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Configuring network settings for managed servers

Network settings are configuration options that are specific to each server. You must configure the network settings for a managed server before you can deploy an operating system to that server.

About this task

If you are using DHCP to assign IP addresses dynamically, you must configure the MAC address.

If you are using static IP addresses, you must configure the following network settings for a specific server before you can deploy an operating system to that server. After these settings are configured, the deployment status of the server changes to Ready. (Note that some fields are not available for static IPv6 addresses.)

  • Hostname

    The hostname must comply with the following rules:

    • The hostname of each managed server must be unique.

    • The hostname can contain strings (labels) that are separated by a period (.).

    • Each label can contain ASCII letters, digits, and dashes (-); however, the string cannot start or end with a dash and cannot contain all digits.

    • The first label can be 2 - 15 characters in length. Subsequent labels can be 2 – 63 characters in length.

    • The total length of the hostname must not exceed 255 characters.

  • MAC address of the port on the host where the operating system is to be installed.

    The MAC address is set to AUTO by default. This setting automatically detects the Ethernet ports that can be configured and used for deployment. The first MAC address (port) that is detected is used by default. If connectivity is detected on a different MAC address, the XClarity Administrator host is automatically restarted to use the newly detected MAC address for deployment.

    You can determine the status of the MAC address port that is used for OS deployment from the MAC address drop-down menu on the Network Settings dialog. If multiple ports are up or if all ports are down, AUTO is used by default.

    Note

    • Virtual network ports are not supported. Do not use one physical network port to simulate multiple virtual network ports.

    • When the server's network setting is set to AUTO, XClarity Administrator can automatically detect network ports in slots 1 – 16. At least one port in slots 1 – 16 must have a connection to XClarity Administrator.

    • If you want to use a network port in slot 17 or greater for the MAC address, you cannot use AUTO. Instead, you must set the server's network setting to the MAC address of the specific port that you want to use.

    • For ThinkServer servers, not all host MAC addresses are displayed. In most cases, MAC addresses for AnyFabric Ethernet adapters are listed on the Edit Network Settings dialog. MAC addresses for other Ethernet adapters (such as the Lan-On-Motherboard) are not listed. In cases where the MAC address for an adapter is not available, use the AUTO method for non-VLAN deployments.

  • IP address and subnet mask
  • IP gateway
  • Up to two domain name system (DNS) servers
  • Maximum transmission unit (MTU) speed
  • VLAN ID, if VLAN IP mode is enabled

If you choose to use VLANs, you can assign a VLAN ID to the host network adapter that is being configured.

Procedure

To configure network settings for one or more servers, complete the following steps.

  1. From the XClarity Administrator menu bar, click Provisioning > Deploy OS images to display the Deploy Operating System: Deploy OS images page.
  2. Select one or more servers to configure. You can select up to 28 servers to be configured at one time.
  3. Click Changed Selected > Network Settings to display the Edit Network Settings page.
  4. Complete the fields in the table for each server.
    Tip
    As an alternative to filling in each row, you can update all rows in the table for some of the fields:
    1. Click Change All Rows > Hostname to set the hostnames for all servers, using either a predefined or a custom naming scheme.
    2. Click Change All Rows > IP address to assign a range of IP addresses, subnet mask, and gateway. The IP address is assigned for each server, starting with the first IP address and ending with the last IP address that is displayed. The subnet mask, and gateway IP address are applied to each server.
    3. Click Change All Rows > Domain Name System (DNS) to set the DNS servers to be used by the operating system for DNS lookup. If the network defines DNS servers automatically, or if you do not want to define DNS servers, select None.
    4. Click Change All Rows > Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) to set the MTU to be used on the configured Ethernet adapter on the deployed operating system.
    5. Click Change All Rows > VLAN ID to set a specific VLAN ID for operating-system VLAN tagging.

      You can specify a value from 1 – 4095. The default value is 1, which means VLAN mode is not used.

      This option is available only when Use VLANs is enabled on the Global Settings dialog (see Configuring global OS-deployment settings).

      Important
      • Only specify a VLAN ID when a VLAN tag is required to function on the network. Using VLAN tags can affect the network routability between the host operating system and the XClarity Administrator.
      • Chassis or top-of-rack switches must be independently configured to handle VLAN tagged packets. Ensure that XClarity Administrator and the data network are configured to handle these packets correctly.

      • VLAN mode is supported only for servers that have MAC addresses in their inventory. If AUTO is the only MAC address that is available for a server, then VLANs cannot be used to deploy operating systems to that server.

      • VLAN tagging is not supported for Linux operating-system deployments; however, if you want to deploy with VLAN on some servers and also deploy on other servers without VLAN at the same time, you can force deploying under VLAN mode by setting the VLAN ID to 1.

  5. Click OK to save the settings. Settings are saved and persistent only in your web browser’s local storage cache.

Results

Each configured server now shows Ready as the deployment status on the Deploy Operating System: Deploy OS images page.