How to use TrueSight Server Automation for PXE-based provisioning

• Network connectivity with the Application Server — TCP port 4750 (or your configured RSCD port) must be open from the Application Server to the file server.
• An RSCD agent installed on it.
• ACLs configured correctly in the RSCD exports file — The exports file is typically located in /usr/lib/rsc or C:\windows\rsc.
• Significant available space—Starting with approximately 100GB is typical.

• (Typical) An existing DHCP server. Requires additional configuration.
• A DHCP instance configured specifically for provisioning.

• WinPE 2.x and Windows AIK 2.1 for Windows 2003 or 2008
• WinPE 5.1 and Windows ADK 8.1 for Windows 2008 or later
• WinPE 10 and Windows ADK 10 for Windows 2012 or later

Determine the server architecture for your TrueSight Server Automation installation:

• Number of servers required.
• Identify the specific servers.

See Supporting software components and dependencies.

Prepare all infrastructure servers:

• Load the operating systems.
• Ensure that all servers are accessible to other components in the network as shown on the diagram in the System Architecture section.
• Ensure that all servers have network connectivity to the database server.

—

Prepare the database:

• Ensure that the database server is ready for an administrator to create a new database.
• Ensure that the database server is online and accessible to other components in the network as described in the  Supporting software components and dependencies section.
• Copy the contents of the db_scripts directory to the database server.

• The BSA<version>-<platform>.zip file contains database configuration scripts and other files in the BSA8x-<platform>\files\configurations\db_scripts directory.

Ensure that port 4750 is open between the TrueSight Server Automation infrastructure servers and all hosts that have RSCD agents. RSCD agents listen on port 4750 (default).

See TrueSight-Server-Automation-ports.

• Download all required software.
• Copy software onto the appropriate infrastructure server.

See, Installation software required for PXE-based provisioning.

Application Server Installer

BSA<version>-<platform>.<xxx>
For example: BSA87-WIN32.exe

Installs the Application Server.

RSCD Agent Installers

RSCD<version-platform>.<xxx>
For example:
RSCD87-WIN32.msi

Installs the RSCD agent. Download all of the agent installer files that match the operating systems for all of the following:

• File server host.
• Data store host.
• TFTP server host (if you plan to generate WinPE boot images).
• Servers that you plan to manage.
• OS to provision on bare-metal servers.

PXE/TFTP Server Installer

PXE<version>-<platform>.exe
For example: PXE87-WIN32.exe

Installs the primary provisioning component for Windows servers. For Linux servers, the PXE/TFTP Server installation is an option in the Application Server installer.

TrueSight Server Automation Console Installer

BSACONSOLE<version>-<platform>.<xxx>
For example: BSACONSOLE87-WIN32.exe

Installs the end user client software.

db_scripts directory

BSA8<xx>-<xxx>\files\configurations\ db_scripts in BSA<version>-<platform>.zip

Contains database scripts and documentation.

Provision-Files.zip

8<xx>-<xxx>-provision-files.zip

Contains files for stocking the data store and generating boot image files.

Application Server Upgrade Installer

BSA<version>- <SPnoHFno> -<platform>.<xxx>

Upgrades the Application Server, PXE server, and TFTP server to the latest service pack or hotfix.

Console Upgrade Installer

BSACONSOLE<version>- <SPnoHFno> -<platform>.<xxx>

Upgrades the console to the latest service pack or hotfix.

Windows AIK version 2.1

6001.18000.080118-1840-kb3aikl_en.iso

Installs AIK 2.1 for use with WinPE 2.x. This file is obtained from Microsoft. It is approximately 1.4 GB. Expect it to take a long time to download or transfer.

Windows ADK version 8.1

ADKSetup.exe

Installs ADK 8.1 for use with WinPE 5.1. This file is obtained from Microsoft.

Windows ADK version 10

adksetup.exe

Installs ADK 10 for use with WinPE 10. This file is obtained from Microsoft.

OS Installation Media

(varies by OS) Obtain these files from the OS vendor websites.

Stocks the data store with the OS files for provisioning the target servers.

Configuring the database

PXE-based provisioning requires an Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server database to store the user and system objects and relationships. Requires significant computing resources. 

The database that supports the TrueSight Server Automation environment is typically a standalone system or a system used by other management tools. A database that is used for other applications or is otherwise heavily loaded should not contain the TrueSight Server Automation database.

Installing agents on required components

The following components require an RSCD agent on their host computer:

• File server
• PXE data store
• TFTP server (if you are generating WinPE preboot images)

See Installing-the-RSCD-agent-Windows and Installing-only-the-RSCD-agent-Linux-and-UNIX for details.

Preparing RSCD agents for provisioning

To set up RSCD agents so that they can be installed as part of the TrueSight Server Automation provisioning process, you create an Agents directory. This directory holds the operating system-specific RSCD agent installers for unattended installations. When you create a system package for provisioning, if you check the Install RSCD agent option, the provisioning process:

• Installs an RSCD agent on each server that is being provisioned.
• Registers the agent and adds the server to the list of managed servers under Available Servers in TrueSight Server Automation.

In this way you can seamlessly move from provisioning servers to managing servers with TrueSight Server Automation and Network Shell.

See Preparing-agents-for-provisioning for details.

Configuring the PXE and TFTP servers

You can configure or reconfigure the PXE and TFTP servers using the PXE/TFTP Server Configuration tool or from the TrueSight Server Automation console. Configuring the PXE Server enables the TrueSight Server Automation system to communicate with a target server during provisioning in the PXE environment. You configure the TFTP Server so the TrueSight Server Automation system can communicate with it to download the bootstrap program needed to initiate the PXE provisioning process. 

See Configuring-the-PXE-and-TFTP-servers for specific details.

Configuring ports

The provisioning process explicitly uses the TCP protocol, port 9831 as the SSL port. Bare metal target servers use this port to communicate back to the Application Server (the Provisioning Server).

1. On the Application Server, ensure that the SSL port is set to 9831.
   1. On the TrueSight Server Automation Console, select Configuration > Infrastructure Management.
   2. Expand the Application Servers node and select the Application Server that is your Provisioning Server.

   3. Under the Application Server, ensure that the SSL Port is set to 9831. Set it if not.

      You can also use the blasadmin utility to check and set the SSL port. Use the blasadmin option appserver SSLPort.

2. Ensure that port 9831 is open for communication. (For example, make sure a firewall is not blocking communication.)
3. Configure port 9831 as the SSL port in the DHCP server.

Configuring DHCP on Windows

The TrueSight Server Automation provisioning process requires a DHCP server, which gives the computer being provisioned an IP address and (in a single-database environment) the location of the Application Server. 

 In addition to standard configuration of the DHCP server, which includes defining a scope, you must set some scope options. Use the following tasks to configure the DHCP server on Windows:

Adding predefined options.

Adding Option 60.

Configuring a DHCP server on Linux

The following procedure describes how to install and configure the ISC DHCP.

1. Download ISC DHCP version 3.0p2 or later from http://www.isc.org/software/dhcp and compile the executable or use a package manager (such as YUM, YaST, or Zypper) to install the dhcpd package.
   

2. Edit the dhcpd.conf file, (typically /etc/dhcpd.conf) to match the following example. The lines in red highlight entries that are required or recommended for TrueSight Server Automation provisioning.

   allow booting;
   allow bootp;
   allow duplicates;
   always-broadcast on;
   authoritative;
   ddns-update-style none;
   option bl-server code 211 = ip-address;
   option bl-port code 212 = unsigned integer 16;
   subnet 192.168.4.0 netmask 255.255.255.0
   \{
   range 192.168.4.200 192.168.4.220;
   option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
   option routers 192.168.4.1;
   option domain-name-servers 10.20.21.3;
   option netbios-name-servers 10.20.21.3;
   option domain-name "netboot.customer.com";
   default-lease-time 2592000;
   max-lease-time 5184000;
   option vendor-class-identifier "PXEClient";
   option bl-server 192.168.4.100;
   option bl-port 9831;
   \}

3. If you plan to use Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), instead of BIOS, for booting hardware over the network during provisioning, perform the additional edits described in Preparing-for-UEFI-booting.
4. Restart the DHCP server.

See Configuring-a-DHCP-server-on-Linux for additonal information.

Installing the Microsoft Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK)

The Microsoft Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) enables TrueSight Server Automation to create WinPE 2.x images that serve as a preboot environment during provisioning of Windows packages.

Note: If you are not creating Windows boot images, skip this step.BMC recommends installing AIK on the same server with the PXE server; however, it is not mandatory that the PXE server and Windows AIK be on the same server. The RSCD agent must be running on the TFTP server while you are generating boot images with the TrueSight Server Automation image generator. However, during AIK installation, PXE server and TFTP server availability is not required.

1. On the target server, run the Windows Automated Installation Kit version 2.1 setup file from the installation CD or ISO image.  
2. Specify an installation path. For example, C:\Program Files\Windows AIK or C:\WAIK.
3. You can accept other defaults for the installation.

Installing the Microsoft Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK)

The Microsoft Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) enables TrueSight Server Automation to create WinPE 5.1 images that serve as a preboot environment during provisioning of Windows packages. WinPE5.1 and ADK 8.1 are used for creating images of newer Windows versions (such as Windows 2008 R2 and Windows 2012). To obtain the ADK setup file and instructions for installing it, see the Microsoft download page for Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) version 8.1.

Prepare the data store

The data store holds the OS-specific installation media required to provision servers. To use provisioning with TrueSight Server Automation, you must create, stock, share, and configure the data store.

See Setting-up-and-sharing-a-data-store and Stocking-the-data-store for details.

Configuring System Package types

The System Package Types tab lists the available system package types and lets you edit their definitions or create your own custom system package type. You can create a system package type for the following platforms:

• Microsoft Windows provisioning
• VMware ESX and ESXi provisioning
• Red Hat Linux provisioning
• Citrix XenServer provisioning
• Ubuntu provisioning

See Configuring-system-package-types-for-Windows-and-Linux for details.

Generating and configuring boot images

To provision Microsoft Windows and Linux machines, you must create boot image files specific to TrueSight Server Automation.  To create boot images for bare metal provisioning of Microsoft Windows or Linux operating systems, see the following topics:

• Configuring default boot images (Required) - This procedure sets default images for PXE boots. You are required to set two default boot images—one 32-bit image and one 64-bit image. (A server is provisioned with the image that you specify in the System Package; however, the provisioning process starts with these default images.) Out-of-the-box configuration lists many possible images and sets two Microsoft Windows images as defaults. If you are provisioning many Linux systems, you might want to set Linux images as the defaults to save processing resources.
• Creating Gentoo images for Linux systems - To provision Red Hat Enterprise Linux, VMware ESX, or SUSE operating systems, you can create a Gentoo image or use the Skip Linux Pre-install Image option.

• Creating WinPE boot images for Microsoft Windows systems - The provisioning process uses WinPE for bare metal provisioning of Microsoft Windows operating systems. The following procedure describes how to create the WinPE boot images for Windows operating systems and how to include the drivers required for your networking environment.

Creating the system package

To perform an unattended installation of an operating system, you must create a system package for each server configuration that you want to install. A system package contains the following types of information:

• All of the instructions needed to install an operating system over the network — A system package type uses installation files for a specific operating system. Consequently, system packages for the various types of Windows, Linux, VMWare ESX and ESXi, Solaris, AIX, Citrix XenServer, and HP-UX operating systems are not interchangeable. You must create separate system packages for servers running different operating systems.
• (Optional) Instructions for running jobs that install software and configure a machine for a particular purpose — You can create a different system package for each server configuration that you want to provision, rather than just creating one system package for each type of operating system. For example, you could create a system package for a web server running Windows 2008 and IIS, and then create another system package running Windows 2008 without the web server configuration.

The values for system package parameters depend on your environment, the site's best practices, and individual package requirements. See the following section, System package parameter examples to get started. See Creating-a-system-package-for-Windows-and-Linux for complete details.

If you are provisioning Windows operating systems, you must have a Windows License Key.

Note: To install an evaluation version of Windows Server 2008 R2 (or one that uses a Multiple Activation Key), leave the License Key field blank. You can activate the license key on the target server later or you can customize the Unattend.xml file by providing the activation key. By default, the system package accepts the KMS license key.

Enabling auto-discovery of devices

As an alternative to manually adding or importing devices into TrueSight Server Automation, you can enable automatic discovery of new devices. TrueSight Server Automation then retrieves the MAC address of any new device from the PXE server as soon as the device is powered up, and adds the device to the list of devices in the TrueSight Server Automation Console. For more information, see Enabling auto-discovery of devices.

Creating jobs required for PXE-based provisioning

The next step in the provisioning process is to create Provision Jobs in the TrueSight Server Automation console. You can create Provision Jobs using either of these methods:

• Right-click a device and select Provision. Select a system package and a data store. This method creates a new Provision Job and executes it immediately. The Provision Job can be reused to provision other targets with the same system package. To reuse the job, edit it, change the target device's MAC address and a few additional system package properties, and then re-execute the job.
• Right-click the Job folder and select New > Provision Job. A wizard creates a new job and helps you select a system package, a device, and a data store. With this method, you explicitly execute the newly created job.

For information about creating and running Provision Jobs, see Creating-a-Provision-Job..

Preparing for UEFI booting

If you plan to use Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), instead of BIOS, for booting hardware over the network during provisioning, perform several preparatory tasks to enable the use of UEFI. For more information, see Preparing-for-UEFI-booting.

Note: When using UEFI booting on Linux, you cannot use a Gentoo pre-installation image, and must use the Skip Linux Pre-Install image option. As a result, auto-discovery of devices is not possible.

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 

General

• Name: Win2k3r2
• System Package Type: Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise
• Click Finish. The System Package opens. Specify the values in the following sections.

Disk Partitions

1. To add a new partition, click Add.
   Then specify the following settings:
   • Label: C
   • Size (MB): 20000
2. Click OK.

Basic Configuration

• Computer name: CHANGEME
• Administrator password: bladelogic
• Workgroup: WORKGROUP

Computer Settings

• Name: Enter your name.
• Organization: Enter your organization name.
• License key: Enter your license key. (To encrypt this value, use the Add Property feature in the console to create a new property of type encrypted string, add the license key as the property value, and use the property name here.)
• Select Per seat or Per Server and supply the number.
• Time Zone: Set as necessary.

Post Install Configuration

• In the Post-Install Script section, add the following lines. The second line executes the setup2.exeutility from the R2 installation media.

  reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ServerOOBE\SecurityOOBE/v 
  DontLaunchSecurityOOBE /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f r:\Win2k3R2\CMPNENTS\r2\setup2 /q /a

  Note: The r: drive was created when you created the Windows 2003 R2 system package type. The system maps to r: by default.

• Agent Install Options: To override the silent installation default values, provide the property names and desired values in this field.

Local Properties

1. Double-click DATA_STORE
2. Select Use this default value.
3. Click the ellipsis (...).
4. Select the Windows instance and click OK.

To save the System Package, click Save in the upper left corner.

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2

General

• Name: Win2k8r2
• System Package Type: Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise x64
• Click Finish. The System Package opens. Specify the values in the following sections.

Disk Partitions

1. To add a new partition, click Add.
   Then specify the following settings:
   • Label: C
   • Size (MB): 20000
2. Click OK.

Basic Configuration

• Computer name: CHANGEME
• Administrator password: bladelogic
• Workgroup: WORKGROUP

Computer Settings

• Name: Enter your name.
• Organization: Enter your organization name.
• License key: Enter your license key. (To encrypt this value, use the Add Property feature in the console to create a new property of type encrypted string, add the license key as the property value, and use the property name here.)
• Select Per seat or Per Server and supply the number.
• Time Zone: Set as necessary.

Post Install Configuration

• In the Post-Install Script section, add the following line.

  reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ServerOOBE\SecurityOOBE/v 
  DontLaunchSecurityOOBE /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f r:\Win2k3R2\CMPNENTS\r2\setup2 /q /a

  Note: The r: drive was created when you created the Windows Server 2008 R2 system package type. The system maps to r: by default. 

• Agent Install Options: To override the silent installation default values, provide the property names and desired values in this field.

Local Properties

1. Double-click DATA_STORE
2. Select Use this default value.
3. Click the ellipsis (...).
4. Select the Windows instance and click OK.

To save the System Package, click Save in the upper left corner.
Note: For provisioning the newest versions of Windows Server (such as 2008 R2 or 2012), ensure that you are using WinPE 5.1.

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 

General

• Name: Win2012
• System Package Type: Windows Server 2012 Enterprise x64 and Windows Server 2012 Standard x64.
• Click Finish. The System Package opens. Specify the values in the following sections.

Disk Partitions

1. To add a new primary partition, click Add.
   Then specify the following settings:
   • Label: C
   • Primary partition (check box)
   • Size (MB): 20000
2. Click OK.

3. 
   

   If you want to enable EFI booting, add an EFI partition. Click Add.
   Then specify the following settings:

   • Label: D
   • EFI partition (check box)
   • Size (MB): 200

   
   

4. Click OK.

Basic Configuration

• Computer name: CHANGEME
• Administrator password: bladelogic
• Workgroup: WORKGROUP

Computer Settings

• Name: Enter your name.
• Organization: Enter your organization name.
• License key: Enter your license key. (To encrypt this value, use the Add Property feature in the console to create a new property of type encrypted string, add the license key as the property value, and use the property name here.)
  Note: When you are provisioning Windows 2012, you are prompted to enter the License key. Enter the CD key in the License key field. It is mandatory to provide the CD key when you are provisioning Windows 2012.

• Select Per seat or Per Server and supply the number.
• Time Zone: Set as necessary.

Post Install Configuration

Agent Install Options: To override the silent installation default values, provide the property names and desired values in this field.

Note: No options like reboot=Supress is required for Windows server 2012.

Local Properties

1. Double-click DATA_STORE
2. Select Use this default value.
3. Click the ellipsis (...).
4. Select the Windows instance and click OK.

To save the System Package, click Save in the upper left corner.

Note: For provisioning the newest versions of Windows Server (such as 2008 R2 or 2012), ensure that you are using WinPE 5.1.

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2

General

• Name: Win2012 R2
  
• System Package Type: Windows Server 2012 R2 Enterprise x64 and Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard x64.
• Click Finish. The System Package opens. Specify the values in the following sections.

Disk Partitions

1. To add a new primary partition, click Add.
   Then specify the following settings:
   • Label: C
   • Primary partition (check box)
   • Size (MB): 20000
2. Click OK.

3. 
   

   If you want to enable EFI booting, add an EFI partition. Click Add.
   Then specify the following settings:

   • Label: D
   • EFI partition (check box)
   • Size (MB): 200

   
   

4. Click OK.

Basic Configuration

• Computer name: CHANGEME
• Administrator password: bladelogic
• Workgroup: WORKGROUP

Computer Settings

• Name: Enter your name.
• Organization: Enter your organization name.
• License key: Enter your license key. (To encrypt this value, use the Add Property feature in the console to create a new property of type encrypted string, add the license key as the property value, and use the property name here.)
  Note: When you are provisioning Windows 2012, you are prompted to enter the License key. Enter the CD key in the License key field. It is mandatory to provide the CD key when you are provisioning Windows 2012.

• Select Per seat or Per Server and supply the number.
• Time Zone: Set as necessary.

Post Install Configuration

Agent Install Options: To override the silent installation default values, provide the property names and desired values in this field.

Note: No options like reboot=Supress is required for Windows server 2012 and Windows server 2012 R2

Local Properties

1. Double-click DATA_STORE
2. Select Use this default value.
3. Click the ellipsis (...).
4. Select theWindows instance and click OK.

To save the System Package, click Save in the upper left corner.
Note: For provisioning the newest versions of Windows Server (such as 2008 R2 or 2012), ensure that you are using WinPE 5.1.

ESX 4.0 

General

• Name: ESX_4
• System Package Type: VMware ESX Server 4.0
• Click Finish. The System Package opens. Specify the following values:

Disk Partitions

• To add a new disk partition, click Add.
• Mount point (data store): /boot
• Type: ext3
• Size (MB): 500
• Mount point (data store): /
• Type: ext3
• Size (MB): 2000
• Disk/Virtual Disk: sda

• Type: swap
• Size (MB): 256
• Disk/Virtual Disk: sda

• Type: vmkcore
• Size (MB): 100
• Disk/Virtual Disk: sda
• Mount point (data store): Storage1
• Type: vmfs3
• Size (MB): 100
• Disk/Virtual Disk: sda
• Fill any available space or max size

Basic configuration

• Computer name: CHANGEME
• Root password: bladelogic
• Kickstart network device: eth0
  Note: For ESX 4.1 and later, use vmnic0 or the MAC_ADDRESS_CD Property for kickstart network device.

Computer Settings

• Time zone: Set as necessary.

Local Properties

• DATA_STORE:
• Select Use this default value
• Click the ellipsis button (...)
• Select the Linux instance

To save the System Package, click Save in the upper left corner.

ESX 5.0 

General

• Name: ESXi_5
• System Package Type: VMware ESXi Server 5.0
• Click Finish. The System Package opens. Specify the values in the following sections.

Disk Partitions

• Use First Disk for Installation is selected by default.
  Note: ESXi 5.0 does not have the Service Console partition found in ESX. The selected default option partitions the first eligible local disk found and overwrites an existing VMFS datastore on the disk before installation.

Basic configuration

• Computer name: CHANGEME
• Root password: bladelogic
• Kickstart network device: eth0
  Note: For ESX 4.1 and later, use vmnic0 or the MAC_ADDRESS_CD Property for kickstart network device.

Computer Settings

• Time zone: Set as necessary.

Local Properties

• DATA_STORE:
• Select Use this default value
• Click the ellipsis button (...)
• Select the Linux instance

To save the System Package, click Save in the upper left corner.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

or

Oracle Enterprise Linux 6

General

• Name: RHEL_6
• System Package Type: Red Hat AS 6.0
• Click Finish.

The System Package opens. Specify the values in the following sections.

Basic Configuration

• Name: CHANGEME
• Root password: bladelogic

Disk Partition

• To add a new disk partition, click Add.
  • Mount point: /boot
  • Type: ext4
  • Size: 300
• Click OK
• Add another disk partition with the following values: 
  
  • Type: swap
  • Size: 1024
• Click OK
• Add another disk partition with the following values: 
  
  • Mount point: /
  • Type: ext4
• Check Fill all unused space on disk
• Click OK
• Kickstart network device: eth0 (or some other network device designation)

Computer Settings

• Time Zone: Set as necessary.

OS Components

• Select the Use script for OS component selection check box.
• Type the following components in the script text box: 
  
  • @base
  • @compat-libraries

Local Properties

• Double-click the DATA_STORE property
• Select Use this default value
• Click the ellipsis (...)
• Select the Linux instance and click OK.
• Click OK

To save the System Package, click Save.

Note:

• OEL 6.0 does not have a system package type and so select RHEL 6.0 as the system package type.
• If you are provisioning a 64-bit image, the @compat-libraries are required. If you omit this package, the Provisioning job will fail because the RSCD agent is not successfully installed.