5.1 Setting Autoprep Facts in the Development Client

You can use the Development Client to configure the facts for autoprep of a VM. This section includes information about the Development Client interface where those facts are set.

When you select a VM object in the Explorer tree of the Development Client, click the Info/Groups tab to open the Info Groups page, then scroll down to the Provisioning Information panel of this page. Open the Linux Autoprep Config panel and at least one of the Autoprep Network Adapter panels.

Figure 5-1 The Autoprep Sections of the Info/Groups Page of a VM Template Object

NOTE:Windows Sysprep Config is not supported in PlateSpin Orchestrate 2.0.2.

The fact settings for each of these panels are discussed below.

5.1.1 Setting Linux Autoprep Config Facts

The settings located in the Linux Autoprep Config panel are global to a configuration of the a Linux VM and are not specific to a particular network adapter. Click Define to enter string values for each fact.

NOTE: It is not mandatory to define these facts. If tye are left undefined, they are not applied to the “autoprepped” VM.

The field names and the accompanying fact value settings for this section include the following:

  • Linux Computer Name: The fact name for this setting is resource.provisioner.autoprep.linuxglobal.ComputerName.

    The string value you enter here becomes the network host name of the new VM. If you enter an asterisk ( * ), the current Grid object ID (resource.id) of the new VM will be used.

  • Linux Domain: The fact name for this setting is resource.provisioner.autoprep.linuxglobal.Domain.

    The string value you enter here becomes the network domain name where the new VM is a member.

5.1.2 Setting Autoprep Network Adapter Facts

The PlateSpin Orchestrate Development Client supports creating network settings (facts) for two network interfaces or “adapters” on a VM. The first adapter is identified as zero (0), and maps to eth0, and the second adapter is identified as one (1), and maps to eth1. It is possible to define settings for one or both of these interfaces, but you should always configure Network Adapter 0 first.

Although you can define individual static settings to be applied to these adapters, Autoprep can be useful to provision multiple clones with unique, autogenerated MAC addresses and DHCP defined IP addresses (even though the VM clones are copies of the same VM template OS image), thus avoiding network conflicts.

The field names and the accompanying fact value settings for this section of the VM Autoprep adapter information are listed below. Click Define to enable selection or data entry in each field.

  • MAC Address: The fact name for this setting is resource.provisioner.autoprep.adapters[0].MACaddress

    or

    resource.provisioner.autoprep.adapters[1].MACaddress.

    This is the name for each NIC that represents the MAC Address for the interface. If you enter an asterisk ( * ), PlateSpin Orchestrate automatically generates the MAC address. If you leave this field undefined, the existing MAC address is re-used.

    NOTE:When multiple clones are to be provisioned from a template, we recommend that you regenerate the MAC Address for each clone to avoid possible ARP table conflicts.

  • Use DHCP: The fact name for this setting is resource.provisioner.autoprep.adapters[0].UseDHCP

    or

    resource.provisioner.autoprep.adapters[1].UseDHCP.

    If you select this check box, the new VM retrieves its network settings from a DHCP server and all other IP-specific adapter settings are ignored. If you do not select this check box, you must define additional adapter settings (for example, IP address, Subnet Mask, and others).

  • IP Address: The fact name for this setting is resource.provisioner.autoprep.adapters[0].IPAddress

    or

    resource.provisioner.autoprep.adapters[1].IPAddress.

    If you enter a legitimate string value here, it becomes the assigned static IP address for this adapter. The setting is ignored if the Use DHCP check box is selected.

  • Subnet Mask: The fact name for this setting is resource.provisioner.autoprep.adapters[0].subnetMask

    or

    resource.provisioner.autoprep.adapters[1].subnetMask.

    The string value you enter here becomes the network subnet mask for the specified adapter. The setting is ignored if the Use DHCP check box is selected.

  • Gateway IP Address: The fact name for this setting is resource.provisioner.autoprep.adapters[0].Gateways

    or

    resource.provisioner.autoprep.adapters[1].Gateways.

    This is a list of Internet gateways that are available to the network adapter. One or more gateway addresses can be added to this list, but in the case of Autoprep for Linux VMs, only the first Gateway address in the list is used.The setting is ignored if the Use DHCP check box is selected.

  • DNS from DHCP: The fact name for this setting is resource.provisioner.autoprep.adapters[0].DNSFromDHCP

    or

    resource.provisioner.autoprep.adapters[1].DNSFromDHCP.

    If you select this check box, the new VM retrieves its DNS server settings from a DHCP server. If you do not select this check box, the DNS settings you define in the Development Client are applied.

  • DNS Server IP Addresses: The fact name for this setting is resource.provisioner.autoprep.adapters[0].DNSServers

    or

    resource.provisioner.autoprep.adapters[1].DNSServers.

    This is a list of DNS servers that are available to the VM. You can add one or more DNS server IP addresses to this list if you want to. The setting is ignored if the DNS from DHCP check box is selected.

  • DNS Domain: This fact is not currently supported.

  • Primary WINS Server: This fact is not currently supported.

  • Secondary WINS Server: This fact is not currently supported.

  • DNS Suffixes: This fact is not currently supported.

  • NetBIOS: This fact is not currently supported.