IBM Blade Center: Nodes in a Blade Enclosure

Intended for use with Cassatt Active Response Premium Edition and Data Center Edition V5.1.

This article describes how to set up application nodes using an IBM BladeCenter Management Module (BCMM) for utility computing. Complete this step before adding the enclosure and blades to the Cassatt Active Response Controller.

Step 1: Configure access to the BCMM

Follow these steps to configure access to the blade enclosure.

1. Unplug the BCMM chassis.
2. Connect a console, keyboard, and mouse to a control node.
3. Plug in the BCMM chassis.
4. On the control node, create network access to the BCMM by creating an alias to the default BCMM IP address.
   
   

   Prompt	Enter	Notes
   #	ifconfig eth0:bcmm 192.168.70.124 up	This default IP address is used only during the setup procedure; it will not be the IP address used in Cassatt Active Response after configuration is completed.

5. Open a web browser and enter the BCMM’s default IP address: 192.168.70.125 as the URL.
6. Log into the BCMM's web interface.
   

   Prompt	Enter	Notes
   Login	USERID	The default IBM user ID.
   Password	PASSW0RD	The default IBM password, where the sixth letter is a zero "0" (not the letter "O").

7. In the left navigation, select I/O Module Tasks > Management in the Bay 1 Section, and set the IP address, subnet mask, and gateway addresses as follows:
   

   Prompt	Enter	Notes
   New Static IP Configuration	<new_IP_address>	The BCMM is a networked component that is not managed by Cassatt Active Response, so you must specify a reserved static IP address from within the subnet you are using for Cassatt Active Response. Static IP addresses are implicitly reserved during Cassatt Active Response installation—by virtue of setting the first available and last available IP addresses in the subnet. You can set the BCMM to an address excluded from that range. Alternatively, you can reserve IP addresses in the Cassatt Active Response Controller in: Networks > Cassatt Active Response Subnet > Properties. For help, see Network Addresses: Calculating Requirements.

8. Select Save.
9. On the confirmation screen, select Yes.
10. On the Current IP Configuration portion of the screen, verify that the new values are correct.
11. Select Advanced Management in the Bay 1 Section, and set as follows:
    

    Setting	Enter
    Fast POST	Disabled
    External ports	Enabled
    External management over all ports	Disabled
    Preserve new IP configuration on all resets	Enabled

12. Save the changes.
13. On the I/O Module management screen, select the Advanced Management in the Bay 1 Section and do the following:
    a. Select Restore Defaults.
    b. On the confirmation screen, select Yes.
    c. Select OK.
14. Repeat steps in this section for additional switches in the BCMM chassis.

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Step 2: Configure the BCMM for SNMP

Follow these steps to configure the BCMM.

Cassatt Active Response does not require telnet to be enabled; therefore, it can be enabled or disabled.

1. On the control node, telnet to the BCMM using the reserved IP address you assigned in the previous section.
2. Log into the BCMM's web interface.
3. In the left navigation bar, access MM Control > Network Protocols >Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and set as follows.
   

   Setting	Enter
   SNMPv3 agent	Enabled
   Other settings	As you wish.

   
   
4. In the left navigation bar, access MCC Control > Login Profiles.
5. Click on the login profile that you want to use with Cassatt Active Response (Cassatt recommends that you create a new user profile for SNMP). The link goes to the configuration screen of the specific user profile.  
6. Click on the Configure SNMPv3 User link at the bottom of the page, and set as follows:
   

   Setting	Enter
   Context name	Must be blank.
   Authentication name	MD5
   Privacy protocol	None.
   Privacy password	Blank.
   Confirm privacy password	Blank.
   Access type	Set
   Hostname/IP address for traps	0.0.0.0 (default) or leave as is.

7. In the left navigation bar, click Restart MM; on the Restart MM page, click the Restart button to save the change.

Step 3: Configure switches

Follow these steps to configure each switch in the BladeCenter chassis.

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Step 4: Configure the BCMM for network booting and DHCP

Follow these steps to configure the BCMM for Cassatt Active Response management.

1. Verify that the blade servers are installed in the BCMM chassis and are powered off.
2. Connect the second console to the BCMM chassis.
3. Open a browser, and enter the default BCMM IP address: 192.168.70.125.
4. Log into the BCMM web interface.
5. In the left navigation, access Blade Tasks > Configuration > Boot Sequence and set as follows:
   1. Network - PXE
   2. CD-ROM
   3. Floppy
   
   

   "Network" must come before the “Hard drive”option in the boot order or the node will not boot. If you place “Network” first in the boot order, you gain a small optimization in speed for node discovery and in moving nodes to the free pool. If you are operating in a test environment or you expect to need frequent administrative access to the application nodes, you can set the order to Floppy, CD-ROM, Network.

   
   
6. From the list of blade servers, select the name of the first blade server and do the following:
   a. Check the order of the boot sequence to make sure it is set as specified in step 5.
   b. Select Apply to All Blade Servers.
   c. Select Save.
7. If you want the BCMM to DHCP for its IP address but not autodiscover, go to step 9. If you want the BCMM to autodiscover, continue with the steps in order. If you are using manual discovery, go to skip to step 10.
8. To set up the BCMM for automatic discovery, access the MM Control > Network Interface > External Network Interface section and verify that Hostname box entry has the following format: MMmac_address_inhex
   
   Where:
   mac_address_inhex is the default MAC address of the BCMM as shipped from IBM, without any ":", "-", or space characters. (The MMmac_address_inhex Hostname is used by Cassatt for initial automatic discovery and is required). After the BCMM has been discovered, the Hostname text can be changed to meet your requirements.
   
   Example: If the default MAC address is: 00:0D:50:F5:8A:EA, the valid Hostname entry is: MM000D50F58AEA
   
9. Access MM Control > Network Interface in the External Network Interfaces (eth0) section, and set the BCMM to get its IP address via DHCP:
   
   

   Setting	Enter
   DHCP box	Enabled - Obtain IP config from DHCP server

   
   
10. Select save.
11. Under MM Control, select Restart MM.
    If automatic discovery is turned on after restarting the BCMM, Cassatt Active Response will assign an IP for it so you no longer need the alias to the BCMM. To remove the IP alias for the BCMM, log into the control node enter the following command: # ifconfig eth0:bcmm down

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