Infrastructure Automation | IBM Bob Use Case

The Numbers

30 min

Planning + Docs

3,749

Lines of Documentation

95%

Time Savings

Documentation Files

What Was Built

Bob automated the complete configuration of a RHEL jump host for IBM Data & AI Evangelist Michael Pompey — from VM provisioning on OpenShift Virtualization through enterprise DNS registration, Active Directory domain join, and SIEM integration. Traditional approach: 1–2 weeks. With Bob: 30 minutes for planning and documentation, same-day delivery.

Step 1

OpenShift Virtualization VM

RHEL 9.x virtual machine on the OpenShift cluster (fusion1.ibm.aessatl.arrow.com) with GNOME desktop and xRDP — namespace aec-jump-hosts, VM name aec-jmp-host-pompey.

Step 2

MetalLB LoadBalancer Services

SSH (port 22) and xRDP (port 3389) services sharing external IP 172.20.21.215 via MetalLB IP-sharing annotation — full Kubernetes service manifests generated.

Step 3

On-Premises DNS Registration

Microsoft DNS A record (mikejmp.ibm.aessatl.arrow.com → 172.20.21.215) and PTR record for reverse lookup — automated via PowerShell script Bob generated.

Add-DnsServerResourceRecordA `
  -Name "mikejmp" `
  -ZoneName "ibm.aessatl.arrow.com" `
  -IPv4Address "172.20.21.215"

✓ Forward lookup: mikejmp.ibm.aessatl.arrow.com → 172.20.21.215
✓ Reverse lookup: 172.20.21.215 → mikejmp.ibm.aessatl.arrow.com

Step 4

Active Directory Domain Join

Domain join to IBM.aessatl.arrow.com with SSSD for AD authentication, automatic home directory creation for domain users.

Step 5

QRadar SIEM Integration

Real-time log streaming to QRadar (172.20.28.11:514 UDP) — all system events from the jump host feeding the enterprise SIEM from day one.

Access Points Delivered

ssh mpompey@mikejmp.ibm.aessatl.arrow.com        # SSH with AD credentials
rdp://mikejmp.ibm.aessatl.arrow.com              # Microsoft Remote Desktop
# Active Directory SSO — no separate password management

Technology Stack

IBM Fusion HCI

Hyperconverged infrastructure platform hosting the OpenShift cluster

Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization

Enterprise Kubernetes VM orchestration (KubeVirt)

MetalLB

LoadBalancer for bare-metal Kubernetes — IP sharing for multi-service VMs

Microsoft DNS + AD

On-premises DNS registration and enterprise authentication

IBM QRadar SIEM

Security Information and Event Management — live log ingestion

RHEL 9.x + xRDP

Enterprise Linux with full GUI remote desktop capability

Outcomes

VM deployed on OpenShift with GNOME + xRDP

SSH + RDP access on shared external IP via MetalLB

DNS forward + reverse records registered automatically

Active Directory domain join + SSSD authentication

QRadar SIEM logging active from deployment day

10 documentation files, 3,749 lines — complete runbook

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