Deciding whether to install GPFS and deploy protocols manually or with the installation toolkit

On supported Linux distributions, you can install GPFS™ and deploy protocols either manually or using the installation toolkit.

Why would I want to use the installation toolkit?
While planning your installation, consider the advantages provided by the installation toolkit. The installation toolkit:
  1. Simplifies IBM Spectrum Scale™ cluster creation
  2. Automatically creates NSD and file system stanza files
  3. Creates new NSDs, file systems, and adds new nodes
  4. Has a single package manager for all components of a release
  5. Deploys Object, SMB, NFS by automatically pulling in all pre-requisites
  6. Configures file and Object authentication during deployment
  7. Consistently sets and syncs time on all nodes
  8. Deploys the IBM Spectrum Scale GUI
  9. Configures Performance Monitoring consistently across all nodes
  10. Simplifies upgrade with a single command to upgrade all components on all nodes.
Before deciding which method you want to use, review the following topics:
Parent topic: Installing IBM Spectrum Scale on Linux nodes and deploying protocols