Preparing a Physical Host

The provisioning system prepares a host by installing plug-in specific software on the host's Remote Agent in the form of system service components. A host is considered prepared if all system service components that are applicable to the host have been installed on it. After a host has been prepared, you can perform operations on it, such as running comparisons and deploying applications.

You might need to re-prepare a physical host in the following scenarios.

• A new system service component is installed in the Master Server that needs to be deployed to the host.

  This scenario is likely to occur if a new plug-in is imported.

• The host's operating system has been upgraded and new system service components are required.

  Whenever an operating system is upgraded, prepare the host again. The Master Server might not recognize that the host needs to be prepared again until the next time you attempt to perform an operation on the host.

The browser interface provides several options for when and how to prepare a host. You can prepare a host at the following times.

• When you create the host

• When you view the host's details

• When you view the Hosts table

The browser interface will also prompt you to prepare a host if you attempt to perform an operation on an unprepared host.