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Discovering and managing Lenovo servers

Lenovo XClarity One discovers and manages supported servers with baseboard management controllers (including ThinkSystem, ThinkEdge, and Think Agile servers) through XClarity One Hub.

Discovering servers​

Servers must be discovered by a hub before they can be managed by XClarity One. Servers can be discovered in the following ways.

  • Automatically discover devices

    The hubs automatically discover supported devices with baseboard management controllers in your environment by probing every five minutes for manageable devices that are in the same IP subnet as the hub using the SSDP protocol.

    Important
    Ensure that SSDP is enabled on the baseboard management controller on each server as well as routers in your environment. For ThinkSystem servers, click BMC Configuration > Network from the Lenovo XClarity Controller web interface.

  • Use a DNS service to discover devices

    You can use a DNS service to discover ThinkSystem and ThinkEdge servers by manually adding a service record (SRV record) to your domain name server (DNS), and then enabling DNS discovery on the Lenovo XClarity Controller. From the XClarity Controller web interface, click BMC Configuration > Network from the XClarity Controller web interface, click the DNS and DDNS tab, select Use DNS to discover, and then select the resource manager from the XClarity Manager list.

    After the servers are discovered, they appear in the Unmanaged devices list where you can then manage them.

    Ensure that the service record includes the following information for ADS-based DNS.
    PropertyValue
    DomainYour root domain
    Service_lxca
    Protocol_tcp
    Priority0
    Weight0
    Port number443
    Host offering this serviceFully-qualified domain name (not the IP address)

  • Manually discover devices

    If supported servers were not discovered automatically by a hub, you can manually discover and manage those devices from the XClarity One portal. Servers can be discovered using specific IPv4 addresses, full-qualified domain names, range of IP addresses, or by probing for manageable devices on specific IP subnets.

    To discover devices, click the Device Management view, click Unmanaged Devices in the context menu, and then click the Add icon (Add icon). When the wizard opens, select Lenovo Servers for the device type, and then follow the steps in the wizard to complete the process.

    After the devices are discovered, they appear in the Unmanaged devices list where you can then manage them.

Managing devices​

To manage discovered devices, click the Device Management view, click Unmanaged Devices in the context menu. Select the devices that you want to manage and click Manage devices icon (Manaage icon). Follow the steps in the wizard to complete the process.

Before managing devices, ensure that the latest firmware is installed on each device that you want to manage.

During the management process, the hub:

  • Creates a management user account named XC1_MGR_{last 8 chars of hub UUID} with an encrypted password on the baseboard management controller for the device. The password is rotated automatically on a regular basis.

    After the management process is complete, the hub uses this XC1_MGR_* user account to connect to the device. The credentials that you provided during the management process are no longer used by the hub.

  • Adds subscriptions to the device for sending event and metric data to the hub.

  • Collects inventory and vital product data.

  • Collects metric data, including memory predictive failure analysis (MPFA).

  • Saves sensitive information in the vault.

  • Regenerates the HTTPS certificate on the server if the current HTTPS certificate is either self-signed or signed by another hub. The HTTPS certificate is valid for 90 days. The management hub regenerates the HTTPS certificate on the server again 45 days before it expires.

    Note
    If the HTTPS certificate is signed by a third party, the hub sends an event and alert to XClarity One seven days before the expiration date.