Change blade server display name

[Swarm]

Hi there,

SO i have a question in regards to how OneView displays its blades.

Below is how the server is displayed in Onboard Administrator

http://imgur.com/SKKasX3,k7VlK66#1

But this below is how it's shown in OneView

http://imgur.com/SKKasX3,k7VlK66#0

Obviously i want the OneView to show the server name....how do i do this?

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Question 2

If i am just MONITORING the enclosures, there should be no downtime on the import into OA, correct?

It's only when we import a MANAGED enclosure, do we see downtime?

[ChrisLynch]

Hello and welcome to the HP OneView Community Forums.

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@Swarm wrote:

Hi there,

SO i have a question in regards to how OneView displays its blades.

Obviously i want the OneView to show the server name....how do i do this?

---

The Onboard Administrator displays this information because that is what the iLO reports, and only if there is an OS with the Insight Manager Agents (or at a minimum the iLO Interface Driver).  If you noticed when an OS is not installed, the server name in the OA is typcially the server model name (i.e. ProLiant BL460 Gen8).  Now, imagine all of your servers that ONeView is managing does not have an OS installed, and all of their names are "ProLiant BL460 Gen8".  How can you tell which server is which in your data center?  Sure, we could impose customers to add the Server Name to the iLO (log into the iLO Management UI, expand Administration, then select Access Settings) for every single server is impractical.  We are working on other ways to display the server name.  Unfortunately, I don't have anything to share.

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@Swarm wrote:

Question 2

If i am just MONITORING the enclosures, there should be no downtime on the import into OA, correct?

It's only when we import a MANAGED enclosure, do we see downtime?

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Correct. Adding a supported DL or BladeSystem Enclosure for Monitor only is an online (no downtime) operation.  Removing that(those) resource(s) is an online operation.  However, you cannot convert a Monitored to Managed resource without first removing it from the appliance and then adding it as a Managed resource, which today is an offline (requires downtime) operation.

[Swarm]

Thanks for your response.

The iLo name is actual set up already, but not reflected anywhere in the enclosure view on OneView.  The enclosure knows about it, but it seems that OneView just doesnt have the functionality to display it?  

It would be ideal if, for example, in the "Enclosures>Device Bays" section to have the ilo name at least 

I can do a search on the server name and it will come back with "Shelter>Bay 1"....so it knows about it there

[sysadmin4151]

I don't follow. The iLO already has a "Server Name" field, that populates with the correct server name.  OneView reports "ENCLOSURE1 Bay X", no matter if the iLO server name field is reported. OneView should always (or minimum give the option) of displayign the actual server name. This seems like a basic, obvious functionality. Telling me the enclosure and bay number is much less helpful. 

[ChrisLynch]

Welcome to the HP OneView forums @sysadmin4151.

The reason why HP OneView doesn't display the iLO Server Name value today is because of when the hardware has no OS, and the Server Name value is Null.  If you were to look within an Onboard Administrator, it will show you the Device Bay ID, followed by the Product Name (i.e. HP ProLiant BL460c Gen9.)  Now, imagine seeing 100 of those in HP OneView.  How could you tell which was which and in what enclosure?  Yes, we know that you can modify the Server Name value in the iLO, but that isn't always consistent, nor a value a customer provides. 

Tat being said, we are very aware of this, and are looking at different experiences to handle displaying a server name better within HP OneView.  I just don't have anything further to share on a public forum.

[sysadmin4151]

Ok, but what about the option. I can use the Onboard Administrator PowerShell cmdlets to retrieve this information...

[ChrisLynch]

As I stated, there is no option to change this today.  It has been raised to the product team to address, but it is not as simple as you suggest.

[GLOT]

Hello,

The OS name of the server is very important to be able to quickly identity a server when you manage hundreds. What about an other column with the OS name ? If the server has no OS then the value will be Null (or serial number), but it is not a problem.

I don't understand HP position. In Insight Manager, we have the OS server name displayed.

At this point Oneview is useless.

Thank you for your answer.

[ChrisLynch]

@GLOT

The reason why HP SIM could display that information is because the host OS can be inventoried.  HP OneView does not inventory or manage the host OS.  So, it wouold have to rely on the iLO to guarantee the Server Name was exactly as it should be.  Its not a trivial feature, and we continue to look at ways to improve the overall experience and functionality of HP OneView.

[kikepq]

Hello, but in my case even if the server name it is properly configured in ILO, HP Oneview does not shows it.

Is it ok?

[ChrisLynch]

At this point, it does not matter if the iLO shows the correct name.  HPE OneView still does not use that value to populate the Server Hardware name.  My suggestion to folks is to not strictly be hung up on that name.  The Server resource is just one of many in your Server Hardware 'collection' or 'pool'.  Instead, the Server Profile should have the name you want.  OneView maintains the relationship of the Server Profile to the Server Hardware in the UI and via the REST API.  Use the Server Profile as your first level management resource, not the Server Hardware resource.  Why?  Because the Server Profile contains the identity policy (WWN, MAC, SN, storage volumes, connection mapping, etc.).  The Server Hardware is just the destination of the Server Profile resource, which you can move from Server Hardware to Server Hardware.

[sphero]

so if i had 100 servers, would i need to create 100 server profiles? 

[ChrisLynch]

If you have added your supported server resources as Managed (instead of Monitored, as Monitored doesn't provide Server Profie Management), then yes.  A Server Profile has a 1:1 relationship to the assigned Server Hardware device.  In HPE OneVIew 2.0, you can have a Server Profile associated with a Server Profile Template for compliance enforcement and aggregating server policy management.  But you are still creating a Server Profile, which can only be assigned to a single Server Hardware device.

[OneViewDevil]

Unfortunately in our setup OneView is not able to operate in "managed" mode for Blades. We have Cisco B22 FEX modules and Brocade 16Gb SAN Modules which are both not supported. So I can't create Profiles and even if I could I would prefer to have the real server name in the OneView Server list. It is not usable to see Enclose xxx slot xxx has an error because I don't know all of our hundreds of servers by position but if I can see the ILO servername I know if he is important for the business or not and how fast I have to react.

This is an absolute must criteria.

Thanks

[ChrisLynch]

Hello @OneViewDevil, and welcome to the HPE OneView Community forums.

Unfortunately in our setup OneView is not able to operate in "managed" mode for Blades. We have Cisco B22 FEX modules and Brocade 16Gb SAN Modules which are both not supported

Sorry, but that is not correct.  While, yes, OneView does not manage either of those interconnect types, you can model the B22 FEX in a Logical Interconnect Group, and get basic health reporting and config monitoring along with the parent 5k/6k.  But just because you have both the B22 FEX and the Brocade 16Gb FC module does not mean you lose Server Profile capabilities.  You do lose Connection (along with identifity, i.e. MAC or WWN management) and HPE StoreServe (aka 3PAR) FC volume management. But you gain Firmware, BIOS and Boot Order management with supported platforms.

[csouthy]

A few versions later and it seems that this still isnt really a priority. 

Why wouldnt a setup like this preffered

http://imgur.com/E8ZCtSk

I can already tell from the Ecnlosure Page what ENCLOSURE and BAY number it is.....so why not replace that field with the actualy ILO/Server name?

[julianwood]

I'm feeling the same thing. HPE OneView 3.0 is out and excitedly I have deployed it just to find that yet again some of these basic things are not just there.

If Virtual Connect firmware can automatically pick up the server name then there can't be any valid reason why OneView can't.

I have also tried renaming a Server Profile and then refreshing the enclosure, no change to the OneView server name, removed and re-added the enclosure and stilll nothing, so it doesn't seem to be taking the server name from the Server Profile as mentioned in the thread.

I really really want to deploy OneView but now we're at v3 and still missing obvious functionality. I have to use Monitored for chassis as I have some G6 blades so they can't be Managed.

All I want is a dashboard where I can aggregate all my blades and physical servers, sort by name picked up via the OS/iLO/whatever but certainly not just displaying the meaningless blade location.. 

Come on, HP, talk to your customers and find out what they really want and what's stopping them deploying OneView, I think you will find a huge uptick in adoption if you just sorted a few simple things.

[ChrisLynch]

@julianwood, firstly, VCM never had the ability to report the server's iLO Server Name property. You still have that challange. The OA can and does report the Server Name IF it is set in either the iLO directly, or with the iLO CHIF driver in the OS which then populates the Server Name field within the iLO.

Yes, we do listen to customers. This topic has been discussed a few times on this forum. This forum is NOT the avenue to talk about unreleased products or when we will deliver features to any HPE product. I would suggest you reach out to your HPE sales team for NDA roadmap information. This is standard operating practice.

I can tell you that we are actively working on the ability to display the iLO Server Name for a future release, which is based on direct customer feedback. I cannot state what release we are looking at in a public forum.

[julianwood]

for the quick reply, Chris

Looking forward to seeing a future version soon which addresses this (I know you can't commit on anything). 

Having the server name populated in the OA via any means and having that same name referenced as the servername in OneView would be hugely beneficial. It would mean an immediate deployment of OneView for us and likely many others, at the moment, can't deploy it as servers can not eaily be recognised.

Thanks,

Julian