Overview

This page describes how to install RightLink 10 on your custom images. RightLink can be pre-installed and a new image created by snapshotting an existing image. Custom images are not supported across all clouds. While this is our goal the following list shows where Custom images are currently supported:

Cloud Supported? Notes
EC2 Yes
OpenStack Yes
SoftLayer Yes
RCA-V Yes ExtraConfig must be turned on for Advanced Networking.
Google No* * Should work but not tested
Azure (Classic) Yes
Azure (Resource Manager) Yes

Google clouds should work although they are not tested or certified.

Custom images are tested and supported on Windows 2008R2 and newer.

Use-cases

Launching RightLink 10 Servers because of:

  • Limited outbound connectivity
  • Internal policy
  • Lack of existing image options on a public or private cloud.
  • Need to use Advanced networking for RCA-V features. Software for this feature will automatically be installed with RightLink 10.2.0 and newer if VMware Tools is installed.
  • Running RightLink under alternate user account. By default RightLink runs under a local administrator account called RightLink, but can use pre-existing Domain accounts as well.

Prerequisites

  • Install script: Administrator privileges, PowerShell 2.0+, .NET Framework 2.0+.
  • RCA-V images require VMware tools to be installed. Please see RCA-V Image Requirements. By default, RightScale network configuration scripts for RCA-V are installed along with RightLink 10 if VMware tools are present. These scripts will configure your network devices at boot to enable use of Advanced Networking for RCA-V. Pass -NoNetworkingScripts to not install this component.

Usage

rightlink.install.ps1 options are:

    Installs/Upgrades RightLink on an image.
    Parameters:
      -Username             RightLink Service User Name (default: RightLink)
      -Password             RightLink Service User Password (default: Randomly generated password)
      -NoNetworkingScripts  Skip installation of RightScale network configuration scripts for RCA-V
      -Debug                Verbose output
      -Help                 Display help

If a custom username is supplied, a password must also be supplied. The account must already exist -- domain and then local users will be checked.

Example: The following will install the latest RightLink on an Windows 2012R2 image.

  $wc = New-Object System.Net.Webclient
  $wc.DownloadFile("https://rightlink.rightscale.com/rll/10/rightlink.install.ps1",
    "$pwd\rightlink.install.ps1")
  Powershell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -File rightlink.install.ps1

Installing Behind a Proxy

The rightlink.install.ps1 script performs a download of the installation files but is not proxy aware. Therefore, if creating a custom image behind a proxy, the script will fail. In this case download the installation package zip file yourself, unzip it and then run the install.ps1 script that is part of the zip file.

Snapshotting and Bundling the Image

After installation of RightLink, the image is ready to be snapshotted.

When bundling a Windows server or cloud instance it is recommended to utilize the Microsoft Windows System Preparation tool (SysPrep). This tool is specifically made to prepare Windows machines for duplication or reuse by removing system specific data from Windows along with other various tasks.

Once prepared and SysPrepped, the instance should also be shutdown per best practice prior to bundling into a new image (/shutdown included in sysprep command below).

    sysprep /oobe /generalize /shutdown