An on-premises Datalink Agent is used to access data sources behind your company's firewall. The agent can be installed anywhere on your network that allows a connection to your source system. Datalink requires a separate on-premises agent from Datalink (Classic). The agent is configured by your TBMA. 

 

 

Network requirements 

The network supporting the Datalink (Classic) Agent must meet the following requirements: 

• DNS configured to resolve apptio.com and all sub domains. 
• Destinations port 443. 
• The ability to make outgoing TCP connections to all apptio.com domains. All network traffic between the agent and Apptio originates from your local system. You are not required to open any inbound firewall ports for the agent to communicate with Apptio. All communication from the agent to Apptio uses SSL 256-bit encryption and occurs via HTTPS, port 443. 

 

System requirements 

Use the following guidelines to identify a proper machine for the agent: 

IMPORTANT: Anti-virus programs that scan the agent installation folder when the agent is running may cause operational or permissions issues for the agent. Because of this, it is recommended that you program your anti-virus program to run on the agent installation folders only during planned maintenance windows. Once the anti-virus program has been run, check the anti-virus quarantine folder for any valid files that may have been incorrectly quarantined. 

Supported operating systems 

• Windows 64-bit - All versions of Windows that support Java 7 or Java 8 Runtime Environment (Windows Vista to the most recent version) 
• Linux 64-bit: 

• • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 and above 
  • Suse Enterprise Linux Server 10 SP2 and above 
  • Any other Linux distribution that supports Java 7 or 8 Runtime Environment (JRE) 

Apptio does not officially support installations on Unix operating systems. Because Unix is not officially tested or supported by Apptio, the Apptio Support team will be unable to troubleshoot or support any Unix-related issues. 

Minimum hardware requirements: 

• Processor - Dual 64-bit processors or higher. More processors allow for increased, simultaneous process executions. 
• Memory - 4 GB of RAM (minimum 2 GB dedicated to an agent). More RAM allows for increased, simultaneous process executions. 
• Hard disk - 100-200 GB of hard disk space. Increase purging levels to agent disk space. 

 

Minimum software requirements for Windows and Linux: 

• Java (for Windows and Linux)  Java 7 or 8 is required. Java 8 is recommended. Apptio-tested Java versions 1.7.0_55 and 1.8.0_221. 
• Java Runtime Environment (for Windows and Linux) The Datalink Agent is a Java application and requires Java 7 or 8 to run. Apptio only supports the Oracle JRE. The installer automatically downloads a private copy of the Java 8 JDK for agent use. 
• NOTE: The private copy of the JDK is a complete JDK created in your agent’s JRE directory. The private JDK will not interfere with a shared JDK (one that you, not the installer, installed). It is not integrated into browsers and does not write registry entries. 

Additional agent installation requirements and information: 

• You can install more than one on-premises agent on the same machine. 
• Datalink on-premises agents are separate agents from those installed with Datalink (Classic). 
• The machine that hosts the agent must always be powered on, or least as often as processes are scheduled to run. 
• You must have a persistent high-speed internet connection (for example, cable or DSL). 

 

Generate an installation token 

The registration link between the agent and Apptio is established via an agent token. You generate a token when creating a new agent. The token is valid for 24 hours after it is generated. 

NOTE: Previously, generating the token required contacting Apptio Support. Datalink v.1.1 (build 67813), released on April 13, 2020, changed this to support generating the token within the application. 

 

Install a Datalink Agent 

Root access (or Windows administrative access) is required for installation. After the installation, a named user account can run the agent without requiring root access. 

1. Go to the Agents tab on the Datalink homepage. Click on the New Agent button.
2. Generate the installation token and click on the Installer button. Download the appropriate file for Windows or Linux environments.

If Java JDK is not installed, it will be installed with the agent. It is recommended that you install the agent on a partition or drive (for example, D:\ ) that is separate from the operating system. 

For each server that hosts data you want to ingest using Datalink, you must: 

• Install the agent using elevated permissions. In Windows, it is recommended you use the Elevated Command Prompt. For your operating system, enter the following text in a command prompt to install the agent:
  

• • Windows 64-bit- .\dataLinkFinancialsAgent_install64.exe -q -console -VinstallToken=<token> -VatomName=dataLinkFinancialsAgent -dir \home\<username>\<DataLink_Financials_Agent_installation_directory> 
  • Linux 64-bit - ./dataLinkFinancialsAgent_install64.sh -q -console -VinstallToken=<token> -VatomName=dataLinkFinancialsAgent -dir /home/<username>/<DataLink_Financials_Agent_installation_directory>
• The Finishing Installation dialog appears. Click Enter. 

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