Device templates
Lenovo XClarity One makes it easy to quickly setup and maintain your devices by deploying firmware, device settings, and operating systems on your managed devices using templates. Device templates consist of a set of rules and criteria that define the desired configuration for a certain type of device and identifies which managed devices are monitored for compliance. If a device is out of compliance, you can use the templates to update the device to match the desired profile.
You can create a template by clicking the Lifecycle Management tab in the context menu from the Device management view, clicking the Templates context menu, and then clicking the Add icon (
). Follow the steps in the wizard to create the template and assign the template to one or more devices.
You can view template details, criteria, and assigned devices by clicking the template name in the table.
Template assignment
From the Template page by selecting a template and clicking the Assign icon (
).From the Template details page by clicking the Add icon (
) from the devices table.From the Managed devices page by selecting one or more devices and clicking the Assign icon (
).
Each device can have only one assigned template or no assigned template. When a server has an assigned template, compliance is based on the rules and criteria that is defined in the template. If a server has no assigned template, compliance is based on the latest available version.
Ensure that the template is applicable to the type of server to which it is assigned. If a template is not applicable, then individual component compliance status might be "Not Assigned” even when the overall device compliance is "Compliant."
Applicability and compliance checks
After deploying device settings to many devices using a template, the updated compliance status might take a while to synchronize. You cannot continue to deploy the operating system using the same template until after the status is synchronized.
XClarity One does not know what operating system is currently installed on a device unless the operating system was deployed using a template. XClarity One determines operating-system compliance by comparing the target operating-system version in the currently assigned template to the operating-system version that was last deployed using a template. This compliance check is run on a device when:
When a template is initially assigned to the device, or when the template assigned is changed.
When the assigned template is modified.
Template deployment
While a template deployment is in progress, the target servers are locked. You cannot initiate other management tasks on the target servers until the deployment process is complete.
When servers are not compliant with their assigned template, you can make the devices compliant by deploying the assigned template to those devices. Deploying the template updates non-compliant firmware, device settings, and operating systems to the desired version based on the template rules.
You can deploy a template to one or more servers when you create and assign the template using the Create template wizard. You can also deploy a template to assigned server in the following ways.
From the Template manager page by clicking the Add icon (
) from the devices table.From the Things to do pane, click Update from the New non-compliant devices card, and follow the wizard.
From the Managed Devices page by clicking Firmware status from the context menu, and then selecting the devices and clicking the Deploy icon (
).
In some cases, prerequisite firmware might be needed to install the intended firmware version. XClarity One automatically installs prerequisite firmware, when available.
Firmware payloads must be in the repository before you can update firmware on your devices. When using XClarity One as a local VM, ensure that the firmware packages are imported in XClarity One before you attempt to update the firmware (see Firmware repository).
XClarity One updates firmware only on components that are supported by the platform.
Some components require the device to be restarted to complete the firmware update, such as unified extensible firmware interface (UEFI), network cards, RAID adapters, and disks. During the update process, the server might be restarted automatically one or more times until the entire process is complete. Ensure that any running workloads have either been stopped or moved to a different server.
Performing firmware updates, device settings, operating system deployments and power operations on managed devices are disabled by default. Before updating firmware, ensure that you enable this function from the XClarity One portal and from the hub that manages that target devices. For more information, see Management features and functions.
You cannot apply a template to a device whose compliance check failed. Unassign the template and assign it again to trigger another compliance check.
During the update process, if one component fails, the hub continues to apply updates on the remaining components for the device and for other devices in the same job.
Delayed deployment
Some updates require the target devices to be restarted, which could disrupt work on those devices. To minimize the disruption, you can choose to delay the deployment process until after the target device is restarted by selecting Prioritized activation.
When the device needs to be restarted:
- ThinkSystem V4 servers: The deployment job enters a waiting state and waits for the device to be restarted to continue. After the device is restarted, the job resumes automatically and completes the update.
- ThinkSystem V1/V2/V3 servers: If target firmware requires a restart, the deployment job enters a waiting state and waits for the device to be restarted to continue. If target firmware does not require a restart, the job completes with a warning, and you are notified to manually restart the device to activate the pending firmware.