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, S6010–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.

• File server (required) — a network device for storing and servicing files.

• Domain name server (DNS) (optional) — a server that associates domain names in the network with IP addresses.

• Relay agent (optional) — an intermediary network device that passes messages between the DHCP clients and the DHCP server

when the server is not on the same subnet. It can also provide IP addresses for multiple subnets.

For more information, see Domain Name Server Settings and File Server Settings.

16 Bare Metal Provisioning