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Bare metal

• The management platform does not support the bare metal service if the management node is an ARM host.

• TencentOS hosts do not support the bare metal service.

• Before using the bare metal feature, enable Enable Bare Metal Service on the System > Component Management > Components > Bare Metal page.

The bare metal service provides physical servers as a resource to users. If virtual machines do not meet the needs of a user, the bare metal service allows the user to have exclusive access to a physical server. Users can quickly deploy physical servers through the bare metal service, or add physical servers to the cloud for unified management without changing existing systems.

Benefits

• High performance—Users have exclusive access to physical resources to avoid performance loss due to virtualization.

• Unified management—Existing servers are migrated to the cloud easily and quickly for unified management without changing the original system conditions.

Application scenarios

• High performance computing—By avoiding the performance loss and latency caused by virtualization, the bare metal service supports high performance computing scenarios that require high computing capability.

• Database application—Bare metal nodes can host key databases that require a dedicated environment.

Features

• Manage bare metal

• Manage images

Manage bare metal​

Prerequisites

• To add a bare metal node, make sure the UEFI boot mode is used for the bare metal node and IPMI is enabled.

• If multiple DHCP servers are configured in the network for the management platform, you might fail to install bare metal images. For example, if multiple management platforms need to use the bare metal feature, you must isolate the management networks of these platforms.

Restrictions and guidelines

When you add a bare metal node, make sure the iLO address of the bare metal node as planned. If you specify the iLO address of a server that is running other services, you cannot add the bare metal node and a service exception will occur on the server.

Add a bare metal node

  1. On the top navigation bar, click Compute.

  2. From the left navigation pane, select Bare Metal Nodes.

  3. Click Add Bare Metal Node.

  4. Configure the parameters as described in "Parameters."

  5. In the dialog box that opens, verify the iLO address of the bare metal node, enter CONFIRM (case-insensitive), and then click OK.

Install an image

  1. On the top navigation bar, click Compute.

  2. From the left navigation pane, select Bare Metal Nodes.

  3. Select a bare metal node, and click More > Install Image in the Actions column.

  4. Configure the parameters as described in "Parameters."

  5. Click OK. Table-1 Image installation phase Phase Description Initial The bare metal node was added successfully. Preparing The image file is being copied. Installing The image file is being installed. Running The bare metal node is running after image installation finishes.

Start a bare metal node

  1. On the top navigation bar, click Compute.

  2. From the left navigation pane, select Bare Metal Nodes.

  3. Select a bare metal node, and click Start in the Actions column.

  4. Click OK.

Shut down a bare metal node

  1. On the top navigation bar, click Compute.

  2. From the left navigation pane, select Bare Metal Nodes.

  3. Select a bare metal node, and click Shut Down in the Actions column.

  4. Click OK.

Restart a bare metal node

  1. On the top navigation bar, click Compute.

  2. From the left navigation pane, select Bare Metal Nodes.

  3. Select a bare metal node, and click More > Restart in the Actions column.

  4. Click OK.

Access the console of a bare metal node

Restrictions and guidelines

• You must first enable VNC in iLO of the target bare metal node.

• This feature is supported only on the R4900 G5 server series.

Procedure

  1. On the top navigation bar, click Compute.

  2. From the left navigation pane, select Bare Metal Nodes.

  3. Select a bare metal node, and click More > Console in the Actions column.

Delete a bare metal node

  1. On the top navigation bar, click Compute.

  2. From the left navigation pane, select Bare Metal Nodes.

  3. Select a bare metal node, and click More > Delete in the Actions column.

  4. Click OK.

Configure a PXE address pool

Restrictions and guidelines

Only an IPv4 PXE address pool is supported.

Procedure

  1. On the top navigation bar, click Compute.

  2. From the left navigation pane, select Bare Metal Nodes.

  3. Click PXE Address Pool Configuration.

  4. Configure the parameters as described in "Parameters."

  5. Click OK. The system will scan the PXE address pool for bare metal servers.

Parameters Add a bare metal node

• Bare Metal Node Name: Enter a name for the bare metal node.

• iLo Address: Enter the IPv4 or IPv6 iLo address of the bare metal node.

• Login Mode: Select HTTP or HTTPS.

• Port: Enter a port number. The default port number is 8080 for HTTP and 443 for HTTPS.

• Username: Enter the iLo username of the bare metal node.

• Password: Enter the iLo password of the bare metal node.

Install an image

• Select Image: Select an image file to install on the bare metal node.

Manage images​

Clone a VM as an image

This feature clones shutdown VMs as bare metal images. After being uploaded, these bare metal images can be used by bare metal servers. When you clone a VM as a bare metal image, follow the guide for creating a bare metal image based on an offline VM to install an operating system. If you fail to do so, the bare metal servers cannot use the image of the VM.

Procedure

  1. On the top navigation bar, click Compute.

  2. From the left navigation pane, select Resource Navigation > All > Resources > Data Center Name > Cluster Name > Host Name > VM Name.

  3. Click More, and then select Clone as Image.

  4. Enter an image name and a description, and select an image pool. You can also click Add to add an image pool as needed. For more information about adding an image pool, see "Add an image pool."

  5. Click OK.

Parameters

• Image Name: Enter a name of the image.

• Image Pools: Select the image pool that stores the image.

Upload an image

  1. On the top navigation bar, click Compute.

  2. From the left navigation pane, select Bare Metal Nodes.

  3. Click the Images tab.

  4. Click Upload Image.

  5. Select a .tar.gz image file, select the matching operating system, and click OK.

Delete an image

  1. On the top navigation bar, click Compute.

  2. From the left navigation pane, select Bare Metal Nodes.

  3. Click the Images tab.

  4. Click Delete for an image.

  5. Click OK.

Add an image pool

  1. On the top navigation bar, click Compute.

  2. From the left navigation pane, select Bare Metal Nodes.

  3. Click the Images tab.

  4. Click Image Pools.

  5. Click Add Image Pool.

  6. Select an image pool type from local file directory, iSCSI shared directory, FC shared directory, NFS, and local synchronization partition. For more information about each type, see the related storage pool tasks. You can add image pools of the local file directory type only in non-stateful-failover systems. You can add image pools of the local synchronization partition type only when the following conditions are met:

    ○ The environment is a stateful failover system.

    ○ The management host is not added to the management platform as a service host.

    ○ No local synchronization partition exists.

  7. Click OK.

Search images

  1. On the top navigation bar, click Compute.

  2. From the left navigation pane, select Bare Metal Nodes.

  3. Click the Images tab.

  4. Click Image Pools.

  5. Click an image pool and click Search Images.

  6. Select an image file, and click Import.