Cisco UCS Director Bare Metal Agent (BMA) automates the process of using a Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) to install operating systems on bare metal servers or virtual machines. Bare Metal Agent provides the following services that are required for a functional PXE install environment:

• Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP)

• Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

• Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP)

When this environment is operational and Bare Metal Agent and Cisco UCS Director are correctly configured, you can build PXE installation tasks into any Cisco UCS Director infrastructure workflow.

You can access Bare Metal Agent through Secure Shell (SSH). You can also perform services on Bare Metal Agent, such as DHCP configuration and starting and stopping services, through Cisco UCS Director. A single Cisco UCS Director node can support multiple Bare Metal Agent applications.

You can choose between the following network configuration options for Bare Metal Agent

• Single network for management and Preboot Execution Environment (PXE)

• Separate networks for management and PXE

Choose the network configuration option that best meets the requirements of your environment.

Single Network for Management and PXE

We recommend that you choose this network configuration option if your environment permits the following to be hosted on the same VLAN (Layer 2) network (see the following figure):

• Services provided by Bare Metal Agent, such as DHCP, TFTP, and HTTP

• Management traffic between Bare Metal Agent and Cisco UCS Director or other devices and appliances

Figure 1. Sample Topology for a Single Network

Separate Networks for Management and PXE

We recommend that you choose this network configuration option if your environment does not permit the following to be hosted on the same network interface and Layer 2 network (see the following figure):

• On the PXE network, services provided by Bare Metal Agent, such as DHCP, TFTP, and HTTP

• On the Management network, traffic between Bare Metal Agent and Cisco UCS Director or other devices and appliances

Figure 2. Sample Topology for Separate PXE and Management Networks

Prerequisites and Assumptions for a Network Configuration

Make sure that your environment meets the following prerequisites for Bare Metal Agent network configuration:

• Cisco UCS Director has been installed and the network interface configured, as described in the appropriate Cisco UCS Director installation guide.

• Cisco UCS Director Bare Metal Agent is reachable through a web browser and you can log in.

• Bare Metal Agent has been installed, and no additional configuration has been performed.

• For a single network configuration, make sure that the required single Management and PXE VLAN is provisioned and available as a virtual port group or port profile that virtual machines (VMs) can be attached to or leveraged.

• For a separate network configuration, make sure that the following networks are provisioned and available as a virtual port group or port profile that VMs can be attached to or leveraged:

  • Management (MGMT) network—Used for traffic between Bare Metal Agent and Cisco UCS Director

  • PXE network—Used for PXE services traffic, such as DHCP, HTTP, and TFTP

The process involved in installing operating systems on bare metal servers through Bare Metal Agent is as follows:

• Install Bare Metal Agent. See Installing Cisco UCS Director Bare Metal Agent.

• Configure Bare Metal Agent. See Configuring Cisco UCS Director Bare Metal Agent.

• Add OS images in Bare Metal Agent. See Adding Windows OS Images or Adding Non-Windows OS Images.

• Deploy OS images on bare metal servers through workflow tasks. See Provisioning OS Images through Orchestration Workflow Tasks.

For managing Bare Metal Agent operations through Cisco UCS Director, see Managing Bare Metal Agent.

For detailed information on upgrading Bare Metal Agent, see the Cisco UCS Director Upgrade Guide.