Resource pools

A resource pool is a list of prepared values that Cloud Management Platform (CMP) provides to servers as they are provisioned

Instead of generating a hostname or letting a parameter be filled in on the order form, you can prepare the values in advance and let CMP allocate them. A pool is attached to one or more environments, and each server built into those environments claims one set of values from it. A set is claimed by a single server, so the same value is never handed out twice.

Add a resource pool

  1. Go to Admin > Resource Pools.
  2. Select Add a resource pool.
  3. Fill in the fields, then select Create.

The Scope column reads Local for any pool you create here, meaning it applies across the environments you attach it to.

Fields on a resource pool

Field Description
Name The name the pool is listed under.
Provides Parameters The parameters this pool supplies values for. Only user parameters are offered. Boolean, date, and date-time parameters cannot be pooled.
Provides hostnames Include a hostname in each set of values. A server takes its hostname from the pool unless a hostname is supplied with the order, which takes priority.
Provides MAC addresses Include a MAC address in each set of values.
Environments The environments that draw on this pool. An environment can use only one resource pool.

IP addresses are not offered here. CMP allocates those from IP ranges.

Add values to a pool

A new pool is empty. Open it and select the Values tab. Two buttons add values:

  • New Resource Pool Value adds one set manually.
  • Upload values in CSV format imports many at once.

CSV format

The first row of the file is a header, and each column header must match one of the following:

  • hostname or mac for the kinds of values the pool provides, or os_build or applications.
  • The name of one of the pool’s parameters; its name rather than its label.

Separate multiple values in one cell with semicolons. The upload dialog shows a worked example. If none of the column headers match, nothing is imported.

How values are claimed

When a server is provisioned in an environment with a resource pool, CMP claims an unclaimed set of values from that pool and copies them to the server. The Usage column on the pool list shows how many of a pool’s sets are claimed out of the total.

If a pool has no unclaimed sets left, provisioning fails with Resource pool <name> [ID:<id>] is full. Keep enough values in a pool for the servers you expect to build from it.