How it works
Network personalization happens in two parts.
-
Through the user interface all the server personalization information is collected and this data is written to a special custom attribute called
hpsa_netconfig. This custom attribute is assigned to each server being personalized and the information in that custom attribute is specific to that server. -
Then there are the Server Automation network personalization build plan steps which read the data from that custom attribute and apply the personalization to the server. These steps come in two types:
-
OS Installation Injection Steps – These are steps with names like Inject Personalization Settings that appear in all Hewlett Packard Enterprise provided OS Installation Build Plans. These steps read the
hpsa_netconfigcustom attribute for personalization information about the Deployment NIC only. That information is then inserted into the unattended installation file for that OS (unattend.xmlfor Windows,kickstartfor RHEL, etc) so that when the OS is installed, the Deployment NIC will already have the requested network settings. -
The Personalize Network Settings of Installed System step – This step reads the network configuration data for all NICs from
hpsa_netconfigand applies it to a running production operating system. This step is used at the end of an OS Installation Build Plan to configure any remaining NICs on the server. It is also used as part of the ProLiant SW – Post Install Network Personalization Build Plan, which is a Build Plan designed just for applying a network personalization to a running production OS.
-
When you request network personalization as part of an OS installation, the hpsa_netconfig custom attribute is written just before the Build Plan is started. The injection step configures the Deployment NIC and the personalize step configures the rest of the interfaces once the installation completes.
In the user interface Servers screen, when you select Configure Network from the Actions menu, the hpsa_netconfig custom attribute is written and the ProLiant SW – Post Install Network Personalization Build Plan is immediately run to apply the settings. Since you can only personalize servers that are installed, if the servers you selected are not in the managed state, the hpsa_netconfig custom attribute will still be written, but the Build Plan will not be run to apply the settings.
Note that the hpsa_netconfig custom attribute is not removed as part of the personalization process. If you run another Build Plan against a server that already has hpsa_netconfig defined, the personalization information in that custom attribute will be applied. If this is not the desired behavior, you will want to remove hpsa_netconfig from the server before running the build plan.
Customizations for advanced users
The following are examples of some network customizations that advanced users might want to consider:
-
Write the custom attribute but don’t apply it – On the Configure Network screen, there is a checkbox that says “Only save the changes to the server's network configuration custom attribute”.. Checking this box will cause the tool to write the
hpsa_netconfigcustom attribute to each server, but will not run the Build Plan to apply it. This may be useful in special cases. The next time a Build Plan is run that contains any of the personalization steps mentioned above, the network information will be applied. This checkbox is automatically set if the servers being personalized are not running a production OS. -
Hand create the
hpsa_netconfigcustom attribute – You are not required to use our user interface to create thehpsa_netconfigcustom attribute. This custom attribute can be created by hand or can be applied from your own tools using the IC server provisioning REST API. You can also use our UI to create the initial custom attributes and then edit it by hand to make special customizations. For a complete description of thehpsa_netconfigcustom attributes, see the Insight Control Server Provisioning Build Plans Reference Guide appendix. -
Automatically delete
hpsa_netconfigafter applying the personalization – If you do not want your network personalization values to persist with the server once they are applied, you can modify the OS Installation Build Plan and append a Remove Custom Attributes from Server step to the end of the Build Plan and have it removehpsa_netconfig. -
Customize personalization step options – The Personalize Network Settings of Installed System step has several command line options that can be specified to further customize its behavior. For information about these additional options, see the step description in the Insight Control Server Provisioning Build Plans Reference Guide.