Prerequisites

To successfully configure the HMC, you must understand related concepts, make decisions, and prepare information.

Use the following information to identify and gather the information you need to configure the HMC, such as how you want to connect your HMC to your server, to your company network, and to your service provider.

You may want to print this section or write down your decisions, requirements, and settings for easy access during the configuration steps.

HMC basics

• Enter the time of day, date, and time zone for the HMC.
• You must change the passwords for the hscroot user ID, used by the HMC administrator, and for the root user ID, typically used by a service provider. The defaults are abc123 and passw0rd, respectively. Passwords must consist of at least 7 alphanumeric characters.

Create users and roles

This is optional. If you plan to create additional users, identify the following information:

• The number of user IDs you want to create.
• The user ID and password for each additional user you plan to create. Passwords must consist of at least 7 alphanumeric characters.
• The role you plan to assign for each user.

Contact information

• Company name
• Administrator's name
• E-mail address
• Telephone numbers
• Fax numbers
• Street address and telephone number for the location of the HMC

HMC network settings

Your HMC will most likely have two network adapters; one for a private service network to connect to the managed system, and another for an open network that will connect to your site Local Area Network (LAN), from which you will be able to access your HMC from a browser on the network.

A private service network provides greater security and is easier to set up. A private service network allows the HMC to automatically detect the managed system. Therefore, it is recommended that you connect the HMC to a private service network. Diagrams of the cabling ports are contained in the Installation and Configuration Guide for the Hardware Management Console publication.

An open network contains network endpoints other than the HMCs and the managed systems, and it may span multiple subnets and network devices.

Select media speed

Determine whether you want to specify the media speed for each Ethernet adapter or let the HMC automatically detect the speed.

For initial setup, the default automatic detection is recommended. However, in some situations, you might want to reduce the speed of the adapter. If you plan to specify the media speed for each Ethernet adapter, identify the media speed and duplex mode for each Ethernet adapter; for example, 100 Mbps full duplex.

Configure a private service network

For the first adapter, eth0 in most cases, cabled between the HMC and the service processor on the managed system (HMC1 or HMC2), you will:

• Select the adapter
• Select private network
• Select a media speed for the adapter (the default is recommended for setup*)
• Select DHCP server
• Select a set of addresses for the HMC to serve to the managed system clients

This private service network setup allows the HMC to automatically find its clients, the managed system, or systems you attach to the HMC. This method is secure and recommended because there are no other devices on the service network. You can, however, opt to use static IP addresses for this network. If used, the same information is requested as for an open network, and you will need to add the managed systems to the HMC network manually; the HMC will not automatically find them.

To connect the HMC to a private service network, complete the following preparation tasks:

1. Determine the HMC hostname and domain name. Optionally, you can also enter a phrase in the description field. These settings are used to identify your HMC.
   Note: This step is necessary only if you plan to connect the HMC to an open network after connecting the HMC to a private service network.
2. Determine whether to configure the HMC as the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server.
   • If this is the first or only HMC in your private service network, you must configure the HMC as a DHCP server.
   • If this is an additional local HMC on the private service network, configure it as a DHCP client.
3. Select one of the following standard nonroutable IP address ranges for your private service network:

   192.168.0.2 - 192.168.255.254            10.128.0.2 - 10.128.15.254  
   172.16.0.3 - 172.16.255.254              10.128.128.2 - 10.128.128.254
   172.17.0.3 - 172.17.255.254              10.128.240.2 - 10.128.255.254
   10.0.0.2 - 10.0.0.254                    10.254.0.2 - 10.254.0.254
   10.0.128.2 - 10.0.143.254                10.254.240.2 - 10.254.255.254
   10.0.255.2 - 10.0.255.254                10.255.0.2 - 10.255.0.254
   10.1.0.2 - 10.1.15.254                   10.255.128.2 - 10.255.143.254
   10.1.255.2 - 10.1.255.254                10.255.255.2 - 10.255.255.254
   10.127.0.2 - 10.127.15.254               9.6.24.2 - 9.6.24.254       
   10.127.255.2 - 10.127.255.254            9.6.25.2 - 9.6.25.254
   

   Note: If you decide to connect your private service network to an open network in the future, using standard nonroutable IP addresses now will allow your DHCP servers to co-exist on the open network.

4. If you plan to configure the HMC as a DHCP client, an IP address is generated by the HMC already in the private service network. If you choose to use static IP addresses, select an address that is within the range used by the other systems in the network.

Configure an open network

To configure an open network, you must first configure a private service network, and then connect a different adapter on the HMC to your company network.

For the second adapter, eth1 in most cases, cabled between a second adapter on the HMC and your site LAN, you will:

• Select the adapter
• Select open network
• Select a media speed for the adapter
• Choose between DHCP client (if your site has a DHCP server) and Static IP address
• Select firewall settings for the HMC (see the Installation and Configuration Guide for the Hardware Management Console for details on firewall settings.
• Select a host name for the HMC
• Add the gateway IP address for the HMC, and select the adapter to be used for the gateway (any, or eth1)
• Add one or more domain name server IP addresses for the network to which the HMC is connected
• Add the site domain suffix for the network to which the HMC is connected - there can be more than one

If you plan to control the HMC remotely or give remote access to others, plan to change the firewall settings to the HMC. Identify the applications or IP addresses you want to allow through the HMC's firewall.

To connect the HMC to an open network, you will need to complete the following preparation tasks:

1. First, complete the preparation tasks for configuring a private service network, and then continue with the following steps.
2. Connect your private service network to an open network:
   1. If you plan to enable Domain Name System (DNS):
      • Identify the DNS server IP addresses.
      • Determine the order in which the addresses will be searched
      • Determine the order in which the domain suffixes will be searched.
   2. Select the adapter to use as the default gateway for the open network.
   3. Identify the gateway address.
   4. If you plan to control the HMC remotely or give remote access to others, you must change the firewall settings to the HMC. Identify the applications or IP addresses you want to allow through the HMC firewall.

HMC service and support

The contact information you supplied will be used for service transactions for this HMC.

Determine what type of connection you want to configure to contact your service provider

You can choose more than one option. The HMC will select a different connectivity method if one does not work.

• Dial-up connection from the local HMC - determine what telephone numbers you use to call IBM, including:
  • any local calling prefix, such a 9, and
  • a phone number selected from a list provided on the HMC
• Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) through the Internet - to configure the use of encrypted SSL over an existing Internet connection, requiring:
• the address of the SSL proxy
• the port to use
• a user ID and password
• Virtual private network (VPN) connection through the Internet, provided your company has set up such a connection to IBM.
• Connecting through other systems or partitions:
  • Determine the IP addresses or host names of the HMC or logical partitions that the HMC passes through when connecting to your service provider.

Register for Service Agent

1. Go to My IBM Profile click Register, and follow the registration instructions.
2. If you plan to authorize users to the Electronic Service Agent information, record your two IBM registered IDs.

Identify Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)

If you want a user ID to receive e-mails when problems are called to IBM, identify the SMTP server and e-mail addresses that will receive notification when problem events occur on the system.

Additional setup tasks

Redundant HMC

If this is a second (redundant) HMC in your environment, ensure that the HMC code level of this HMC matches the one you already have.

A redundant HMC manages a system that is already managed by another HMC. When two HMCs manage one system, they are peers, and each can be used to control the managed system. One HMC can manage multiple managed systems, and each managed system can have two HMCs. If both HMCs are connected to the server using private networks, each HMC must be a DHCP server set up to provide IP addresses on two unique, nonroutable IP ranges.

Create access passwords

When the Guided Setup Wizard completes and the managed system is powered on, you need to define three passwords that are needed to complete the connection to the server.

• A password to allow the HMC to access the managed system.
• A password to assign the Advanced System Management (ASM) general user ID.
• A password to assign to the ASM administrator user ID.

For more information, see the Operations Guide for the Hardware Management Console.