Configuration

The following illustration shows blade server configuration choices for an advanced management module.

Click Blade Policy Settings to enable or disable the following items on all blade servers in the BladeCenter unit:

• Local power, KVM, and media tray control: These fields display the global policy setting for all blade bays. When set to Enabled, the feature is enabled for all bays. When set to Disabled, the feature is disabled for all bays. The value of Not set indicates that no global policy has been set; some bays might have the feature enabled while other bays have it disabled.
• Remote KVM and media tray control: This field displays the global policy setting for all blade bays. When set to Enabled, the feature is enabled for all bays on the Remote Control applet. When set to Disabled, the feature is disabled for all bays on the Remote Control applet. The value of Not set indicates that no global policy has been set (some bays might have the feature enabled while others have it disabled). If the remote disk or remote KVM feature is disabled, its field will be disabled. You can enable the remote disk by going to the MM Control → Network Protocols → Remote Control page.
• Multiple concurrent remote video sessions per blade: This field displays the global policy setting for whether multiple concurrent remote video sessions are supported on each blade server. When set to Enabled, a maximum of four users can concurrently view the video of the same blade server using the remote console applet. When set to Disabled, only one remote video session will be supported at a time on each blade server. The value of Not set indicates that this global policy has not been initialized and only one remote video session will be supported at a time per blade server.
• Wake on LAN: This field displays the global policy setting for the Wake on LAN function for all blade bays. When set to Enabled, Wake on LAN is enabled for all bays. When set to Disabled, Wake on LAN is disabled for all bays. The value of Not set indicates that no global policy has been set; some bays might have Wake on LAN enabled while other bays have it disabled. Not all blade server types support the WOL capability; the default BIOS setting for Wake on LAN is Enabled for blade servers which support WOL.
• Auto-power on mode: This field displays the global automatic power-on policy setting for all blade bays. When set to Auto power, all blade servers automatically power on, subject to power permission, when power is applied to the BladeCenter unit, regardless of their previous power state. When set to Manual power, all blade servers are left off, when power is applied to the BladeCenter unit, until manually powered on by the user. When set to Restore previous state (the default setting), the advanced management module attempts to power on all blade servers, when power is applied to the BladeCenter unit, that were previously powered on.
  Note:

  • If the BladeCenter unit hardware configuration changed since the last known power state, no blade servers will be powered on.
  • A restart of the BladeCenter unit is required before any changes to the automatic power-on policy settings will take effect.
• Click Advanced Blade Policy Settings to access the page where you disable or enable the Ethernet interface on each blade server service processor. When installing some Linux operating systems over a network, some service processors need to have their Ethernet over USB interface disabled. Advanced blade policy settings are not supported by all blade servers.
  

Click Management Network Configuration to configure the VLAN ID for the internal management network that is used to communicate between the advanced management module and the blade server BSMPs. Selecting Enable management network auto discovery allows each management channel auto discovery (MCAD) capable blade server and the advanced management module to determine which communication channel to use based on the expansion cards that are installed on a blade server and the I/O modules that are installed in the BladeCenter unit. The communication path is automatically given higher priority for high-speed I/O Modules. Management channel auto discovery operation is controlled by the BSMP or an MCAD-capable service processor. A user can not manually specify the management communication path. See Using management channel auto-discovery, the BladeCenter SOL Setup Guide, and the documentation for your blade server for additional information about configuring MCAD.

For each blade server that supports manual configuration of its management network interface, a link is provided in the Interface Management section. Clicking this link displays a screen where you can set up the network configuration for the service processor on the blade server. See Configuring a blade server management network and the documentation for your blade server for additional information about manually configuring a blade server management network.

Click Boot Sequence to view or define the startup (boot) sequence for one or more blade servers. The startup sequence prioritizes the boot-record sources for a blade server.

The following boot sequences for your BladeCenter unit and blade servers are available. Additional boot devices might be available for some blade server types.

• Hard disk drives (0 through 4). The selection of hard disk drives depends on the hard disk drives that are installed in your blade server.
• CD-ROM (optical drive).
• Diskette drive (some BladeCenter unit types)
• Network - PXE. Selecting Network - PXE attempts a PXE/DHCP network startup the next time the blade server is turned on or restarted.
• USB modular flash drive
  Notes: The advanced management module has two USB ports. If you connect a USB storage device to one USB port, blade servers in the BladeCenter unit also can use it. The rules that determine which blade server detects the USB storage device are as follows:

  • For the BladeCenter unit, the USB storage device mounts to the blade server that has ownership of the KVM.
  • For the BladeCenter H or HT unit, the USB storage device mounts to the blade server that has ownership of the media tray.
  • The advanced management module for the BladeCenter T unit does not have external USB ports.
  • To use the optical drive or diskette drive (some BladeCenter unit types) as a boot-record source for a blade server, the blade server must have been designated as the owner of the optical drive, diskette drive (if it is supported for your BladeCenter unit), and USB port. You set ownership either by pressing the CD/diskette/USB select button on the blade server or through the Remote Control choice, described in Remote Control.
  • Some blade servers do not support the option of booting from a diskette drive.
• iSCSI boot devices. Select iSCSI Critical to force the blade server to search for an iSCSI boot device until it finds one.

Click Boot Mode to select which BIOS or system firmware copy to use when you boot the blade server. You can select a primary (temporary) copy or a secondary (permanent) copy. You should boot from the temporary copy because it typically contains the latest enhancements and updates. Switching to the permanent copy should be reserved for cases when booting from the temporary copy is no longer possible. Changes to the boot mode setting take effect after the next restart of the blade server.

Click Concurrent KVM Configuration to display a list of bays, blade servers, and their cKVM status. Click the check boxes in the first column to select one or more blade servers; then, click one of the links below the table to enable or disable concurrent KVM on the selected blade servers.

If your BladeCenter unit uses the optional Open Fabric Manager feature, click Open Fabric Manager Parameters to display a list of bays, blade servers, and their Open Fabric Manager parameters; then, click one of the links to view the detailed information for individual blade servers.