Reviewing The Toolkit - HP Integrity rx1600 Deployment Manual

process to apply the server profile to a target server. Finally, you launch this process to replicate
the server profile on hundreds of servers.
SSTK is not an automated server deployment solution for everyone. The SSTK is an extensible
framework for developing hardware configuration and software installation scripts. The SSTK
is designed for administrators who have some expertise in unattended installations of RHEL or
SLES and familiarity with HP Integrity servers. The SSTK provides sample scripts and utilities
that run in a staging environment based on Debian Linux for HP Integrity servers.
This document guides you step-by-step through the typical tasks involved in deploying HP
Integrity servers using the SSTK. It also provides some guidance on customizing the toolkit for
your deployment scenario. You must extend the samples provided in the toolkit to take advantage
of these capabilities. HP recommends that you read this book completely before planning your
deployment. And always remember to validate your scripts on a test target server before executing
them on the remaining servers.

Reviewing the Toolkit

The following figure illustrates the main components of an SSTK-based deployment:
• The model server sets the standard for the configuration of all other servers. You can use
an existing server as the model or set up a new one.
• The configuration of the storage array controllers installed in the model server sets the
standard for all others. You can configure the controllers using the HP Option ROM
Configuration for Arrays (ORCA) EFI application before booting the OS, or you can run the
Array Configuration Utility (ACU) after the OS is installed.
• The workstation is a PC equipped with a CD-write drive running Linux—is the base of
SSTK operations. You need the workstation to download SSTK, unpack the software package,
edit the sample scripts, and create a bootable device. You can also use the workstation to
host a repository of custom scripts, utilities, hardware configuration files, OS files, and
application files.
• The operating system CD contains the OS setup files.
• The SSTK software package provides sample scripts that invoke utilities, which read and
modify the server and storage array controller configuration. The scripts copy data files
(configuration files), along with OS and any application files that you supply, onto the target
servers. The utilities run in a Linux environment. SSTK provides Linux boot files (boot
loader, kernel, root file system, and boot configuration) for you to copy onto the boot device
as shown in the following figure.
14 Overview