Server profiles and server profile templates

Server profiles and server profile templates enable you to provision hardware quickly and consistently according to your best practices. Store your best practice configuration in a server profile template and then use the server profile template to create and deploy server profiles. You can also create a server profile template from an existing server profile.

A server profile captures key aspects of a server configuration in one place, including:

  • Firmware update selection and scheduling

  • BIOS settings

  • iLO settings

  • Local RAID configuration

  • Network connectivity

  • Boot order configuration

  • Local storage and SAN storage

  • Unique IDs

As long as similar hardware has been discovered, server profiles enable your experts to specify a server configuration before the server arrives. When the server hardware is installed, your administrators can quickly bring the new server under management.

For example, you can create an unassigned server profile from a template that specifies all the configuration aspects—such as BIOS settings, network connections, and boot order—to use for a type of server hardware. Before the server is installed in an enclosure bay, you can do one of the following:

  • Assign the server profile at the time of creation to an empty bay in an enclosure where the server will eventually reside.

  • Create an unassigned profile and assign it once the hardware arrives.

You can move a server profile from the currently assigned server hardware to another server hardware of the same type. When you move the server profile to another server hardware, the profile configuration is applied to the newly assigned server hardware.

If the server types match, you can copy the server profile to a different server. There are no restrictions on servers being in upper or in lower bays. If the profile is moved to a server in a different enclosure, it will fail.

NOTE:

HPE OneView does not support moving a profile with JBODs to a different enclosure.

You can create server profile connections without assigning networks for pre-provisioning.

You can control the server profile behavior. For example, you can assign a server profile to an empty bay and when an appropriate server is inserted into that bay, the server profile is automatically applied to the server hardware. The server profile can also be associated with a specific server to ensure that the profile is not applied if the wrong type of server is accidentally inserted into the bay.