IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation

Version 4.2.2

Quick Start Guide

This guide describes a quick and easy way to get up and running with the product.

Product overview

Previously known as IBM Platform Cluster Manager, IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation, is a powerful cluster management software that delivers a comprehensive set of functions to help manage hardware and software from the infrastructure level.

IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation automates the deployment of the operating system and other software components, and complex activities, such as application cluster creation and maintenance of a system. It also offers advanced system management capabilities like multiple clusters and multitenancy.

A community edition of IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation is available, try IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation Community Edition today! To learn more about this community offering that allows you to try the standard one-cluster capabilities of IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation, see IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation on IBM developerWorks® at https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/servicemanagement/sdi/spectrum-clusterfoundation/downloads.html.

Step 1: Available packages

IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation 4.2.2 has the following packages available:

IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation 4.2.2 for x64
IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation 4.2.2 for Power® Red Hat Big Endian
IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation 4.2.2 for Power Red Hat Little Endian
IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation 4.2.2 for Power Ubuntu Little Endian

Step 2: Access the software and documentation

Download the IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation software packages and product entitlement packages from IBM Passport Advantage® at http://www.ibm.com/software/howtobuy/passportadvantage/.

To access IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation 4.2.2 documentation, see IBM Knowledge Center at http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSZUCA_4.2.2.

Step 3: Evaluate the hardware and system configuration

A IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation environment requires:

A computing environment that consists of two or more machines
A management node that has at least one network interface
Access to the operating system media or image file that is used for installation of the operating system on all nodes in the cluster
Compute nodes that can be set to boot over network and that use a baseboard management controller (BMC) or have power management

For a full list of hardware requirements, see: http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSZUCA_4.2.2/release_notes/hardware_requirements.html

The following operating systems are supported on the management node: RHEL, SLES, CentOS, and Ubuntu. For a full list of supported operating systems and other software requirements, see: http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSZUCA_4.2.2/release_notes/supported_software.html

Note: IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation supports generic IPMI-based x86-64 hardware and Power hardware that is available before the product release date. For a list of hardware models, see http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSZUCA_4.2.2/release_notes/supported_hardware.html. For hardware that is available after the product release date, contact IBM for full support information.

Step 4: Plan system environment before installation

Before deploying IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation, decide on a network topology, and system configurations See more information on planning your environment here: http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSZUCA_4.2.2/install_guide/planning.html

Step 5: Installing the product

Install IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation on the management node using either interactive or silent installation.

In interactive installation, there are two installation modes, quick installation and custom installation. A quick installation uses predetermined default values, whereas the custom installation has more flexibility and customization in your environment settings. Compare both installation modes here: http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSZUCA_4.2.2/install_guide/install_compare.html.

See more information on installation here: http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSZUCA_4.2.2/docs_shared/installing.html.

Note: Upgrading from IBM Platform Cluster Manager 4.2.1 or lower to IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation 4.2.2 is not supported.

Step 6: Get started

Once you have installed IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation on the management node, you can set up LDAP, start configuring compute nodes and completing other administrative tasks. See more on administering IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation here: http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSZUCA_4.2.2/docs_shared/administering.html.

More information

For additional information about IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation, refer to the following resources:

IBM Support Portal

Find support information on IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation including product-specific fixes, alerts & bulletins, and all product support content such as Technotes and IBM White Papers.
IBM Service Management Connect
Service Management Connect is a group of technical communities for Integrated Service Management (ISM) professionals. Use Service Management Connect the following ways:
- Connect to become involved with an ongoing, open engagement among other users, system professionals, and IBM developers of IBM Spectrum™ Computing products.
- Learn about IBM Technical Computing products on blogs and wikis, and benefit from the expertise and experience of others.
- Share your experience in wikis and forums to collaborate with the broader Technical Computing user community.
IBM Knowledge Center

IBM Knowledge Center gathers all IBM product information into one easy-to-access place. Search across the entire IBM content library, or narrow your search to IBM Spectrum Cluster Foundation.
IBM Redbooks®

IBM Redbooks deliver skills, technical know-how, and materials to IBM technical professionals, Business Partners, clients, and the marketplace in general.