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Operating-systems settings

When you create a template that includes an operating system, you can configure the operation-system settings (such as host naming conventions, networking, and storage) to use during deployment.

Note

  • Operating-system credentials are not included in the template. Instead, you must provide the OS credential when you deploy the template.

  • Operating-system licenses are not supported.

  • The Ethernet ports that can be configured and used for deployment is automatically detected. The first MAC address (port) that is detected is used. If connectivity is detected on a different MAC address, the device is automatically restarted to use the newly detected MAC address for deployment.

    The hub automatically detects network ports in slots 1 – 16. At least one port in slots 1 – 16 must have a connection to the hub.

You can configure the following operating-system settings.

  • Hostname. Select what to use for the hostname. By default, the hostname is “node” followed by the first 11 characters of the device UUID (for example, nodeABC31213310).

    The hostname must comply with the following rules.

    • The hostname of each managed device must be unique.

    • The hostname can contain ASCII letters, digits, and dashes (-) and must start and end with a letter or digit.

    • The total length of the hostname must not exceed 63 characters.

    When you create templates that include operation systems, you can include variables in certain OS deployment input fields. The variables will be rendered with real data when the template is deployed.

    Note
    Variables are represented by double curly brackets {{ }}.
    VariableDescription
    {{first_characters(UUID,N)}}

    This variable represents a specific number of first characters of the device UUID, where N can be 1 – 15.

    For example, if you specify node{{first_characters(UUID,11)}}, a device with UUID 65D5FDE03CC94343B772C881A06DDC96 is assigned hostname node65D5FDE03CC.

    {{last_characters(UUID,N)}}

    This variable represents a specific number of last characters of the device UUID, where N can be 1 – 15.

    For example, if you specify node{{last_characters(UUID,11)}}, a device with UUID 65D5FDE03CC94343B772C881A06DDC96 is assigned hostname node881A06DDC96.

    {{serialNo}}

    This variable represents the serial number of the device.

    For example, if you specify node{{serielNo}}, a device with serial number J900WW8A is assigned hostname nodeJ900WW8A.

    {{#}}

    This variable represents an incremental index. This number starts at 1 and increases by one for each device in the order that the template is deployed.

    For example, if you specify node{{#}}, this renders as node1, node2, node3, and so on. If the template is first deployed to device B, that device is assigned hostname node1. If you then deploy the template to devices A and C, these devices are assigned hostnames node2 and node3, respectively.

    Attention
    It is your responsibility to ensure that there are no conflicting hostnames. Ensure that each template renders unique hostnames.

  • IP assignment. You must use an existing DHCP infrastructure for assigning IP addresses to the target devices. Static IPv4 addresses are not supported.

  • DNS configuration. Currently, only DHCP is supported.

  • Installation location. The hub automatically selects the most appropriate storage device based on a priority ranking that evaluates the type, interface, and controller technology of the available storage devices. The operating system is installed on the smallest drive that is more that 2GB and of highest priority in the managed device.

    The priority is:
    • M.2 drives with and without RAID
    • Intel VROC drives
    • Onboard AHCI SATA drives (SSDs or HDDs)
    • Broadcom MegaRAID volumes
    • Broadcom SAS HBA volumes
    • All other storage types
    Attention
    Each server must have a hardware RAID adapter or SAS/SATA HBA that is installed and configured. For VMware ESXi and Windows, the software RAID that is typically present on the onboard Intel SATA storage adapter (VROC) is not supported.