System templates

System templates contain configuration information about resources such as system properties, shared processor pools, reserved storage pool, shared memory pool, physical I/O adapters, Host Ethernet Adapters, single root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) adapters, Virtual I/O Server, virtual networks, virtual storage, and initial program load (IPL).

The single root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) specification defines extensions to the PCI Express (PCIe) specification. SR-IOV allows virtualization of the physical ports of an adapter so that the ports can be shared by multiple partitions that are running simultaneously. For example, a single physical Ethernet port appears as several separate physical devices. To share the ports of an SR-IOV capable adapter, the adapter must first be enabled for the SR-IOV shared mode. After an adapter is enabled for SR-IOV shared mode, SR-IOV logical ports can be assigned to logical partitions.

Many of the system settings that you previously configured by using the Hardware Management Console (HMC) command-line interface or the HMC graphical user interface (GUI) version 8.1.0, or earlier can now be completed by using the Deploy System from Template wizard. For example, you can configure the Virtual I/O Servers, virtual network bridges, and virtual storage settings when you use the wizard to deploy a system by using a system template.

The template library includes quick-start system templates, which contain configuration settings based on common usage scenarios. Quick-start system templates are available for your immediate use.

You can also create user-defined system templates that contain configuration settings that are specific to your environment. You can create a user-defined template by copying any template that is available in the template library and then changing it to suit your requirements. You can also capture the configuration of an existing system and save the details in a template. You can deploy that template to other systems that require the same configuration.

System templates are primarily used to deploy settings to new systems. To deploy new systems, complete the following tasks:
  1. Viewing system template configuration information
  2. Prerequisites for deploying a system by using a system template
  3. Capturing a system configuration (optional)
  4. Deploying a system by using a system template
You can also complete the following tasks by using system templates: