe that you downloaded from Cisco UCS Director to your target computer.
      Step 2   Double-click the PSASetup.exe file.
      Step 3   In the Preparing to Install screen, click Next.
      Step 4   In the Ready to install the Program screen, click Install.

      The Installing Cisco PSA Service screen displays during the installation. When the installation is complete, the InstallShield Wizard Completed screen displays.

      Step 5   Click Finish.

      The PowerShell Agent is installed to the C:\Program Files (x86)\Cisco Systems\Cisco PSA Service folder. This folder is referred to as %AGENT_INSTALL_FOLDER% in the remainder of the document.

      Step 6   On your computer, choose Start, type services.msc in the text field, and press the Enter key.

      A list of current services displays. Verify that the Cisco PSA Service is listed and is currently running.

      What to Do Next

      Configure Cisco UCS Director PowerShell Agent.

      Updating Authentication Properties

      The PowerShell Agent uses port 43891 (default) and it also uses a predefined authentication/access key to communicate with Cisco UCS Director. You can change these values, if needed, by modifying a properties file. The properties (XML) file is located in the following directory:

      %AGENT_INSTALL_FOLDER%/props/properties.xml.

      Before You Begin

      You should download and successfully install the Cisco UCS Director PowerShell Agent installation program.

        Step 1   Use a text editor to open the properties.xml file.
        Step 2   Edit the authKey entry.
        Step 3   Edit the serverPort entry.
        Step 4   Save the file.
        Note   

        When the PowerShell Agent is added to Cisco UCS Director, the port number and access key values must match the values that are specified in the PowerShell Agent. Cisco UCS Director cannot able to communicate with the PowerShell Agent if the entries do not match

        Step 5   (Optional)Restart the Cisco UCS Director PowerShell Agent service if you modify any of the properties in the properties.xml file. This can be done from the Services snap-in (Start > Services.msc)
        What to Do Next

        Configure your firewalls.

        Configuring the Firewall

        The PowerShell Agent listens for incoming requests on port 43891 by default. Your machine's firewall needs to be configured so as to allow incoming TCP requests on port 43891 (or any port that you choose to use).

        Enabling WinRM and WinRS

        To accept remote PowerShell commands, you must enable Windows Remote Management (WinRM) for Windows Server 2008 R2, 2012 or 2012 R2. Once you enable the WinRM, the interoperability of hardware and operations systems is enabled to work with the Windows Remote Shell (WinRS) command-line tool on your target server and the target server hosts.

        Before You Begin

        The PowerShell Agent only executes the cmdlets and scripts on the target server in a PowerShell remote session. It requires the WinRM configuration to accept the remote session. This is a Windows PowerShell remote session requirement

          Step 1   On your host(s), open a command prompt, and enter winrm quickconfig.
          Note   

          Configuring WinRM over HTTP or HTTPS depends on the requirements of the specific environment. HTTPS is only necessary if a secure connection is required. Instructions on configuring HTTPS communication is available at the following URL: https:/​/​blogs.technet.microsoft.com/​meamcs/​2012/​02/​24/​how-to-force-winrm-to-listen-interfaces-over-https/​

          The following messages appear: 

          WinRM is not set up to allow remote access to this machine for management. 
The following changes must be made: 
 
Create a WinRM listener on HTTP://* to accept WS-Man requests to any IP on this machine. 
Enable the WinRM firewall exception. 

Make these changes [y/n]?
          Step 2   Enter y. WinRM is updated for remote management, a listener is created to accept requests, and the firewall exception is enabled: 
          Make these changes [y/n]? y 
 
WinRM has been updated for remote management. 
 
Created a WinRM listener on HTTP://* to accept WS-Man requests to any IP on this machine. 
WinRM firewall exception enabled.
          Step 3   Verify that WinRS is enabled by entering the winrm g winrm/config command at a command prompt.
          Step 4   Configure the value " * " in the TrustedHosts table of WinRM by entering the winrm set winrm/config/client @{TrustedHosts="*"} command.
          Note   

          Adding the value " * " to the TrustedHosts table allows all hosts to be trusted or only add specific trusted IP addresses of target servers to the table.

          What to Do Next

          Make sure that the domain account used to connect the target server belongs to the local administrator group for the target server hosts.

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