Once collected, cloning images can be deployed to one or more destination servers.
Cloning images collected from the source server can only be deployed to destination servers which satisfy the following conditions:
Destination servers should be in either "normal", "warning", "unknown", or "stop" status.
Destination servers should have been placed into maintenance mode.
Destination servers should be of the same model as the source server.
I/O virtualization should be used, when destination servers are spare servers.
Cloning images cannot be deployed to managed servers where VM hosts or VM guests are running.
Preparations
When using Windows managers, and the configurations of managed servers are as below, execute the following commands before deploying cloning images.
In a SAN data environment using a built-in disk boot, and a physical WWN or VIOM
>Installation_folder\SVROR\Manager\bin\rcxadm server set -name physical server -attr bootagt=dos <RETURN> |
When using the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 ext4 file system or on a server using UEFI, and one of the following conditions is met
In a SAN boot environment using HBA address rename
When using a rack mount or tower server and the server is registered with "Disable" of "Association with server management software (ServerView)" is selected
>Installation_folder\SVROR\Manager\bin\rcxadm server set -name physical server -attr bootagt=winpe <RETURN> |
If the above command has not been executed on the server from which the cloning image is being collected, the cloning image may not be collected correctly. Delete that cloning image and then redo the cloning image collection.
It is recommended to back up destination servers before deploying cloning images, as this will simplify the recovery procedure in case of the deployed cloning image is faulty.
For details on backing up, refer to "Backup".
Note
Cloning images cannot be deployed to servers that have been set up as spare servers for other managed servers, when not using I/O virtualization. Cancel any such settings before deploying a cloning image.
VLAN settings (on adjacent LAN switch ports) cannot be deployed during server cloning. LAN switch VLAN settings should be set up before deploying a cloning image.
For details on how to configure VLAN settings on LAN switches, refer to "5.4.4 Configuring VLANs on LAN Switches".
When deploying a cloning image back to its source server, the source server should be backed up before deployment.
For details on backing up, refer to "16.2 Backup" in the "User's Guide VE".
If the deployed cloning image is faulty and causes deployment errors, use the following procedure to collect a new cloning image.
Restore the system image that was backed up before cloning image deployment.
Fix any incorrect settings on the source server
Collect a new cloning image
Delete the faulty cloning image
When deploying cloning images to multiple managed servers, if the managed servers belong to different subnets, cloning images cannot be deployed.
When using PRIMEQUEST servers, cloning images cannot be deployed to partitions for which UEFI has been set.
When collecting and deploying cloning images, configure the BIOS settings and boot option settings after changing to Legacy boot.
For details on how to change boot options, refer to "7.1.10 Changing Boot Options".
When using local disks as system disks, and iSCSI storage as data disks, refer to the advisory notes described in "Table 8.1 Supported Storage Device Configurations" in "8.1.1 Storage Configuration" in the "Design Guide VE".
Deploying a Cloning Image
Use the following procedure to deploy a cloning image to one or more destination servers:
Place the destination server(s) into maintenance mode (only for agent-registered servers).
In the ROR console server resource tree, right-click the desired server (or its physical OS), and select [Maintenance Mode]-[Set] from the popup menu.
The [Set Maintenance Mode] dialog is displayed.
Click <OK>.
The target server is placed into maintenance mode.
Deploy a cloning image.
Deploying a cloning image to a single destination server
In the ROR console server resource tree, right-click the destination server (or its physical OS) and select [Cloning]-[Deploy] from the popup menu.
The [Deploy a Cloning Image] dialog is displayed.
The available cloning images are displayed.
Only cloning images that have been collected from a server of the same model as the destination server are available for deployment.
Select the cloning image to deploy, and set the following items.
Server name after deployment
Enter the name of the server to which the cloning image is to be deployed.
By default, the physical OS name is entered if the physical OS is registered. If the physical OS is not registered, the physical server name is entered.
[Windows]
A string composed of up to 63 alphanumeric characters, underscores, ("_"), and hyphens, ("-").
The string cannot be composed solely of numbers.
[Linux]
A string composed of up to 64 alphanumeric characters, and the following symbols:
"%", "+", ",", "-", ".", "/", ":", "=", "@", "_", "~"
Note
When using SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, it is not possible to configure server names that include periods (".") for the post-deployment server names of cloning images.
Information
Since the entered server name is also used as the hostname of its corresponding destination server, it is recommended to use only characters defined in RFC (Request For Comments) 952:
- Alphanumeric characters
- Hyphens, ("-")
- Periods, (".") [Linux]
[Release from Maintenance Mode after deployment] checkbox
Enable this option to automatically release the destination server from maintenance mode after cloning image deployment.
If this option disabled, maintenance mode should be released manually after collecting the cloning image.
Click <OK>.
The cloning image deployment process starts.
The process status can be checked in the Recent Operations area of the ROR console.
Clicking <Cancel> in the Recent Operations area displays a confirmation dialog and stops the process.
Note
Please note that canceling the deployment of a cloning image does not restore the destination server to the state before the deployment took place.
Deploying a cloning image to multiple destination servers
In the ROR console, select the [Image List] tab.
A list of cloning images is displayed under the cloning image list.
Right-click the cloning image to deploy and select [Deploy] from the popup menu.
The [Deploy a Cloning Image] dialog is displayed.
A server that can be deployed is displayed.
Check the checkbox of the server to deploy a cloning image to, and set the following items:
[Release from Maintenance Mode after deployment] checkbox
Enable this option to automatically release the destination server from maintenance mode after cloning image deployment.
If this option disabled, maintenance mode should be released manually after collecting the cloning image.
The [Server Name] column displays the names of each destination servers.
By default, server names (computer name or hostname) or physical server names are displayed.
The names specified in this column will be assigned to destination servers as their computer names (for Windows systems) or system node names (for Linux systems).
Those names can be changed using the following procedure.
1. Double-click the [Server name after deployment] cell of a server.
The [Server name after deployment] cell becomes editable.
2. Enter a new server name.
[Windows]
A string composed of up to 63 alphanumeric characters, underscores, ("_"), and hyphens, ("-").
The string cannot be composed solely of numbers.
[Linux]
A string composed of up to 64 alphanumeric characters, and the following symbols:
"%", "+", ",", "-", ".", "/", ":", "=", "@", "_", "~"
Information
Since the entered server name is also used as the hostname of its corresponding destination server, it is recommended to use only characters defined in RFC (Request For Comments) 952:
- Alphanumeric characters
- Hyphens, ("-")
- Periods, (".") [Linux]
Click <OK>.
The cloning image deployment process starts.
The process status can be checked in the Recent Operations area of the ROR console.
Clicking <Cancel> in the Recent Operations area displays a confirmation dialog and stops the process.
Note
When this process is cancelled, cloning image deployment to all destination servers is cancelled.
Please note that canceling the deployment of a cloning image does not restore the destination server to the state before the deployment took place.
Restart applications on the destination server(s).
Perform the following settings if necessary:
The settings of NIC redundancy for admin LANs and public LANs
The settings of tagged VLANs for NICs
After deployment, destination servers are set to use the admin server as their default gateway.
Re-configure such network settings if necessary. Check that applications are running properly on destination servers.
At this point, if an application is still using the source server's hostname or IP address (e.g. within application-specific settings or configuration file), manually update such settings with the destination server values.
Note
When a managed server is a PRIMEQUEST, set the PSA-MMB IP address after deployment. For details, refer to the PRIMERGY Partition Model manual.
Release maintenance mode.
This step is not required if the [Release from Maintenance Mode after deployment] checkbox was enabled in the [Deploy a Cloning Image] dialog.
In the ROR console server resource tree, right-click the source server (or its physical OS) and select [Maintenance Mode]-[Release] from the popup menu.
The [Release Maintenance Mode] dialog is displayed.
Click <OK>.
The target server is released from maintenance mode.
Note
When deploying a cloning image that was collected from a Windows server, the following information is reset on each destination server. This is a result of the execution of Microsoft's System Preparation (Sysprep) tool.
If necessary, restore the following settings to their original values after the cloning image has been deployed:
Desktop icons and shortcuts
Drive mappings
The "Startup and Recovery" settings accessed from the [Advanced] tab of the [System Properties] window
Virtual memory settings
TCP/IP-related settings
The "What country/region are you in now?" settings in the locations defined in the [Location Information] window
Disk quota settings
Storage Provider settings
Microsoft Internet Explorer settings (RSS feeds subscription information, information stored by the Autocomplete function, saved passwords)
Microsoft Outlook Express settings (mail/directory server passwords)
Network card driver settings (drivers without a digital signature should be replaced by the latest updated drivers with a digital signature)
Access rights to the '\Documents and Settings\Default User' folder
While a cloning image is being deployed, collection, deployment, and deletion cannot be performed simultaneously on the cloning images with the same name.
If a cloning image is deployed to a system with a larger disk capacity than the disk space required for the cloning image, any excessive disk space becomes unused disk space. This unused disk space can be used for other purposes.
Destination servers are rebooted several times during cloning image deployment. Make sure that deployment has completed before restarting operations and making further settings.
The number of reboots during deployment increases when using the HBA address rename function.
If Windows Server 2008 activation failed during deployment, message number 47233 is displayed.
This message indicates that deployment of Windows Server 2008 completed but that activation failed.
For details on the appropriate corrective action, refer to "Message number 47233" in "Messages".
When a cloning image is deployed to multiple servers, it may be necessary to enable IGMP snooping on admin LAN switches. If IGMP snooping is not enabled, transfer performance may deteriorate when ports with different speeds co-exist in the same network, or multiple image operations are run simultaneously.
