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7 Deployment and Migration of Boot from SAN Configuration using Dell EMC OpenManage Enterprise version
3.3.1
3 Configure boot from SAN with the iSCSI protocol
The following steps are used to create an iSCSI SAN configuration.
Step 1: Create a base system.
A 'base system' is an existing server discovered in OME, which is already configured or is readied for a one-
time boot from SAN configuration. The template derived from this system is treated as a 'golden' template and
is used for deployment on the newly added servers.
Step 2: Capture template from the base system.
Step 3: Create and associate virtual identities to the template.
Step 4: Attach a Boot to Network ISO image for deployment.
Note: The ISO image can be customized to contain a ‘kickstart’ file so that the OS installation can go unattended.
Step 5: Deploy the template to the newly added servers.
3.1 Create a base system
System setup is an integral part of 'stateless' deployment. The CNA card of the base system must be
configured to enable the iSCSI boot protocol which is essential for iSCSI boot from SAN. Disabling the iSCSI
parameters via DHCP and TCP/IP parameters via DHCP allows OpenManage Enterprise to assign
mandatory identities required for iSCSI boot.
Creation of a base system setup is a onetime manual task. This system setup must be done accurately as
OpenManage Enterprise replicates this 'golden' configuration on equivalent devices and the success of
further deployments depends on the accuracy of this configuration.
If the base system is not already setup for boot from SAN using iSCSI, follow the below mentioned
configuration guidelines.
As an example, the base system is setup using the following hardware configuration:
➢ Server used: MX840c
➢ CNA used: QLogic QL41262HMKR.
Note: Different vendors have various methodologies to configure Boot from SAN. Refer to the vendor-
specific documentation for more details.
Note: Ensure that both the iSCSI initiator and the target are on the same network and can reach each
other.
Creation of a
Base System
Capture
Template
Identity Pool
Creation
Associate
Identities
Deploy Template
Booting to SAN
via iSCSI