Creating a configuration file automatically

When using Basic BOFM for the first time, you must create a configuration file in which you assign virtual addresses to each slot in each chassis.

The following example outlines the steps you might follow when creating a configuration file automatically. It does not apply to all BladeCenter environments. These example steps assume that you have a single domain (no addresses are duplicated).

Log in to the AMM Web interface and select Open Fabric Manager in the left pane, under Blade Tasks. The Open Fabric Manager Configuration Management page opens in the right pane.
Click Create an Initial Configuration. This opens the Specify Virtual Addresses page in the right pane.
For the Ethernet Address Type, use the pull-down under Vendor and select IBM.
Note: Another option for Vendor is User Defined.
For the FC Address Type, use the pull-down under Vendor and select Emulex or QLogic.
For the SAS Address Type, use the pull-down under Vendor and select LSI or IBM range.
Click Advanced option and check the box next to Generate an FC target place holder or SAS target place holder.
In the WWN field, enter the storage system WWPN.
Note: Optionally, you can also specify a value in the LUN field.
Click Next. This opens the Chassis to include page in the right pane.
Click Next. You can optionally add to an existing BOFM configuration. You can specify an existing BOFM configuration file (CSV file) using the Browse button. This file is prepended to the newly generated BOFM configuration file that contains addresses that follow those in the existing specified file. This extends the existing BOFM domain. If you do not want the new BOFM configuration prepended to an existing configuration, do not specify any file name. Instead, click Next.
On the Chassis to include page, there are two methods for providing the list of chassis to be included in the configuration file.
You can either create a file with the list of AMM IP addresses or use the chassis that were discovered by the AMM via SLP. Before you click the Use AMM IP Addresses that were discovered on the AMM management network button, first use the Remote Chassis page with the SLP method to verify that all chassis on the page are those you want to configure BOFM. Otherwise, specify the chassis address list in a file as described below.

If you elect to use an explicit list of AMM IP addresses instead, create a text file in which each line contains a single IP address or the hostname of a single chassis. If you use hostnames in this file, enable DNS and define at least one DNS server on the AMM Web interface Network Protocols page. When the text file is complete, you can then select the Use AMM IP Addresses in a file that I specify option on the Chassis to include page. Click Browse to locate the file that you created.
Note: You can also use a valid existing BOFM configuration file to define the list of chassis.
Click Next. The AMM generates the configuration file and displays The Configuration File Has Been Created page.
The browser launches the File Save window allowing you to save the generated configuration file. If the File Save window does not appear, click Download the configuration file manually on The Configuration File Has Been Created page.

It is best practice to store the configuration file locally, and validate the new configuration. It is also important to store the configuration file in a safe location because this is your original copy of the BOFM configuration. If an AMM has a hardware failure and you don't have a standby AMM, this is your single source to reproduce the BOFM configuration.

To apply the configuration directly or to create a Requirements Report, you can do it directly from this page.

When you complete the Specify Virtual Addresses page, consider the following information:

Some applications check the adapter type and vendor using the address. You can select ranges that meet the type of adapter that you are using. Each vendor has allocated a special range for Basic BOFM outside of their normal range which guarantees that these addresses do not conflict with any previous or future burned-in addresses. Selecting a vendor automatically sets values within that range. You can also set it to user defined mode and select any range by editing the From and To fields.

The default address ranges are as follows:

Ethernet: The range for IBM MAC range is:
00:1A:64:76:00:00 - 00:1A:64:76:FF:FF.

FC :
  Qlogic: WWPN odd port range : 21:80:00:E0:8B:0X:XX:XX
  WWPN even port range: 21:81:00:E0:8B:2X:XX:XX
  where : X = 0..F
  WWNN adresses are generated internally by Qlogic from the WWPN.

Emulex : WWNN odd port range: 2F:FE:00:00:C9:XX:XX:XX
  WWNN even port range: 2F:FF:00:00:C9:XX:XX:XX
  WWPN odd port range: 2F:FC:00:00:C9:XX:XX:XX
  WWPN even port range: 2F:FD:00:00:C9:XX:XX:XX
  where x = 0..F

SAS:
  IBM range for WWPN: 50:05:07:60:1A:80:00:02 to
  50:05:07:60:1A:BF:FF:FF
  LSI range for WWPN:
  50:00:62:B0:00:11:17:02 to 50:00:62:B0:00:12:16:ff

For FC (Fibre Channel), there are two ranges for each vendor: one for odd-numbered ports and one for even-numbered ports. The non-BOFM default is that the system assigns an address from one of the ranges for each port. When generating the file automatically, the system allocates the addresses for the even ports out of the first range and allocates the addresses for the odd ports out of the second range.
Note: For some devices this might not be the appropriate allocation. For example, a Fibre Channel high speed adapter is connected to ports 6 and 8, which are both allocated out of the second range, and this might appear as two different devices rather then a single device. You can update the file manually to match your specific devices.
For some vendors (such as QLogic), you do not need to define a WWPN, since it is automatically derived from the WWPN.
By default, when you choose to assign MAC addresses they are assigned for each of the ports 1 to 8, FC addresses are assigned for each of the ports from 3 to 8, and SAS for ports 3 and 4 only. These configurations match a single slot blade. These are generic configurations, which contain a virtual address for each possible hardware type (Ethernet expansion card, FC expansion card, or SAS expansion card). As a result, when you change the type of blade or expansion card, you do not need to modify the BOFM configuration. However, this option makes the configuration file bigger and error validation harder. If you want to generate a configuration that assigns an address to a subset of the ports, you can use the advanced options section. In this section, you can select which type of address to assign to each port.
Note: You can not assign FC addresses to ports 1 and 2, because these are the on board Ethernet NICs.
Some Ethernet expansion cards can have a range of MAC addresses per port. The range is defined by specifying two MAC addresses per port: MAC A and MAC B. To set up a range of MAC addresses for a port, click Advanced option, then click Generate range of MAC addresses per port. You can define the following values for the JS and PS blade requirements:
- List of ports to apply to (numbers in the range 1 to 8, comma or space separated): The default value is 1.
- Range size: Enter a range size between 2 and 256. The default value is 16.
- Ethernet VLAN for the second MAC address: The default is 0.
Note: The above default values allow the JS and PS blade onboard HEA Ethernet adapter to use the virtual addresses preassigned by the OS. To avoid conflicts, the MAC Address Step value (range size) must be between 16 and 256.
For the NetXen 10 Gb Ethernet Expansion Card for IBM BladeCenter (39Y9271), do not click the Advanced option button to apply Fibre Channel (FC) addresses to FC ports that exist on the card. This generates errors.
Click the Advanced option button to assign addresses to multi-slot blades. To do this, select the slot offset that you wish to assign addresses to, and, in the table for that offset, select the ports and type of address that you would like to assign. The maximum number of addresses that you can assign to any single blade is 32 addresses for a four-slot blade. For more information, see Multi-slot blades and the port offset parameter.
Also click the Advanced option button to define the increment of the assigned addresses. The default is one (by default addresses are assigned sequentially). You can also define the VLAN tag for host-based VLAN tagging. Some Ethernet cards can have two MAC addresses per port. For these, you can elect to assign two MAC addresses by checking the Generate range of MAC addresses per port checkbox with a range of 2 addresses.
In the advanced options for the FC section, you can also specify the step increment for the WWN and WWPN. In addition, you can select to create templates for the FC targets. After the file is created, you can edit the configuration file and fill in the correct target WWN and LUN for each slot.