Required Automation Config dependencies
Automation Config
dependenciesBefore you begin installing
Automation Config
, you need to ensure your
installation project is up-to-date with these required dependencies. Use this checklist to determine which dependencies you must install in order to use
Automation Config
.
Dependency | Requirement |
|---|---|
License | Automation Config requires
one of the following licenses:
Automation for Secure Hosts
requires a license with the Secure Hosts feature enhancement.
Customers with VMware Aria Automation Suite Advanced, Suite Enterprise,
or Cloud license are eligible for this feature enhancement. To
add Automation for Secure Hosts to your VMware Aria Automation
license, contact your sales representative.Automation Config supports
multiple license keys, which means you can add any number of
license key numbers to your Automation Config installation. As long as a
license key has not yet expired,Automation Config activates any features
allowed by that license key. |
Operating System |
Salt itself is
designed to be operating system agnostic and can manage the
nodes of most standard operating systems. For a list of
supported Salt operating systems, see Salt Platform Support. For more detailed
information about additional operating systems or
considerations, see Automation Config system requirements. |
PostgreSQL version | Automation Config
requires a PostgreSQL 9.6 database, but PostgreSQL 12.4 is
recommended. The recommended version of PostgreSQL is included with
the Automation Config
installer.Since PostgreSQL is a third-party software, you are responsible
for ongoing maintenance, backups, and other administrative
tasks. For information about PostgreSQL database maintenance and
administration, see the PostgreSQL
documentation. |
Redis version | Automation Config
requires a Redis 5.x database, but Redis 6.2.7 is recommended. The
recommended version of Redis is included with the Automation Config
installer.Since Redis is a third-party software, you are responsible for
ongoing maintenance and other administrative tasks. For
information about Redis database maintenance and administration,
see the Redis documentation. |
Java version | Automation Config
requires a Java 11 runtime environment (JRE), specifically Java 11
is run on the RaaS node. The JRE is not included in the Automation Config installer. You
must install it on your operating system prior to installation.Since Java is a
third-party software, you are responsible for ongoing
maintenance, backups, and other administrative tasks. For
information about Java 11, see the Java 11
documentation. |
Internet Access | Some networks do not have consistent access to the Internet for
various reasons. These systems are also referred to as air-gapped
systems. Air-gapped systems pose particular challenges both for
installing Automation Config and for ensuring it is up to date.For more information
on preparing for installing in an air-gapped environment see,
Installation planning for air-gapped systems below. |
Salt version | Automation Config is powered
by Salt,
an open-source automation and configuration management engine
sponsored by VMware. Salt includes modules that can quickly and consistently
automate common infrastructure administration tasks such
as:
Automation Config can deploy and manage
applications. Automation Config is compatible with most versions of
Salt, although it is strongly recommended to run the latest
stable versions of Salt on your Salt master.If you plan to use
Automation for Secure Hosts with Windows servers, these Windows
minions must run Salt 3004.2 or later.For information on
installing Salt, see The Salt
install guide. For more information
on using Salt, see the Salt user
guide. |
Python version | Automation Config
packages its own Python 3.9.15. It doesn’t use the Python installed
on your operating systems and it does not require it to be up to
date. However, it is generally recommended that you run the latest
version of Python on your system. |
Firewall permissions | For standard
installations, ensure firewall access is allowed on the
following ports from the following nodes:
|
Installation planning for
air-gapped systems
Air-gapped systems are systems that do
not have consistent access to the internet. As a result, installing in an air-gapped
environment includes additional preparation and planning steps.
Plan how to transfer the
installation files
In order to complete a standard
installation, you need a mechanism through which to download, verify, and extract
the necessary installation files. If downloading files is impossible in your
network, you need to brainstorm and prepare an alternate method to transfer the
necessary installation files to the nodes on which you are installing
Automation Config
and its dependencies.You will need to transfer the files to
the node(s) involved in the installation process. Place the files in the root
folder. For a standard installation, transfer the files to the Salt master from
which you are running the installation orchestration.
Plan how to manage
upgrades
Automation Config
and its dependencies (Salt, PostgreSQL, etc.)
release regular updates with enhanced features and security updates. In order to
take advantage of these updates, you need to plan to check for updates and install
upgrades whenever they are available.Plan how to update Automation for Secure Hosts
libraries
Automation for Secure Hosts
librariesIf your organization has a
Automation for Secure Hosts
license, be
aware that both Automation for Secure Hosts
libraries release regular content updates with the latest
compliance and vulnerability content. These content libraries are updated outside of
the regular Automation Config
release
schedule.Ideally, customers can automatically
download and ingest security libraries over the Internet or through an http proxy as
soon as they are updated. However, it is also possible to manually download and
ingest these libraries. In order to take advantage of these updates, you need a plan
to check for security content updates regularly, and develop a process to manually
ingest this content when it is available.