Dell OpenManage Version 5.1 Installation and Security User's Guide
Dell OpenManage Systems Management Software Components
Other Documents You Might Need
Obtaining Technical Assistance
This guide contains information to help you install Dell OpenManage software on management stations and their managed systems. A managed system is a system that has supported instrumentation or agents installed that allow the system to be discovered and polled for status. A management station is used to remotely manage one or more managed systems from a central location. See Figure 1-1 for a view of a management station and its managed systems. In addition, this guide provides information and instructions for configuring your systems before and during a deployment or upgrade. The following topics are covered:
Dell OpenManage systems management software is a suite of application programs for Dell PowerEdge systems and some Dell PowerVault systems. This software enables you to manage your systems with proactive monitoring, diagnosis, notification, and remote access.
Each system managed by Dell OpenManage systems management software is called a managed system. You can manage a managed system either locally or remotely. Software applications that you may install onto the managed systems include Dell OpenManage Server Administrator (which includes the Storage Management Service, and the Server Administrator Web server), SNMP agents for Intel® or Broadcom network interface cards (NICs), and remote access controller (RAC) software.
A management station can be used to remotely configure and maintain one or more managed systems from a central location. Dell OpenManage IT Assistant and the other management station applications enable you to manage from one to thousands of managed systems. For instance, a management station can be used to deploy images of physical media to virtual media at many managed systems.
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NOTE: If you install management station and managed system software on the same system, install identical software versions to avoid system conflicts. |
Figure 1-1 illustrates the relationship between a management station and its managed systems. Also, Figure 1-1 shows the operating systems and the Dell OpenManage software products that you can install on the managed systems. The documentation CD can be accessed from any system with a monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
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NOTE: The Dell PowerEdge Server Update Utility CD is included in the Dell OpenManage Subscription Service Kit only; it is not included in the Dell OpenManage Systems Management Software Kit. |
Figure 1-1. Example of a Management Station and Managed Systems
The Dell OpenManage Systems Management Software Kit includes, but is not limited to, the following components:
Most of these CDs also contain readme files, which provide the latest product information.
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NOTE: The Dell PowerEdge Server Update Utility CD is only available as part of the Subscription Service Kit or from the Dell Support website at support.dell.com. |
Compare the contents of your system accessories box with the packing slip or invoice enclosed with your system. If any components are missing or damaged, call Dell within 30 days of the invoice date for a free replacement. For more information, see "Obtaining Technical Assistance."
For more information, see the Dell OpenManage website at www.dell.com/openmanage.
For managed systems, Dell OpenManage Server Assistant provides streamlined operating system installation, reducing the time required for the installation of Windows, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server operating systems by guiding you through an easy-to-follow, step-by-step process.
In addition, Server Assistant provides the necessary tools for setting up and configuring PowerEdge systems and software. The tools permit discovery and configuration of Dell-provided RAID controllers and network adapters.
IT Assistant is a Web-based graphical user interface (GUI) that provides a central point of access to monitor and manage systems on a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN). By providing a comprehensive view across the enterprise, IT Assistant can increase system uptime, reduce repetitive tasks, and prevent interruption during critical business operations.
Using IT Assistant, you can:
The Dell Remote Access Controller (DRAC) console is management station software designed to provide remote management capabilities for PowerEdge systems. You can remotely connect to RAC hardware using the DRAC Tools software. The following RAC features are implemented in the hardware and are available either by using a browser or by way of the racadm CLI:
See the Dell Remote Access Controller 4 User's Guide or Dell Remote Access Controller 5 User's Guide for more information about how to use the racadm CLI to connect to a managed system to execute racadm commands from a remote console, or to connect to a management station using the IP address of the managed station.
The BMC Management Utility provides a command line based remote management station to manage all supported BMC functions. Use the BMC Management Utility to manage a BMC from a remote management station, and as a managed system's emergency management console. The utility gives you the option of using either a command line interface (Intelligent Platform Management Interface [IPMI shell] or a Serial-Over-LAN proxy [SOL Proxy]) to access and manage the BMC.
The BMC monitors the system for critical events by communicating with various sensors on the system board and sending alerts and logs events when certain parameters exceed their preset thresholds. The BMC supports the industry-standard IPMI specification, enabling you to configure, monitor, and recover systems remotely.
The BMC provides the following features:
The Microsoft Active Directory Snap-in utility provides an extension snap-in to the Microsoft Active Directory, which allows you to manage Dell-specific Active Directory objects.
You can use this option when the Dell-specific schema classes have been added to the Active Directory schema.
Server Administrator provides a comprehensive, one-to-one systems management solution using an integrated Web browser-based GUI (the Server Administrator home page) or a command line interface (CLI) feature. Server Administrator includes the following integrated services and features:
The Instrumentation Service provides rapid access to detailed fault and performance information gathered by systems management agents and allows remote administration of monitored systems, including shutdown, startup, and security.
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NOTE: The Remote Access Service is not available on modular systems. You must directly connect to the RAC on a modular system. See the Dell Embedded Remote Access/MC User's Guide, the Dell Remote Access Controller 4 User's Guide, or the Dell Remote Access Controller 5 User's Guide for more information. |
The Remote Access Service provides the following features:
You must have Server Administrator on your system to install the Remote Access Service.
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NOTE: The Server Administrator Remote Access Service and Remote Access Controller Management Station cannot be installed on a system at the same time. If both Server Administrator and Management Station are installed at the same time and RAC support is required, install Server Administrator Remote Access Service. It provides all the functionality of the Remote Access Controller Management Station. |
The Storage Management Service provides enhanced features for managing a system's locally-attached RAID and non-RAID disk storage.
The Storage Management Service provides the following features:
The Dell PowerEdge Diagnostics is a suite of diagnostic programs, or test modules, that run locally on your system. You can select the appropriate diagnostics tests to run from the Diagnostic Selection tree containing the hardware that PowerEdge Diagnostics discovers on your system.
The Extraction Utility enables you to view and create Dell software driver and diagnostic floppy disks.
The Dell PowerEdge Server Update Utility CD includes the Server Update Utility (SUU). SUU is a CD-based application for identifying and applying updates to your system. SUU is a dual-purpose application and is easy to use. You can use SUU to update your PowerEdge server or to view the updates available for any system listed in the Repository.
SUU facilitates change management by allowing you to update system components using an application that compares the version of currently installed components with updated components packaged on a CD and stored in a Repository. A full session of SUU would typically run an inventory of installed components and their versions, provide a comparison report between what is installed currently on the system and what the latest component versions are in the Repository, and leave to you the decision whether to apply the Dell component System Update Set to update the system or not. You can customize the packages you want to upgrade. You can roll back newer versions of components on your system to the corresponding component version contained on the Dell PowerEdge Server Update Utility CD. SUU is delivered on separate CDs for Microsoft Windows and Linux.
Besides this guide, you can find the following guides either on the Dell Support website at support.dell.com or on the Documentation CD:
If at any time you do not understand a procedure described in this guide, or if your product does not perform as expected, different types of help are available. For more information, see "Getting Help" in your system's Hardware Owner's Manual.
Additionally, Dell Enterprise Training and Certification is available; see www.dell.com/training for more information. This service might not be offered in all locations.