Preconfiguring registration details for Test Agents

This function is primarily intended for use in the process of installing Test Agent software on hardware devices. It can also be used with preinstalled Test Agents; however, in what follows, the installation scenario is described.

In certain situations, especially when you are going to deploy a large number of Test Agents, it may be convenient to first preconfigure the Test Agents with registration details without being dependent on network connectivity, and do the actual registration only later. You can do this using the Offline registration utility in the Test Agent local console.

Follow these steps:

  • At the outset, the Test Agent should have no network connectivity.

  • Boot the Test Agent from a USB stick holding the Test Agent image (as also described on this page):

    • Insert the USB stick with the Test Agent image into a USB port on your hardware device.

    • Access the BIOS boot menu.

    • Make sure the USB memory comes before the hard disk in the boot sequence.

    • Select “USB boot” from the BIOS boot menu.

    • The boot process takes about 20 seconds. When the login prompt is shown, log in as user “admin” with password “admin”.

  • In the text-based menu, navigate to Utilities > Offline registration.

A screen with a text field appears. Here you need to enter a cloud-init configuration with the same contents and syntax as for virtual Test Agents. It is described on this page. The configuration you enter here will remain in the dialog the next time you open it.

  • If you do not specify a name for the Test Agent, a name will be generated from the MAC address of the Test Agent’s management interface.

  • If you do not specify management_address_type, it will default to DHCP.

This completes the cloud-init configuration.

  • Next, go to Utilities and select Install to disk.

  • After the installation has completed, remove the USB stick.

Then, at some later time:

  • Connect the Test Agent to a network, and reboot the Test Agent. The Test Agent will now register: cloud-init will pick up the configuration just entered, configure the Test Agent management interface and register the Test Agent with Control Center. Upon successful registration, the configuration file is deleted.

For a registered Test Agent, the Offline registration menu item changes to Unregister, and you can select this to remove the Test Agent from the system.