Configuring your BladeCenter S topic script

In this e-Learning course, you will learn the basics for configuring an IBM BladeCenter® S unit. You will hear about the components that you must configure, the steps you will need to complete, the options available to you for predefined configurations, and the management interfaces you can use.

Before you begin, be sure to install and cable all BladeCenter S components and connect the power supply to the BladeCenter S unit.

During your BladeCenter S configuration, you will be configuring four components: the Advanced Management module, the I/O modules, the blade servers, and storage.

Configuring your BladeCenter S unit consists of several steps. First, you will need to connect to the BladeCenter S through the Advanced Management module. Then, you will use the Advanced Management module software to configure Advanced Management module using the express or custom setup option. Next, you will configure connectivity for your Ethernet switch. Your final step is to work with zoning configuration to perform Serial Attached SCSI, or SAS, zoning. During this step, you can select from several pre-defined storage configuration options or you can customize your configuration. Let’s look at each step in more detail.

There are three methods you can use to connect to a BladeCenter S unit. You can use the serial port connection located on the Advanced Management module.

You can use a laptop to directly connect to the Advanced Management Module using either a regular Ethernet cable or an Ethernet crossover cable.

Or, connect to your Advanced Management module through a management network. Find out more about these BladeCenter S unit connections in the IBM BladeCenter Type 8886 Planning Guide and BladeCenter 8886 Installation and User's Guide located in the IBM Systems Information Center.

After you connect to the BladeCenter S unit, you can configure the Advanced Management module. First, start the Advanced Management module configuration wizard, where you select the custom or express setup option.

If you are new to BladeCenter or BladeCenter S, the Advanced Management module Express wizard guides you through most common set up tasks, shown here. This includes creating an IP address, defining security settings, event alerts, and setting date and time stamps for Advanced Management module.

If you are an experienced BladeCenter S system administrator or certain functions are critical for you, you might want to use the custom option to set up your BladeCenter S unit. This option allows you to further define event notifications, synchronize Network Time Protocol, or NTP server time, and choose whether to activate a storage configuration.

After selecting the express or custom option, you can use the Advanced Management module wizard to configure the BladeCenter S unit.

The wizard checks the operational status of all devices installed for the unit and displays a system status summary. The wizard also discovers which components are installed on the BladeCenter S unit.

If you selected the custom option, you can import a saved configuration file from another BladeCenter S unit to this BladeCenter S unit. This option is not available in the express setup, but can be accessed later if you need to change the unit configuration.

Next, for both configuration options, you specify general information about the BladeCenter S unit including the Advanced Management module name, the physical location for the unit and administrator contact information.

You then configure your network interface including host name, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, or DHCP, settings and static IP address.

Next, you specify the network settings for your I/O module configurations, including any static IP addresses. Here, you can select the check box to activate the functions to enable external ports, enable external control on ports, or to preserve the I/P address on reset of a port.

Your next step is to create a new user ID and password for unit administration.

If you selected the custom option, you can enable or disable SSL and SSH protocols. For SSL, you can choose to generate and install a new security certificate. For SSH, encryption information is displayed.

If you selected the express installation option, you cannot disable security. SSL protocol is automatically defined, and you submit the required certificate data.

Then you specify the domain name server, or DNS, and IP addresses by following the instructions.

After you complete your DNS setup, you configure event notifications. If you selected the custom installation, you can configure the Advanced Management module to notify you by e-mail of informational, warning or critical events.

The express setup option streamlines event notification. Here, enter the name and e-mail address of the recipient, and the SMTP server host name or IP address.

If you are using the custom option, you can use the Network Time Protocol, or NTP, to retrieve and assign the server date and time information. You can also select how often the time is synchronized with the NTP server, the GMT offset applicable to this BladeCenter S unit location and make daylight savings time adjustments.

If you are using the express option, you assign the date and time for the server, the GMT offset and whether or not to automatically adjust the server time for daylight savings time.

On the next panel, select whether the SNMPv1 and SNMPv3 agents are disabled or enabled. If an agent is enabled, specify the SNMP parameters for that agent.

Finally, Advanced Management module displays a system summary and confirmation. When all the settings are correct, click Save All Settings and exit the wizard. Then, download and install the latest version of the Advanced Management module firmware. This completes your Advanced Management module configuration step.

Next, configure connectivity for your Ethernet switch. Use the manufacturer’s software specific to your Ethernet switch to configure your IP setup. If your BladeCenter S unit has two Ethernet switches, use the manufacturer’s software to configure each installed Ethernet adapter.

Now it is time to select your storage configuration, also known as zoning or SAS zoning. You will use Advanced Management module or IBM Storage Configuration Manager to allocate your data storage. Later, if needed, you can use Storage Configuration Manager to customize your SAS zoning.

You can use Advanced Management module or Storage Configuration Manager to select one of eight predefined configurations that support most typical BladeCenter production environments. Predefined configurations are numbered two through nine. Each supports a specific number of blade servers, SAS connectivity modules, and storage modules.

To help you select the one that best meets your needs, review the information on this panel.

Predefined storage configuration 2 is designed to support:

After you complete SAS zoning, you have completed all of the configuration steps.

Now that you’ve configured the BladeCenter S unit, there are several different interfaces that you can use to manage it. When you first configured the unit, you used Advanced Management module. After this initial configuration, you can use Storage Configuration Manager and IBM® Director, both of which offer extended capabilities for BladeCenter management.

Storage Configuration Manager is available both on CD or can be downloaded from the Web. You can install Storage Configuration Manager as a stand-alone application or as an extension to IBM Director 5.20.2. Use a standard Web browser from any computer on the network to access the Storage Configuration Manager component of the application.

After you install Storage Configuration Manager, you will need to add your components to the Storage Configuration Manager system. There are two ways to do this. The first is to use the Initial Configuration Wizard, which will guide you through the steps of adding modules, setting the date and time, and modifying passwords. The other way of adding your components is to select the Health option, then select All SAS Modules. Click on the Add SAS Module button. In the dialog box, specify the IP address that was assigned to the device using Advanced Management module during initial unit setup. After you complete this step, you can zone your blade servers and storage disks.

IBM Director is ideal for remote administration of multiple systems, including multiple BladeCenter systems, and is available for you to download with no charge. To use IBM Director you must install IBM Director Server and at least one Director Console. Then, install IBM Director agents on each individual BladeCenter server to be managed. Next, use IBM Director Console and IBM Director Server to perform an initial discovery of the BladeCenter servers. To be discovered, the servers must be part of the same management network. In the e-Learning course, Managing your BladeCenter S, you can learn more about how IBM Director can help you with BladeCenter server management.

In this e-Learning course, you have learned about:

Configuring your BladeCenter S: e-Learning topic script