About Server Configurations

 

A server configuration is a record of all the information and file references needed to create a fully functioning server. Server configurations are made up of a hardware profile and at least one image file.

 

Cloud Automation Platform employs both virtual server configurations and physical server configurations to create an application configuration, which defines all the resources needed to deploy a single session. A single application configuration can include combinations of both virtual and physical server configurations.

 

A server configuration includes the following information:

Associated image files

One or more images are grouped into a server configuration based on the number of drives the VM requires.

Available image types include:

  • ESX virtual disk
  • ISO image
  • Floppy image

Mount point and device type

Each image is attached to the server configuration at a mount point. Available device types include IDE or SCSI.

 

Note: Cloud Automation Platform reserves mount point IDE 1:1 for VM management.

Associated hardware profile

A server configuration is linked to a hardware profile, which defines the amount of RAM required for the resource deployment. When a server configuration is created, a hardware profile must be specified.

Network adapter configuration

Identifies whether NAIL is installed and if an application-specific MAC address, such as those used for license enforcement, is required. It also identifies whether a group network or a private, single-host network is required. Authentication requirements are also defined here.

Remote access methods

Identifies which methods of remote access are available to users for each server configuration. Supported types include: RDP, Shadowing, Citrix, and VNC.

Administrators configure the types of remote access while creating a server configuration. An application user can then select the method with which to connect to the resource. For information about configuring universal remote access (URA) to enable communication from a remote computer to the CAP Core server, refer to the Installation and Administration Guide.

Network card type (virtual server configurations only)

For VMware ESX, the network card prevents TCP/IP conflicts and image duplication errors. You can select the network card type.

Bus configuration (virtual server configurations only)  

For VMware ESX, you must specify Buslogic or Lsilogic or problems will result. Earlier versions of VMware use Buslogic, while newer versions use LSI Logic as the SCSI device type. To determine the bus type of your initial image template, in the VM’s configuration file (.vmx), find the line that begins with scsi0.virtualDev and note the associated value.

 

Ultimately, a server configuration is associated with an application configuration. Server configurations cannot be deployed directly to a physical host. They must be associated with an application configuration, which is then used to create a session and deployed as needed.

 

See the workflow diagram for more information about how server configurations are used.

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