Enhanced J2EE Agent Installation Process
Starting with this release of J2EE agents, the installation process includes the following features that allow for a smoother, less restrictive, more secure installation process and deployment:
J2EE Agent Support for Installation Using Non-Administrative User Accounts
The requirement in prior agent releases that the installation user have root (or Administrator) privileges has been removed. The agent can now be installed by any user regardless of access privileges.
Benefit - Support for Installation Using Non-Administrative User Accounts: The benefit of this feature is that it contributes to a more flexible installation process. Because privileged user accounts are not required, you can install agents in any directory location based on user preferences.
Secure Handling of Sensitive Information by J2EE Agents
All sensitive information, such as passwords, is now read from files. This information is not typed in clear text during an interactive session. Therefore, it is never displayed in the command line or in any logs. For more information about the use of a password file, see the related pre-installation step in the following section,Preparing to Install Agent for BEA WebLogic Server/Portal 9.2 for information about creating and using a password file during the agent installation process.
Benefit - Secure Handling of Sensitive Information: The benefit of this feature is increased security. With the use of this feature in the new installation process, the need for typing passwords in clear text on the command line has been eliminated, thereby making the installation process less vulnerable to password theft.
Self-Contained Installation of J2EE Agents
All J2EE agent configuration and log files are generated and maintained within an agent’s installation directory. This installation directory is referred to as the Policy Agent base directory. In code examples this directory is listed as such, PolicyAgent-base. For more information about the Policy Agent base directory, see J2EE Agent Directory Structure in Policy Agent 2.2. The distribution files for the 2.2 release of J2EE agents are provided to you in three formats. You can choose the format that best fits your needs: zip format, tar format, or a package format. The files are small in size since the installer for this release uses a simple configuration mechanism. In summary, when you unpack the binaries, the configuration and log files remain within the installation directory.
Benefit - Self-Contained Installation: This feature contributes to a more flexible installation process. The fact that an installation is self-contained facilitates the installation process and the subsequent administration process.
J2EE Agent Support for Multiple Physical Installations
There is no longer any restriction on using multiple different binaries of the same agent on the same machine.
Benefit - Support for Multiple Physical Installations: This feature contributes to a more flexible installation process. The fact that multiple binaries of the same agent can co-exist on the same machine allows for flexibility in securing complex environments where more than one server is installed on the same machine. Typically such environments are used for development purposes or for production using high capacity hardware systems.
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