Administration

Administrative functionality for N1 Provisioning Server software and an I-Fabric is available in two forms: through the Administration screen within the Control Center and alternatively, by a set of command-line interface tools that interface directly with the Control Center.

Control Center

The Administration screen is the central point of administration within the Control Center. Using the Control Center from the Control Center Management PC, you can define classes of users that have access to the administration screen and its associated functionality. From the Control Center Administration screen, you have a comprehensive view of all users and logical server farms within an I-Fabric. You can do the following tasks from the Control Center Administration screen:

• Create and delete logical server farms

• Create and delete accounts

• Set usage limits

• Set user and administrator access privileges

• Add and remove logical server farms

• Add images to the image repository

• Remove images from the image repository

• Create and remove contracts

• Publish pertinent news items to accounts

You also can manage security rights and administration privileges from the Administration screen. The Control Center has three levels of access privileges:

• User Level – A standard user level that permits access to logical server farms within an account

• Account Manager Level – A manager within an account that permits the ability to add and delete users within an account

• Administrator – The highest level of access that permits access to the entire I-Fabric (including the control plane) as well as all accounts

For more information about the Control Center, see N1 Provisioning Server 3.1, Blades Edition, Control Center Management Guide.

For more information about access privileges, see Applying Role-Based Access Control in N1 Provisioning Server 3.1, Blades Edition, System Administration Guide.

Command-Line Tools

The command-line tools provide an interface to the Control Center that is used for managing an I-Fabric in conjunction with the Control Center administration functionality. The tools offer a more granular level of control, and also provide an interface for accessing devices and configuration data.

The tools are commonly used to view and track resources within an I-Fabric. Using the command line tools, you can:

• Check the state of any devices within an I-Fabric

• Trace details, such as physical Ethernet connectivity, from the network interface port in the device back to the physical port on the Ethernet switch within an I-Fabric

• Track and manage the logical assignment of physical devices and ports to logical server farms

• Manage VLANs and subnets within logical server farms

• Update the physical resource pool of an I-Fabric

When a device, such as a server blade, is added to an I-Fabric, the command-line tools facilitate the wiring and configuration auditing required for integrating the new device into the available resource pool. Command-line tools also assist in the management of software images, the reconfiguration of devices, and the activation and updating of logical server farms.

For a list of the available command-line tools and a brief description of each tool, Appendix B, Command-Line Tools in N1 Provisioning Server 3.1, Blades Edition, System Administration Guide.