Provisioning tasks - Checklist

You can use these steps as a checklist for performing all of the tasks required to set up the provisioning system and provision servers.

To enable provisioning, you must set up the provisioning system, create components used by the provisioning process, prepare devices, and create and execute Provision Jobs that perform the unattended installation of the operating system.

To set up and enable provisioning (overview of tasks)

Each step in this list includes a reference to more information.

1. Install all required components for the provisioning system.
   Specifically, you need:
   • A PXE environment for provisioning Microsoft Windows and Linux servers.
   • A JumpStart environment for provisioning Solaris servers.
   • A NIM environment for provisioning AIX servers.
   • An Ignite environment for provisioning HP-UX servers.
     For requirements and set-up procedures for each of the supported provisioning technologies, see Setting up the provisioning system.
2. Set up authorizations related to the provisioning tasks.
   Using the role-based access control (RBAC) features in BMC Server Automation:
   • Grant the appropriate level of access to the roles involved in the provisioning process.
     For example, expert users who design system packages might be assigned to a role that is granted complete authorization to all provisioning capabilities. Users who actually provision devices might be assigned to another role that is granted limited access.
   • Grant role access to servers after they are provisioned.
     For information about RBAC, including how to configure roles, add users, and assign authorizations, see Access management. For the specific authorizations required for provisioning activities, see System authorizations.
3. Set up the data store, which is a file system that holds the images to install on the target servers.
   For data store requirements and set-up procedures for each of the supported operating systems, see Setting up the provisioning system.
4. (Windows and Linux only) Create boot image files and copy them into the data store.
   For the PXE provisioning technology, which is used to provision Windows and Linux operating systems, you must create the boot image files and copy them into the data store. For the other provisioning technologies, you can copy image files from outside sources directly into the data store.
   For information, see Creating WinPE 2.0 and later boot image files, Creating a Gentoo Linux image file, or Using the Skip Linux Pre-Install image option.
5. Configure provisioning to work with the other components in the provisioning process.
   This step establishes the connection to the data store and other functional software components. For information, see Configuring provisioning.
6. Set up post-install jobs.
   A system package can include a BMC Server Automation Batch Job that configures the server and installs software after it installs the operating system. For information, see Batch Jobs and Including a Batch Job in a system package.
7. Create system packages.
   System packages are a consistent, logical way to provide the path names of images and to represent the values passed to the operating system installer. You should create a system package for each operating system that you plan to provision.
   For information, see Creating a system package and the sections that follow it. The subsequent sections describe the system package settings for each operating system.
8. Create a Provision Job.
   In a Provision Job, you select a system package and set job-specific information such as properties, execution schedules, permissions, and notifications. You can optionally override system package settings in a Provision Job. You can also select devices if the next step (preparing devices) is complete.
   For information, see Creating a Provision Job.
9. Prepare devices.
   Devices must be connected to the network and appear in the Devices folder in the BMC Server Automation Console. For information, see Importing and managing devices.
10. Select devices to provision and run the Provision Job.
    You can rerun the same job many times, with new devices selected each time. For information, see Changing or adding devices in a Provision Job.
11. Check the Provision Job results.
    For information, see Viewing the results of a Provision Job.
12. Reboot the target devices that were successfully provisioned if they are not rebooted automatically.
    • For PXE provisioning, no further actions are required. The devices boot from the network.
    • For JumpStart, NIM, and Ignite provisioning technologies, if the system package includes a reboot script, the target devices reboot automatically from the network. If the system package does not include a reboot script, you must arrange to reboot the target by other means.