Can't Start BES Client on Solaris 5.8

Usage and Config Platform
1

Hi all …

I am trying to load the BigFix client on this Sun Solaris 5.8; specifics are below:

Command uname -a returns:
SunOS crmcmsun6 5.8 Generic_108528-13 sun4u sparc SUNW,Sun-Blade-1000

According to the above, I believe this is a 64-bit operating system.

We tried this package below specifically:
BESAgent-8.2.1409.0.sparc_sol8.pkg

It installs fine but when it is launched, it immediately fails and this time, there is nothing written to any logs that we can think of. Of course, it is not getting far enough to create a BES Clent log.

We tried picking the oldest version for this …
BESAgent-8.0.584.0.sparc_sol8.pkg
… and the result was the same - client would not start.

We noticed the uname -a reported this: “Sun-Blade-1000” … is there perhaps a different client for this? If so, would any of you know the right one (I didn’t see any other choices for Solaris 8 from this page: http://support.bigfix.com/bes/install/besnonwindowsarchive.html )

–Mark

2

If I look at our earliest supported version of BigFix (8.2.1409), your uname output returned a kernel version of 5.8 which appears to map to Solaris 8

And it appears you are trying the right installer package:
http://software.bigfix.com/download/bes/82/BESAgent-8.2.1409.0.sparc_sol8.pkg

Looking on our end internally, I see that Solaris support is for Sparc only. and that Solaris 8 is no longer supported by BigFix in version 9.0.

It may be possible you are running into compatibility issues with Sun-Blade’s.

However, can you first confirm that you are attempting to install the agent along with the masthead file? Without the masthead file the agent will not install.

See installation instructions here:
http://support.bigfix.com/bes/install/besclients-nonwindows.html#solaris

  1. Download the corresponding BigFix Client package file to the Solaris computer.
  2. Copy your actionsite masthead to the Solaris BigFix Client computer (the masthead contains configuration, license, and security information). The action site masthead (actionsite.afxm) can be found in your BigFix Installation folders (by default they are placed under C:\BigFix Installers). If the masthead is not named actionsite.afxm , rename it to actionsite.afxm and place it on the computer at the following location: /etc/opt/BESClient/actionsite.afxm
    Note: You may need to create the directory /etc/opt/BESClient/ if it does not already exist.
    Note: In BigFix 4.0 and later, the masthead file for each BigFix Server is downloadable at http://servername:port/masthead/masthead.afxm (example: http://bes.bigfix.com:52311/masthead/masthead.afxm ).
  3. Install the PKG by running the command: pkgadd -d <path to BigFix Client package file>
  4. In 9.2 and above the BigFix Client will be started automatically by the Service Manager, on older versions run the command: /etc/init.d/besclient start

Note: Earlier revisions of Solaris (7 and 8) did not include functions required for proper running of the BES Client in the libC (SUNWlibC package) libraries. Ensure that the libC libraries have been patched to a sufficient level so that the BES Client will operate correctly.

Maybe that last note is coming into play here. Check your libC libraries to ensure they are up to date.

1 Like
3

Its most likely the libC issue.

My only question is why are you still using Solaris 8? The hardware appears to support the current Solaris and this is very out of support :slight_smile:

1 Like
4

Additionally you should verify that you can run 32 bit applications on the machine
You should get a response like this

>isainfo -v
64-bit sparcv9 applications
32-bit sparc applications
1 Like
5

Hi AlanM … I have no idea why my customer has a Solaris 8 server :slight_smile: --Mark

6

Thank you all for your suggestions - I will report back once I hear from my customer.

–Mark

7

Hi all … this is the latest.

I get the desired results for the isainfo -v command …

isainfo -v
64-bit sparcv9 applications
32-bit sparc applications

Best we can tell, the libC (SUNWlibC package) libraries for this machine are at version 108434-24 but there seems to be a version 108434-25 available. One of two things will now happen:

  • Either the library will be updated --or–
  • It will be determined that the machine is old enough where it doesn’t pay to upgrade this library to allow the BigFix client to run.

I’ll keep you posted with what happens.

–Mark

8

That does seem to match the comments listed at the below link but it suggests that 108434-20 is sufficient based off the link there that also -sigh- doesn’t seem to work anymore

https://support.bigfix.com/bes/install/besclients-nonwindows.html#solaris

9

Hi all …

The customer decided not to perform the upgrade of the SUNWlibC package and leave the server alone. The purpose of getting the BigFix client on here was to include it with ILMT licensing calculations, but it was manually checked for IBM software and there is none, nor likely will there be any installed on this. So safety first, we’ve decided to leave well enough alone.

–Mark

1 Like