4372ch02.fm | Draft Document for Review November 15, 2007 3:27 pm |
2.4.2 Modifying the unattended profile for a dynamic host name
Some organizations have very strict computer naming conventions while others are happy for a host to be assigned a number from a random pool. There is a lot to be said about the pros and cons of each naming style. However, some form of a naming standard is required in order to keep track of the different systems in the environment. This is especially true in a large retail environment with multiple locations and different types of machines. If a naming standard is not maintained it may become difficult to locate a particular machine that needs repair or determine what function the device provides. This problem only gets more complicated in a retail environment with a central IT department that manages several remote warehouses and stores each with many devices in each location. Tivoli Provisioning Manager for OS Deployment offers a number of ways to register a hostname within the system:
Manually type a name into the Web console after a computer registers with Tivoli Provisioning Manager for OS Deployment, but has not yet had an image deployed. This is fine for one or two computers but during a major deployment it can become very laborious.
Import a list of hostnames. This is a good way to populate the host database, especially if the computer naming convention does not rely on any characteristic of the actual computer. Each name however must be linked some way to a unique characteristic of a computer. This could be the MAC address, the UUID/GUID, the serial number, or a fixed asset tag. These could be acquired from the manufacturer with the hardware shipment. In short, Tivoli Provisioning Manager for OS Deployment must have some way of uniquely identifying a computer to allow the match up with a pre populated host name. The import host button is at the bottom of the Host monitor panel.
Automatically generate a host name. Tivoli Provisioning Manager for OS Deployment has a variety of keywords that will allow the extraction of all or part of a key hardware identifier and build it into the hostname according to a template. This means you could incorporate all or part of the computer’s serial number or asset number into its hostname.
Let Tivoli Provisioning Manager for OS Deployment decide. Tivoli Provisioning Manager for OS Deployment will assign a random hostname.
In our scenario, we used the ability for Tivoli Provisioning Manager for OS Deployment to automatically generate a host name with the use of keyword variables. In order to achieve this the values in the Fixed Hosts properties can contain special keywords or variables that are replaced by dynamic information. This can be helpful when trying to dynamically create hostnames for systems. Below are the supported keywords:
48Tivoli Provisioning Manager for OS Deployment in a Retail Environment
