Preface IBM® Tivoli® Provisioning Manager, built on a service-oriented architecture (SOA), enhances usability for executing changes while keeping server and desktop software compliant. Tivoli Provisioning Manager helps organizations with provisioning, configuration and maintenance of servers and virtual servers, operating systems, middleware, applications, storage and network devices acting as routers, switches, firewalls, and load balancers. This IBM Redbook is a study guide for IBM Tivoli Provisioning Manager V5.1 and is aimed at the people who want to get an IBM Professional Certification for this product. The IBM Tivoli Provisioning Manager V5.1 Certification, offered through the Professional Certification Program from IBM, is designed to validate the skills required of technical professionals who work in the implementation of the IBM Tivoli Provisioning Manager V5.1 product. This book provides a combination of theory and practical experience needed for a general understanding of the subject matter. It also provides sample questions that will help in the evaluation of personal progress and provide familiarity with the types of questions that will be encountered in the exam. This publication does not replace practical experience, nor is it designed to be a stand-alone guide for any subject. Instead, it is an effective tool that, when combined with education activities and experience, can be a very useful preparation guide for the exam. For your convenience, we structure the chapters based on the sections of the Tivoli Provisioning Manager V5.1 Implementation Certification test, such as Planning, Installation, Administration, and so on, so studying each chapter will help you prepare for one section of the exam. The team that wrote this redbook This redbook was produced by a team of specialists from around the world working at the International Technical Support Organization, Poughkeepsie Center. Vasfi Gucer is an IBM Certified Consultant IT Specialist at the ITSO Austin Center. He has been with IBM Turkey for 10 years, and has worked at the ITSO since January 1999. He has more than 15 years of experience in teaching and implementing systems management, networking hardware, and distributed platform software. He actively presents at various Tivoli Technical User © Copyright IBM Corp. 2007. All rights reserved. xvii