Installing IT Advisor (on-premises)

[EcoStruxureIT]

First, install the IT Advisor server from a prepared installation media: USB key or out-of-band management (OOM) interface. Then, after installing the server, install the clients.

You do not need to preinstall an OS, as the IT Advisor installer image includes all needed installation material, including Rocky Linux. See CentOS 8 end of life

Separate instructions are available for recommendations for installing ITA in a virtual environment.

Prerequisites

• You have prepared a bootable installation media with the IT Advisor Installer Image file.
  • Ensure the media has sufficient space (4GB) and is clean before copying the ISO to it.
  • Download the IT Advisor ISO from a location provided by the support team. To locate the telephone number for your region, visit Contact Us. 

Read about creating the bootable installation media here.

When you have a bootable installation media with the ITA installer, you can install the IT Advisor server to any computer according to your licenses.

If you have a previous version of IT Advisor, first, remember to back up your solution in a remote location to be able to restore the backup after installing IT Advisor. The installation will destroy all data on the server. You will lose all data if you skip creating the backup. More...

IT Advisor ISO files

There are two versions of the IT Advisor ISO file, an online version and an offline version.

Online: EcoStruxureITAdvisor<version>.iso
Use this file when your DCO/ITA server can resolve dependencies from public internet-based repositories.

Offline: EcoStruxureITAdvisor<version>-offline.iso
Use this file when your DCO/ITA server cannot resolve dependencies from public internet-based repositories.

Installing the IT Advisor server

It is recommended that you follow the on-screen instructions and select the default options unless you have specific requirements.

1. Insert the IT Advisor installation media.

2. Connect a keyboard and display.

3. Ensure the BIOS settings enable the server to boot from the installation media and the server is connected to the network during the entire installation process.

4. In the IT Advisor boot menu, select Install to install an IT Advisor server with Rocky Linux customization options described in step 5.

A few more options not relevant to the initial installation are available:

• • Boot from local drive To skip the menu and continue booting from the local system disk.
  • Troubleshooting To troubleshoot installation problems

5. Follow the installation wizard and set the Rocky Linux language, date and time, keyboard options and user for your IT Advisor server.

a) When the Rocky Linux language settings are displayed, select the language to be used for the installation process as well as the default language of the installed system.

rockyInstallation1_360036883214.png

b) When the date and time options are displayed, select your country or the location matching your time zone.

rockyInstallation2_360036883214.png

c) For setups without network time synchronization needs, set Network Time to OFF, and select time zone on the map.

For setups with network time synchronization needs, set Network Time to ON. Next to Network Time ON, click the settings icon to open NTP options, add an NTP server, verify it is working, and select use.

Wait for the time (in the bottom left) to update, matching your current time. If NTP settings doesn't work, you can set the time manually on the server.

  rockyInstallation3_360036883214.png

d) Review the keyboard settings. 

rockyInstallation4_360036883214.png

e) Select USER CREATION to create the first OS user on the IT Advisor server with administration rights.

This is a Linux user used for server configuration operations through command line, SSH and Webmin. You do not need to set the root password as it has been disabled for many functions in IT Advisor.

Note

Do not use common usernames, such as apc or admin, and ensure the user is an administrator.

This step is important as, unless you create this administrator user (other than the root user) during installation, you'll not be able to access the server through SSH later.

For clarification, read more about users.

rockyInstallation5_360036883214.png

Advanced non-mandatory system settings

Note

You do not need to set up partitions as default LVM partitioning, allowing for easy disk space upgrades, is included in the installation.

Custom partitioning is not recommended since it has no benefit on performance and will make troubleshooting and support more difficult.

Note

For networks without DHCP, you can assign a static IP to the ethernet interface:

1. Click NETWORK & HOST NAME, then Configure...
2. Click IPv4 Settings, and in Method select Manual.
3. Click Add, type your static IP and click Save.

rockyInstallation6_360036883214.png

rockyInstallation7_360036883214.png

rockyInstallation8_360036883214.png

6. Click Begin Installation.

rockyInstallation9_360036883214.png

 8. Take a break while waiting for the installation to complete, for the server to reboot, and the IT Advisor software to initialize.

It will be several minutes.

9. Remove the installation media.

The IT Advisor server is now installed and is ready for use.

10. Log in to the IT Advisor web client as default user (credentials: apc/apc) and, as the very first thing, immediately change the password.

IT Advisor uses a different set of users than the Linux OS users (used for the IT Advisor server installation itself).

For security reasons, it is recommended that you create a new IT Advisor administration user with a complete set of user rights, including user administration rights, and then delete the default apc/apc user, or at the very least that you change the password of the apc user.

You can proceed with server configuration and client installations as required.

ITA_login_360036883214.PNG

Installing IT Advisor clients 

ITA web client is automatically available

You don't need to install the ITA web client as it is automatically available with the server installation. When the server installation has been completed, simply open a web browser and launch to the ITA server IP address to log in and start using the web client.

However, If you want to make the ITA web client or Tenant Portal available to your colleagues or customers directly from the Internet, you need to set up web client access. See more about setting up web client access here.

Installing ITA desktop client

Prerequisites: The IT Advisor server installation has been completed.

1. On the computer where you want to install the IT Advisor client, open a web browser and launch to the IP address or hostname of the ITA server <serverIPaddress> to log in to the web client and get access to the desktop client download.
   (The ITA web client is automatically available with the server installation.)
2. If you're not an English speaker, go to Account > Language option to select your preferred language.
3. Go to Configuration > Licenses to add your license keys to enable download according to your purchased licenses.
4. Go to Account > Download and then click Download to select the option for your operating system. Follow the instructions in the installation wizard. 
5. Repeat on all client computers.

ITA_download_desktop_client_3_360036883214.png