Setting Up Reservation Manager › Post-Installation Administrative Tasks › Make Physical Systems Available to Users › Reserve a System

Reserve a System

To verify that the Reservation Manager is configured to reserve physical systems from the resource pool that you set up, click the Home breadcrumb to return to the home page.

You can reserve a physical system from an allocated resource pool for use at a specific date. You define the system requirements, such as operating system, software, and hardware. Reservation Manager verifies that sufficient resources exist and schedules the availability and provisioning of the resource.

To reserve a system

1. Click Reserve a system from the home page of the Reservation Manager user interface.

   The Reserve Systems wizard appears with the Specify System Image page displayed.

2. Select the operating system image and click Next.

   Note: You can filter the table on this page by image name, description, or operating environment.

   The Specify Software page appears.

3. Move all software that you want to install on the system from the Available Software Group to the Selected Software Group.

   The Available Software Group lists software that the administrator has identified as compatible with the selected operating system image. The list is filtered to display only software that you are authorized to access. Authorization is based on the organizational unit that your user name is assigned to.

   The selected software is installed on the system in the order it is listed in the Selected Software Group list. Use the up and down arrow buttons to modify the order of software in the list.

   Click Next when finished. You do not have to select any software on this page.

   The Specify Requirements page appears.

4. Specify the number of physical systems that you want to reserve and the minimum hardware requirements for the systems in the provided fields.

   Note: The fields prevent you from exceeding the resources available.

   Click Next when finished.

   The Specify Dates page appears.

5. Choose to reserve now for several days, or enter start and end dates and times. Both options also let you reserve a system with no expiration date and time.

   The times start and end on the hour. The end time must be at least an hour after the start time. If you specify an end time that exceeds the number of days for which you can reserve equipment, the request is rejected. Limits on reservation time are defined in policy at the resource pool level.

   Click Next when finished.

   Reservation Manager uses all defined information to determine whether the request can be fulfilled. One of the following occurs:

   • If the resources are available to fulfill the request, the Complete Request page appears.
   • If the requested resources are not available, the request is rejected. Modify the request to fit within the available resources.
6. Select a system and click Next.

   Note: This step may not be available if the administrator made selecting systems unavailable. See Override Automatic Selection.

7. Enter information in the following optional fields as necessary:

   Project ID

   (Optional) Defines the ID that associates the request with a specific project. This field is useful for evaluating requests and for allocating or charging costs to a specific project.

   The Reservation Manager administrator can configure this field so that it is required. In this case, the Reservation Manager displays a corresponding note in the information bar. You can submit your reservation request only after you enter a project ID. The Reservation Manager does not validate the entered value.

   Notes

   (Optional) Defines additional information you want to provide about the request.

   Send Notifications to

   (Optional) Defines the email address to which Reservation Manager sends notifications regarding this request. You can override any default value with a different address. Reservation Manager sends email notifications when a reserved system is available for use and when the expiration of the reservation period is approaching.

   Save as Template

   (Optional) Defines a name for this request so that you can use it as a template for future requests.

   Template Description

   (Optional) Defines a description for the template.

   Click Finish.

   The request is submitted for approval, and a final check is performed to verify that the machines are still available. If the resources are available, one of the following events occurs:

   • If Reservation Manager is configured for automatic request approval, the reservation immediately reflects that it has been approved.
   • If Reservation Manager is configured for manual request approval, an email notification is sent to the administrator to approve the request.
8. Verify the reservation status on the View reservation details page or on the View all reservations page that is only available for administrators. The Job Status values in the table indicate the progress of the provisioning job. The options are as follows:

   Not Started

   Indicates that the job status remains in this state until the scheduled reservation start date.

   Initiated

   Indicates that the reservation start date has been detected and processing of the reservation request has started.

   In Progress

   Indicates that the provisioning of the first system has started.

   Ready

   Indicates that all systems requested have been set up and are available for use.

   Failed

   Indicates that there was a failure processing one or more tasks associated with preparing the requested systems.

   Canceled

   Indicates that the user or administrator requested cancellation for the reservation.

   Expired

   Indicates that the reservation end date has been reached.

9. (Optional) Select the reservation item in the table and select the Details item on the Action menu.

   Reservation Manager displays the details of this request.

   The following Job Status values in the administrator Details page appear as hyperlinks:

   • Not Started
   • Initiated
   • In Progress
   • Ready
   • Failed
10. (Optional) Click a link to go to a subordinate page that provides further details about the job status.