16.2 Performing an Unattended Installation

You can use a response file to perform an unattended installation of ZENworks 11 SP4. You can either edit the default response file (provided at DVD_drive:\Disk1\InstData\silentinstall.properties), or perform an installation to create your own version of the response file that contains the basic installation information and edit that copy as needed.

For an embedded Sybase database, you must create a response file to perform an unattended installation; you cannot reuse the response file generated for a server that uses an external database.

Do the following to create the response file, and then use it to perform an unattended installation:

16.2.1 Creating Your Response File

  1. Run the ZENworks 11 SP4 installation executable on a server by using one of the following methods:

    • Linux GUI: sh /media/cdrom/setup.sh ‑s

      Using the sh command resolves rights issues.

    • Linux command line: sh /media/cdrom/setup.sh ‑e ‑s

    For more information on the installation arguments, see Installation Executable Arguments.

  2. When prompted, provide a path for your custom response file.

    When you use the -s argument by itself, the installation program prompts you for a path for the response file. The default file name is silentinstall.properties, which you can rename later (see Step 3.f).

  3. Add the Management Zone and external database passwords to your custom response file.

    Because the external database password that you enter during creation of the custom response file is not saved in the response file, you must add the database and the Management Zone passwords in each copy of the response file in order for it to be correctly provided during an unattended installation.

    Optionally, you can create an environment variable to pass the password into the unattended installation. Instructions for this are contained in the response file where the password information is stored.

    While you are editing the response file, you can make any other changes necessary to customize it for your unattended installation. The response file contains instructions for its various sections.

    To add the external database and Management Zone passwords into the response file:

    1. Open the response file in a text editor.

      Your custom response file is in the location that you specified in Step 2.

      If you are editing the default response file, it is located at DVD_drive:\Disk1\InstData\silentinstall.properties.

    2. Search for ADMINISTRATOR_PASSWORD=.

    3. Replace $lax.nl.env.ADMIN_PASSWORD$ with the actual password.

      For example, if the password is novell, the entry will be

      ADMINISTRATOR_PASSWORD=novell
    4. (Conditional) If you are using an external database, search for the line DATABASE_ADMIN_PASSWORD=, and replace $lax.nl.env.ADMIN_PASSWORD$ with the actual password.

    5. (Conditional) If you are using an external database, search for the line DATABASE_ACCESS_PASSWORD=, and replace $lax.nl.env.ADMIN_PASSWORD$ with the actual password.

    6. If you want to add another Primary Server to the existing Management Zone, you must provide the following information in the response file:

      PRIMARY_SERVER_ADDRESS=$Primary_Server_IPaddress$
      PRIMARY_SERVER_PORT=$Primary_Server_port$
      PRIMARY_SERVER_CERT=-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----MIID9DCCLotsOfEncryptedCharactersSja+bY05Y=-----END CERTIFICATE-----

      where

      PRIMARY_SERVER_ADDRESS is the IP address or DNS name of the parent Primary Server if the secondary server is being installed to an existing Management Zone.

      PRIMARY_SERVER_PORT is the SSL port used by the parent Primary Server if the secondary server is being installed to an existing Management Zone. The default port is 443.

      PRIMARY_SERVER_CERT= is the certificate you specified on the parent Primary Server if the secondary server is being installed to an existing Management Zone. The certificate must be in the base64 encoded string format of an x509 certificate, and the certificate string must be specified in one line. This is just an example of the certificate information.

    7. Save the file and exit the editor.

  4. After you have completed modifications to your custom response file, copy it from the path that you specified in Step 2 to a location on each server where you will use it for the unattended installation.

  5. To use the updated response file, continue with Section 16.2.2, Performing the Installation.

16.2.2 Performing the Installation

  1. On the installation server where you will perform an unattended installation, insert the Novell ZENworks 11 SP4 installation DVD and mount it.

  2. To start the unattended installation, run the following command:

    • sh /media/cdrom/setup.sh ‑s -f path_to_file.

    where path_to_file is either the full path to the response file that you created in Section 16.2.1, Creating Your Response File, or a directory containing the silentinstall.properties file (it must use that file name).

    Using the sh command resolves rights issues.

    If you renamed the updated response file, include its new name with the path.

    If a file name is not given, or if either the path or file does not exist, the -f parameter is ignored and the default installation (GUI or command line) is run instead of an unattended installation.

  3. To create another Primary Server for the Management Zone by performing an unattended installation, return to Step 1; otherwise, continue with Step 4.

  4. After the installation has completed, continue with Section 16.3, Verifying the Installation.