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Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Introduction
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Chapter 2 Installing, Configuring, and Using the Sun N1 System Manager

This chapter provides summaries of the high-level steps that you will perform as part of the N1 System Manager preparation, installation, configuration, and run time processes. Although this chapter presents a serial-based set of steps, many of these steps can be done in parallel or in a different sequence.

The high-level steps described in this chapter are:

N1 System Manager Installation and Configuration

This section provides a task flow diagram of the high-level tasks for site planning, installation and configuration of the Sun N1 System Manager software, and summaries of each of the tasks, including links to the applicable manuals and procedures.

The following topics are discussed:

N1 System Manager Site Preparation Task Flow

The following diagram illustrates the sequence of the high-level tasks for site planning, installation and configuration of the Sun N1 System Manager software.

Figure 2–1 N1 System Manager Site Preparation Task Flow

Diagram: N1 System Manager Site Preparation Task Flow

If a previous version of the N1 System Manager is installed on your management server, follow the appropriate upgrade process depending on the previously-installed version:

If you have not installed the N1 System Manager software on your management server, read the following sections. Each section summarizes each site preparation task in sequence, and includes links to the applicable manuals and procedures for each.

Determine System Requirements and Map Your Network

Before you can prepare your equipment for the N1 System Manager, you need to determine your site architecture and system requirements as follows:

  1. Map your network and determine the subnet addresses that you will use for the management, provisioning, and data networks.

    Note –

    If your network is designed to use only a management network or only a provisioning network, then the N1 System Manager operates in a restricted mode when installed. N1 System Manager provides two default security roles with specific privileges assigned for the restricted mode of operation. See Managing Roles in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide and Restricted Mode Capabilities in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide.

  2. Take inventory of the equipment you want to use with the N1 System Manager, and compare the inventory to the system requirements in Sun N1 System Manager Hardware and OS Requirements in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Site Preparation Guide.

  3. To assist you in determining whether you will use one switch or two switches, review Reference Configurations in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Site Preparation Guide.

  4. Based on the number of manageable servers installed on your N1 System Manager network, determine the management server and switch requirements.

    For management server sizing guidelines, see Management Server Considerations in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Site Preparation Guide.

    For switch sizing guidelines and worksheets, see Switch Considerations in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Site Preparation Guide.

Based on the above information, decide:

  • Which server will be used as the management server

  • Which operating system will be installed on the management server

  • Whether the N1 System Manager network will use a single switch or dual switch configuration

  • Which N1 System Manager networks you will use

When you have completed your site planning, connect your equipment.

The next tasks are to prepare the manageable servers, to install a RIS server if you will provision Microsoft Windows operating systems, and the install an operating system on the management server. Each of these tasks can be performed in parallel.

Prepare the Manageable Servers for Discovery

Before you can use the N1 System Manager to discover manageable servers, each manageable server must be set up as follows:

  • An IP address must be assigned to each manageable server's management port.

  • A minimum set of management processor credentials must be configured on each manageable server. The type of credential to be configured depends on the manageable server management processor and whether the manageable server has been configured with factory default credentials.

For further information, see Setting Up Manageable Servers in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Site Preparation Guide.

Tip –

Install an OS and the N1 System Manager software on your management server at the same time you set up your manageable servers and the RIS server.

Set Up the RIS Server

If you plan to provision Microsoft Windows operating systems on managed servers, you must set up a Remote Installation Services (RIS) server as described in Setting Up a Windows Remote Installation Services Server in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Site Preparation Guide. After running N1 System Manager discovery, you can provision Windows to managed servers as described in Chapter 3, Provisioning Windows Operating Systems, in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Operating System Provisioning Guide.

Install an Operating System on the Management Server

An operating system must be installed on the management server before you can install N1 System Manager.

Each section provides disk drive considerations for the chosen operating system and guidelines for installation of the chosen operating system.

When you have completed operating system installation on the management server, install the N1 System Manager software on the management server as described in the next section.

Install and Configure the N1 System Manager Software on the Managed Server

When you have completed installing the operating system on the management server, the next step is to install and configure the N1 System Manager software on the management server. Once the N1 System Manager software has been successfully installed, you then configure the N1 System Manager for your operations environment.

The installation process probes your operating system installation to ensure all required software has been installed. If required software is not installed, the installation process notifies you and gives you the opportunity to resolve the error and then continue with the installation. For further information, see Chapter 1, Installing and Configuring the Sun N1 System Manager Software, in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Installation and Configuration Guide.

When you have completed installing the N1 System Manager on the management server, the next step is to configure the N1 System Manager.

  • The configuration process prompts you for the management server port that is to be used for the provisioning network. The configuration process then prompts you for the range of addresses that the management server DHCP service is to use to assign IP addresses to each managed server for the provisioning network.

  • You are then asked to configure the search domains, SMTP service, event logging, mail service, and Microsoft Windows Remote Installation Services server. For further information, see Configuring the N1 System Manager in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Installation and Configuration Guide.

When you have completed configuring the N1 System Manager, you should tune the N1 System Manager performance based on the number of servers that are to be managed. For further information, see N1 System Manager Performance Tuning in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Installation and Configuration Guide.

When you have completed tuning the N1 System Manager, the final task is to prepare the N1 System Manager for production as described in the following sections. Preparing for production requires that you log in to the N1 System Manager to set up user accounts and roles, discover and provision the managed servers, set up maintenance, and maintain the N1 System Manager.

Access the N1 System Manager

Once you finish installing the N1 System Manager software, you can access the N1 System Manager as described in Accessing the N1 System Manager Through the Command Line in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide. Both a command line and browser interface are provided. The browser interface also has an integrated command line.

The following figure provides a quick reference overview of the browser interface.

Figure 2–2 N1 System Manager Browser Interface Highlights

Screen shot of the browser interface with callouts to important areas.

  1. Use the View Selector menu to change between viewing all of the managed servers, the servers by health state, or the servers by group in the N1 System Manager.

  2. Click the Discover button to launch a wizard that enables you to add servers to the N1 System Manager. Click the System Dashboard tab to view all discovered servers in the All Servers table.

  3. Use the Actions menu to perform operations on managed servers selected in the table, such as loading (installing) software, enabling monitoring, and managing power.

  4. Click the Jobs or Event Log tabs to see a listing of jobs or events in the N1 System Manager, respectively. The Jobs tab enables you to track the status of the operations and commands being performed on the system.

  5. Click the Help button to launch a searchable help system that includes instructions for browser interface tasks and command line tasks, as well as the N1 System Manager glossary.

  6. Drag-and-drop the software icons onto a server or server group in the table to begin the installation.

  7. Click the Edit List button to change the list of software icons that appear in the Task Shortcuts pane.

  8. Click the arrows to expand or collapse the Task Shortcut lists.

  9. Use the command line pane to issue commands provided by the n1sh shell. Use this integrated shell to issue commands or to view the command output of operations initiated from the Actions menu or wizards.

    • To display help for a command in the command line pane, type help command where command is the command for which you want more information.

    • To display completion information for a command, type the command in the command line pane and press the Tab key. For example:


      N1-ok> create os [press the Tab key]
Potential matches (create os):
    os         Create (copy) an OS distribution
    osprofile  Create or copy an OS profile
N1-ok>

  10. Use the server icons to view power status and running jobs. Click a server icon to view the Server Details page.

See Access the N1 System Manager for more details on accessing the N1 System Manager.

Set Up N1 System Manager Users and Roles

The management server's superuser (root) account is automatically set up to access the N1 System Manager. You can also define other users and roles to manage your servers. You can set up new users at any time. The N1 System Manager provides role-based security to enable you to limit users' access to the system.

See Managing Users in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide and Managing Roles in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for details on creating new users and the roles that enable them to use the N1 System Manager features.

N1 System Manager Administration

This section provides a task flow diagram of the high-level tasks for administration of theN1 System Manager and summaries of each of the tasks, including links to the applicable manuals and procedures.

The following topics are discussed:

N1 System Manager Administration Task Flow

The following diagram illustrates the high-level Sun N1 System Manager administration tasks.

Figure 2–3 N1 System Manager Administration Task Flow

Diagram: N1 System Manager Administration Task Flow

The N1 System Manager enables you to provision the Grid Engine software using the command line interface, and provides a browser interface to monitor the status of your grid. See the N1 System Manager Grid Engine Provisioning Guide for more details.

The following sections summarize each of the above N1 System Manager administration tasks, and include links to the applicable manuals and procedures for each.

Discover Manageable Servers

The N1 System Manager discovery process must be used to locate and identify manageable servers before they can be monitored and managed. The discovery process is used to locate, identify, and set up network access to the manageable servers. You can run the discovery process by clicking the Discover button in the browser interfaceor by running the discover command in the command line pane. Once a manageable server is discovered, it is known as managed server.

Note –

Manageable servers can be discovered using three different methods.

SP-Based Discovery

Discovery of a managed server through its Service Processor (SP)

OS-Based Discovery

Discovery of a managed server using its operating system

Manual Discovery

Discovery of a managed server manually, using its MAC address and model name

For further information about discovery methods, see Choosing a Method of Discovery in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide.

The managed servers are displayed in the System Dashboard tab in the browser interface. You can also list all managed servers by typing the command show server all in the command line pane. After running discovery, you can then group the managed servers based on your business or organizational needs if desired.

You can then perform the following management tasks on the managed servers from the N1 System Manager browser interface or command line:

  • Event notification

  • Firmware update installations

  • OS installations

  • OS update installations (Solaris packages and patches and Linux RPMs)

  • Set event thresholds

  • Track jobs

  • Monitor servers

  • Power management (booting, power on, power off)

The following sections provide overviews of the major N1 System Manager administrative tasks.

Set Up Event Notification

The N1 System Manager provides the ability to set up email or SNMP notifications when events occur either within the N1 System Manager itself or on the managed servers. You can set up customized notification rules for as many different scenarios as you need. Setting up notifications can be done only through the command line.

See Setting Up Event Notifications in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for details on setting up notifications.

Install Firmware Updates on Provisionable Servers

Installing a firmware update on a managed server for the first time is a two-step process:

  1. Copy the firmware update into the N1 System Manager. The N1 System Manager must have system access to the firmware update before the update can be installed on the managed servers.

    The create firmware command enables you to copy a firmware update from a web site or an accessible file system on the management server. Once a firmware update is copied to the management server, you can display it in the browser interface under Task Shortcuts, or you can use the show firmware command.

  2. Install the firmware update on the appropriate managed servers by using the browser interface or the load server or load group commands.

For a list of qualified managed server firmware versions, see Manageable Server Firmware Requirements in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Site Preparation Guide.

For firmware update procedures, see Chapter 6, Managing Firmware SP, BIOS, and ALOM Updates, in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Operating System Provisioning Guide.

Install an OS on the Managed Servers

The capability of installing an OS on multiple managed servers from a single interface is one of the core features of the N1 System Manager. Installing an OS on a managed server for the first time is a three-step process:

  1. The N1 System Manager must have system access to an OS distribution before it can be installed on the managed servers or provisioned to diskless clients. Use the create os command to copy an OS distribution to the N1 System Manager or to provide access to a RIS server for Windows. Use the show os command to view the available OS distributions on the N1 System Manager.

    For further information, see the following:

  2. An OS profile specifies which operating system components to install, which additional files and programs to install with the operating system, and configuration information such as the root password and the disk partitioning specifications. OS profiles enable you to install and configure a group of servers consistently. You can create one or more OS profiles depending on how many different ways the servers need to be installed.

    Note –

    A default OS profile is automatically created for each newly created OS distribution, with the same name as the OS distribution.

    The browser interface provides a wizard to help you create an OS profile. You can also create an OS profile using the command line. In both instances, once an OS profile is created, you can display it in the browser interface under Task Shortcuts or by using the show osprofile command.

  3. The browser interface provides a wizard to help you install an OS distribution on a single managed server or group of managed servers. You can also use the command line load server or load group commands.

    To start the wizard that loads an OS profile onto a managed server from the browser interface System Dashboard, use one of the following methods:

    • Select the managed server or managed server group, and then choose Load an OS Profile on the Actions menu.

    • Drag the OS profile from the Task Shortcuts pane and drop it on the managed server or managed server group.

    For information about how to install a UNIX distribution, see Installing the UNIX OS on Managed Servers in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Operating System Provisioning Guide.

    For information about how to install a Microsoft Windows distribution, see Chapter 3, Provisioning Windows Operating Systems, in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Operating System Provisioning Guide.

After you perform step 1 for an particular OS and create the appropriate OS profiles mentioned in step 2, installing an OS becomes a single step, even on multiple servers.

Install OS Updates on Managed Servers

Once you have an OS installed on a managed server, the N1 System Manager enables you to install OS updates, which consist of either Solaris packages and patches or Linux RPMs depending on the OS on the managed server. Installing OS updates on servers for the first time is a three-step process:

  1. The N1 System Manager must have system access to the OS update before the update can be installed on the managed servers. The create update command is used to import an OS update from a web site or from an accessible file system on themanagement server. Once an OS update has been copied to the management server, you can display the OS update in the browser interface under Task Shortcuts or you can use the show update command.

    Note –

    The N1 System Manager also enables you to install non-standard updates to a managed server using the updatetype other attribute with the create update command.

  2. The base management agents must be enabled in order to load an OS update to a managed server.

  3. Install the OS update on the appropriate managed servers by using the browser interface, or by using the command line load server or load group commands.

For more details, see:

Track N1 System Manager Jobs

Each major action you take in the N1 System Manager starts a job. You can use the job log to track status on a currently running action or to verify whether a job has finished. Monitoring jobs is especially useful for N1 System Manager actions that might take a long time to finish, such as installing an OS distribution on one or more managed servers.

You can track jobs through the Jobs tab in the browser interface or the show job command. If your are using the browser interface, the number of running jobs is displayed in the Masthead at the top of the page.

See Managing Jobs in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide for details on managing and tracking jobs.

Monitor the Managed Servers

The N1 System Manager provides monitoring of hardware health attributes, OS resource health attributes, file systems, and network connectivity. Threshold values can be modified for monitored OS resource health attributes. Monitoring enables you to track the status of all your managed servers from a single access point.

Note –

By default, hardware health is monitored on a managed server. You must add the OS monitoring feature to a managed server in order to modify the OS resource health threshold values.

For more information on monitoring, see Chapter 6, Monitoring Servers and Server Groups, in Sun N1 System Manager 1.3 Discovery and Administration Guide.