Importing custom configuration settings

Configuration settings describe data that needs to be gathered dynamically during OS deployment. Lenovo XClarity Administrator uses a set of predefined configuration settings, including global, network, and storage location settings. You can use these predefined configuration settings and add custom configuration setting that are not available through the XClarity Administrator.

About this task

The custom configuration settings are defined in the form of a JSON schema. The schema must conform to the JSON specification.

When you import custom configuration settings to XClarity Administrator, XClarity Administrator validates the JSON schema. If the validation passes, XClarity Administrator generates custom macros for each setting.

You can use the custom macros in the unattend file and post-installation script.

In unattend files

You can associate the custom configuration file with an unattend file and include these custom macros (and predefined macros) in that unattend file.

You can add one or more custom configuration settings files in a custom profile. When you deploy the OS profile to a set of target servers, you can choose which configuration settings file to use. XClarity Administrator renders the Custom Settings tab on the Deploy OS Images dialog based on the JSON schema in the configuration settings file and allows you to specify values for each setting (JSON object) that is defined in the file.

Note

OS deployment will not proceed if input is not specified for any required custom configuration settings.

In post-installation scripts

After the data is gathered during OS deployment, XClarity Administrator creates an instance of the configuration settings file (which includes the custom settings in the selected file and a subset of predefined settings) on the host system that can be used by the post installation script.

Note

Configuration settings file is unique to a custom OS-image profile.
You cannot modify configuration settings for predefined OS-image profiles.
Configuration settings are supported for only the following operating systems:
- Microsoft® Windows® Server
- Red Hat® Enterprise Linux (RHEL) Server
- Rocky Linux
- SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server (SLES)
- VMware vSphere® Hypervisor (ESXi) with Lenovo Customization 6.0u3 and later updates and 6.5 and later.

The OS images repository can store an unlimited number of predefined and custom files, if space is available to store the files.

Procedure

To import configuration-settings files into the OS-images repository, complete the following steps.

From the XClarity Administrator menu bar, click Provisioning > Manage OS Images to display the Deploy Operating System: Manage OS Images page.
Click the Configuration Settings tab.
Click the Import File icon (). The Import Configuration Settings dialog is displayed.
Click the Local Import tab to upload files from the local system, or click the Remote Import tab to upload files from a remote file server.
Note
To upload a file from a remote file server, you must first create a remote file-server profile by clicking the Configure File Server icon (). For more information, see Configuring a remote file server.
If you chose to use a remote file server, select the server that you want to use from the Remote File Server list.
Select the operating-system type.
Enter the file name of the configuration-settings file, or click Browse to find the file that you want to import.
Optional: Enter a description of the configuration-settings.
Tip
Use the Description field to distinguish between custom files with the same name.
Optional: Select a checksum type to verify that the file being uploaded is not corrupt, and copy and paste the checksum value in the provided text field.
If you select a checksum type, you must specify a checksum value to check the integrity and security of the uploaded file. The value must come from a secure source from an organization that you trust. If the uploaded file matches with the checksum value, it is safe to proceed with deployment. Otherwise, you must upload the file again or check the checksum value.
Three checksum types are supported:
- MD5
- SHA1
- SHA256
Click Import. The JSON format is validated when you import the file. If errors are found, a dialog is displayed with the error message and location.
Tip
The file is uploaded over a secure network connection. Therefore, network reliability and performance affects how long it takes to import the file.
Attention
If you close the web browser tab or window in which the file is being uploaded locally before the upload completes, the import fails.

After you finish

The configuration-settings files are listed on the Configuration Settings tab on the Manage OS Images page.

From this page, you can also perform the following actions.

Create a configuration-setting file by clicking the Create icon (), and then specifying the file name, description, OS type, and configuration settings and values. Click Validate to validate the schema before saving the file.
The editor identifies the location of any errors that are found in the file. Note that some messages are English only.
View and modify a configuration-settings file by clicking the Edit icon ().
You cannot edit a configuration-settings file that is associated with an unattend file.
The editor identifies the location of any errors that are found in the file. Note that some messages are English only.
Copy a configuration-settings file by clicking the Copy icon ().
If you copy a configuration-settings file that is associated with an unattend file, the associated unattend file is also copied and the association is automatically created between both copied files.
Remove selected configuration-setting files by clicking the Delete icon ().
Create a remote-file-server profile by clicking the Configure File Server icon ().

For information about adding an configuration-settings to a customized OS image profile, see Creating a custom OS-image profile.

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