Lenovo XClarity Administrator

Product Guide

Lenovo XClarity™ Administrator (LXCA) is a centralized resource management solution that is aimed at
reducing complexity, speeding response, and enhancing the availability of Lenovo® server systems and
solutions.
Lenovo XClarity Administrator runs as a virtual appliance and provides agent-free hardware management
that automates discovery, inventory, tracking, updates, monitoring, and provisioning for Lenovo® server
systems, storage, network switches, hyperconverged and ThinkAgile solutions. A single XClarity
Administrator instance supports managing a maximum of 1,000 devices.

Figure 1. Lenovo XClarity Administrator dashboard

Did you know?

Lenovo XClarity offers a mobile app for Android and iOS devices. The app enables you to securely monitor
physical systems, get real-time status alerts and notifications, and take action on common system level
tasks. The app can also connect directly via an enabled USB port to a ThinkSystem server and provide
virtual LCD capability.

Click here to check for updates

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 1
Features
The XClarity Administrator dashboard is an HTML 5-based web interface that allows fast location of
resources so tasks can be run quickly. Because Lenovo XClarity Administrator does not include any agent
software that is installed on the managed endpoints, there are no CPU cycles spent on agent execution and
no memory is used, which means that up to 1GB of RAM and 1 - 2% CPU usage is saved, compared to a
typical managed system where an agent is required.
Lenovo XClarity Administrator delivers Lenovo resources faster. With a simplified administration
dashboard, the following functions can be easily achieved:
Discovery
Inventory
System Health & Monitoring
Firmware compliance
Firmware updates
Windows device driver updates
Configuration management and compliance
Deployment of operating systems and hypervisors to bare metal servers
Securely erase drive data
Warranty status monitoring
Call home, Service Data Upload and Ticket Status monitoring
Fast time to value is realized through automatic discovery of existing or new Lenovo rack servers and Flex
System infrastructure. Inventory of the discovered endpoints is gathered, so the managed hardware
inventory and its status can be viewed-at-a-glance.
A centralized view of events and alerts that are generated from managed endpoints is available. When an
issue is detected by a managed endpoint, an event is passed to Lenovo XClarity Administrator. Alerts and
events are visible via the XClarity Administrator Dashboard, the Status bar, and the Alerts and Events detail
for the specific system.
Supported endpoints include:
ThinkSystem servers and compute nodes
Flex System Compute Nodes
System x Servers
ThinkEdge Servers
ThinkServer Servers
ThinkAgile solutions
Hyperconverged solutions
NeXtScale servers
RackSwitch switches
ThinkSystem storage
Lenovo storage
For a detailed list of devices supported to be managed by XClarity Administrator see Supported Managed
Endpoints

Firmware management
Firmware management is simplified by assigning Firmware-compliance policies to supported managed
endpoints to ensure that firmware on those endpoints remains compliant. You can also create and edit
firmware-compliance policies when validated firmware levels do not match the suggested predefined
policies. Additionally, you can also apply and activate firmware that is later than the currently installed
firmware on a single managed endpoint or group of endpoints without using compliance policies.

Windows Device Driver updates

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Starting with v2.1.0, XClarity Administrator utilizes Windows UpdateXpress System Packs (UXSPs) to
enable the update of the OS device drivers on deployed Windows operating systems. Windows UXSPs
contain Windows device drivers for supported Windows versions and for Lenovo servers that supports
Windows. You can download or import Windows UXSPs in the repository. UXSPs must be available in the
repository before you can update Windows device drivers on managed severs.

Configuration management and compliance

Configuration management uses pattern-based configurations to quickly provision and re-provision a single
server or multiple servers and compute nodes, all with a single set of configuration settings. Settings to
configure include local storage, I/O adapters, boot order, and other baseboard management controller and
UEFI settings on managed servers. Server patterns also integrate support for virtualizing I/O addresses, so
you can virtualize server fabric connections or repurpose servers without disruption to the fabric.
Additionally, if the settings on a server change, you can determine the compliance status of each server
from within the Configuration Patterns Server Profiles page and main dashboard.
Configuration support for CNOS-based RackSwitch networking switches has been added starting with
XClarity Administrator 2.4.0. This feature provides template creation, editing and deployment for global
settings, port channel, spine-leaf, VLAG and VLAN.

OS Provisioning
OS Provisioning enables bare metal deployment. Images of the following operating systems and
hypervisors can be imported and held in a repository for images:
VMware vSphere hypervisor (ESXi)
Windows Server
Windows Server with Hyper-V
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
Ubuntu Server
CentOS
Starting with XClarity Administrator v3.5.0 there is no longer a limit of 50GB or 10 images for to the number
of OS images which can be stored within the repository, you can now continue to import images as long as
there is sufficient free space within the OS images repository.
It is possible to deploy operating-system images to up to 28 bare-metal servers concurrently.

Security
Lenovo XClarity Administrator includes several features that can help you secure your environment. These
include:
When you manage Lenovo chassis and servers in XClarity Administrator, you can configure XClarity
Administrator to change the firewall rules for the devices so that incoming requests are accepted
only from XClarity Administrator. This is referred to as encapsulation.
If you must be compliant with NIST SP 800-131A or FIPS 140-2, XClarity Administrator can help you
meet that compliance. XClarity Administrator supports self-signed SSL certificates (issued by an
internal certificate authority) or external SSL certificates (private or commercial CA).
When changing cryptographic settings within XClarity Administrator you can choose to apply the
settings to the management server only, to the managed devices only, or both.
XClarity Administrator includes an audit log that provides a historical record of user actions, such as
logging on, creating users, or changing user passwords.

Integration

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 3

XClarity Administrator can be integrated into external, higher level management, automation, and
orchestration platforms using the XClarity Integrators, through SNMP and through open REST application
programming interfaces (APIs). This means Lenovo XClarity can easily integrate with your existing
management infrastructure.

Lenovo XClarity Integrators

Lenovo XClarity integrates with leading management applications in the areas of infrastructure
management, orchestration and automation, and IT service management.
Available integrators include the following:
Lenovo XClarity Integrator for VMware vCenter (free download, support requires XClarity Pro
license)
Lenovo XClarity Integrator for VMware vCenter is an extension to LXCI for VMware vCenter and
provides system administrators with enhanced management capabilities for Lenovo Servers by
integrating Lenovo hardware management functionality.
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/documents/LNVO-VMWARE
Lenovo XClarity Integrator for VMware vRealize Automation (free download, support requires
XClarity Pro license)
Lenovo XClarity Integrator for VMware vRealize Automation (vRA) is installed on top of vRealize
Automation and allows cloud administrators to easily, and repeatedly, provision hardware
infrastructure components (such as Lenovo servers) into vRealize-managed hybrid cloud
environment
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/lnvo-vmro#vRA
Lenovo XClarity Integrator for VMware vRealize Orchestrator (free download, support requires
XClarity Pro license)
The Lenovo XClarity Integrator for VMware vRealize Orchestrator.vmoapp plug-in is a plug-in to
the VMware vRealize Orchestrator. It provides workflows that interact with Lenovo XClarity
Administrator to automate management.
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/lnvo-vmro#vRO
Lenovo XClarity Integrator Management Pack for VMware vRealize Operations Manager (free
download, support requires XClarity Pro license)
The Lenovo XClarity Management Pack (MP) developed for VMware vRealize Operations Manager
(vROps) monitor the health, capacity, and performance of Lenovo XClarity Administrator (LXCA)
resources.
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/lnvo-vmro#vROps
Lenovo XClarity Integrator for VMware vRealize Log Insight (free download, support requires
XClarity Pro license)
This content pack provides analysis of events from the LXCA, LXCO, and the resources managed
by LXCA. These insights can help systems administrators find potential problems in their
environment.
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/lnvo-vmro#vRLI
Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Microsoft Windows Admin Center (free download, support requires
XClarity Pro license)
Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Microsoft Windows Admin Center (LXCI for WAC) is a plug-in that
integrates functions for managing, monitoring, and updating the Lenovo servers and their
components with Windows OS or software application management system. It supports to view
Lenovo server hardware and firmware inventories, events, alerts, and health status, update
firmware/driver, cluster-aware rolling update of firmware/driver for Windows cluster nodes, display
Lenovo ThinkAgile MX server topology view, and facilitate storage pool operations through wizards.
Lenovo XClarity Administrator (LXCA) (optional) streamlines the Lenovo server management job,
especially for large-scale deployment.
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/HT507549

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 4

 Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Microsoft System Center (free download, support requires XClarity
Pro license)
Lenovo XClarity Integrator offerings for Microsoft System Center offerings integrate the Lenovo
server management functions into Microsoft System Center. They support server automatic
discovery, monitoring, configuration, OS deployment, and firmware update functions, reducing the
time and effort required for routine system administration through server consolidation and simplified
management
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/documents/LNVO-MANAGE
Lenovo XClarity Administrator App for Splunk (as-is solution)
Lenovo XClarity App for Splunk enables collection, visual representation, and analysis of Lenovo
hardware events from the Splunk platform.
https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/3105/
Lenovo XClarity and Moogsoft AIOps Integration (as-is solution)
Moogsoft ingests monitoring & observability data from Lenovo XClarity at scale, while adding a layer
of intelligence, by applying AI & machine learning, that enables IT & DevOps teams to proactively
identify and resolve incidents before they impact business services.
https://docs.moogsoft.com/Enterprise.8.0.0/en/lenovo-xclarity-lam.html
Lenovo XClarity Administrator Toolkits
The Ruby toolkit provides a Ruby-based library of commands and APIs to automate resource
management from an OpenStack environment, Chef or Puppet:
https://github.com/lenovo/chef.lenovo-lxca
https://github.com/lenovo/puppet.lenovo-lxca
Lenovo XClarity Python (PyLXCA) Toolkit
https://github.com/lenovo/pylxca
The PyLXCA toolkit provides a Python-based library of commands and APIs to automate
provisioning and resource management from an OpenStack environment, such as Ansible
https://github.com/lenovo/Ansible.lenovo-lxca
Lenovo XClarity Administrator PowerShell (LXCAPSTool) toolkit
https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/LXCAPSTool
The Lenovo XClarity Administrator PowerShell toolkit provides a library of cmdlets to
automate provisioning and resource management from a Microsoft PowerShell session.
Lenovo XClarity and PagerDuty Integration (as-is solution)
Note: XClarity Administrator integrates with PagerDuty without additional software.
Centerity Service Pack for Lenovo XClarity
Centerity Service Pack for Lenovo XClarity provides fast, flexible and scalable delivery of Lenovo
infrastructure. XClarity integrates easily into Lenovo servers to automate provisioning and operations
management, and into Lenovo switches and storage to automate operations management.
Lenovo XClarity Integrator for ServiceNow (free download)
Lenovo XClarity Integrator (LXCI) for ServiceNow is a plug-in for ServiceNow that integrates with
Lenovo XClarity Administrator (LXCA). It retrieves inventory data from LXCA into the ServiceNow
configuration management database (CMDB), and enables event management, including viewing
the information of fans, power supplies, and switches, and monitoring events of the Lenovo servers.
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/ht506884
Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Microsoft Azure Log Analytics (free download)
Lenovo XClarity Integrator (LXCI) for Microsoft Azure Log Analytics is a plug-in for Microsoft Azure
Log Analytics that integrates with Lenovo XClarity Administrator (LXCA). It manages events and
finds potential problems of the Lenovo servers managed by LXCA, including events, alerts, user
accounts, firmware updates, configuration, operating system deployments, power, thermal, and
battery.
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/ht506712
Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Nagios (free download, requires Lenovo XClarity Administrator
installed)

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 Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Nagios retrieves alerts from XClarity Administrator, and makes them
available to Nagios.
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/ht507298
Lenovo XClarity Essentials Plug-in for Nagios (free download)
Lenovo XClarity Essentials Plug-in for Nagios is a stand-alone plugin for Nagios that retrieves health
status from individual Lenovo ThinkSystem servers.
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/ht507403
Ordering information for those integrators requiring a license is described in the Download and ordering
information section.
Support entitlement for Lenovo XClarity Integrators for VMware and Microsoft, is included in Lenovo
XClarity Pro offering which is described in the next section.

Lenovo XClarity Pro

Lenovo XClarity Pro provides the following entitlement:
Lenovo XClarity Administrator Configuration Pattern feature entitlement
Lenovo XClarity Administrator OS deployment feature entitlement
Reporting XClarity Administrator software problems using Call Home
Lenovo XClarity Administrator Service & Support
Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Microsoft Service & Support
Lenovo XClarity Integrator for VMware Service & Support
Lenovo XClarity Administrator is available for download from the following URL:
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/xclaritytrial
This download provides Lenovo XClarity Administrator base functionality plus a 90-day trial evaluation
licenses for XClarity Administrator features Configuration Patterns and bare metal operating system
deployment.

Note: Reporting XClarity Administrator software problems using Call Home, and Service and Support
for XClarity Administrator and XClarity Integrators are only available with an XClarity Pro purchase.

The following table compares features included with XClarity Administrator base and with addition of
XClarity Pro license.

Table 1. Comparing Lenovo XClarity Administrator and Lenovo XClarity Pro features
Lenovo XClarity Lenovo
Feature Administrator XClarity Pro
Licensing and Support
License Free Licensed
Service and Support No Yes
Key Features
REST APIs and XClarity Integrators Yes Yes
Auto-discovery and asset management Yes Yes
Real-time monitoring, fault handling, alert notification, and call home Yes Yes
Firmware update management Yes Yes
Configuration patterns No Yes
Operating system and hypervisor installation No Yes
Reporting XClarity Administrator software problems using Call Home No Yes

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 6

Lenovo XClarity mobile app
The Lenovo XClarity mobile app provides management functions on Android and iOS devices:
View the status summary of all hardware.
Monitor the detailed status of each device.
Monitor the inventory of each device.
Monitor audit events, hardware and management events, alerts, and jobs.
Perform power actions on a device.
Take action on common system level tasks to minimize the risk of disruptions and downtime
Forward emails to share inventory, alert and event information.
On ThinkSystem servers: Perform initial configuration of servers, retrieve diagnostic information
(virtual LCD) and perform actions, Initiate Lenovo XClarity Administrator management from a mobile
device.
Support requirements are as follows:
Supports Android 7 to 11, and iOS 10 and later.
Requires Lenovo XClarity Administrator v1.2.1 or later.
Note:
Android 5 is supported only for XClarity Mobile 2.3.0 and earlier.
The facial recognition feature of iPhone X/XR/XS devices is not supported.
The following figure shows the Inventory screen of the mobile app.

Figure 2. Lenovo XClarity mobile app

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 7

The mobile app is available for download from these app stores:
Google Play
Apple iTunes

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 8

Management tasks
By using Lenovo XClarity Administrator, users can perform the following tasks that are described in this
section.
User Management
Hardware monitoring
Hardware management
Configuration management
Operating system deployment
Firmware updates
Task automation using scripts

User Management
Lenovo XClarity Administrator provides a centralized authentication server to create and manage all user
accounts and to manage and authenticate user credentials. The authentication server is created
automatically when the management server first starts. The User accounts, which are used to log on and
manage the Lenovo XClarity Administrator, can also be used for all chassis and servers that are managed
by the Lenovo XClarity Administrator. When you create a user account, you control the level of access,
such as whether the account has read/write authority or read-only authority, by using role groups.
When devices are initially managed by Lenovo XClarity Administrator, a predefined set of role groups can
have permission to access the devices by default. This predefined set is empty by default until it is
configured. You can change the role groups that can access specific managed devices. When permission
is given to certain role groups, only users that are members of those role groups can see and act on those
specific devices.
By default, devices are managed using XClarity Administrator managed authentication to log in to the
devices. When managing rack servers and Lenovo chassis, you can choose to use managed
authentication or local authentication to log in to the devices.
The following figure shows the Lenovo XClarity Administration interface for security that comprises of user
management, roles, and other security settings. Including the ability which was added with v3.2.0 to use
and external CyberArk identity-management system as an external password vault to store XClarity
Administrator and Lenovo XClarity Controller credentials.

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 9

Figure 3. User management interface

Hardware monitoring
Lenovo XClarity Administrator provides a centralized view of events and alerts that are generated from
managed endpoints, such as chassis components, servers, storage devices and network switches. When
an issue is detected an event is passed to the Lenovo XClarity Administrator. That event is displayed in the
alerts list that is available within the user interface. A status bar also is available that provides overall status
information on the main XClarity Administrator interface. An example list of alerts is shown in the following
figure. This view can be filtered to show specific alert severity. Additionally, the view can also be filtered by
dates and alert sources or via the search filter.

Figure 4. Alerts and actions

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Hardware management
There are various management tasks for each supported endpoint, including viewing status and properties,
configuring system information and network settings, starting the CMM/BMC/IMM/XCC web interfaces, and
remote control for the severs and Flex nodes. Note, the Feature on Demand (FoD) key for remote
presence is required on ThinkSystem, ThinkAgile Solutions, NeXtScale, and System x servers if not
included as standard. The options available for Power Actions on a selected ThinkSystem server is shown
in the following figure.

Figure 5. Hardware Management

Configuration management
Configuration patterns provide a way to ensure that you have consistent configurations applied to managed
servers. Server patterns are used to provision or pre-provision a managed server by configuring local
storage, I/O adapters, boot setting, firmware, ports, IMM, and UEFI settings. Server patterns also integrate
support for virtualizing I/O addresses so you can virtualize Flex System fabric connections or re-purpose
servers without disruption to the fabric.
You can also determine whether the settings on a server are in compliance with the server profile assigned.
The settings on a server can become out of compliance with its server profile if settings are changed
without using Configuration Patterns or if an issue occurred during deployment, such a firmware issue or an
invalid setting.

Operating system deployment

Lenovo XClarity Administrator can be used to manage the OS images repository and deploy operating
system images to managed servers. To deploy an operating system image from Lenovo XClarity, at least
one of the network interfaces (Eth0 or Eth1) must have IP network connectivity to the server network
interface that is used to access the host operating system. It also must be configured with an IPv4 address.
Note, the Feature on Demand (FoD) key for remote presence is required on ThinkSystem, ThinkAgile
Solutions, NeXtScale, and System x servers if not included as standard.

Firmware updates
Within Lenovo XClarity, you can manage the firmware updates repository and apply and activate firmware
updates for managed endpoints. Compliance policies can be started to flag managed endpoints that do not
comply with the defined firmware rules. Refreshing the repository and downloading updates requires an
Internet connection. If Lenovo XClarity has no Internet connection, you can manually import updates to the
repository. The firmware apply and activate interface is shown in the following figure.

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 11

Figure 6. Firmware updates

Task automation using scripts

Lenovo XClarity Administrator provides REST APIs and a PowerShell Toolkit, Python Toolkit and Ruby
toolkit, which can be used to generate scripts to automate management functions.
Lenovo XClarity Administrator set of easy-to-use APIs can be used to access XClarity Administrator data
and services from applications running outside of the XClarity Administrator framework. This allows for
integration of XClarity Administrator capabilities into other software. These APIs are based on the REST
architecture and are accessed via the HTTPS protocol. More information on the XClarity Administrator
REST API is available at the following link:
https://pubs.lenovo.com/lxca_scripting/rest_apis
Lenovo XClarity Administrator PowerShell (LXCAPSTool) toolkit provides a library of cmdlets to automate
provisioning and resource management from a Microsoft PowerShell session. The cmdlets use Lenovo
XClarity REST APIs and can automate the following functions:
Logging in to XClarity Administrator
Managing and unmanaging chassis, servers, storage devices, and top-of-rack switches (devices)
Collecting inventory data for devices and components
Deploying an operating-system image to one or more servers
Configuring servers through the use of Configuration Patterns
Applying firmware updates to devices
Managing user accounts
Monitoring events
XClarity Administrator offers a PyLXCA toolkit which provides a Python-based library of commands and
APIs to automate provisioning and resource management from an OpenStack environment, such as
Ansible or Puppet.
The PyLXCA toolkit provides an interface to Lenovo XClarity Administrator REST APIs to automate
functions such as:
Logging in to Lenovo XClarity Administrator
Managing and unmanaging chassis, servers, storage systems, and top-of-rack switches (endpoints)
Viewing inventory data for endpoints and components
Deploying an operating-system image to one or more servers
Configuring servers through the use of Configuration Patterns

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 12

 Applying firmware updates to endpoints
Lenovo also provides the Lenovo XClarity Ruby toolkit which is supported to automate resource
management from an OpenStack environment, such as Ansible, Chef, or Puppet. The Ruby toolkit provides
an interface to Lenovo XClarity Administrator REST APIs to automate functions (see Lenovo XClarity
Administrator Ruby toolkit) such as:
Logging in to XClarity Administrator
Managing and unmanaging chassis, servers, storage devices, and top-of-rack switches (devices)
Viewing inventory data for devices and components
Deploying an operating-system image to one or more servers
Configuring servers through the use of Configuration Patterns
Applying firmware updates to devices

Download and ordering information

Tip: If running a version of XClarity v1.x.x you must update to v1.4.1 then you must migrate your system
to v2.0.0 then upgrade to v2.1.0.

Lenovo XClarity Administrator is available to download from Lenovo at the following link:
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/xclaritytrial
The free download includes a 90-day evaluation license for Configuration Patterns and Operating System
Deployment to allow you to evaluate these licensed components.
Lenovo XClarity Integrators for Microsoft are also available to download for free from the following links
(XClarity Pro License required for technical support):
Microsoft Windows Admin Center:
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/HT507549
Microsoft System Center (MSSC):
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/documents/lnvo-manage
Lenovo XClarity integrator for VMware is also available to download for free from the following link (XClarity
Pro License required for technical support):
VMware vCenter:
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/documents/lnvo-vmware
VMware vRealize Integration Offering are all available from the following link:
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/documents/lnvo-vmro

Note: The free downloads for both XClarity Administrator and XClarity Integrators do not include any
entitlement for technical support. To gain entitlement for technical support, you will need to purchase a
license for Lenovo XClarity Pro per physical managed device.

Each Lenovo XClarity Pro license provides the following entitlements for a single device (for details on
which devices XClarity Administrator can managed see Supported Devices in the online help):
Service and support for Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Microsoft & VMware
Service and support for XClarity Administrator
Advanced functions within XClarity Administrator:
Configuring servers using Configuration Patterns
Deploying operating systems
Reporting XClarity Administrator problems using software Call Home (Call Home for
hardware alerts are not affected.)

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 13

You must purchase a license for each managed device to be entitled to service and support. However,
compliance is determined based on the number of managed devices that support the advanced functions.
The license is not tied to a specific device.
Lenovo XClarity Pro editions are available with a 1-year, 3-year, or 5-year software subscription and
support. Lenovo XClarity Pro is available on a per-managed-endpoint basis or per-managed-chassis basis.
The per-chassis licenses offer a more cost-effective way of purchasing licenses for the Flex System
environment.
The part numbers are listed in the following tables.

Table 2. Lenovo XClarity Pro part numbers: Per managed endpoint

Description Part number
Lenovo XClarity Pro, per Managed Endpoint w/1 Yr SW S&S 00MT201
Lenovo XClarity Pro, per Managed Endpoint w/3 Yr SW S&S 00MT202
Lenovo XClarity Pro, per Managed Endpoint w/5 Yr SW S&S 00MT203

Table 3. Lenovo XClarity Pro part numbers: Per managed chassis

Description Part number
Lenovo XClarity Pro, per Managed Chassis w/1 Yr SW S&S 00MT198
Lenovo XClarity Pro, per Managed Chassis w/3 Yr SW S&S 00MT199
Lenovo XClarity Pro, per Managed Chassis w/5 Yr SW S&S 00MT200

When you purchase XClarity Pro, the order is fulfilled via electronic software delivery (ESD) using the
Lenovo Key Management System (LKMS). The order is placed onto LKMS using an email address for the
end user who has ordered the code. This email address is where the Activation Code is sent in PDF format
(the email will come from [email protected]). The recipient email address is the login to the LKMS
system for administration and to manage the LKMS inventory.
The Activation code is redeemed via LKMS and the information about the end customer should be entered
during the redemption process.
For more information on how to redeem the Authorization Code, downloading the XClarity Administrator
License key, and importing the license key into the XClarity Administrator appliance, refer to Installing the
full-function enablement license in the online help.
Licenses are installed using a license activation key file, in .KEY format or as a .zip file (which consists of
multiple .key files). After you redeem licenses, you can create an activation key for all or a subset of your
available licenses (Note this can only be done at the time of redemption), and then download and install the
activation key in XClarity Administrator per instructions as described in Installing the full-function
enablement license in the online help.
Note: The number of managed devices must not exceed the total number of licenses in all active license
keys. If XClarity Administrator is not in compliance with the installed licenses (for example, if licenses expire
or if managing additional devices exceeds the total number of active licenses), you have a grace period of
90 days to install appropriate licenses. Each time XClarity Administrator becomes non-compliant, the grace
period resets to 90 days. If the grace period (including the free trial) ends before licenses are compliant,
advanced functions are disabled for all devices.

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 14

For example, if you manage an additional 100 ThinkSystem servers and 20 rack switches in an existing
XClarity Administrator instance, you have 90 days to purchase and install 100 additional licenses before
advanced functions are disabled in the user interface (for all devices). Licenses for the 20 rack switches are
not needed to use the advanced functions; however, they are needed if you want service and support. If
advanced functions are disabled, the advanced functions are re-enabled after you install enough licenses
to be back in compliance. If you are using a free trial license or you have a grace period to become
compliant, and you upgrade to a later version of XClarity Administrator, the trial license or grace period
resets to 90 days.
The following table shows details on what happens to each of the premium functions on different versions of
XClarity Administrator after the 90 day grace/evaluation period has expired. For more information, see the
Installing the full-function enablement license in the online help.

Table 4. What happens to premium features when license/grace period expires

XClarity
Administrator XClarity Administrator XClarity Administrator XClarity Administrator
Feature Version 2.6 and earlier Versions 2.7 and 2.8 Version 3.0 and later
Server A warning is displayed when A warning is displayed when Licensing is enforced. This
configuration the grace period expires. the grace period expires. feature is disabled when the
grace period expires.
Operation A warning is displayed when A warning is displayed when Licensing is enforced. This
system the grace period expires. the grace period expires. feature is disabled when the
deployment grace period expires.
Call Home for Licensing is enforced. The Licensing is enforced. The Licensing is enforced. The
XClarity Software Call Home feature is Software Call Home feature is Software Call Home feature is
Administrator disabled when licenses are out disabled when licenses are out disabled when licenses are out
issues of compliance. There is no of compliance. There is no of compliance. There is no
(Software Call grace period for this feature. grace period for this feature. grace period for this feature.
Home) Note: Call Home for hardware Note: Call Home for hardware Note: Call Home for hardware
alerts is not affected. alerts is not affected. alerts is not affected.

Supported Host Systems

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 15
Supported Host Systems
The Lenovo XClarity management appliance runs in a virtual machine on the host system. Refer to
Supported host systems for supported Hypervisors for deployment of Lenovo XClarity Administrator
Appliance.
Notes:
1. CentOS Linux is no longer updated by Red Hat. Consider migrating to Red Hat Enterprise Linux
instead (see the the Red Hat article How to convert from CentOS Linux or Oracle Linux to RHEL ).
2. For VMware ESXi 6.7 U2, you must use the ISO image VMware-ESXi-6.7.0.update02-13981272-
LNV-20190630.iso or later).
For VMware, the virtual machine is available as an OVF template. For Hyper-V and Nutanix AHV, the
virtual machine is a virtual-disk image (VHD). For KVM, the virtual machine is available as qcow2 format.
Important: For Hyper-V environments that run on Linux guests with a 2.6 kernel base and that use large
amounts of memory for the virtual appliance, you must disable the use of non-uniform memory access
(NUMA) on the Hyper-V Settings Panel from Hyper-V Manager. Changing this setting requires you to
restart the Hyper-V service, which also restarts all running virtual machines. If this setting is not disabled,
XClarity Administrator virtual appliance might experience problems during initial startup.

Hardware requirements
The host system that is running the Lenovo XClarity virtual machine has the following minimum
requirements. Depending on the size of your environment and your use of Configuration Patterns,
additional resources might be required for optimal performance:
Two virtual microprocessors
8 GB of memory
A minimum of 192 GB of storage for use by Lenovo XClarity virtual appliance
Display with a minimum resolution of 1024 pixels in width (XGA)
For more information about minimum hardware recommendations based on the number of managed
devices in your environment, see the Lenovo XClarity Administrator Performance white paper:
https://download.lenovo.com/servers_pdf/Lenovo_XClarity_Performance_Guide_V3.5.0.pdf

Supported Managed Endpoints

XClarity Administrator supports the following endpoints. Click the links for support and limitations
information for manageable devices (such as servers, switches, storage, and CMMs) and other I/O devices
and options, see the following compatibility pages for each device type:
ThinkSystem and ThinkAgile rack and tower servers
Converged HX, NeXtScale, System x rack and tower servers
Flex System and ThinkSystem devices in Flex System chassis
ThinkServer rack and tower servers
RackSwitch devices
Storage devices

Seller training courses

The following sales training courses are offered for employees and partners (login required). Courses are
listed in date order.

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 16

 1. Lenovo XClarity One: Overview
2024-07-26 | 20 minutes | Employees and Partners

In this course you will learn about ways to initiate and conduct a conversation about Lenovo XClarity
One. Lenovo XClarity One is a cloud-based, unified software management platform, that integrates
TruScale Infrastructure as a Service, Management as a Service, and Smarter Support Analytics to
simplify orchestration, automation, and metering from the edge to the cloud. By the end of this
course, you will be able to describe the Lenovo XClarity One software, identify the main Features
and Benefits of XClarity One, and discover the available XClarity One Contacts and Resources.
Published: 2024-07-26
Length: 20 minutes
Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning
Course code: DXCOO101
2. Understanding Lenovo XClarity
2024-01-31 | 8 minutes | Employees and Partners

This course is designed to give Lenovo sales and partner representatives an understanding of
Lenovo XClarity.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the different components of XClarity

• Describe the primary benefits to customers
• Define its core features
Published: 2024-01-31
Length: 8 minutes
Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning
Course code: SXXW2118
3. Lenovo XClarity Integrator
2023-12-20 | 60 minutes | Employees and Partners

This course contains a demo with an overview of the Lenovo XClarity Integrator and covers two
available integrators - the Integrator for Windows Admin Center and the Integrator for VMware
vCenter.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe when to use Lenovo XClarity Integrator

• Recognize the Lenovo XClarity Integrator menu options and screens.
• Explain how to update firmware using XClarity Integrator
Published: 2023-12-20
Length: 60 minutes
Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning
Course code: DLXCO104

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 17

 4. Lenovo XClarity Administrator
2023-12-12 | 60 minutes | Employees and Partners

This course contains a demo with an overview of the Lenovo XClarity family of products and covers
guidelines for using Lenovo XClarity Administrator.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe when to use Lenovo XClarity Administrator

• Recognize the Lenovo XClarity Administrator menu options and screens.
• Explain how to update firmware using XClarity Administrator
• Recall how to apply a configuration pattern using Lenovo XClarity Administrator.
Published: 2023-12-12
Length: 60 minutes
Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning
Course code: DLXCO102
5. Partner Technical Webinar - Demo of XClarity Basics
2023-08-28 | 60 minutes | Employees and Partners

In this 60-minute replay, Joe Allen, Lenovo Solutions Architect, demo’d XClarity Controller 2 (XCC2),
XClarity Administrator and XClarity Integrator with VMware vCenter. No slides were used for this
session, but a reference is included with handy links.
Published: 2023-08-28
Length: 60 minutes
Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning
Course code: 082523
6. VTT: Understanding Lenovo xClarity - June 2023
2023-06-14 | 71 minutes | Employees Only

Join us as we review the individual products that make up the XClarity Management Suite and
discuss the development roadmap for XClarity.
Published: 2023-06-14
Length: 71 minutes
Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
Course code: DVSYS201

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 18

 7. XClarity Integrator - Lifecycle Management Demo
2023-06-07 | 10 minutes | Employees and Partners

Learn how to effectively manage firmware and drivers using Lenovo's XClarity Integrator. Discover
the seamless integration process, maintenance of up-to-date firmware, and driver management
within your environment. By the end of this course, you will have the skills to streamline firmware
and driver management using XClarity Integrator.

By the end of this training, you should be able to:

• Understand the role of XClarity Integrator in managing firmware and drivers within VMware
vSphere.
• Learn to download and integrate a verified firmware best recipe pack using XClarity Integrator.
• Explore the process of creating a cluster image based on the downloaded firmware pack and
selecting a compatible vendor add-on.
Published: 2023-06-07
Length: 10 minutes
Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning
Course code: DCVD102
8. Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Windows Admin Center - HCI Disk Management
2022-11-25 | 15 minutes | Employees and Partners

This course introduces the Lenovo XClarity Integrator (LXCI) for Windows Admin Center (WAC) HCI
disk management functions. After completing this course, you will be able to describe the available
HCI disk management functions, and list the steps to add, replace or remove a disk drive in a
storage pool.
Published: 2022-11-25
Length: 15 minutes
Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning
Course code: DLXCIO206
9. Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Windows Admin Center - Systems Update Overview
2022-10-21 | 20 minutes | Employees and Partners

This course will provide an overview of the Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Windows Admin Center -
Systems Update.

After attending this overview course, you will be able to:

1. Describe the available update package types

2. Explain the difference between the two update methods
3. List the recommended steps to update a server or cluster.
Published: 2022-10-21
Length: 20 minutes
Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning
Course code: DLXCIO205

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 19

 10. Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Windows Admin Center - Cluster Management Basics
2022-08-30 | 15 minutes | Employees and Partners

This course introduces how to manage Lenovo clusters in Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Windows
Admin Center.

After completing this course, you will be able to manage Lenovo clusters in Lenovo XClarity
Integrator for WAC via Lenovo XClarity Administrator, or via Native OS. You will be able to describe
the cluster management functions provided by LXCI.
Published: 2022-08-30
Length: 15 minutes
Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning
Course code: DLXCIO204
11. Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Windows Admin Center - Server Management Basics
2022-08-29 | 15 minutes | Employees and Partners

This course introduces how to manage Lenovo servers in Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Windows
Admin Center.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

• Manage Lenovo servers in Lenovo XClarity Integrator for WAC via Lenovo XClarity Administrator,
or via Native OS.
• Describe the server management functions provided by LXCI.
Published: 2022-08-29
Length: 15 minutes
Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning
Course code: DLXCIO203
12. Partner Technical Webinar - XClarity Workshop Lite
2022-08-10 | 60 minutes | Partners Only

In this 60-minute replay, Marilee Smith, NA Technical Trainer and XClarity SME showed an abridged
version of the XClarity Workshop for Partners. She gave an overview of the XClarity family and then
gave a bit more depth and short demo of XClarity Controller, Essentials, Provisioning Manager,
Administrator, Orchestrator and Integrator.
Published: 2022-08-10
Length: 60 minutes
Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning
Course code: 080522

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 20

 13. Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Windows Admin Center - Install and Configure
2022-07-13 | 25 minutes | Employees and Partners

This course will guide you to install and configure the Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Windows Admin
Center. After attending the Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Windows Admin Center: Install and
Configure course you will be able to: explain the steps to install Lenovo XClarity Integrator for WAC,
describe the available settings that can be configured in LXCI for WAC, and demonstrate how to use
the system updates repository.
Published: 2022-07-13
Length: 25 minutes
Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning
Course code: DLXCIO202
14. Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Windows Admin Center - Overview
2022-06-23 | 15 minutes | Employees and Partners

This course will provide an overview of the Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Windows Admin Center.
After attending this overview course, you will be able to: describe Lenovo XClarity Integrator for
Windows Admin Center, discuss when to use Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Windows Admin Center,
and explain the key features and functions of Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Windows Admin Center.
Published: 2022-06-23
Length: 15 minutes
Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning
Course code: DLXCIO201

Related links
For more information, see the following resources:
Lenovo XClarity website:
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/data-center/software/management/
Free XClarity Administrator download (includes 90-day trial license for Configuration Patterns and
OS Deployment)
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/xclaritytrial
Lenovo XClarity demonstration videos:
https://lenovopress.com/lp0037-lenovo-xclarity-demonstrations
Lenovo XClarity Online Product Information Center (InfoCenter):
https://pubs.lenovo.com/software
Lenovo XClarity product publications:
https://pubs.lenovo.com/software
Lenovo XClarity discussion forum
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo-XClarity/bd-p/xc01_eg
Lenovo XClarity Administrator performance, tips and techniques
https://download.lenovo.com/servers_pdf/Lenovo_XClarity_Performance_Guide_V3.5.0.pdf
Lenovo XClarity support page
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/solutions/ht507079-lenovo-support-plan-lenovo-xclarity
Lenovo XClarity Administrator appliance download, software updates and Repository Packs
download page
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/documents/LNVO-LXCAUPD
Lenovo Key Management System

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 21

 https://fod.lenovo.com/lkms
Lenovo Key Management System user guide, Lenovo Features on Demand
https://pubs.lenovo.com/lenovo_fod/
Lenovo Software Warranty Lookup
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/warrantylookup
Lenovo XClarity Controller (XCC) Online Documentation
https://pubs.lenovo.com/lxcc-overview/
Integrated Management Module 2 (IMM) Online Documentation
https://pubs.lenovo.com/imm2/
Chassis Management Module 2 (CMM2) Online Documentation
http://flexsystem.lenovofiles.com/help/topic/com.lenovo.acc.cmm.doc/cmm_product_page.html
Chassis Management Module 1 (CMM) Online Documentation
http://flexsystem.lenovofiles.com/help/topic/com.ibm.acc.cmm.doc/cmm_product_page.html

Related product families

Product families related to this document are the following:
Lenovo XClarity

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 22

Notices
Lenovo may not offer the products, services, or features discussed in this document in all countries. Consult your
local Lenovo representative for information on the products and services currently available in your area. Any
reference to a Lenovo product, program, or service is not intended to state or imply that only that Lenovo product,
program, or service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product, program, or service that does not infringe any
Lenovo intellectual property right may be used instead. However, it is the user's responsibility to evaluate and verify
the operation of any other product, program, or service. Lenovo may have patents or pending patent applications
covering subject matter described in this document. The furnishing of this document does not give you any license to
these patents. You can send license inquiries, in writing, to:

Lenovo (United States), Inc.

8001 Development Drive
Morrisville, NC 27560
U.S.A.
Attention: Lenovo Director of Licensing

LENOVO PROVIDES THIS PUBLICATION ”AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NON-INFRINGEMENT,
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Some jurisdictions do not allow disclaimer of
express or implied warranties in certain transactions, therefore, this statement may not apply to you.

This information could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the
information herein; these changes will be incorporated in new editions of the publication. Lenovo may make
improvements and/or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this publication at any time
without notice.

The products described in this document are not intended for use in implantation or other life support applications
where malfunction may result in injury or death to persons. The information contained in this document does not
affect or change Lenovo product specifications or warranties. Nothing in this document shall operate as an express
or implied license or indemnity under the intellectual property rights of Lenovo or third parties. All information
contained in this document was obtained in specific environments and is presented as an illustration. The result
obtained in other operating environments may vary. Lenovo may use or distribute any of the information you supply
in any way it believes appropriate without incurring any obligation to you.

Any references in this publication to non-Lenovo Web sites are provided for convenience only and do not in any
manner serve as an endorsement of those Web sites. The materials at those Web sites are not part of the materials
for this Lenovo product, and use of those Web sites is at your own risk. Any performance data contained herein was
determined in a controlled environment. Therefore, the result obtained in other operating environments may vary
significantly. Some measurements may have been made on development-level systems and there is no guarantee
that these measurements will be the same on generally available systems. Furthermore, some measurements may
have been estimated through extrapolation. Actual results may vary. Users of this document should verify the
applicable data for their specific environment.

© Copyright Lenovo 2024. All rights reserved.

This document, TIPS1200, was created or updated on April 11, 2024.

Send us your comments in one of the following ways:
Use the online Contact us review form found at:
https://lenovopress.lenovo.com/TIPS1200
Send your comments in an e-mail to:
[email protected]
This document is available online at https://lenovopress.lenovo.com/TIPS1200.

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 23

Trademarks
Lenovo and the Lenovo logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Lenovo in the United States, other
countries, or both. A current list of Lenovo trademarks is available on the Web at
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/legal/copytrade/.
The following terms are trademarks of Lenovo in the United States, other countries, or both:
Lenovo®
Flex System
NeXtScale
RackSwitch
System x®
ThinkAgile®
ThinkEdge®
ThinkServer®
ThinkSystem®
UpdateXpress System Packs
XClarity®
The following terms are trademarks of other companies:
Ruby™ is a trademark of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Linux® is the trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.
Microsoft®, Azure®, Hyper-V®, PowerShell, Windows Server®, and Windows® are trademarks of
Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.
Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

Lenovo XClarity Administrator 24