Customizing Your Agent Installation for Debian Linux

You can customize you installation by using command options to override the current configuration values for installation or by configuring the debconf database.

Customization from the Command Line

To configure your installation from the command line, use a command of the following form:

sudo <OPTION=value> dpkg  -i vmware-log-insight-agent-<version-and-build-number>_all.deb

For a complete list of options, see Command-line Options for VMware Aria Operations for Logs Agent Installation on Linux.

The following examples show some show some typical configurations done from the command line.

Specify a target VMware Aria Operations for Logs server.

To set the target during installation, run the sudo command and replace hostname with the IP address or hostname of the VMware Aria Operations for Logs server as shown in the following example:

sudo SERVERHOST=hostname dpkg -iv mware-log-insight-agent-<version-and-build-number>_all.deb

Unless you enabled the --force-confold flag during installation, whenever you update to a newer version, the system prompts you to keep or replace the liagent.ini configuration file. The following system message appears:

Configuration file `/var/lib/loginsight-agent/liagent.ini'
 ==> Modified (by you or by a script) since installation.
 ==> Package distributor has shipped an updated version.
   What would you like to do about it ?  Your options are:
    Y or I  : install the package maintainer's version
    N or O  : keep your currently-installed version
      D     : show the differences between the versions
      Z     : start a shell to examine the situation
 The default action is to keep your current version.
*** liagent.ini (Y/I/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ?

To preserve the existing configuration, use [default=N]. The additional parameters passed from the command line are still applied.

Configure the connection protocol.
To override the default connection protocol, use the SERVERPROTO variable as shown in the following example:
```
sudo SERVERPROTO=syslog dpkg -i vmware-log-insight-agent-<version-and-build-number>_all.deb
				  
				
```
Configure the connection port.
To override the default connection port, provide a value for the SERVERPORT variable to the installer as shown in the following example:
```
sudo SERVERPORT=1234 dpkg -i vmware-log-insight-agent-<version-and-build-number>_all.deb 
```
Run the agent as a non-root user.
To run the VMware Aria Operations for Logs Linux agent as a non-root user, run the sudo command.
```
sudo LIAGENTUSER=liagent dpkg -i vmware-log-insight-agent-<version-build-number>_all.deb
```
If the specified user does not exist, the VMware Aria Operations for Logs Linux agent creates the user account during the installation. The created account is not deleted after uninstallation. If you install the Linux agent with the LIAGENTUSER=non_root_user parameter and try to upgrade with the LIAGENTUSER=non_root_user2 parameter, a conflict occurs. Warnings appear because the non_root_user2 user does not have the permissions of the non_root_user user.

DEB Package Customization Options for the debconf Database

The agent DEB package can also be configured through the debconf database. The following table shows supported debconf options and corresponding VMware Aria Operations for Logs agent DEB installer options:


Command-line Options	Debconf Options	Description
SERVERHOST=`hostname`	vmware-log-insight-agent/serverhost	IP address or host name of the VMware Aria Operations for Logs virtual appliance. The default is `loginsight`.
SERVERPROTO={`cfapi`\|`syslog` }	vmware-log-insight-agent/serverproto	Protocol that the agent uses to send log events to the VMware Aria Operations for Logs server. The possible values are `cfapi` and `syslog`. The default is cfapi.
SERVERPORT=`portnumber`	vmware-log-insight-agent/serverport	Communication port that the agent uses to send log events to the VMware Aria Operations for Logs or third party server. By default the agent uses the appropriate port based on the options that are set for SSL and the protocol. See default port values provided in the list below. You need to specify the port option only if it's different from these defaults. cfapi with SSL activated: 9543 cfapi with SSL deactivated: 9000 syslog with SSL activated: 6514 syslog with SSL deactivated: 514
LIAGENT_INITSYSTEM=`{init`\|`systemd`}	log-insight-agent/init_system	During install time, the agent automatically detects the type of init system for the machine you are installing the agent on. You can override this behavior by specifying the type of system value with this option. There are two types of supported init systems: `init` and `systemd`.
LIAGENT_AUTOUPDATE=`{yes`\|`no`}	vmware-log-insight-agent/auto_update	Activate or deactivate auto-update for the agent. You must also activate auto-update from the VMware Aria Operations for Logs server to fully activate auto-update. The default is yes. Auto-update is not supported for Linux BIN packages.
LI_AGENT_RUNSERVICES	vmware-log-insight-agent/init_system	Immediately after the installation, the services `liagentd` (agent) and `liupdaterd` (updater) are started by default. You can prevent them from starting by setting the LIAGENT_RUNSERVICES debconf parameter to `no`. The default is yes. The only accepted values are `yes` and `no`; `1` or 0 are not supported values.
LIAGENT_SSL	vmware-log-insight-agent/ssl	C
LIAGENTUSER=`user-account-name`	vmware-log-insight-agent/liagentuser	Specifies an account under which the agent is run. If the user does not exist, the installer creates it as a regular user. If the specified user account does not exist, the VMware Aria Operations for Logs Linux agent creates the user account during the installation. The created account is not deleted after uninstallation. By default the agent is installed to run as a root user. If you install the agent with the `LIAGENTUSER=non_root_user` parameter and try to upgrade with `LIAGENTUSER=non_root_user2`, a conflict occurs. Warnings appear because `non_root_user2` user does not have the permissions of the user `non_root_user`. The created user is not removed during uninstall. It can be removed manually. This parameter is intended for the agent service only. The updater service is always running as a root user.