Lenovo XClarity Administrator is a centralized, resource-management solution that simplifies infrastructure management, speeds responses, and enhances the availability of Lenovo® server systems and solutions. It runs as a virtual appliance that automates discovery, inventory, tracking, monitoring, and provisioning for Lenovo servers, Flex System servers, and RackSwitch switches in a secure environment.
Lenovo XClarity Administrator provides a central interface to perform the following functions for all managed endpoints.
Hardware management
Lenovo XClarity Administrator provides agent-free hardware management. It can automatically discover manageable endpoints, including Flex System chassis and components, System x, NeXtScale, and ThinkServer servers, and RackSwitch switches. Inventory of the discovered endpoints is also gathered, so an at-a-glance view of the managed hardware inventory and status is possible.
Hardware monitoring
Lenovo XClarity Administrator provides a centralized view of all events and alerts that are generated from the managed endpoints. When a CMM or IMM detects an issue, an alert or event is passed to the Lenovo XClarity Administrator and is displayed in the events or alerts log. A summary of all alerts and events is visible from the Dashboard and the Status bar. Events and alerts for a specific endpoint are available from the Alerts and Events detail page for that endpoint.
Operating-system deployment
You can use Lenovo XClarity Administrator to manage the repository of operating-system images and deploy operating-system images to managed servers.
Configuration management
You can quickly provision and pre-provision all of your servers using a consistent configuration. Configuration settings (such as local storage, I/O adapters, boot settings, firmware, ports, and IMM and UEFI settings) are saved as a server pattern that can be applied to one or more managed servers. When the server patterns are updated, the changes are automatically deployed to the applied servers.
Firmware compliance and updates
Firmware management is simplified by assigning firmware-compliance policies to managed endpoints. When you create and assign a compliance policy to managed endpoints,Lenovo XClarity Administrator monitors changes to the inventory for those endpoints and flags any endpoints that are out of compliance.
User management
Lenovo XClarity Administrator provides a centralized authentication server to create and manage user accounts and to manage and authenticate user credentials. The authentication server is created automatically when you start the management server for the first time. The user accounts that you create for Lenovo XClarity Administrator are also used to log in to managed chassis and servers.
Security
If your environment must comply with either NIST SP 800-131A or FIPS 140-2 standards, Lenovo XClarity Administrator can help you achieve a fully compliant environment. It supports self-signed SSL certificates (which are issued by an internal certificate authority) and external SSL certificates (which are issued by a private or commercial CA). Firewalls on chassis and servers can be configured to accept incoming requests from only Lenovo XClarity Administrator.
Service and support
Lenovo XClarity Administrator can be set up to collect and send diagnostic files automatically to your preferred service provider when certain serviceable events occur in Lenovo XClarity Administrator and the managed endpoints. You can choose to send diagnostic files to Lenovo Support using call home or to another service provider using SFTP. You can also manually collect diagnostic files, open a problem record, and send diagnostic files to the Lenovo Support Center.
Task automation using scripts
Lenovo XClarity Administrator can be integrated into external, higher-level management and automation platforms through open REST application programming interfaces (APIs). Using the REST APIs, Lenovo XClarity Administrator can easily integrate with your existing management infrastructure. You can also run Lenovo XClarity cmdlets in a Microsoft PowerShell session to automate certain management functions. The cmdlets use Lenovo XClarity Administrator REST APIs and can automate functions
Integration with other management software
Lenovo XClarity Administrator is available stand-alone or as a bundled offering that is known asLenovo XClarity Pro. Lenovo XClarity Pro is composed of the base Administrator product plus two Lenovo XClarity Integrator modules that provide integration into Microsoft Systems Center or VMware vCenter. Together, these tools provide discovery, monitoring, configuration, and management functions to reduce the cost and complexity of routine system administration for System x, NeXtScale, and Flex System endpoints.
More information about Lenovo XClarity Administrator is available at the Lenovo XClarity website.