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Operating-system deployments

Lenovo XClarity One uses the hubs to deploy an operating system to your bare-metal servers. When you initiate an operating system deployment from the XClarity One portal, XClarity One pushes the required operating-system image to the appropriate hub and then sends a request to the hub to apply the update on the target devices. The hub sends status, progress, and log data back to the XClarity One portal during the update process so you can monitor progress.

You can install operating-systems on one or more devices using templates. For more information, see Device templates.

You can also deploy operating-systems on a specific device from the Managed devices page or from a specific device’s Operating Systems page by clicking the Deploy icon (Deploy template icon). If the target devices have an assigned template, review the updates that are selected based on the template rules to complete the installation. If no template is assigned, follow the steps in the wizard to complete the installation.

Attention

  • Ensure that the operating system that you want to deploy is available in the XClarity One repository and is in the Ready state (see Operating-systems repository).

  • When you apply a template that includes OS deployment, you are prompted for the credentials that you want to use to sign in to the operating system after deployment is complete. The credentials are not saved in the portal. Instead, they are encrypted and then sent directly to the hub.

  • If you deploy an operating system to a server that has an operating system installed, XClarity One performs a fresh installation that overwrites the partitions on the target disks. Data loss is possible.

  • It is recommended that you do not use XClarity One to perform a bare-metal operating-system deployment on ThinkAgile appliances.

  • Ensure to follow the password complexity rules of the operating system that you want to deploy to complete the deployment successfully.

Considerations​

Managed-device considerations

  • Ensure that the appropriate XClarity Controller licenses are installed on each target device

    • For devices with XCC: Lenovo XClarity Controller Enterprise Upgrade and Lenovo XClarity Controller Advanced Upgrade

    • For devices with XCC2: Lenovo XClarity Controller 2 Platinum Upgrade

    • For devices with XCC3: Lenovo XClarity XCC3 Premier

  • Ensure that the server is installed with the latest firmware and appropriate device settings. You can use the same template to perform these updates (see Device templates).

  • Ensure that a password for the root account that is to be used to deploy the operating system is defined. For more information about setting the password, see Supported operating-systems.

  • Ensure there is no mounted media (such as ISOs) on the target server.

  • Ensure there are no active Remote Media sessions open to the management controller.

  • Ensure that the timestamp in BIOS is set to the current date and time.

  • Ensure that the Legacy BIOS option is disabled. From the BIOS/UEFI (F1) Setup utility, click UEFI Setup > System Settings, and verify that Legacy BIOS is set to Disabled.

  • Ensure that secure-boot mode is disabled for the server. If you are deploying a secure-boot mode enabled operating system (such as Windows), disable secure-boot mode, deploy the operating system, and then re-enable secure-boot mode.

  • Some operating systems require UEFI secure boot to be disabled to perform the deployment. In these cases, XClarity One automatically disables the secure boot, deploys the operating system, and then changes secure boot back to the previous state. If secure boot cannot be disabled remotely, the deployment might fail.

Operating system considerations

  • Ensure that you have all applicable operating-system licenses to activate the installed operating systems. You are responsible for obtaining licenses directly from the operating-system manufacturer.

  • Ensure that the operating-system image that you intend to deploy is already loaded in the OS images repository. For information about importing images, see Operating-systems repository.

  • Some operating systems might be supported only on certain hardware platforms. You can determine whether an operating system is compatible with a specific server from the Lenovo OS Interoperability Guide website.

  • Review information about limitations for specific operating systems, see Supported operating-systems.

Network considerations

  • When running XClarity One as a local VM, ensure that network traffic is allowed the following ports to support operating system deployment. For information about all required open ports, see Configuring the hub network.

    Operating SystemInbound (ports open on the hub)Outbound XCC (ports open on XCC)Outbound OS (ports open on target OS)
    Microsoft Windows Server
    • TCP on port 443
    • Samba service – TCP on port 445
    • HTTPS – TCP on port 443
    • Remote Presence – TCP/UDP on port 3900
    		 
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux
    • TCP on port 443
    • HTTPS – TCP on port 443
    • Remote Presence – TCP/UDP on port 3900
    		 
    Ubuntu Server
    • TCP on port 443
    • HTTPS – TCP on port 443
    • Remote Presence – TCP/UDP on port 3900
    		 
    VMware vSphere (ESXi)
    • TCP on port 443
    • HTTPS – TCP on port 443
    • Remote Presence – TCP/UDP on port 3900
    		 
Boot-option considerations

  • Before you deploy an operating system:

    • Ensure that the UEFI boot option on the target server is set to UEFI boot only. The Legacy-only and UEFI first, then legacy boot options are not supported for operating-system deployment.

    • Ensure that the Prevent OS Change to Boot Order option is set to Disable.