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.
Destination servers should not be used as spare server(s) for other servers.
Cloning images cannot be deployed to servers where VM hosts or VM guests are running.
Preparation
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 servers, refer to "8.2 Backing Up System Images" in the "ServerView Resource Coordinator VE Operation Guide".
Note
Cloning images cannot be deployed to servers that have been set up as spare servers for other managed servers. 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 "6.2.1 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 servers, refer to "8.2 Backing Up System Images" in the "ServerView Resource Coordinator VE Operation Guide".
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
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 RC console resource tree, right-click a destination server (or its physical OS), and select [Maintenance Mode]-[Set] from the popup menu.
The [Set Maintenance Mode] dialog is displayed.
Click <OK>.
The selected destination server is placed into maintenance mode.
Deploy a cloning image.
Deploying a cloning image to a single destination server
In the RC console 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.
A list of available cloning images is displayed in the [Deploy a Cloning Image] dialog.
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 be deployed in the [Deploy a Cloning Image] dialog, and then set up 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" option
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 deployment.
Click <OK>.
The cloning image is deployed.
Deploying a cloning image to multiple destination servers
Open the [Image List] tab in the RC console.
A list of cloning image is displayed under "Cloning Image List".
From this list, right-click a cloning image and select [Deploy] from the popup menu.
The [Deploy a Cloning Image] dialog is displayed.
A list of destination servers satisfying deployment conditions are displayed in the [Deploy a Cloning Image] dialog.
Select destination servers from the list, and set up the following items:
"Release from Maintenance Mode after deployment" option
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 deployment.
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 is deployed.
Restart applications on the destination server(s).
If necessary, make redundancy settings for the admin LAN and public LAN.
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 PRIMERGY Partition Model, set the PSA-MMB IP address after deployment. For details, refer to the manual of the relevant hardware.
Release maintenance mode.
This step is not required if the "Release from Maintenance Mode after deployment" option was enabled in the [Deploy a Cloning Image] dialog.
In the RC console resource tree, right-click the destination server (or its physical OS) and select [Maintenance Mode]-[Release] from the popup menu.
The [Release Maintenance Mode] dialog is displayed.
Click <OK>.
The selected destination 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] dialog
Virtual memory settings
TCP/IP-related settings
The "Country/region" settings in the locations defined in the "Phone and Modem Options".
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 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 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.
Communication errors between the admin and destination servers (resulting in an image deployment failure or an "unknown" status on the destination server) may be caused by improper use of the network parameter auto-configuration function (described in "8.6 Network Parameter Auto-Configuration for Cloning Images"). Examples of improper use are given below.
Auto-configuration settings were made for the admin LAN
Auto-configuration settings were made for the public LAN using IP addresses contained within the admin LAN subnet range
Log in to the destination servers on which errors occurred and check for the presence of such settings in the definition file for the network parameter auto-configuration function.
If incorrect settings were made, perform the following operations to fix communication errors.
Fix network settings on destination servers
If the source and destination servers are the same
Restore the system images backed up before deployment.
If the destination server is different from the source server
Run the "rcxadm lanctl unset" command described in "8.6.3 Clearing Settings" to reset network settings to their original values.
If the admin LAN IP address is not set on the source server, set it manually to restore communications between the admin server and the source server.
Re-collect the cloning image
Correct any errors found in the definition file for the network parameter auto-configuration function and re-collect the cloning image.
Deleting a Cloning Image
Re-deploy the cloning image to the destination servers for which deployment failed.
Re-deploy the cloning image
Delete any cloning image that failed to deploy
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 the "ServerView Resource Coordinator VE Messages".
When a cloning image is deployed to multiple servers, IGMP Snooping should be enabled 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.
