HPE OneView is HPE's infrastructure management appliance. Where iLO manages one server at a time, OneView brings many ProLiant servers into one console: inventory, health and alerts, and, for managed servers, server profiles that apply BIOS, iLO, RAID, boot order and firmware settings consistently. This guide covers the first steps for rack servers, following the HPE OneView 11.2 Installation Guide and User Guide for VMs. Screens and options change between OneView releases, so use the guides for your version.
Before you start
- A hypervisor host or cluster for the appliance. The 11.2 installation guide covers VMware vSphere, Hyper-V, KVM, HPE Morpheus VM Essentials and Nutanix AHV.
- Check that your servers, iLO firmware and hypervisor are listed in the HPE OneView Support Matrix.
- Each server's iLO must have a reachable IP address and an account with administrator privileges. If iLO is not set up yet, see HPE iLO first-time setup.
- Accurate time (NTP) on the hypervisor host.
Monitored or managed: the key decision
Every server you add is either monitored or managed, and that decides the licence:
| Licence | Used for | What HPE documents |
|---|---|---|
| HPE OneView Standard | Monitored servers | Basic monitoring, alerting, inventory and remote support. Applied automatically and built into OneView; no key needed. Cannot be applied to managed servers. |
| HPE OneView Advanced | Managed servers | All Advanced management features and an iLO Advanced licence. Cannot be applied to a server that already has an iLO Advanced licence. |
| HPE OneView Advanced w/o iLO | Managed servers | Advanced management features without the iLO Advanced licence; suits servers already licensed for iLO. |
Licences are per server and not transferable. If a server has a permanent iLO Advanced licence, OneView sets the licence type to Advanced w/o iLO automatically. Remote console and utilization metrics need an iLO Advanced licence.
Step 1 — Deploy the appliance (VMware example)
- Download the OneView OVA and validate it as described in the installation guide.
- In vCenter, right-click a data center, cluster or host and select Deploy OVF Template.
- On Select storage, choose Thick Provision (HPE also recommends Eager Zeroed).
- On Select networks, pick a network connected to your management LAN.
- After deployment, edit the VM: CPUs 8 with a 1.6 GHz reservation; memory 24 GB with a 24 GB reservation.
- Confirm the host date and time, then power on and open the remote console.
Warning: Do not use thin provisioning. HPE warns that if the host runs out of disk space the appliance VM is suspended, and a suspension during a firmware upgrade, profile application or appliance backup can cause failures that are hard to diagnose.
HPE recommends running OneView on a management hypervisor environment separate from production. If OneView will also manage its own host, add that host as monitored, run the appliance on a cluster, and never edit a server profile for the host that runs the appliance.
Step 2 — Complete first-time setup
- Accept the EULA when first-time setup starts, and choose whether to allow authorized services access.
- Log in with the default credentials (
Administrator/admin), then change the password when prompted (8 to 40 characters). - Configure the appliance network settings from the maintenance console.
- Open the OneView GUI in a browser. The Guided Setup wizard lists the remaining tasks in an order that minimizes rework.
Step 3 — Add rack servers
- Select SERVERS > Server Hardware, then + Add server hardware (or Actions > Add).
- Enter the iLO IP addresses or host names. You can enter a list or IPv4 ranges (start-end with a hyphen); up to 1024 entries are processed at a time.
- Select Managed or Monitored and enter the required data, including the licence for managed servers.
- On the Credentials panel, enter an iLO account with administrator privileges. Do not use a double quotation mark in the user name or password.
- Click Add and check the Activity screen for discovery progress.
Prerequisites from HPE: a supported model with the correct serial number and product ID, iLO firmware at the Support Matrix minimum, local user accounts allowed in iLO, default iLO ports (OneView cannot manage the server if you changed them), and the server must not be managed by HPE Compute Ops Management.
Note: Adding a server changes its iLO: OneView creates its own management account with a random password, enables SNMP or Redfish event delivery to the appliance, sets the appliance as the NTP source and installs a certificate for single sign-on. Do not change that management account in iLO, or OneView raises a critical alert. If an SPP is uploaded and iLO firmware is older than the minimum, OneView updates iLO automatically.
Step 4 — Upload an SPP as a firmware bundle
- Select FIRMWARE > Firmware Bundles, then + Add Firmware Bundle.
- Drag the SPP
.isoonto the page or click Browse, then OK. Do not close the browser or log out until the upload finishes.
A firmware baseline is established when you assign a bundle to a server through a server profile. OneView then alerts you when installed versions drift from the baseline. HPE recommends keeping the repository on the latest SPP. For SPP itself, see HPE SPP firmware updates.
Step 5 — Use server profile templates
A server profile captures firmware selection, BIOS settings, iLO settings, local RAID, network connectivity, boot order, storage and unique IDs. Store your standard build in a template, then create profiles from it:
- Select SERVERS > Server Profile Templates > + Create server profile template, fill in the sections you need, and click Create.
- From the template, select Actions > Create server profile and assign it to a server, or leave it unassigned until the hardware arrives.
Warning: Applying a profile changes the BIOS, boot, iLO, local storage and firmware settings it defines on the target server, and a template can be set to re-initialize the integrated storage controller on the next profile application. HPE also notes that deleting or unassigning a profile does not erase data on its drives. Back up important data first and test the template on a non-production server.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to buy licences just to monitor servers?
No. HPE states that the OneView Standard licence is applied automatically at no charge to monitored servers. Support for Standard is a separate purchase.
Does OneView work with HPE Compute Ops Management?
OneView 11.2 has a Compute Ops Management setting to connect the appliance to that cloud service after onboarding. A server already managed by Compute Ops Management cannot be added to OneView.
Checklist
- Servers, iLO firmware and hypervisor checked against the Support Matrix.
- Appliance deployed thick-provisioned with the documented CPU and memory reservations.
- Default password changed and network configured.
- Servers added as monitored or managed with the correct licence.
- Current SPP uploaded and assigned as a baseline through profiles.
- Templates tested before applying to production servers.
Skyline can supply, configure and maintain Dell, HPE and Huawei servers under an annual maintenance contract (AMC). Contact us.
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