Moving from ICLE to ICE-Linux

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Appliance vs. Framework
The single largest difference between ICLE and ICE-Linux is the basic model they are built upon. ICLE
was an Appliance in that the installation process completely consumed the CMS, installing a
customized Linux-based Operating System, all the required tools, and the management application
itself. ICE-Linux, instead, is a set of modular components that are installed onto a Linux operating
system that you choose and provide (see the HP Insight Control Environment for Linux Support Matrix
for a list of supported Linux operating systems.) During installation, ICE-Linux checks that dependency
RPMs are met, then installs HP SIM, configures required services (such as TFTP and RSYNC) and the
ICE-Linux HP SIM plug-in. You are free to run other services and functions on the CMS itself, keeping
in mind the resource requirements of ICE-Linux, particularly as the number of managed systems
increases.
A significant benefit to the foundation approach used in ICE-Linux is that you can extend the
capabilities of the CMS by installing other HP SIM plug-ins, or by writing your own tools that can be
integrated directly into HP SIM.
Expanded CMS Hardware Support
ICLE supported only a select number of HP ProLiant servers as CMS hosts. ICE-Linux removed these
restrictions; it can be installed on a wide range of HP ProLiant servers, provided the server is
supported by HP SIM.
Management Networks and DHCP
ICLE requires a dedicated network (and a network interface card, or NIC, from each of the managed
systems) for all provisioning and management traffic. On this network, ICLE provided a non-optional
DHCP service that was used to manage, pXe-boot, and install its managed servers. While efficient,
these requirements limited its flexibility and placed a number of restrictions on how the CMS was
integrated into your existing computing environment.
ICE-Linux can either use a DHCP server installed on the CMS (similar to the DHCP server required by
ICLE), or integrate with a DHCP service already in your environment. The requirement for a
dedicated management network was also removed. ICE-Linux works equally well in single-, dual-, or
multiple-tiered network architectures.
DHCP is still required in concert with pXe and TFTP to network-boot managed systems into various
RAM disks for discovery, installation, or capturing and deploying an image. However, the ability to
integrate with an external DHCP service provides much desired and requested flexibility to the
product.
File Repository and Customized Installation Configuration
Files
ICE-Linux includes a new file repository service that does not enforce a strict directory layout scheme
as ICLE required. Through HP SIM, you can register supported operating systems, custom operating
systems (that is, non-supported Linux-based operating systems), installation configuration files, ProLiant
Support Packs (PSPs), and shell scripts. The ICE-Linux tools provide context-appropriate lists of files
registered by the user, rather than evaluating their existence solely based on a directory structure that
may or may not be populated. Figure 1 shows the ICE-Linux Repository Tool.