Target audience: Mid to Highly skilled Linux, IBM and AWS admins.
Currently IBM software is retrieved from passport advantage client account. If you’re tasked with building out multiple IBM products on AWS VPCs and EC2s then setting up an install media repository that is fast and local is a must.
This article describes how to uses your S3 bucket as an IBM install software repository. Once the IBM install software repository is available then the EC2 bootstrap or UserData section of the EC2 AMI can be used to dynamically customize each EC2 instances. Use the EC2 bootstrap to install IBM software prerequisites, and then install and configure the IBM software.
The process goes like this:
- Retrieve the clients IBM software from passport advantage.
- Upload the IBM software(install media) to the S3 bucket in the Region where the IBM products will be installed.
- Upload install and configuration scripts for the IBM software to the S3 bucket.
- Setup security so the install media and scripts can be retrieved via http wget from a shell script. Security can be setup for one user or a team of admins. See AWS S3 security options.
- Setup your AWS Storage policy so these large install media files will transition through the S3 storage object life-cycle. Basically move them from S3 standard to standard-IA, then to S3-RRS finally to Glacier. The objective is to reduce cost of storing these large install files and still keep copies for auditing and creation of a DR site.Once the repository is setup, now create a shell script that.
The Shell script will:
- Installs and additional packages(RPM files) to meet the IBM software pre-reqs.
- Use wget with the URLs of each S3 storage object that needs to be retrieved to the EC2 instance.
- Set permissions on the retrieved files.
- Unpack install media files.
- Run install via response files.
- Configure the IBM software.
Once the EC2 instance is available, logon and test!
