HPE Synergy Image Streamer 5.2 User manual

HPE Synergy Image Streamer 5.2 User Guide
Part Number: P01617-007
Published: May 2020
Edition: 1
Abstract
This guide describes the Image Streamer architecture, features, interfaces, and working environment. It describes the
server deployment process using Image Streamer, the purpose, and life cycle of Image Streamer artifacts and the actions
you can perform using them. It also includes information about recommendations for using Image Streamer resources,
authentication, authorization and troubleshooting information for Image Streamer.

©Copyright 2017-2020 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP
Notices
The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for Hewlett Packard Enterprise
products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services.
Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shall not be liable
for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.
Confidential computer software. Valid license from Hewlett Packard Enterprise required for possession, use, or copying.
Consistent with FAR 12211 and 12212, Commercial Computer Software, Computer Software Documentation, and
Technical Data for Commercial Items are licensed to the U.S. Government under vendor's standard commercial license.
Links to third-party websites take you outside the Hewlett Packard Enterprise website. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has no
control over and is not responsible for information outside the Hewlett Packard Enterprise website.
Acknowledgments
Microsoft®and Windows®are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States
and/or other countries.
Linux®is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.

Contents
Introduction to Image Streamer..................................................................................... 7
Image Streamer overview........................................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Image Streamer architecture.....................................................................................................................................................................................7
Image Streamer stateless architecture .............................................................................................................................................................. 9
Image Streamer appliance terminology...........................................................................................................................................................10
User roles for Image Streamer.............................................................................................................................................................................. 11
Deployment using Image Streamer....................................................................................................................................................................11
Getting started with Image Streamer......................................................................... 15
Initial configuration of Image Streamer........................................................................................................................................................... 15
Prepare Image Streamer for use..........................................................................................................................................................................15
About adding Image Streamer devices to an existing Synergy configuration......................................................................... 16
Confirm Image Streamer discovery in HPE OneView............................................................................................................ 16
About reclaiming the Image Streamer appliance..................................................................................................................... 16
When to create a management network for Image Streamer...........................................................................................17
Add Image Streamer to a logical enclosure................................................................................................................................. 17
Accessing Image Streamer documentation and help............................................... 18
Using Image Streamer user interface or REST API scripts...................................... 19
Artifacts............................................................................................................................ 20
About Plan Scripts........................................................................................................................................................................................................20
About custom attributes.........................................................................................................................................................................20
Types of custom attributes................................................................................................................................................................... 21
Rules for custom attributes...................................................................................................................................................................26
System attributes........................................................................................................................................................................................27
About OS Build Plans................................................................................................................................................................................................. 28
About Golden Images.................................................................................................................................................................................................28
Recommendations...................................................................................................................................................................................... 30
About Deployment Plans......................................................................................................................................................................................... 30
About artifact bundles...............................................................................................................................................................................................30
Downloading artifacts from github...................................................................................................................................................31
Factory-provided artifact bundles.................................................................................................................................................... 31
Best Practices for using Artifacts........................................................................................................................................................................32
Use existing artifacts as templates...................................................................................................................................................32
Use Hewlett Packard Enterprise naming convention............................................................................................................ 32
Deployment......................................................................................................................33
About deployment....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 33
Image Streamer for OS deployment.................................................................................................................................................33
OS volumes and Image Streamer deployment............................................................................................................................................ 33
Deployment Groups.................................................................................................................................................................................................... 34
3

Deployment Appliances............................................................................................................................................................................................34
Primary deployment appliance........................................................................................................................................................... 34
Features............................................................................................................................ 35
Stateless Experience...................................................................................................................................................................................................35
High Availability............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 35
High availability for OS volumes........................................................................................................................................................ 35
High availability for appliance and artifact management................................................................................................... 35
Capture............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 36
Capture using the Image Streamer appliance............................................................................................................................ 36
Application installation on stateless servers............................................................. 37
Considerations for application installation.................................................................................................................................................... 37
Option 1: As part of Image Streamer Golden Image................................................................................................................................ 37
Option 2: As part of Image Streamer OS volume.......................................................................................................................................38
Option 3: Compute module local storage....................................................................................................................................................... 38
Option 4: External storage...................................................................................................................................................................................... 39
Appliance management................................................................................................. 40
Reimaging Image Streamer.....................................................................................................................................................................................40
Preparing a USB flash drive.................................................................................................................................................................. 40
Reimaging the appliance module with the preloaded USB drive....................................................................................41
Reinserting Image Streamer...................................................................................................................................................................................44
Guidelines for removing an Image Streamer ............................................................................................................................. 44
Guidelines for inserting an Image Streamer appliance......................................................................................................... 46
Known issues during Image Streamer appliance removal or insertion........................................................................48
Updating Image Streamer........................................................................................................................................................................................49
Update process.............................................................................................................................................................................................49
Update Image Streamer in a single frame configuration..................................................................................................... 50
Update scenarios.........................................................................................................................................................................................52
Backup, restore and recovery................................................................................................................................................................................53
Backup............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 53
Restore and recovery................................................................................................................................................................................53
Image Streamer appliance claim and reset....................................................................................................................................................56
About the support dump..........................................................................................................................................................................................58
Image Streamer Maintenance Console........................................................................ 59
About the Maintenance console.......................................................................................................................................................................... 59
Access the appliance maintenance console.................................................................................................................................................. 60
Access the appliance maintenance console through an SSH connection..................................................................60
Access the appliance maintenance console using a keyboard, video monitor, and mouse.............................60
Access the appliance maintenance console through a notebook or laptop............................................................. 62
Log in to the appliance maintenance console..............................................................................................................................................62
About the appliance maintenance console password.............................................................................................................................63
Appliance maintenance console main menu screen details.................................................................................................................63
Appliance maintenance console details screen details...........................................................................................................................65
Maintenance console appliance states.............................................................................................................................................................66
View the appliance details.......................................................................................................................................................................................68
Reset the appliance maintenance console password.............................................................................................................................. 68
Reset the administrator password with the appliance maintenance console........................................................................... 69
Shut down the appliance using the appliance maintenance console ............................................................................................70
4

Restart the appliance using the appliance maintenance console ................................................................................................... 70
Create a support dump file from the appliance maintenance console..........................................................................................71
Perform a factory reset using the appliance maintenance console ...............................................................................................71
About changing the MGMT port purpose .....................................................................................................................................................72
Configure MGMT port for management network connectivity........................................................................................73
Configure MGMT port for deployment network connectivity...........................................................................................74
MGMT port repurpose for a single enclosure setup...............................................................................................................74
Manual activation of an appliance...................................................................................................................................................................... 75
Security............................................................................................................................. 76
Roles and Authorization........................................................................................................................................................................................... 76
Authentication................................................................................................................................................................................................................77
Communication.............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 77
Certificate management........................................................................................................................................................................................... 77
Establishing trust between a web browser and Image Streamer....................................................................................78
Certificates in Image Streamer............................................................................................................................................................ 78
Certificate status checks.........................................................................................................................................................................79
Appliance Discovery....................................................................................................................................................................................................79
Data Protection..............................................................................................................................................................................................................79
Password Storage....................................................................................................................................................................................... 80
Network Security...........................................................................................................................................................................................................80
Audit Logs.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................80
Compliance....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 80
Deployment and Maintenance.............................................................................................................................................................................. 80
Known issues...................................................................................................................................................................................................................80
Troubleshooting Image Streamer................................................................................ 82
Unable to identify which appliance in an appliance pair is undergoing upgrade ..................................................................82
Active-standby Image Streamer appliance pair is not highly available........................................................................................82
Changes to compute module settings are not updated onto Image Streamer........................................................................ 83
Compute module waits in PXE boot mode due to unavailability of OS volume from Image Streamer......................83
Creation of OS deployment server (Image Streamer) fails due to conflict in IP address................................................... 84
Creation of server profile for a server hardware may fail if attempted immediately after logical enclosure
creation for the bounded enclosure group....................................................................................................................................................84
HPE OneView does not claim Image Streamer appliance after a reset........................................................................................ 85
OS deployment server creation fails due to communication issues between HPE OneView and Image
Streamer.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................85
Image Streamer appliance loses management network connectivity in single enclosure setup................................... 86
OS deployment using Image Streamer fails.................................................................................................................................................. 86
Problems in the functioning of the Image Streamer standby appliance......................................................................................86
Unable to access Image Streamer appliance from HPE OneView....................................................................................................87
Unable to include support dump for a standby Image Streamer appliance...............................................................................88
Unable to power on an Image Streamer appliance on a remote enclosure in a multi-enclosure setup.....................88
HPE Synergy documentation resources......................................................................89
HPE Synergy firmware update resources...................................................................................................................................................... 90
HPE Synergy document overview (documentation map)....................................... 92
Websites............................................................................................................................93
5

Support and other resources........................................................................................ 94
Accessing Hewlett Packard Enterprise Support.........................................................................................................................................94
Accessing updates....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 94
Remote support.............................................................................................................................................................................................................95
Warranty information................................................................................................................................................................................................. 95
Regulatory information............................................................................................................................................................................................. 95
Documentation feedback......................................................................................................................................................................................... 96
6

Introduction to Image Streamer
Image Streamer overview
HPE Synergy Image Streamer is an HPE Synergy management appliance used to host, configure, and serve operating
systems to the HPE Synergy compute modules. The Image Streamer appliance is managed by HPE OneView and must be
in the same subnet as HPE OneView. To access the Image Streamer user interface, you must use single sign-on through
HPE OneView.
The Image Streamer appliance uses the following artifacts to deploy and configure the operating systems for HPE
Synergy compute modules:
• Plan Script
• OS Build Plan
• Golden Image
• Deployment Plan
Image Streamer also provides a capture functionality that enables you to capture an existing instance of the operating
system on a compute module. This capture functionality removes server-specific configuration and provides you a
generalized Golden Image.
Stateless servers
Image Streamer permits a stateless server deployment experience for compute modules. Stateless servers are physical
servers without local storage for application data. Stateless servers might still contain temporary local storage such as
swap space. However, the applications running on the server use remote storage. The compute modules boot and run
from the OS volumes hosted on the Image Streamer appliance.
Image Streamer achieves OS deployment on stateless servers by maintaining the OS deployment state as part of the HPE
OneView server profile. The server profile holds the logical hardware and software state of the server separately from the
physical server. The logical state in the server profile can then be assigned to a physical server as required. The software
state contains the firmware configuration, network connections, boot settings, and the iLO configuration. The deployed
state contains the Golden Image (a combination of a bootable operating system, applications, and I/O driver version) and
personality (hostname, IP configuration) and is stored in the Image Streamer OS volume. This stateless experience helps
in achieving consistent software deployment and update and easy repair or replacement of the servers.
Image Streamer preserves OS volumes when server profiles are assigned to physical servers, unassigned, and moved
between physical servers. There are some scenarios when Image Streamer does not preserve OS volumes. For more
information on these scenarios, see OS volumes status scenarios.
More information
Image Streamer appliance terminology
OS volumes and Image Streamer deployment
Image Streamer architecture
Image Streamer architecture
The Image Streamer appliance is placed in one of the Composable Infrastructure Manager (CIM) slots on HPE Synergy.
The following diagram illustrates the dierent components of Image Streamer appliance architecture.
Introduction to Image Streamer 7

HPE Synergy Image Streamer Module (OS Deployment Server)
User Interface and API
HPE Synergy Frame
Image Streamer Management Application
Solid State Drive (SSD) with two partitions
Repository partition
File System, Binaries, Database, and Artifacts
(Plan Scripts, OS Build Plans, Golden Images, and Deployment Plans)
Server Volume Storage partition
Extracted Golden Images and OS volumes
(Rapid deployment images and deployed server OS volumes)
1
2
3
4
Figure 1: Image Streamer Components
The Image Streamer appliance has the following components:
1The Image Streamer user interface and API enable administrator access to the management application
for artifact and OS volume management, including deployment management.
2 The Image Streamer management application performs artifact management including Golden Image
creation and artifact replication between appliance pairs. It also handles Golden Image deployment and
OS volume management.
3 The Image Streamer SSD repository partition stores the management application data, artifacts, and
Golden Images. This repository partition has a capacity of approximately 69 GB.
4 The Image Streamer SSD server volume storage partition stores the Golden Images in their extracted
form and OS volumes. The OS volumes can be stateful or stateless depending on whether they have
been deployed for specific servers or have just been created for deployment. This partition has a
capacity of approximately 600 GB.
The Image Streamer appliance works in pairs to achieve high availability. For an Image Streamer appliance pair, the
artifact management and OS deployment function is served by an Active-Standby management cluster, whereas the OS
volume storage is served by an Active-Active Storage cluster.
More information
High Availability
Introduction to Image Streamer 8

Image Streamer stateless architecture
UID
Synergy D3940
Storage Module
UID
Active
Power
UID
Active
Power
HPE Synergy Image Streamer
Cloned boot OS volumes that
include server personalization,
applications and configuration files
HPE Compute Modules HPE Synergy Storage Module
External Storage
Temporary content only for CPU,
memory, and storage local
disk for swap and journal files
NAS or SAN
Data fabric
Production Network
Image Streamer
iSCSI deployment
network
HPE
Synergy SAS
(Serial Attached
SCSI)
Drivers available for assignment
to any compute module
in the frame
OS Volume
Legend:
Temporary files Data files
Figure 2: Illustration of Stateless Architecture
The diagram illustrates how Image Streamer integrates with compute and storage to achieve stateless architecture.
The Image Streamer modules contain the required applications, storage, and other components necessary to compose and
manage the OS volumes for compute modules. An OS volume is composed from a Golden Image that is fully configured
without any state information (application data). The Golden Image may contain utilities, applications, and application
configuration files.
When the HPE OneView server profile is created with an OS Deployment Plan and assigned to a compute module, Image
Streamer composes an OS volume by cloning the Golden Image associated with the specified OS Deployment Plan. The
personalization information such as hostname and IP address are added to the composed OS volume with the values that
you specified in the HPE OneView server profile. The OS volume resides in Image Streamer and has the state information
such as the OS image and personalization data. The compute modules remain stateless since the state defining content is
hosted separately. These stateless compute modules can be assigned to dierent OS volumes at dierent times to switch
workloads dynamically, as required. The Golden Image based deployment can also recreate these OS volumes with the
same state when an OS is corrupted.
NOTE: While working with dynamic workloads, data stored in Image Streamer storage volume are persistent as long as the
storage volume is not used for a dierent purpose.
If required, when the HPE OneView server profile defines the OS volume personalization, it can also define the storage
that is assigned to the compute module. The storage may be HPE Synergy D3940 Storage Module drives or it may be
external NAS or SAN storage. The storage device is where the application data is stored.
As illustrated in the diagram, the composed OS volumes in Image Streamer contain the state information. The compute
module local storage is typically used only for swap files and journal files. The external storage module, if configured,
contains application and data files.
Introduction to Image Streamer 9

In general, and in accordance with the Hewlett Packard Enterprise provided Reference Architectures (RAs) or Reference
Configurations (RCs), the application is installed and configured along with the OS. The application can be added as part
of the Golden Image or installed during the personalization process. When application customization is required at the
time of deployment, Plan Scripts that are referenced by the HPE OneView server profile can be used to define the
customization as part of the OS volume personalization.
More information
Deployment using Image Streamer
Image Streamer appliance terminology
An HPE Synergy Composer domain can have multiple Image Streamer appliance pairs. An Image Streamer appliance pair
serves a single logical enclosure, and a single logical enclosure can have at most one Image Streamer appliance pair. One
Image Streamer appliance pair is designated as the primary appliance pair, and all other appliance pairs are designated as
secondary appliance pairs.
For an Image Streamer appliance pair,
• An Active-Standby management cluster serves the artifact management and OS deployment functions.
• An Active-Active storage cluster serves the OS volume storage.
All Image Streamer appliances managed by an HPE OneView instance operate as one deployment server. The Image
Streamer deployment server acts as a single interface for management of all Image Streamer appliance pairs including
deployment and capture of OS volumes residing in any appliance pair. It also manages the artifacts that provide details
about for deployment and capture and replicates the artifacts on multiple appliance pairs when needed.
A special single frame configuration with one Image Streamer can be used for development or testing environments.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise requires a three frame configuration as a minimum for production environment. The following
list describes the appliance and cluster concepts:
Image Streamer appliance
An individual HPE Synergy Image Streamer module placed in HPE Synergy frames or a pair of Image Streamer
modules that function together to form a highly available redundant pair.
Primary Image Streamer appliance
The primary appliance pair for a deployment server. The primary appliance pair is responsible for managing the
server deployment, creating artifacts, and providing storage for the OS volumes for the compute modules in its logical
enclosure.
Secondary Image Streamer appliance
The secondary appliance pair provides storage for the OS volumes for the compute modules in its logical enclosure. If
the primary appliance becomes unavailable, contact your authorised customer support representative to designate a
secondary appliance as the primary appliance to manage the deployment process.
Primary active Image Streamer appliance
This appliance provides the deployment server user interface, artifact management, and deployment control. You can
assign the primary appliance.
Primary standby Image Streamer appliance
When an active appliance becomes unavailable, the standby appliance takes over the management function of the
active appliance and becomes the active appliance.
The secondary appliances contain a copy of artifacts as available on the primary appliance and assist with deployment of
OS volumes. If required, the standby appliances provide redundant artifact storage and deployment functionality. Standby
appliances also have an active OS volume storage.
Introduction to Image Streamer 10

User roles for Image Streamer
The following user roles exist for configuring and accessing Image Streamer using HPE OneView:
Infrastructure administrator
Infrastructure administrator has complete administrative privileges to configure HPE OneView and Image Streamer.
Some of the actions that an Infrastructure administrator performs are:
• Image Streamer setup
• Firmware update
• Addition, replacement, and removal of appliances
Server administrator
Server administrator performs server provisioning and OS deployment from the server profile in HPE OneView.
Software administrator
Software administrator can perform the following actions:
• Create and manage artifacts such as Plan Scripts, OS Build Plans, Golden Images, and Deployment Plans.
• Manage and load artifact bundles.
• Capture Golden Images from OS volumes.
• Set default configuration settings that Server administrators might need for deployment.
• Determine the configuration settings that Software administrators may customize.
Backup administrator
Backup administrator can perform the following actions:
• Create and download backup files, view the appliance settings and activities.
• Has the authority to use scripts to log in to the appliance and run scripts to back up the appliance.
For information on other user roles in HPE OneView, see HPE OneView Help for HPE Synergy available at the Hewlett
Packard Enterprise Information Library.
Deployment using Image Streamer
Deployment is installing and configuring an operating system for servers. To deploy an operating system on HPE Synergy
servers, Image Streamer uses four artifacts. These four artifacts are the building blocks of Image Streamer.
NOTE: Compute modules and servers are used synonymously while referring to the HPE Synergy servers.
The artifacts include Plan Script, OS Build Plan, Golden Image, and Deployment Plan. The illustration shows the building
blocks of Image Streamer with a single Deployment Plan scenario.
Introduction to Image Streamer 11

Deployment Plan
Golden Image
OS Build Plan
Plan Scripts
Figure 3: Building blocks of Image Streamer
Plan Script
A guestfish script that deploys an operating system for compute modules or captures a Golden Image from an
operating system volume. OS Build Plans use the Plan Scripts for deployment and capture.
OS Build Plans
A set of Plan Scripts ordered as steps used to add, modify, or remove the configuration of an OS volume during the
deployment or capture process.
Golden Image
A block-for-block copy of a previously deployed OS volume that is used to deploy and configure operating systems
for compute modules. A previously deployed OS volume can consist of a bootable operating system, applications, and
I/O driver version.
Deployment Plan
A combination of a Golden Image and OS Build Plan that serves as an input for a server profile. The server profile is
then used for OS deployment.
Artifact Bundles
A bundle of artifacts that allows other artifacts to be packaged into a single archive file. This packaging allows the
artifacts to be moved between dierent Image Streamer appliances across dierent HPE Synergy Composer domains.
This format is used for the release of artifacts provided by Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
Introduction to Image Streamer 12

Image Streamer deployment process
HPE OneView
HPE Synergy Image Streamer
Server Profile
Deployment
Plan
Golden
Image
Artifact Bundles
Repository partition Server volume
storage partition
Deployed server
volume storage
OS volumes
OS volume
iSCSI server
connection
iSCSI
connection
between
Image
Streamer
modules
Server specific
OS volume collection
1
2
45
3
6
Build Plan
Plan Scripts
Figure 4: Image Streamer Deployment Process Flow
1Artifacts are stored in the repository partition and are composed of Guestfish Plan Scripts, Build
Plans, Golden Images, and Deployment Plans. Artifact bundles are available for the qualified OS versions
and hypervisors. The bundles are available for download from the Hewlett Packard Enterprise GitHub
site.
2 Build Plans are composed of sequentially added Plan Scripts.
3 A Golden Image is created from a clean install of the OS or hypervisor. During the Golden Image creation
process, an OS volume image is created for the empty volume where the OS or hypervisor Golden Image
will be installed. Once the OS or hypervisor installation and configuration is complete, it is stored as a
stateless Golden Image in Image Streamer. The Golden Image, in its extracted form, is used for fast
deployments of server OS boot volumes.
4 The Deployment Plan specifies the Build Plan and Golden Image to use for the deployments.
5 A server profile is created by the administrator using HPE OneView whenever a Golden Image
deployment is needed for use with server compute and memory resources. The server profile specifies
the Deployment Plan to use for a specified compute module. A definition of the storage to use with the
compute module, network configuration, and other stateful information are included in the server
profile. As a result of the deployment process, an OS volume is derived from the Golden Image with the
information available in server profile.
6 The HPE OneView server profile configures the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) firmware
of the compute modules to initiate iSCSI connections to OS volumes. Once UEFI boots the server, it
passes the iSCSI session details to the operating system. The operating system initiates the iSCSI
connection to the OS volume and continues to run from the OS volume.
Introduction to Image Streamer 13

User roles in deployment
To perform a deployment, the user roles map to the actions as listed in the table.
Infrastructure administrator Configures the HPE Synergy Composer and Image
Streamer appliances in an enclosure
Software administrator Creates the artifacts and the custom attributes in the
appliance using REST API or user interface.
Server administrator Specifies the OS deployment settings using the HPE
OneView server profiles.
Use the sample artifacts provided by Hewlett Packard Enterprise for OS deployment or to help development of
customized artifacts. Copy these sample artifacts to customize functionality and include additional custom attributes for
configuration settings.
To get technical support, always use Hewlett Packard Enterprise provided artifacts for deployment activity.
More information
About deployment
Introduction to Image Streamer 14

Getting started with Image Streamer
The HPE Synergy 12000 Frame Setup and Installation Guide at https://www.hpe.com/info/synergy-docs contains
instructions on how to configure Image Streamer.
Initial configuration of Image Streamer
HPE OneView uses Image Streamer appliances to make it possible to deploy stateless servers.
The order in which you configure HPE OneView resources to support the use of Image Streamer appliances can dier
depending on whether the Image Streamer devices are present during initial HPE Synergy setup, or if the Image Streamer
devices are added at a later time, after first-time setup of the HPE Synergy configuration is already completed.
IMPORTANT: Once you install the appliance in an HPE Synergy frame and power on for the first time, wait for the
HPE Synergy Image Streamer login screen to appear before you start reimaging the appliance. Waiting for the HPE
Synergy Image Streamer login screen to appear ensures that the reimaging code that is required for subsequent
reimaging of the appliance is installed successfully.
HPE OneView Help provides a first-time setup guide to tasks that include notation on Image Streamer configuration
where relevant. The idea is that you configure resources for Image Streamer appliances at the same time that you are
configuring the same resources for other purposes as well.
About adding Image Streamer devices to an existing Synergy configuration provides a guide to tasks specific to
Image Streamer configuration. Use these instructions when you add Image Streamer devices to an existing configuration.
HPE Oneview raises alerts when the configuration combination fails a validity check. The HPE Synergy Cabling Guide
provides information about configuration validation and incorrect cabling combinations.
The Image Streamer deployment workflow provides an interactive walk through the number of steps required for
setting up and using Image Streamer for OS deployment.
Once configuration of Image Streamer for management in HPE OneView is complete, you can prepare the Image
Streamer deployment server for use and configure HPE OneView to deploy operating systems to server hardware. For
more information on performing these tasks, see HPE OneView Help.
Prepare Image Streamer for use
Once you add an Image Streamer OS deployment server in HPE OneView, the Image Streamer user interface is accessible
from a link on the HPE OneView Appliance > OS Deployment Servers screen.
From the Image Streamer interface, a Software administrator can upload artifacts from a bundle for deployment or create
Golden Images and other OS build artifacts.
Prerequisites
• Privileges: Software administrator
• HPE OneView is fully configured to manage Image Streamer appliances.
Procedure
1. Download sample artifact bundles from the GitHub website for HPE Synergy Image Streamer.
2. Navigate to the Image Streamer GUI to add sample artifact bundles to Image Streamer.
Image Streamer artifacts are ready for deployment by the Server Administrator.
Getting started with Image Streamer 15

About adding Image Streamer devices to an existing Synergy
configuration
The following steps describe how to bring HPE Synergy Image Streamer into HPE OneView for management when Image
Streamer appliances have been added to an existing Synergy configuration.
1. Creating or modifying the HPE OneView management network for Image Streamer.
2. Creating the deployment network for HPE Synergy Image Streamer.
3. Modifying the enclosure group when all enclosures will include Image Streamer.
4. Adding an Image Streamer OS deployment server.
5. Adding Image Streamer to a logical enclosure.
6. Preparing Image Streamer deployment server for use.
HPE OneView Help for HPE Synergy has detailed instructions on how to complete each of these steps.
Confirm Image Streamer discovery in HPE OneView
HPE Synergy Composer with HPE OneView embedded performs automated discovery and imports information about HPE
Synergy Image Streamer devices. The Infrastructure Administrator must log in to HPE OneView to confirm discovery and
validation.
Prerequisites
• Privileges: Infrastructure administrator
• One or more Image Streamer appliances are installed and verified.
Procedure
1. Log in to HPE OneView.
2. Verify that the Inventory list contains the expected number of Image Streamer appliances from the Appliance >
Hardware Setup screen.
3. View the Checklist and resolve any hardware or claim related alerts for the Image Streamer appliances.
About reclaiming the Image Streamer appliance
Any Image Streamer appliance inserted into an appliance bay must be claimed by HPE OneView before it can be used for
OS deployment. Once you insert an Image Streamer appliance into an appliance bay, HPE OneView attempts to claim the
appliance.
You can monitor the progress of the appliance claim in the Activity view on the SERVERS > Enclosures screen of the
HPE OneView user interface. The icons next to the Image Streamer appliances on this screen indicate if the appliance is
powered on and if there are any hardware issues.
If there is an issue in the claim process and the Image Streamer appliance must be reset, an alert is displayed on the
Enclosures screen. The alert provides you the details of the issue and a link to factory reset the Image Streamer appliance
and reinitiate the claim process.
If the Image Streamer appliance has been claimed once before in the same HPE Synergy Composer domain, HPE OneView
remembers the credentials for a factory reset and completes the procedure without further user intervention.
Getting started with Image Streamer 16

If the Image Streamer appliance has not been claimed by HPE OneView earlier because it was used in a dierent HPE
Synergy Composer domain or because the Composer has been reimaged, a dialog box prompts you to enter the
credentials. Once you enter the correct credentials that were set in the previously claimed HPE Synergy Composer
domain, the Image Streamer appliance is reset and the claim process is initiated.
NOTE: This action erases the previously configured OS volumes, network settings, and logs.
If you do not know the credentials for resetting the appliance, you must reimage the Image Streamer appliance.
NOTE: When a factory reset is performed from the Image Streamer maintenance console, the alert link for claiming the
appliance is not displayed in the HPE OneView user interface. From the maintenance console, you must use the REST API
to initiate the claim. You can access the HPE OneView API Reference from the help sidebar in HPE OneView.
When to create a management network for Image Streamer
It can be faster to modify an existing management network to use with Image Streamer than to create a new one.
Therefore, check the management network settings under Settings > Networking in HPE OneView user interface to see
if any management networks have been defined.
NOTE: Any management network used for Image Streamer must also include the IP address for HPE OneView in its
configuration.
If a management network is defined, but contains only the HPE OneView IP address and no VLAN, it is faster to
delete the management network and then recreate it to support Image Streamer.
If a management network is defined that contains the HPE OneView IP address and a VLAN or other attributes,
modify that management network for use with Image Streamer.
If no management networks have been defined, create the management network for Image Streamer.
For instructions on creating, modifying, and deleting management networks, see HPE OneView Help for HPE Synergy.
Add Image Streamer to a logical enclosure
NOTE: Complete the following steps for each logical enclosure where you want to include Image Streamer appliances.
Prerequisites
• Privileges: Infrastructure administrator
• OS deployment server must be added for Image Streamer using HPE OneView user interface.
Procedure
1. Go to the SERVERS > Logical Enclosures screen in the HPE OneView user interface.
2. Click Update from Group Action.
NOTE: It takes approximately 50 minutes to add Image Streamer appliances to an existing logical enclosure.
Getting started with Image Streamer 17

Accessing Image Streamer documentation and help
This chapter describes how to access help from the appliance, how to access the publicly available online information
library, and where to find REST API reference documentation.
Online help
The context-sensitive online help focuses on task information and includes:
• Descriptions of the artifacts and user interface screens
• Step by step instructions for performing tasks on the user interface
Clicking the icon opens the help sidebar. In the help sidebar, Help on this page opens help for the current screen.
Browse help opens the home page of the help system.
Clicking on a screen or a dialog box opens the help for that dialog box.
User guide
This user guide supplements the online help and provides:
• Overview of the appliance and its features
• Information about the appliance maintenance console and the tasks you can perform using the maintenance console
• Appliance security information
The user guide and other manuals are available on the Enterprise Information Library.
Accessing Image Streamer documentation and help 18

Using Image Streamer user interface or REST API
scripts
Image Streamer makes OS deployment possible through either a user interface or by using REST (REpresentational State
Transfer) APIs.
Image Streamer user interface
The Image Streamer is user-friendly, visually intuitive, and menu-driven to guide you through daily tasks. It provides alerts
and activities to provide progress and status. The user interface also provides a link to the Image Streamer Online help to
provide more information.
The user interface provides onscreen hints and tips to help you avoid and correct errors, and provides links to learn more
about the tasks. At the top of each screen, the help icon gives you access to the help system.
Image Streamer REST API
REST is a web service that uses basic CRUD (Create, Read, Update, and Delete) operations performed on resources using
HTTP POST, GET, PUT, and DELETE.
The REST APIs:
• Provide an industry-standard interface for open integration with other management platforms.
• Enable you to automate anything you can do from the user interface using your favorite scripting or programming
language.
• Are designed to be highly scalable.
Image Streamer REST API Reference provides API specifications for each artifact. The URI, method, parameters, request
body, and response body are provided to call the Image Streamer REST APIs and to build scripts around these calls.
Using Image Streamer user interface or REST API scripts 19

Artifacts
Artifacts are entities that are used to perform:
• Deployment of operating systems and applications into OS volumes for provisioning compute modules
• Capture of operating system and appliance Golden Images for OS volumes
In an Image Streamer appliance, artifacts include Plan Script (PS), OS Build Plan (BP), Golden Image (GI), and Deployment
Plan (DP).
About Plan Scripts
A Plan Script is one of the building blocks of the Image Streamer appliance and plays an important role in the Deploy and
Capture processes. Plan Scripts are guestfish scripts that perform personalization (deployment) or generalization
(capture).
Plan Scripts are of three Types:
• Deploy — Plan Scripts that are used for deployment
• Capture — Plan Scripts that are used for capture
• General — Plan Scripts that are used for deployment or capture
Plan Scripts of Type Deploy contain custom attributes that are used to specify server-specific configuration
information. A Plan Script must be referenced by an OS Build Plan to use it in a deployment or capture process.
The ability to delete a Plan Script depends on its Read-only property and usage.
Read-only property value In use scenario Can I delete the Plan Script?
Yes Used by OS Build Plan No
Yes Not in use No
No Used by OS Build Plan Yes(A warning is displayed but
you can delete the Plan Script)
No Used by a server profile No
Plan Scripts provided by Hewlett Packard Enterprise are read-only. However, you can make a copy and edit them.
More information
About custom attributes
http://libguestfs.org/guestfish.1.html
https://github.com/HewlettPackard/image-streamer-tools
About custom attributes
Custom attributes are used to specify server-specific configuration information in the artifacts. You can add the custom
attributes only in Plan Scripts of type Deploy. You can specify a default value for the custom attributes in Plan Scripts.
You can modify the custom attribute default values in OS Build Plans, and Deployment Plans in Image Streamer and
specify the final values to be used in server profiles in HPE OneView.
A custom attribute has a name, type, value, and constraints that are applicable for each type of custom attribute. Specify
the custom attribute name and optionally, the value in the Plan Script. Specify the type, constraints of the custom
attribute, and optionally, an overriding default value in the OS Build Plan screen. Custom attribute constraints are used to
Artifacts 20