Service Manual

Bare Metal Provisioning

Bare metal provisioning (BMP) is included as part of the Dell Networking OS image and is supported on the

S4810, S4820T, S3048–ON, S3100 Series, S4048–ON, S5000, S6000, S6000-ON, S6100–ON, Z9100–ON,

Z9500, C9010, IOA, and MXL platforms.

Introduction

BMP improves operational efficiency to your system by automatically loading pre-defined configurations and

Dell Networking OS images using standard protocols such as dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP)

and common file transfer mechanisms.

Bare metal provisioning:

• Reduces the time to install and configure the network device.

• Helps eliminate configuration errors and ensure consistent configurations.

• Functions on a single system or on multiple systems.

• Includes simple network management protocol (SNMP) support.

• Includes support for pre- and post-configuration scripts.

How it Works

With BMP, the system retrieves a configuration file or a pre–configuration script indicated in the DHCP offer.

Using the pre–configuration script, you can:

• Verify the integrity of the boot image the DHCP offer downloads.

• Decide what type of configurations you want to apply based on your network reachability, port status,

and neighbor discovery.

• Monitor your CPU, memory utilization, port traffic status, or perform link and topology checks with the

link layer discovery protocol (LLDP).

• Retrieve and apply the configuration from a central repository.

If you disable BMP, Normal mode provides Autoexec support. Using the Autoexec feature, you can apply

script–based configurations at system start-up.

Prerequisites

Before you use BMP to auto-configure your Dell Networking switch, configure the following:

• External DHCP server (required) — a network device offering configuration parameters.

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