Parts, Scripts and Add-ons

Virtual system patterns are made up of parts, and each part has properties that you can configure. Parts can also optionally contain add-ons and scripts, and the add-ons and scripts can have configurable parameters.

Part properties and script parameters can be set or locked, or both, while you are editing the virtual system pattern containing them. They can also be set during deployment of the virtual system pattern unless the property or parameter was locked while editing the virtual system pattern. If the part properties and script parameters are not set during the virtual system pattern editing process, the user who is deploying the virtual system pattern is prompted for a value.

Each part in a virtual system pattern has a unique mixed-case name, like a variable name, for example DMGRPart1 or CustomNodePart. You need to enter the required information during the deployment for these parts. For more information about creating script packages, review the information in the IBM Workload Deployer System Information Center.

During deployment, the add-on scripts are run first and then the script packages run. PureApplication System finds all variables in property values and replaces them with the appropriate value. In PureApplication System processing, this replacement happens before the virtual machines are created or started. Any unsupported or invalid variable names are ignored.

Script packages can be added to virtual system pattern topologies to customize the behavior of the parts. Virtual system patterns are used to define cells and they can include script packages to further define behavior.

Script packages are simple containers that contain all the required artifacts necessary to run a script. The script package is a directory compressed into a single file that is uploaded to the catalog and then associated with virtual system patterns. The code included in the script package can be as simple as a .war file or as complex as a complete product. The content of a script package is not defined by the product. The script included in the script package defines the required content for that package.

Add-ons are specialized scripts that customize virtual machine configuration. Add-ons provide fine tuning for hardware and operating system configuration. Initial configuration for add-ons is provided. You can use default add-ons, or create and clone new ones.