When installing servers using the cloning function, first collect a cloning image from a source server. Collected cloning images can later be used for the deployment of other servers.
A cloning image can be collected only from a managed server on which an agent has been registered.
For details on registering agents, refer to "6.2.4 Software Installation and Agent Registration".
Cloning images cannot be collected from VM hosts or VM guests.
Preparations
Install the desired operating system and necessary applications on the managed server from which a cloning image will be collected.
Additionally, apply any required patches and other necessary settings.
Make sure that the source server operates properly after those steps.
Make sure that the DHCP client has been enabled on the source server.
The number of cloning image versions that can be kept for a given cloning image (identified by its name attribute) is limited.
When collecting a new cloning image while this limit has already been reached, select the version to be deleted.
By default, the maximum number of stored image versions is set to 3.
This setting can be changed by following the instructions given in "6.3.1.4 Changing the Maximum Number of Cloning Image Versions".
When deploying cloning images, the destination server temporarily starts up with its hostname set to either the physical server name or the source server's hostname. Some programs may experience problems when started with a different hostname. If such programs have been installed, configure their services not to start automatically. This has to be configured before collecting the cloning image.
When using the network parameter auto-configuration function, check the operation before performing collection.
For details, refer to "8.6.1 Operation Checks and Preparations".
When the target of operation is a PRIMERGY Partition Model server, confirm that boot option settings on the target server and the boot option set in BIOS match.
If they differ, change the settings so they match.
For details on how to change boot options, refer to "6.3.2.10 Changing Boot Options".
When the OS of the managed server is installed from UEFI, the UEFI configuration information must be backed up from MMB.
As the information is required during cloning image deployment, it is necessary to manage it collectively with cloning images.
For details on how to back up the UEFI configuration information from an MMB, refer to the "Administration Manual" of the relevant hardware.
When using local disks as system disks, and iSCSI storage as data disks, refer to the advisory notes described in "Table 3.1 Supported Storage Device Configurations" of "3.3.1 Storage Configuration".
[Windows]
Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP
A volume license is required for cloning, and must be entered during the installation of Resource Coordinator VE Agent.
Refer to "2.2.1.2 Collecting and Checking Required Information" and "2.2.2 Installation [Windows/Hyper-V]" in the "ServerView Resource Coordinator VE Installation Guide" for details.
If no volume license is entered during the agent installation, or if this information is changed after installation, edit the following license configuration file on the source server. Note that the structure and location of this file depend on the version of Windows that is being used.
In Windows Server 2003
Installation_folder\Agent\scw\SeparateSetting\sysprep\sysprep.inf
Edit the following line to enter a valid product ID.
ProductID=Windows product key (*1) |
*1: 5-digit values separated by hyphens
Example
ProductID=11111-22222-33333-44444-55555 |
Note
An invalid product ID (invalid format or invalid value) will cause an error the next time a cloning master (collected from this server) will be deployed. Make sure to enter a valid product ID when editing the definition file.
In Windows Server 2008
Installation_folder\Agent\scw\SeparateSetting\ipadj\activation.dat
In the [ActivationInfo] section, set the following parameters using a "parameter=value" syntax.
Refer to the following table for details on each parameter.
Format | Parameter | Value |
|---|---|---|
KMS | .cmd.remotescript.1.params.kmscheck (Mandatory) | KMS host search type. Select one of the following.
If "MANUAL" is set, make sure that the .cmd.remotescript.1.params.kmsname is set. |
.cmd.remotescript.1.params.kmsname | Host name (FQDN), computer name or IP address of the KMS host. | |
.cmd.remotescript.1.params.kmsport | KMS host port number. The default is 1688. | |
MAK | .cmd.remotescript.1.params.makkey (Mandatory) | MAK key |
Common | .cmd.remotescript.1.params.ieproxy | Host name (FQDN) and the port number of the proxy server. The host name and port number are separated by a colon (":"). |
.cmd.remotescript.1.params.password | Administrator password. | |
encrypted | The encryption status of the Administrator password. |
Example
With KMS (automatic search)
[ActivationInfo]
.cmd.remotescript.1.params.kmscheck=AUTO
.cmd.remotescript.1.params.ieproxy=proxy.activation.com:8080
.cmd.remotescript.1.params.password=PASSWORD
With KMS (manual settings)
[ActivationInfo]
.cmd.remotescript.1.params.kmscheck=MANUAL
.cmd.remotescript.1.params.kmsname=fujitsu.activation.com
.cmd.remotescript.1.params.kmsport=4971
.cmd.remotescript.1.params.ieproxy=proxy.activation.com:8080
.cmd.remotescript.1.params.password=PASSWORD
With MAK
[ActivationInfo]
.cmd.remotescript.1.params.makkey=11111-22222-33333-44444-55555
.cmd.remotescript.1.params.ieproxy=proxy.activation.com:8080
.cmd.remotescript.1.params.password=PASSWORD
When changing the Administrator password, execute the following command. This command will encrypt the .cmd.remotescript.1.params.password parameter and add an "encrypted=yes" line to show that it is encrypted.
For details, refer to "5.4 rcxadm deployctl" in the "ServerView Resource Coordinator VE Command Reference".
> "Installation_folder\Agent\bin\rcxadm" deployctl passwd -encrypt <RETURN> |
With MAK (already encrypted password)
[ActivationInfo]
.cmd.remotescript.1.params.makkey=11111-22222-33333-44444-55555
.cmd.remotescript.1.params.ieproxy=proxy.activation.com:8080
.cmd.remotescript.1.params.password=xyz123456
encrypted=yes
Collecting a Cloning Image
Use the following procedure to collect a cloning image from a source server:
Put the source server into maintenance mode.
In the RC 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 selected source server is placed into maintenance mode.
Stop all operations running on the source server.
When a cloning image is collected, the source server is automatically restarted. Therefore, all operations running on the source server should be stopped before collecting the image.
Cancel the settings in the following cases:
NIC redundancy has been configured for admin LANs and public LANs (*1)
Tagged VLANs have been configured on NICs
*1: However, there is no need to cancel public LAN redundancy settings made via the network parameter auto-configuration function.
The following settings are disabled during cloning image collection, which may result in services failing to start on server startup. To avoid this, automatic startup should be disabled for any service that depends on the following settings.
Hostname
IP address and subnet mask for the admin LAN
Default gateway for the admin LAN
Note
When using SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, it is necessary to configure the managed server so that only the NIC used for the admin LAN is active when the server is started. For details on how to modify the configuration, refer to the operating system manual. If this procedure is not performed, start up of network interfaces will take time, and errors may occur during the process.
Collect a cloning image.
In the RC console server resource tree, right-click the physical OS of the source server and select [Cloning]-[Collect] from the popup menu.
The [Collect a Cloning Image] dialog is displayed.
In the [Collect a Cloning Image] dialog, set the following parameters:
Enter a name to identify the collected cloning image.
New
When creating a new cloning image, select "New" and enter a new cloning image name.
The cloning image name can be up to 32 characters long, and can contain alphanumeric characters and underscores ("_").
Update
When updating an existing cloning image, select "Update" and select a cloning image from the list.
The number of cloning image versions that can be kept for a given cloning image (identified by its name attribute) is limited.
If the selected cloning image has already reached this limit, it is necessary to delete one of its existing versions in order to create a new cloning image. This can be done directly in this dialog by selecting the version to be deleted from the displayed list.
The selected version will be automatically deleted when collection of the new cloning image completes.
By default, the maximum number of stored image versions is set to 3.
This setting can be changed by following the instructions given in "6.3.1.4 Changing the Maximum Number of Cloning Image Versions".
Enter a comment that identifies the cloning image.
A comment can be of no more than 128 characters. Percents ("%"), backslashes ("\"), double quotes ("), and linefeed characters are not allowed.
If "Update" was selected for the "Cloning Image Name" option, the comment of the most recent image version is displayed.
If no comment is specified, a hyphen ("-") will be displayed in the RC console.
It is recommended to enter comments with information such as hardware configuration (server model, disk size, and number of network interfaces), software configuration (names of installed software and applied patches), and the status of network parameter auto-configuration function.
Enable this option to automatically release the source server from maintenance mode after image collection and maintenance work.
If this option disabled, maintenance mode should be released manually after collecting the cloning image.
Click <OK>.
A cloning image is collected from the selected source server.
Restart applications on the source server.
Restore the settings of any service whose startup settings were changed in step 2 and start these services.
Restore the settings for the following cases:
NIC redundancy for admin LANs and public LANs has been released
The settings of tagged VLANs for NICs have been released
Check that applications are running properly on the source server.
Release the source server from maintenance mode.
This step is not required if the "Release Maintenance Mode after collection" checkbox was enabled in the [Collect a Cloning Image] dialog.
In the RC console 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 source server is released from maintenance mode.
While a cloning image is being collected, no other operations can be performed on that image or other versions of that image (images sharing the same image name).
Communication errors between the admin and source servers (resulting in an image collection failure or an "unknown" status on the source 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").
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 source server 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
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 source server's network parameter auto-configuration function definition file and re-collect the cloning image from the source server.
Delete any cloning image that was collected with incorrect network parameters.
