Adding a new server

Adding a new server into the server pool (a process also known as Registering a server) can be done in multiple ways:

  1. Via the Add Server button from the Servers section of the Admin UI
  2. Via the metalcloud-cli server register command
  3. Via the “Zero Touch” registration process.

Registering a new server via the Add Server button

Navigate to Servers section, click the Add server button.

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Select the vendor and input the IPMI/iDRAC/ILO or equivalent management credentials.

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Click Add Server. The server will show up in the Registering state for up to 30 minutes. During this process the system will connect to the BMC and extract all of the required information such as determine the firmware catalog, the connections to the links etc.

For some server vendors that do not support BMC-only registration a legacy PXE-based registration process will be used that will require a different network configuration. Admins can force the behavior by changing the default in the Datacenters > Configuration tab. Consult Deploying MetalSoft to support legacy setups for more information.

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At the end of the process the server will be in Unavailable state which means it is ready to be added to the pool by setting it to Available manually. This is a safety feature to prevent unauthorized devices from being added to the pool.

The server will be shutdown when in Available state to save energy. It will be powered on automatically when allocated to an infrastructure.

A server type such as M.2.4.5 will be automatically assigned based on the server’s characteristics. If a matching server type does not exist a new one will be created. If there is a matching server type but only a minor difference (such as the number of links) a new version of the server type will be created such as M.2.4.5v2. This server type can be changed later, by the admin from the server’s Advanced tab.

During the registration process a link towards an AFC task graph can be seen in the Server’s overview page. It can be used to troubleshoot any registration issues.

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Registering a new server via the CLI

To start the registration process use the following command:

metalcloud-cli server register --server-vendor dell --mgmt-address 172.12.0.10 --mgmt-admin admin --mgmt-pass calvin

Check the server status using the CLI:

alex@Alexandrus-MacBook-Pro-2 metalsoft-docs % metalcloud-cli server list       
+-------+-----------+-------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+-------------------+
| ID    | STATUS    | SERVER_TYPE | SERIAL_NUMBER | IPMI_HOST     | ALLOCATED_TO  | DATACENTER_NAME   |
+-------+-----------+-------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+-------------------+
| 16    | used      | M.12.8.1.v2 | 7Q8WS52       | 172.18.32.187 | qwe.bh...     | us02-chi-qts01-dc |
| 19    | used      | M.12.8.1.v2 | FFCYRD2       | 172.18.32.188 | .lobo2...     | us02-chi-qts01-dc |
| 34    | available | M.12.8.1.v2 | DGLCB42       | 172.18.32.189 |               | us02-chi-qts01-dc |
| 39    | used      | M.16.64.1   | CZ2613001V    | 172.18.32.132 | xs.bh...      | us02-chi-qts01-dc |
| 41    | used      | M.16.64.1   | CZ2613002F    | 172.18.32.133 | 122.bh...     | us02-chi-qts01-dc |
| 60    | used      | M.8.8.1.v2  | 3PMHG73       | 172.18.32.134 | xxx@co...     | us02-chi-qts01-dc |
+-------+-----------+-------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+-------------------+
Total: 6 Servers: 1 available 5 used 0 cleaning 0 registering 0 unavailable

Adding a new server via Zero Touch

For this process to work automatically end-to-end the following conditions must be met:

  1. DHCP must be enabled on the IPMI/iDRAC/ILO
  2. The default credentials must be set (eg. for dell it is root/calvin) or the server must have a matching username/credentials pair configured in the Servers > Server Zero Touch credential tab.
  3. The server must have a relatively recent BMC firmware version. Check the HCL for details on what is the minimum supported version for your vendor.

If the server does not have the default credentials configured and no matching username/password is found for the MAC or serial number, but does have DHCP enabled, the server will appear in the list of servers but will remain in the *Registering state and a message will be displayed in the server’s overview page specifying that the server is waiting for credentials. Click on the message to provide the server’s IPMI/iDRAC/ILO credentials.

By default server BMCs are allocated IPs from the OOB subnet pools, in order. To specify which IPs to be allocated based on DHCP option 82 - the OOB switch port identifier, configure a mapping in the Subnets > OOB Subnets > Click on OOB subent > DHCP Option 82. tab.

Auto-RAID

The system will automatically create a RAID array on supported systems at registration time. Consult the HCL for details on which servers are supported and under which conditions. Some additional licenses might be required in order for this feature to be available.

The RAID configuration depends on the size and number of drives.

For each group of identically sized drives (added to the same RAID controller) for the following count of identical drives:

  • 1 device -> RAID 0
  • 2 devices -> RAID 1
  • even number of devices -> RAID 10
  • odd number of devices -> RAID 5

Note that, if enabled end-users can also specify a Custom RAID configuration that will override this raid configuration. To allow a user to configure a RAID profile, the “Allow custom RAID configuration” user limit must be enabled from Users & Permissions >