How to install the Landscape Client snap

This document describes how to install the Landscape Client snap and some general limitations of the snap. If you want to install the Debian package instead of the snap, see how to install Landscape Client.

Contents:

• Install and set up
• Limitations

Install and set up the Landscape Client snap

The Landscape Client snap is available in the Snap Store. This installation method is suitable for Ubuntu Core devices but can also be used on classic Ubuntu systems.

Install

To install the snap, run:

sudo snap install landscape-client --beta

The installation of the snap will also automatically connect the necessary interfaces for the client, granting it permission to remotely manage the device through Landscape.

Configure

After you’ve installed landscape-client snap, you’ll need to provide some basic configuration values to finish setting up the snap. There are three possible methods to configure the snap.

Method #1: Use the configuration wizard

You can use the configuration wizard to guide you through the configuration process. To do this, run:

sudo landscape-client.config

Then follow the prompts and provide an requested information.

Method #2: Provide the information as parameters

You can provide any necessary information directly as parameters. To do this, run:

sudo landscape-client.config --silent --account-name="${LANDSCAPE_ACCOUNT_NAME}" --computer-title="${LANDSCAPE_COMPUTER_TITLE}" --tags='' --ping-url="http://${LANDSCAPE_FQDN}/ping" --url="https://${LANDSCAPE_FQDN}/message-system"

Replacing the placeholder variables with their appropriate values.

• {LANDSCAPE_ACCOUNT_NAME}: Self-hosted Landscape users should set this to standalone.

• {LANDSCAPE_COMPUTER_TITLE}: The name of the computer you’re installing the snap on. You choose this name.

• {LANDSCAPE_FQDN}: The FQDN used during your Landscape Server installation.

When the configuration is complete, you’ll receive confirmation that the client was registered successfully or if an error occurred.

Method #3: Use set to set individual configuration values

You can use the snap set command to set individual configuration values. For example:

snap set landscape-client computer-title {LANDSCAPE_COMPUTER_TITLE}
snap set landscape-client url {LANDSCAPE_URL}

After setting any configuration variables using set, you’ll need to restart the client snap for the new configuration to be applied:

snap restart landscape-client

The options you can set with snap set are:

• account-name

• computer-title

• landscape-url

• log-level

• script-users

• manager-plugins

• monitor-plugins

• access-group

• registration-key

Accept the registration

If you didn’t specify a registration key, you’ll need to accept the registration request in the Landscape web portal. You’ll receive an alert that a pending computer/device needs approval. If you’re re-installing a device that previously existed in Landscape, you can select it during this stage of the registration if you want to reuse the instance.

To accept the registration from the alerts menu in the header:

1. Click on the alert

2. Confirm that the device attempting to enrol is your device

3. Click Accept

Your device will then appear in your list of computers, which is found in the Computers page in the header. It may take a few minutes to start populating information.

Limitations of the Landscape Client snap

There are some limitations to be aware of when using the Landscape Client snap and some functionality which isn’t available yet in the web portal. In many cases, you can use remote scripts to overcome these limitations. It’s recommended that you explore the example scripts available in the Landscape Scripts repository on GitHub.

Ubuntu Core

You may encounter these limitations when using the Landscape Client snap on Ubuntu Core:

Remote script execution

You can use remote script execution in the Landscape Client snap, but the functionality is limited by the confinement of the snap. The automatically connected interfaces allow for extensive system configuration and management via script execution, but it may be necessary to do this in a snap interface-friendly manner. For more information, see how to use remote script execution and the Landscape Scripts repository on GitHub.

User management

Adding users through Ubuntu One SSO and system user assertions is supported by the client snap but not yet implemented on Landscape Server and its web portal. It’s possible to perform these actions using a custom script.

Deleting users works since the user is removed from the device but the status is not reported on the portal. The deleted user will be removed from the user list.

Some actions like locking and editing users are unsupported by the Snapd REST API.

Snap services management

Snap services management is supported on the client snap but not yet implemented on Landscape Server and its web portal. It’s possible to perform these actions using a custom script.

Possible service actions include: start, enable, stop, disable, restart and reload. These can be performed on individual snap services or on a batch of snap services.

Snap configuration

Setting snap configuration is supported on the client snap but not yet implemented on Landscape Server and its web portal. It’s possible to perform this action using a custom script.

Ubuntu Classic

You may encounter these limitations when using the Landscape Client snap on Ubuntu Classic:

User management

You can list users, but tasks that require writing directly to files in /etc and /home aren’t possible with the Landscape Client snap’s confinement on Ubuntu Classic.

Package management

Snap confinement doesn’t currently allow the snap to access APT for Debian package management.

Ubuntu Pro

Reporting of Ubuntu Pro status through the UbuntuProInfo plugin is currently disabled on the snap. This is due to it requiring access to the APT package management system, which is not available from the snap.

Snap services management

The same issues that affect snap services management on Ubuntu Core also apply to Ubuntu Classic. See the previous section on Ubuntu Core and snap services management.

Snap configuration

The same issues that affect snap configuration on Ubuntu Core also apply to Ubuntu Classic. See the previous section on Ubuntu Core and snap configuration.