APM 8.1.4 agent installation fails on RHEL8

Answer

A)

Prerequisite before attempting the agent installation:

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As documented here

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/capmp/8.1.4?topic=systems-preinstallation-linux#agent_prereq_linux__section_os

It says:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8

IBM APM 8.1.4.0 core framework IF11, or later, is needed on RHEL 8

To support RHEL 8, you must apply core framework IF11 or later on the (APM) server and configure agent installation images. Because you are installing agents, the server side patch is enough in this scenario. 

B)

Installation steps

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I have tested, on a test RHEL8 system, and the following package can be used to install successfully APM 8.1.4 agents (like WebSphere MQ agent for example) on RHEL version 8:

adv_agents_xlinux_8.1.4.0.19.tar

Download:

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This package is available for download from your IBM Passport Advantage.

You can find the part numbers here, for reference:

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/capmp/8.1.4?topic=advantage-part-numbers

The latest (currently) versions of APM 8.1.4 agents are available in this package, release 8.1.4.0.19.

Example:

Agent installation tar files for Linux® for System x

M09C4ML

adv_agents_xlinux_8.1.4.0.19.tar

Installation:

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-Install IBM APM 8.1.4.0 core framework IF11, or higher core framework IF on the APM 8.1.4 SERVER host.

-then, configure(*) the downloaded APM agent installation package adv_agents_xlinux_8.1.4.0.19.tar image on your APM server system.

Then, transfer the configured adv_agents_xlinux_8.1.4.0.19.tar file to your targeted RHEL8 agent system.

Use the configured adv_agents_xlinux_8.1.4.0.19.tar installer to attempt APM 8.1.4 WebSphere MQ agent, or other agent, installation.

(*) image configuration steps are documented here:

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/capmp/8.1.4?topic=agents-configuring-downloaded-images

Remark:

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The alternative, if you want to still try and use your "current" adv_agents_xlinux_8.1.4.0.15.tar installer, is to setup the following environment variable:

SKIP_PRECHECK

PRIOR to launching the ./installAPMAgents.sh program; the installer will then skip the prerequisite checker step.

From your terminal session, launch the command:

export SKIP_PRECHECK=1

then launch the installer program:

./installAPMAgents.sh

See for reference about SKIP_PRECHECK:

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/capmp/8.1.4?topic=agents-bypassing-prerequisite-scanner