Windows Server 2003 on Proliants. Deployment Techniques and Management Tools for System Administrators

The usage scenario in this section uses server blades as an example to

• Deploy an OS using scripted installation

• Perform an image capture

• Deploy a captured image simultaneously to other similar server blades

• Perform a server configuration

• Set a deployment rule to enable rip-and-replace on a deployed server blade

Although this scenario uses server blades, the process can be duplicated for other supported ProLiant servers. When performing an image capture and deployment, the hardware configuration of the target servers must be identical to the hardware configuration of the reference server.

This scenario presumes that all necessary installation and pre-deployment steps provided in the HP ProLiant Essentials ”RDP ”Windows Edition Installation Guide have been performed.

note

If you plan to change the default rack and enclosure names, setting these names before the first server in an enclosure connects to the Deployment Server. After the server blades are powered on for the first time and the rack and enclosure names are recorded in the Deployment Server database, the server blades must be rebooted for new rack and enclosure names to be discovered . For more information, refer to "Configuring ProLiant BL Server Enclosures" in the HP ProLiant Essentials RDP ”Windows Edition Installation Guide.

Connect an enclosure of server blades to the network and power on the enclosure. The server blades connect to the network. The Deployment Server detects all server blades that come online and displays them in the Computers pane of the Deployment Server Console under New Computers or Physical Devices by utilizing PXE.

Server blades are indicated in the Deployment Server Console by rack name-enclosure name-bay number. For example, in the following figure, the rack name of the first server is HPQ, and the enclosure name is BL10e. Each server blade is denoted by an icon, which specifies that the server blade is waiting for instructions as shown in Figure 9.22.

Scripted Installation Deployment for ProLiant BL Servers

You can deploy all the server blades in an enclosure by means of a scripted install job. However, it's faster to run the scripted install on the first server blade, which becomes the reference server, and then capture and deploy the reference server image to all the other server blades in the enclosure simultaneously.

From the Deployment Server Console, to deploy a single server blade:

1. In the Jobs pane, select the scripted install job to deploy, and drag this icon to the server to be deployed (see Figure 9.23).

Figure 9.23. Drag and drop of an OS install event.

2. Select Run this job immediately, and then click OK.

The Details pane displays the tasks that are occurring during the installation. When the server deployment is complete, the server icon and server name change.

note

For Windows installs , the server name is a randomly generated name specified by the unattend.txt file. For Linux installs, the server name is the default hostname, localhost for Red Hat or (none) for UnitedLinux.

note

The job status might change to Complete before the installation is actually complete, because the installation status is not communicated to the Deployment Server during the OS portion of the scripted install job. The installation is complete when the Deployment Agent on the target server automatically connects to the Deployment Server and displays the blue server icon.

Image Capture for ProLiant BL Servers

After a scripted install and any postconfiguration of the reference server are complete, you can perform the image capture and deploy that image to multiple similar servers.

From the Deployment Server Console, capture a server blade image by following these steps:

1. In the Jobs pane, select the Capture Hardware Configuration and Windows Image job, and drag the icon to the reference server in the Computers pane (see Figure 9.25).

Figure 9.25. Drag and drop the image capture event.

2. Select Run this job immediately, and then click OK.

note

The jobs provided with the RDP create and deploy images using a predefined image name. If you use the provided jobs without modification, each time you capture a new image it overwrites the previous image. To capture images for different server configurations, you must copy and rename the job, and then modify the file name variables within the job so that the files are saved with a unique name.

The server reboots and performs the specified tasks.

When the image capture is complete, the server icon changes to indicate a server is connected to the Deployment Server.

Image Deployment for ProLiant BL Servers

From the Deployment Server Console, deploy a set of server blades using imaging:

1. In the Computers pane, select all the server blades to be deployed, and drag these to the corresponding Deploy Hardware Configuration and Windows Image job (see Figure 9.26).

Figure 9.26. Dragging a group of servers to a job.

tip

If you are deploying the image to all the server blades in an enclosure, you can select the enclosure from the Physical Devices view.

note

Redeploying the captured image to the same reference server enables you to take advantage of the speed of image deployment if the reference server is ever replaced with rip-and-replace enabled.

2. Select Run this job immediately, and then click OK.

The image of the reference server previously captured is deployed to all the selected server blades simultaneously. When the server deployment is complete, the server icons change to indicate a server is connected to the Deployment Server.

Configuration of Deployed Servers

When deploying an image, the target server is automatically reconfigured to use the computer name and IP address information specified in the Deployment Server database. This Deployment Server feature can also be used to reconfigure existing servers or servers deployed using scripted install.

In the previous example, the reference server blade was installed using a scripted install job. This server was named HPQ-H7BVGXDFUE9, as specified in the Windows unattend.txt file.

To change the name of the reference server to match those deployed using imaging:

1. In the Computers pane, right-click the server to configure, and then select Configure (see Figure 9.27).

Figure 9.27. Deployed server configuration.

2. At the Computer Configuration Properties screen, select Microsoft Networking, and then enter the new computer name (see Figure 9.28).

Figure 9.28. Update the computer name.

3. If you want to change from the default DHCP configuration to a fixed IP address, select TCP/IP, and then enter the IP address information for the server. Select OK to start the reconfiguration process.

The server configuration changes, and the change is reflected in the Deployment Server Console (see Figure 9.29).

Rip-and-Replace for ProLiant BL Servers

From the Deployment Server Console, set a deployment rule on one of the deployed server blades:

1. In the Computers pane, right-click a single server.

2. Select Properties (see Figure 9.30).

Figure 9.30. Right-click and choose Properties.

3. Scroll down and select the Bay icon.

4. Select Re-Deploy Computer from the Server Change Rule list (see Figure 9.31).

Figure 9.31. Computer properties bay rules to re-deploy a blade

5. Click OK.

When this server blade is replaced, the deployment history is replayed on the new server. The tasks and jobs in the server history are run starting from the most recent image or scripted installation job, which for this example would be the image deployment.