Skip to main content

Features on Demand

Features on Demand activates features without requiring the installation of hardware or the purchase of new equipment. This activation is done by acquiring and installing the corresponding Features on Demand key.

To use the remote-control and operating-system deployment operations in Lenovo XClarity Administrator, you must enable XClarity Controller Enterprise level or MM Advanced Upgrade for servers that do not come with these features already activated by default. These operations also require that a Features on Demand key for remote presence is installed on ThinkSystem, Converged, and System x servers. You can determine whether remote presence is enable, disabled, or not installed on a server from the Servers page (see Viewing the status of a managed server).

Some advanced server functions are activated using Features on Demand keys. If features have configurable settings that are exposed during UEFI setup, you can configure the setting using Configuration Patterns; however, the resulting configuration is not activated until the corresponding Features on Demand key is installed.

Note
You cannot install or managed Features on Demand keys from XClarity Administrator; however, you can view the list of Features on Demand keys that are currently installed on managed servers. For more information about viewing installed Features on Demand keys, see Viewing Features on Demand keys.
To acquire and install Features on Demand keys:

  1. Purchase the Features on Demand upgrade using the appropriate part number.

    You can purchase keys from the Features on Demand web portal. When your purchase is complete, you will receive an authorization code by e-mail.

  2. On the Features on Demand web portal, enter the authorization code that you received, along with the unique system identifier of the server that you intend to upgrade.

  3. Download the activation key in the form of a .KEY file.

  4. Upload the activation key to the management controller for the server.

  5. Restart the server. When the restart is complete, the feature is activated.

For more information about Features on Demand keys, see Using Lenovo Features on Demand.