Installing and running the agent on z/OS

The build agent executable file has been installed into yourPathPrefix/usr/lpp/jazz/bfagent during the SMP/E installation.

Complete these steps to finish the installation and to start the Rational® Build Agent:
  1. If Ant with extensions for z/OS builds are not going to be used, the build agent can be started manually or through INETD. To start the build agent through INETD see "Tips for using inetd or xinetd" below. To start the build agent manually, change to yourPathPrefix/usr/lpp/jazz/v2.1/bfagent, and use the -s option:
    bfagent -s -f /etc/jazz/bfagent.conf
    The agent runs as a standalone daemon and uses the default agent port 5555. To change the default port, use the port setting in bfagent.conf. See bfagent reference. Also see inetd tips below.
  2. If you plan to use Ant with extensions for z/OS builds, the Rational Build Agent must be started from a shell script that has additional environment variables set. The Build System Toolkit for System z® contains a sample shell script that configures those environment variables and starts the agent. For more information, see Configuring the Rational Build Agent shell script.
  3. To test the build agent running on the z/OS® system, use the telnet command to test the connection. See Testing the connection.
Note: The build agent typically uses administrative privileges such as root or admin to log on to the operating system. Additionally, the build agent runs all commands using the permissions of the user who started the agent, not the user name used to log in. If the build agent is not run as the root or admin user, then you might receive authentication errors when testing the connection. To run the agent from a non-root or non-admin userid, configure the magic_login setting in the bfagent.conf. This is an alternative to standard system authentication. With this setting, the system can authenticate your login with a single user name and password. To see the steps required to configure the magic_login, see bfagent.conf Reference.

Tips for using inetd or xinetd

If the UNIX® TCP/IP daemon (inetd or xinetd) is installed and active on the z/OS system, you can set up the Rational Build Agent to run as a service and start automatically. For additional information on configuring inetd, refer to the z/OS V1R9 Information Center at http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/zos/v1r9/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.zos.r9.cs3/cs3.htm (or the appropriate information center for your version of z/OS). The full configuration of inetd is beyond the scope of this document. In a simple example, you could:
  1. Modify /etc/inetd.conf by adding this line:
    bfagent stream tcp nowait userID /usr/lpp/jazz/v2.0/bfagent/bfagent -f /etc/jazz/bfagent.conf
    bfagent
    Service name of the daemon. Default is bfagent (lowercase). The name must match the name used in /etc/services.
    stream tcp nowait
    Specific inetd configuration statements (socket type, protocol, wait flag). Do not modify.
    User ID
    User ID for the daemon process. The default is OMVSKERN. This user ID must be a user ID with a valid OMVS security segment, BPX.DAEMON permission and READ and EXECUTE permission to the installation and configuration directories.
    /usr/lpp/jazz/v2.0/bfagent/bfagent
    Server program (absolute location of bfagent). Default is /usr/lpp/jazz/v2.0/bfagent/bfagent. The arguments after this inetd argument are server arguments.
    -f /etc/jazz/bfagent.conf
    Working directory (location of Build Forge® server configuration file). The default is /etc/jazz/bfagent.conf.
    Important: Copy the customized Rational Build Agent configuration files to a new directory (like /etc/jazz/) to avoid overwriting them when applying maintenance. The working directory defined here must reflect this change.
  2. Add the following to /etc/services:
    bfagent 5555/tcp #BUILD FORGE AGENT
  3. Update the port in your bfagent.conf to map to your services entry:
    port 5555
  4. Restart inetd.

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