How to Install Oracle Ops Center 11g (Step by Step Guide)

Oracle Enterprise Manager Ops Center is the hardware management solution for Oracle’s Sun environments. Ops Center simplifies resource discovery and monitoring, provides OS and firmware provisioning, performs update and patch management and supports hardware management from power up to production. It has built-in integration with My Oracle Support.

I’ll try to show how to install Enterprise Manager Ops Center 11g Release 1 on Oracle Linux 5.5 (32bit). My previous installation guide for Oracle Linux 5.6 can help you to install Oracle Linux 5.5.

Enterprise Manager Ops Center has a text based installer but I should say that it works really well. First download the setup file from Oracle.com:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/oem/ops-center/oem-ops-center-188778.html

Extract the file:

After you run the above command, you’ll see that there is a new folder called “xvmoc_full_bundle”. Enter this folder and run the installer as “root” user. The installer will install the required Java package if needed:

Enter the metalink (My Oracle Support) login info or just press enter to continue without entering MOS credentials and enter “y” when it asks if you’re sure.

Ops Center requires at least 4GB memory but I’ll install it to a virtual PC with 2GB, so I ignore first warning pressing “c”.

The installer shows the missing packages, we should install these packages to go next step. Look at the line starting with “Error: Missing rpm(s)”:

Error: Missing rpm(s): expect-5.43.0-5.1 perl-DBD-Pg-1.49-1.fc6 dhcp-3.0.5-3.el5 perl-XML-Parser-2.34-6.1.2.2.1

You can open another terminal window and install these packages and press “t” to make the installer re-check the packages. I will use YUM to install them. If you wonder how to setup YUM and use free repository provided by Oracle, read this:

http://www.gokhanatil.com/2011/06/enterprise-manager-grid-control-and.html

If YUM repository is ready, run the following commands or find and install the required RPMs from Oracle Linux installation CD:

Now we can go to next step. Re-run the installer or if it’s still running, enter “t” so it will re-check and continue to next step:

We’ll wait until installation is done. Although I have installed several times, no error occurred in these steps. So it’s very smooth process and all you have to do is to wait.

Installation is done. Now we need to connect to Ops Center to complete the initial configuration. As you see it looks like Ops Center uses an insecure connection (no SSL) but when you try to connect the above address, your browser will be pointed to a secure connection (https://opscenter11.gokhanatil.com:9443).

We’ll complete the configuration of Ops Center via web interface. This is also the web interface which we’ll use for managing Ops Center. After you read the introduction click “next”. I was using Chrome Browser and as you see I see a warning which says my browser doesn’t support all features of web interface.

This page explains the terminology used in Ops Center. As you see, Ops Center communicates with target system through proxy controllers. Click next to continue.

Ops Center will do another per-request check at this step. We should use at least 4GB and I can say that Ops Center 11g is hungry for RAM (like EM Grid Control 11g).

At this step, we can make (internet) proxy settings, create an alternative user, and define host name. Unless you know what you’re doing, leave them as they are and click next.

These two pages explain how you can deploy proxy controllers (reminder: Ops Center communicate with target systems through Proxy controllers). We can deploy multiple proxy controllers for separate networks. In this installation, I’ll use only one proxy controller, and it’ll be deployed to the same server with my Ops Center.

Select “simple deployment” and click next.

Select the correct network interface from the pulldown menu and click next. Proxy controller will manage the systems which can connect through this network interface.

The installer configures the proxy controller. Click close and next.

In this step, we can check if our proxy controller can reach target systems. Click “check” button, enter an IP of a target server and click “launch job”.

So our proxy server can successfully reach the target system. Click close.

Click “refresh” so you’ll see status of proxy controller online and then click next.

I’ll discover the target servers later, so click “next”. By the way, this automatic discovery requires service tag is enabled on target systems. I’m planning to write another blog about it later.

You may register your Ops Center to communicate with Oracle Datacenter. Enter MOS credentials or leave it blank and click next.

Now we’ll configure services such as software updates, provisioning and DHCP. Click next to continue.

I’ll use “connected mode” for getting software updates from Oracle. Select the appropriate option for you and click next.

I’ll enter my MOS credentials. Click next to continue.

You can create software library now or later. You can define your library (repository folder) on local storage or NFS. I select “configure library now” and click next.

I have created a folder (/storagelibrary) and enter it as “file:///storagelibrary/”.

Software library is configured successfully, click “close”.

I need to configure DNS services for provisioning, I select “perform configuration now” and click next.

Select the interface (probably the same interface you used for “proxy controller”) and then click “configure”. You’ll see the message which says required job is launched. Click next to advance to the last page of configuration.

Congratulations! It’s done. When you click finish, you’ll be forwarded to login page of Ops Center.

You can enter “root” user/password or the user you defined in configuration to login.

ADDING NEW ASSETS TO OPS CENTER

We’re ready to add an asset (a target system to manage) to our Ops Center. There are four discovery methods:

1. Discover and Manage Assets – a wizard to quickly discover and manage assets
2. Automatic Discovery – uses service tags
3. Custom Discovery – uses standard protocols (we’ll use SSH)
4. Declare Assets – instead of discovery

I’ll use “Custom Discovery” to add my system.

Log in to Ops Center, you’ll see the assets page. There’s a sliding menu at right side, click the double arrows to open it, and then click “custom discovery”.

In the discovery criteria, enter “criteria name”, “ip subnet” (or IP of server), do not click “save” yet, scroll down the panel.

Select “solaris, linux OS” as target systems. Click the checkbox of SSH, and enter “root” credentials of “target system”. Click “save”.

Click “discover assets”, so Ops Center will create a job for discovery process.

You can get more information about the job created for discovering assets. Click the quick link at the bottom of the page, or open the jobs and find the running job.

When the job completed (it takes some time depending on how many target systems will be discovered and subnet range), you can find the new assets in “avaliable to be managed assets” tab. Select the target server and click green button.

We have not configured software updates, so it warns me about it, click next to continue.

We can use the same credentials we used for discovery, click next (or enter new credentials).

Click “finish”, so Ops Center will create a job to add this asset. Again, you can click to the quick link at the bottom of the website.

Wait until the job completed.

That’s all. Now we can start to manage and monitor our target system.