White Papers
Table Of Contents
- 1 Zero-Touch Overview
- 2 Introduction
- 2.1 Interactions between components in Auto Config architecture
- 2.2 DHCP provisioning options
- 2.3 DHCP—current and new configuration options
- 2.4 Prerequisites for enabling Auto Config
- 2.5 iDRAC interfaces to enable Auto Config
- 2.5.1 Enabling Auto Config using RACADM (local or remote)
- 2.5.2 Enabling Auto Config using Redfish
- 2.5.3 Enabling Auto Config using iDRAC UI
- 2.6 Using Auto Config in an IPv6 Network
- 2.7 Server Configuration Profiles
- 3 Performing Firmware Repository Update During Auto Config
- 4 Performing Operating System Deployment During Auto Config
- 5 Configuring Windows and Linux DHCP servers to support Auto Config
- 5.1 Auto Config Server Configuration Profile String Format for DHCP Option 43 and DHCPv6 Option 17
- 5.2 Configuring Windows DHCP server option 43
- 5.3 Configuring Windows DHCP server option 60
- 5.4 Configuring Windows DHCPv6 server options 16 and 17
- 5.5 Configuring a Linux DHCP server
- 5.6 Configuring a Linux DHCPv6 Server
- 6 File naming behavior with iDRAC Auto Config
- 7 Workflow Examples
- 8 Troubleshooting Auto Config issues
- 9 Conclusion
- A Technical support and resources
5
Executive summary
The ever-growing requirement for reducing redundant processes and increasing availability of business-critical services is
evident. Also, it is challenging for the system administrators and data center managers to scale out their IT environment.
The iDRAC and DHCP provisioning provides the Auto Config feature to seamlessly onboard servers that are configured in
less time. Elaborated examples are provided to configure the Auto Config feature by using different interfaces, OSs, user
options, server configuration profiles, and DHCP servers.
The Auto Config feature allows IT administrators to automatically configure all server hardware settings as part of the out-
of-band network management. This process eliminates the necessity of high-touch, manual steps to configure server
subsystems such as storage, networking, and BIOS. Administrators can develop configuration profiles for classes of
servers and apply those profiles without interacting with individual systems.
The increase in server density and the constraint of IT resources has made automated management capabilities a critical
component of IT operations. Administrators require repeatable and scalable provisioning capabilities that eliminate error-
prone and time-consuming manual processes. The iDRAC firmware for 12/13/14/15th generation PowerEdge servers
provides the Auto Config—a zero-touch mechanism—for configuring a bare-metal server from a common server
configuration profile.
This technical white paper describes the requirements for using Auto Config with iDRAC9, the setup procedures, and the
tasks for monitoring the Auto Config workflow. This paper also includes detailed input and output examples.