Activation Engine(AE)

Introduction

Activation Engine is a framework that allows various components within a virtual machine to be configured during system startup. To use the Activation Engine, you need to set up an XML configuration profile to allow the vHMC to be in a ready-to-manage state on first start.
The configuration file can be used to configure the following options:

  • Set Default Keyboard (US)
  • Default Locale (US)
  • License Agreement and Machine Code Agreement
  • Disable Setup Wizard
  • Disable Call Home Wizard
  • Configure up to four Network Interfaces
  • Configure Firewall Settings for each Network Interface

Note:    The number of Ethernet adapters defined in vHMC-Conf.xml configuration file should correlate with the defined Network adapters in Domain.xml or vHMC.cfg.

Activation Engine Setup

Activation Engine requires a Virtual Floppy that holds an XML configuration.
Edit the vHMC-Conf.xml file with a text editor and use the xml configuration guide below.

The following instructions will create a Virtual Floppy in a linux environment:

  • Create a Virtual floppy:
    Command:   dd if=/dev/zero of=/Floppy/Path/Floppy.img count=1440 bs=1k
  • Format Virtual Floppy:
    Command:   /sbin/mkfs.ext2 /Floppy/Path/Floppy.img
  • Insert XML into Virtual Floppy:
    • Make a temp directory:
      Command:    mkdir /Path/to/Tempfolder/Temp
    • Mount Virtual Floopy to temp directory:
      Command:   mount -o loop,rw /Floppy/Path/Floppy.img /Path/to/Tempfolder/Temp
    • Copy edited vHMC-Conf.xml file to temp directory:
      Command:    cp /Path/to/vHMC-Conf.xml /Path/to/Tempfolder/Temp
    • Unmount temp directory:
      Command:    umount /Path/to/Tempfolder/Temp

Virtual HMC 840 and Virtual HMC 850 AE configuration guide

XML configuration:
<vHMC-Configuration>
   <LicenseAgreement></LicenseAgreement>
   <AcceptLicense>Yes</AcceptLicense>
   <Locale>en_US.UTF-8</Locale>
   <SetupWizard>No</SetupWizard>
   <SetupCallHomeWizard>No</SetupCallHomeWizard>
   <SetupKeyboard>No</SetupKeyboard>
   <Ethernet>
      <Enable>No</Enable>
      <IPVersion></IPVersion>
      <IPv4NetworkType></IPv4NetworkType>
      <IPv4Address></IPv4Address>
      <IPv4Netmask></IPv4Netmask>
      <IPv4Gateway></IPv4Gateway>
      <IPv6NetworkType></IPv6NetworkType>
      <IPv6Address></IPv6Address>
      <IPv6Gateway></IPv6Gateway>
      <Hostname></Hostname>
      <Domain></Domain>
      <DNSServers></DNSServers>
      <Firewall>
         <PEGASUS>Enabled</PEGASUS>
         <RPD>Enabled</RPD>
         <FCS>Enabled</FCS>
         <I5250>Enabled</I5250>
         <PING>Enabled</PING>
         <L2TP>Disabled</L2TP>
         <SLP>Enabled</SLP>
         <RSCT>Enabled</RSCT>
         <SECUREREMOTEACCESS>Enabled</SECUREREMOTEACCESS>
         <SSH>Enabled</SSH>
         <VTTY>Disabled</VTTY>
         <NTP>Disabled</NTP>
         <SNMPTraps>Disabled</SNMPTraps>
         <SNMPAgents>Disabled</SNMPAgents>
      </Firewall>
   </Ethernet>
   <NTPServers>
      <ntpparam ntpserver="" ntpversion=""/>
   </NTPServers>
</vHMC-Configuration>

Tags Definitions:

LicenseAgreement Tag

Element that displays the Virtual HMC License Agreement.

AcceptLicense Tag

Acceptable Values:
Yes -> Will Accept HMC License Agreement
No  -> Will Prompt User to Accept HMC License Agreement

NOTE: If an invalid value is entered, AE will default to No value

Locale

Acceptable Values:
en_US.UTF-8

NOTE: If an invalid value is entered, AE will default to US value

SetupWizard tag

Acceptable Values:
Yes -> Will Display HMC Setup Wizard
No  -> Will Disable HMC Setup Wizard Display

NOTE: If an invalid value is entered, AE will default to Yes value

SetupCallHomeWizard Tag

Acceptable Values:
Yes -> Will Display HMC Call Home Wizard
No  -> Will Disable HMC Call Home Wizard Display

NOTE: If an invalid value is entered, AE will default to Yes value

SetupKeyboard Tag

Acceptable Values:
Yes -> Will Prompt User for Keyboard Configuration
No  -> Will Accept Default keyboard setup (U.S.)

NOTE: If an invalid value is entered, AE will default to Yes value

Ethernet Tag

Ethernet Tag Holds Values for Ethernet adapter configurations.
There is a maximum of 4 Ethernet adapters AE can configure.


NOTE: AE will run default configuration if any invalid values are
            entered within Ethernet Section.

Enable Tag

Acceptable Values:
Yes -> Configure this adapter
No  -> Do not Configure this adapter

IPVersion Tag

Acceptable Values:
IPV4 -> Use IPV4 configuration
IPV6 -> Use IPV6 configuration
MIX  -> Use Both IPV4 and IPV6 configuration

IPv4NetworkType Tag

Acceptable Values:
Static -> Configure Adapter using Static Configuration
Dhcp   -> Configure Adapter using DHCP Configuration

IPv4Address Tag

Acceptable Values:
Any valid IPV4 Address Value

IPv4Netmask Tag

Acceptable Values:
Any valid IPV4 Netmask Value

IPv4Gateway Tag

Acceptable Values:
Any valid IPV4 Address Value

IPv6NetworkType Tag

Acceptable Values:
Static -> Configure Adapter using Static Configuration
Dhcp   -> Configure Adapter using DHCP Configuration

IPv6Address Tag

Acceptable Values:
A valid IPV6 Address Value/Prefix
Example: 2001:4860:4860::8888/64

IPv6Gateway Tag

Acceptable Values:
A valid IPV6 Address Value

Hostname Tag

Acceptable Values:
A valid Hostname String

Domain Tag

Acceptable Values:
Any Valid Domain Value
Example: example.usa.com

DNSServers Tag

Acceptable Values:
It is acceptable to have an empty DNS Server Value or up to 3 Valid IPV4 or IPV6 Addresses seperated by a coma.
Example 1 --> IPv4: 9.3.2.1 IPv6: 2001:4860:4860::8888
Example 2 --> IPv4: 9.3.2.1,9.5.4.1 IPv6: 2001:4860:4860::8888,2001:4860:4860::8844
Example 3 --> IPv4: 9.3.2.1,9.5.4.1,9.4.3.2 IPv6: 2001:4860:4860::8888,2001:4860:4860::8844,::ffff:903:201

Firewall Tag

PEGASUS Tag

Acceptable Values:
Enabled  -> Will Allow PEGASUS Ports to be open
Disabled -> Will Disable PAGASUS Ports

RPD Tag

Acceptable Values:
Enabled  -> Will Allow RMC Ports to be open
Disabled -> Will Disable RMC Ports

FCS Tag

Acceptable Values:
Enabled  -> Will Allow FCS Ports to be open
Disabled -> Will Disable FCS Ports

I5250 Tag

Acceptable Values:
Enabled -> Will Allow 5250 Ports to be open
Disabled -> Will Disable 5250 Ports

PING Tag

Acceptable Values:
Enabled -> Will Allow PING Port to be open
Disabled -> Will Disable PING Port

L2TP Tag

Acceptable Values:
Enabled -> Will Allow L2TP Ports to be open
Disabled -> Will Disable L2TP Ports

SLP Tag

Acceptable Values:
Enabled -> Will Allow SLP Ports to be open
Disabled -> Will Disable SLP Ports

RSCT Tag

Acceptable Values:
Enabled -> Will Allow RSCT Ports to be open
Disabled -> Will Disable RSCT Ports

SECUREREMOTEACCESS Tag

Acceptable Values:
Enabled -> Will Allow Secure Remote Access Ports to be open
Disabled -> Will Disable Secure Remote Access Ports

SSH Tag

Acceptable Values:
Enabled -> Will Allow SSH Port to be open
Disabled -> Will Disable SSH Port

VTTY Tag

Acceptable Values:
Enabled -> Will Allow VTTY Ports to be open
Disabled -> Will Disable VTTY Ports

NTP Tag

Acceptable Values:
Enabled -> Will Allow NTP Ports to be open
Disabled -> Will Disable NTP Ports

SNMPTraps Tag

Acceptable Values:
Enabled -> Will Allow SNMP Traps Ports to be open
Disabled -> Will Disable SNMP Traps Ports

SNMPAgents Tag

Acceptable Values:
Enabled -> Will Allow SNMP Agents Ports to be open
Disabled -> Will Disable SNMP Agents Ports

NTPServers Tag

The NTPServers tag is needed if user wants to configure up to 5 NTP servers within a Virtual HMC.
NTP servers can be added by using ntpparam tag and using ntpserver and ntpversion attributes.

NTPServers Tag:
Accepts <ntpparam ntpserver="server" ntpversion="version"/>

ntpparam Tag:
Attribute Values:
ntpserver: will accept IPv4/IPv6 values and valid nostnames
ntpversion: will accept a 1-4 numeric value

Example:
<NTPServers>
   <ntpparam ntpserver="test.austin.ibm.com" ntpversion="2"/>
   <ntpparam ntpserver="192.168.34.1" ntpversion="4"/>
   <ntpparam ntpserver="::ffff:903:201" ntpversion="3"/> `
</NTPServers>