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Configuration considerations

Before you begin configuring servers through Lenovo XClarity Administrator, review the following important considerations.

  • If a server profile includes earlier firmware levels and you update firmware to later levels, XClarity Administrator compares the stored profile settings to the server settings, and reports “Not Compliant.” Hover the cursor over the “Not Compliant” status to determine the reason for the non-compliance.

  • After upgrading firmware (such as UEFI, BMC or I/O controllers) on a server, some configurations might change (for example, when adding new items, deleting existing items, or changing the behaviors or value range of an item). As a result, the server profile might become non-compliant or applying the server pattern might fail if it is created using a previous firmware level. In this case, it is recommended that you choose to learn a new pattern based on the updated firmware or edit the failed pattern to exclude the configuration of specific items, and then apply that pattern to the server.

  • The QLogic 8200 2-Port 10GbE SFP+ VFA adapter has invalid values for these settings: iSCSIFirstTargetParameters_iSCSIName, iSCSISecondTargetParameters_iSCSIName and IPv6LinkLocalAddress. You must manually correct these values in the system setup before learning the configuration pattern from the server or correct the values in the learned configuration pattern.
  • For Flex System x240 and x440 Compute Nodes with embedded RAID adapters, server patterns that define RAID configuration definitions can be deployed only to one or more servers that do not have existing RAID configurations. If a server pattern is deployed to a server that has an existing RAID configuration, the existing arrays and volumes are not overwritten.

    To apply the RAID configuration that is defined in the server pattern, you must first clear the servers existing RAID configuration (see Resetting storage adapters to default values), and then redeploy the server profile by selecting the server and clicking More > Deploy Server Profile.

  • The onboard storage controllers in Flex System x220, Flex System x222, and ThinkSystem servers support software-based RAID. However, configuration of software RAID using Configuration Patterns is not supported.

  • When configuring RAID using Configuration Patterns, if the server is powered off, the server boots to BIOS/UEFI Setup automatically before activating the server profile.

  • For ThinkServer servers, Configuration Patterns are not supported.
  • Certain I/O devices cannot be configured using server patterns. For more information, see XClarity Administrator Support – Compatibility webpage.

  • If advanced features (such as SPAR, Easy Connect, and stack) are enabled on Flex switches EN4093R, CN4093, SI4093, or SI4091, network configurations might not be applied correctly on internal ports.

  • By default, Flex switch SI4093 is shipped with SPAR enabled. If you want to deploy network settings using port patterns to internal ports on these switches, you must manually remove the switch internal ports from SPAR or remove the SPAR configurations from the switch.

  • It is recommended that you do not use XClarity Administrator to configure the Converged and ThinkAgile appliances using Configuration Patterns.

  • Ensure that all available ports are enabled on the installed adapters before creating the Configuration Patterns from an existing server so that all available ports and settings are included in the pattern. Then, if needed, you can disable any ports using the appropriate settings defined in the pattern. If ports are disabled when the pattern is created, the pattern might not be created correctly, and the pattern might not deploy successfully.