Adding a new un-managed server

Un-managed servers allow network provisioning without touching the servers and are also useful in other “brownfield” situations where existing servers must be “imported” while in operation.

Un-managed servers can be “converted” into managed servers at any time by providing IPMI credentials and executing a “re-registration”.

These un-managed server records will be used by end-users to represent the endpoints under their control and allow them to define the desired network configuration.

Adding a new un-managed server using the UI

This process is also known as “Server Import”.

Navigate to the Server section > Add Server.

  1. Select the “Unmanaged Server” option.

  2. Select the Datacenter

  3. Select the Server Type. It must be an “unmanaged” server type.

  4. Input the serial number of the server. This will be used to distinguish between servers.

  5. Add the network connections defining the MAC address of the server interface, switch and switch interface. The MAC address is not required to be accurate but it is recommended. A dummy, (but correct) MAC can be used if the MAC address is not important.

The un-managed server is now in “available” mode. To use it in an infrastructure use the regular instance array create form and select the Server Type that was used when importing the server. This will allow the user to specify which server they want to use.

Adding a new un-managed server via the CLI

Create a new file with the following content:

datacenter: sonic-qts
serialNumber: NNAACC10
serverType: M.15.15.1
interfaces:
   - mac: 00:B0:D0:63:C2:26
     switch: leaf-124
     switchInterface: Ethernet14
   - mac: aa:bb:cc:dd:02:ff
     switch: leaf-124
     switchInterface: Ethernet15

metalcloud-cli server import -file examples/server_import.yaml -format yaml

Fields accepted

  • datacenter - (Required) Datacenter to use

  • serialNumber - (Required) Serial number of server.

  • serverType|serverTypeID - (Required) Defines the server type as a label or ID.

  • label - Used if the command is used with “auto” for the --add-to-infra parameter. Defines the instance array label. If not provided, the serial number of the server will be used.

  • userEmail|userID - Used if the command is used with “auto” for the --add-to-infra parameter. Defines the user that owns/will own the infrastructure as an email. If neither userEmail or userID is provided the user who owns the API key used by the CLI will be used instead.

  • infrastructure|infrastructureID - Used if the command is used with “auto” for the --add-to-infra parameter. Defines the infrastructure that will be used as a label. If it does not exist it will be created.If none of the infrastructure or infrastructureID are provided the infrastructure label “unmanaged” will be used.

  • interfaces - The list of interfaces the server has in the format:

    • mac - server interface MAC address. The exact MAC address of the server is not required but recommended for consistency.

    • switch - switch label of the switch to which this interface is connected to

    • switchInterface - the switch interface identifier such as Ethernet1.

If the --add-to-infra option is not used, adding the server to an infrastructure can also be done via the server add-to-infra CLI command:

./metalcloud-cli server add-to-infra --infra 49 --server-id 103