2.3 How Do I Interact with PlateSpin Orchestrate?

Administrators and users perform their activities by using their own graphical tool or command line interface tools. In general, the same functions are available in either the graphical or the command line tools. The toolset is summarized in the chart below.

Table 2-1 Summary of the PlateSpin Orchestrate Toolset

Role

Tool Type

Description

Common Function

Administrator

Graphical Interface

The PlateSpin Orchestrate Development Client

  • Stops or starts the Orchestrate Server(s)

  • Deploys jobs.

  • Manages Group and Policy associations.

  • Monitors jobs.

  • Helps troubleshoot jobs/policies.

  • Monitors computing resource usage.

  • Creates and manages user accounts.

Command Line Interface

Sample command line for help: 

zosadmin command --help

Graphical Interface

The PlateSpin Orchestrate VM Client

  • Discovers host servers in the Orchestrate grid

  • Discovers existing VMs

  • Creates, edits, installs, and deletes VMs

  • Manages VM repositories

  • Stops, starts, pauses, or suspends VMs

  • Migrates or moves VMs

  • Installs the Orchestrate Agent on VMs

  • Creates and clones VM templates

  • Provides group management of VMs, host servers, storage locations, and templates

  • Resyncs state of VMs and hosts with Orchestrate Server

  • Provides access to VM and Host consoles

  • Shows details of VM and host configurations

  • Provides error log and progress views

User

Graphical Interface

The Orchestrate Server Portal

  • Displays deployed jobs.

  • Displays available computing resources.

  • Runs jobs.

  • Monitors running jobs.

  • Manages the user’s own jobs. That is, a user can cancel, pause, restart, and change job priority.

Command Line Interface

Sample command line for help: 

zos command --help

Other functions can also be performed by using either the graphical or command line tools. The sections that follow show examples of performing these functions from either interface, when applicable.

To help you understand how these tools can be used, you can find more information in the following sections: