Discovering Appliances; Using Families And Groups In The Tree View - IBM eServer 135 xSeries User Reference Manual

Discovering appliances

Any appliance server that is running and is connected to the same subnet as the
system running the Advanced Appliance Configuration Utility console is
automatically discovered when you start the Advanced Appliance Configuration
Utility console. Discovered appliances appear in the Advanced Appliance
Configuration Utility console Tree View pane (the left pane of the Advanced
Appliance Configuration Utility console window). Each appliance appears in two
locations in the tree view:
• In the tree view under All Appliances.
• In one of the following portions of the tree view:
— In a family
If the discovered appliance fits the requirements of a family, it automatically
appears as part of a family.
Note: If a discovered appliance fits the requirements of more than one
family, it is automatically added to the first appropriate family that
is listed in the tree view, starting from the top of the tree. For
information on how to move appliances between families, see

"Using families and groups in the tree view".

— In the Orphaned Appliances group
If the discovered appliance does not fit a previously configured Family, it is
placed in the Orphaned Appliances group.
— In the Orphaned Externally Configured Appliances group
Appliances that are running the Advanced Appliance Configuration Utility
agent but have a network configuration that was not set by the Advanced
Appliance Configuration Utility agent or console will appear in the
Orphaned Externally Configured Appliances group. If an appliance is
contained in the Orphaned Externally Configured Appliances group, you
can use the Adopt By First Matching Family function to add it to a
previously defined family. For more information, see "Using the Adopt by
First Matching Family function" on page 26.
Using families and groups in the tree view
Families are important elements of the Advanced Appliance Configuration Utility.
They specify the parameters that the Advanced Appliance Configuration Utility uses
to automatically categorize discovered appliances and to configure them with the
appropriate network settings. Family rules are defined solely by appliance type or
purpose. Each family can contain only one type of appliance. The only way to
automatically apply predetermined network settings to newly installed and
discovered appliance servers is to create and use families.
Appliance servers that match the rules criteria for a family group can be automatically
configured to use predefined network settings. A family can be defined to
automatically assign IP settings (such as primary gateway and DNS server addresses,
assigning an IP address from a specified IP address range, and specifying a subnet
mask). Host names for discovered appliances can also be defined so that they are
allocated using either a prefix or serial number.
The Advanced Appliance Configuration Utility is not the only way to configure
network settings. For example, network settings can be configured using Appliance
System Manager or by attaching a keyboard and mouse to the appliance and using
Appliance System Manager on the server. If the appliance network settings have been
configured by a method other than using the Advanced Appliance Configuration
Utility, the appliance will be discovered by the Advanced Appliance Configuration
Utility and it will be added to an appropriate family, if one exists. Appliances that
Chapter 3. Configuring your server
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