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Demo Lab Guide – PowerEdge Server

OpenManage System Management

Product Domain: Server

Author: Ian O’Gorman

Version: 1.01 Date: 28/01/2016

Table of Contents 1 Product Overview ............................................................................................................................................ 3

1.1 Lab Preparation Considerations and Caveats ................................................................................. 4

2 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................... 5

2.1 Lab Topology and Essential Information ......................................................................................... 6

3 Demonstration ................................................................................................................................................. 7

3.1 Session 1 - CMC Ease of Use and Navigation (30 mins) ................................................................ 7

3.1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 7

3.1.2 Talking Points ........................................................................................................................................ 7

3.1.3 Technical Selling Points ...................................................................................................................... 8

3.1.4 Technical Objections and Query Handling:.................................................................................... 9

3.1.5 LAB 1 – Navigate the Chassis Management Controller (CMC) Interface ................................. 12

3.2 Session 2 - iDRAC7 with Lifecycle Controller ............................................................................. 26

3.2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 26

3.2.2 Talking Points ..................................................................................................................................... 26

3.2.3 Technical Selling Points .................................................................................................................... 26

3.2.4 Technical Objective Handling ..........................................................................................................27

3.2.5 LAB 2 Navigate the iDRAC and Lifecycle Controller Interfaces ............................................... 29

3.3 Session 3 - Management and Reporting with Dell OpenManage Essentials .......................... 44

3.3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 44

3.3.2 Talking Points ..................................................................................................................................... 44

3.3.3 Technical Selling Points .................................................................................................................... 45

3.3.4 Technical Objective Handling ......................................................................................................... 45

3.3.5 LAB 3 Navigate the OME Interface ................................................................................................. 46

Author: Sharon Barnes & Page 3 of 58 Internal Use Only

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Dell | Global Commercial Sales Training & Development

1 Product Overview

Improve IT availability and productivity and reduce operational costs with the Dell OpenManage portfolio and

Dell Active System Manager. These agile enterprise systems management solutions help you:

- Maintain IT flexibility for rapid response to dynamic business needs

- Drive operational efficiencies that reduce cost

- Achieve dramatic improvements in IT productivity and agility

Together, the Dell OpenManage portfolio and Active System Manager provide comprehensive, customer-

inspired systems management solutions expressly designed to simplify, automate and optimize your IT

operations..


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1.1 Lab Preparation Considerations and Caveats

It is in your best interests to ensure the demo environment you will be demonstrating is clean & tidy before you

begin. For this reason we would recommend, where possible, you log in to your demo at least 15 minutes prior

to delivery and check the following;

Familiarize yourself with the environment during this time and check any specific features you are

expecting to demo.

Most importantly, be crystal clear with yourself on what it is you plan to show. A full demo of every feature

described below (with questions) can take several hours. If you only have a short time slot be sure to focus

on the key points that address the customer’s pain points and will drive value home to them.

Ensure that you have scheduled the demo for sufficient time so as not to have the demo end before you

are finished with the customer.

Any other guidance on how the user should prepare for the lab can be added here. If there are limitation or

something the user should be aware of call out also.


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2 Introduction

There are three (3) unique demos with internal labs using four (4) different types of Dell systems management

solutions. Each demo will supply additional information that you will use in conjunction with the basic demo

tasks listed.

The purpose of this document is to provide the Dell Technical Sales force with the tools they need to deliver an

effective live demonstration of Dell OpenManage systems management capabilities for the PowerEdge

M1000e Blade Chassis and 12G Server product line. The Dell Solution Center demo includes the following Dell

OpenManage elements. This session will focus on the first three solutions.

- Chassis Management Controller firmware version 4.45

- Dell iDRAC7 with Lifecycle Controller

- Dell OpenManage Essentials (OME)

- OpenManage Power Center


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-

2.1 Lab Topology and Essential Information


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3 Demonstration

3.1 Session 1 - CMC Ease of Use and Navigation (30 mins)

The Dell Chassis Management Controller (CMC) is a hot-pluggable systems management hardware and

software solution. It provides secure remote management access and power control functions for the

PowerEdge M1000e chassis and all installed modules (servers, I/O, PSU, Fans)

- Supporting eLearning course: GSTB5066 – SvrSysMgmt: CMC Technical Overview

3.1.1 Introduction

This demonstration is primarily aimed at the CIO/CFO level and IT management staff, it also provides a useful

quick introduction for staff who are not familiar with the Dell PowerEdge M1000e Chassis Management

Controller.

Duration: 30 minutes.

In this demo you will be performing the following tasks:

- Setting the scene with the customer

- Login to the CMC Interface

- Review the Navigation of the the CMC Interface o Multi-chassis status and context

- Review Chassis Power Configuration and Budgeting o Discuss power attributes (redundancy, caps,

priorities) o Chassis power up/down

- Review Chassis Fabric Configuration (Networking)

- Review Blade Server Configuration Options

3.1.2 Talking Points

The following are “Why Blades” discussions to have with the customer:

- Customer has limited physical space: You can get up to 8 full-height, 16 halfheight or 32 quarter-

height blade servers or a combination in 10U space. o Customer is network port challenged: The blade

chassis has switches in the back that the blades plug into internally and you can have a 10Gb uplink

from each of the switches to the ToR switches (using a lot less ports).


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- Customer needs combination management features: You can manage groups of Chassis or Groups of

blades and automate settings.

Standardize on a single platform across all sites and HQ data center to reduce complexity and costs of

disparate hardware.

The Dell Chassis Management Controller is a hot-pluggable systems management hardware and software

solution. The CMC is the central point of management and is a single pane of glass to manage up to nine

(9) chassis and their components (Servers, Storage blades and Networking). Simplicity and ease of use being

key points.

Two CMCs are suggested for redundancy, and share a common ipaddress. Once configured, you can

access the CMC in one of three ways:

- CMC GUI via a browser o CLI interface via SSH through the Serial Port connector on the CMC o

Through the iKVM (Avocent) switch “Oscar” menu as Blade 17.

Power requirements in the data center can be problematic.

3.1.3 Technical Selling Points Ease of use is the key point here with the ability to simply manage the system from a web interface.

The CMC is agent free. This is a huge advantage because you are not constantly having to deal with agent

upgrades and agent pushes.

It is important to discuss how the architecture of the Chassis works and reinforce that there is no single

point of failure in the Chassis.

- The backplane is a passive component that contains no electronics. The odds of it failing are very slim.

- If you pull a component from the Chassis, you can show that the pins are on the server, etc. so there

are no pins on the backplane to get bent.

- Redundant CMCs with built in memory and the LCD. Three places where configuration information is

stored. o Separate NICs on redundant fabrics.

- Redundant power supplies and power configuration capabilities.

- Will not loose flexaddressing if a CMC fails because the MAC/WWN addresses are associated with the

blade slots.

The odds of loosing a Chassis configuration is very slim because there are three points of redundancy for

the M1000e configuration settings:

- Two CMCs for redundancy with built in SDRAM chips o Memory in the Front LCD panel that stores the

Chassis settings o Chassis Configuration Backup option

Power may be an issue for customers in a data center. The M1000e chassis can help to address some of the

Power concerns by way of its Power Management features.

The M1000e is a multifunctional Chassis with the option to mix and match quarter-height, half-height and

full-height blade servers. It also supports up to four Dell EqualLogic PSM4110 internal Storage Arrays with a

mix of the three blade types. The M1000e chassis can be tailored to a customer’s needs and was designed

to support future generations of blade technologies regardless of processor or chipset architecture.


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The chassis can be populated with up to six total blade I/O modules (three fully redundant fabrics) , with

current technologies featuring 1/10Gb Ethernet to servers, 40Gb Ethernet to top-of-rack switches, Fibre

Channel and InfiniBand (QDR/FDR10/FDR). Dell’s blade Ethernet devices also have FlexIO technology which

supports one or two ports (up to 56Gbps each) from every I/O mezzanine card in the installed blade servers.

The Chassis flexibility and its ability to grow are worth considering as the M1000e chassis does not have to

be fully populated on initial purchase. The M1000e uses an open design with no dividers between the

blades. This allows it to accept any combination of blade form factors, or any future designs such as

double-width blades.

FlexAddress is an optional upgrade feature that allows server modules to replace the factory-assigned

WWN/MAC network IDs with WWN/MAC IDs provided by the chassis. FlexAddress is available via a Secure

Digital (SD) card that is inserted into the SD slot located underneath the Dell Chassis Management card to

activate the feature. Once FlexAddress is enabled, if the server module is replaced, the slot-based

WWN/MAC IDs remain the same. This feature eliminates the need to reconfigure Ethernet network

management tools and SAN resources when a new server module is installed in the slot.

It is important to isolate the management traffic from the production traffic on the network. All iDRAC

traffic coming through the CMC ports should be isolated from the operating system and application

communications coming through the server NICs.

Dell data center technologies (servers, storage, networking PDUs) with Fresh Air capability allow for

aggressive improvements in energy consumption. Dell customers can elevate their current data center

temperatures, for immediate savings, or eliminate the need for chiller capability, all without having to

purchase custom or expensive, higher-end equipment.

3.1.4 Technical Objections and Query Handling:

Question: Does M1000e support depend on the version of the midplane?

Answer:

> Midplane version is important for Fabric configurations. Midplane Version 1.0 and lower do not

support 10Gb on Fabric A.

Question: Is the CMC code for VRTX the same as M1000e?

Answer:


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> The VRTX code was built off of the CMC 4.1 version so M1000e features delivered after that will not

be picked up until a future VRTX release. There are unique firmware images for VRTX.

Question: What are the notable features of M1000e not present in VRTX @ RTS?

Answer:

> Chassis configuration profile propagation (new 4.3)

> Boot order capture in BIOS profile (new 4.3)

> Save & Restore of BIOS profiles to local hard drive (new 4.3)

> All settings blade configuration capture and replication (new 4.4)

> Slot based assignment of blade configuration profile, i.e. settings are applied when the blade is

inserted (new 4.4)

> Check for default credentials with warning to user

Question: Are a mixture of VRTX and M1000e supported in multi-chassis?

Answer:

> No, all members of a cluster must match the lead chassis

Question: What management is possible across the 9 chassis in a multi-chassis environment?

Answer:

> Monitoring and inventory are available for multi-chassis environments. The health status and logs

can be viewed across up to 9 chassis, 288 blades (M420), 27 Fabrics, 54 PSUs, 81 Fans, etc.

> Exportable cluster wide inventory of blades, IOM, Service Tag, etc.

> Group members inherit chassis settings when joining a cluster.

> 1:Many BIOS/FW update and BIOS configuration replication are within a chassis only

Question: Can the flex addressed assigned addresses be moved in the chassis?

Answer:

> No, they are assigned to a slot and stay with that slot.

Question: What happens if I pull the Flex address SD card out and put it in another chassis?

Answer:


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> When the flex addressing is active the card is disabled and will not work in another chassis. The only

way to move the card is to disable flex addressing on the current chassis and then the card would

function in another chassis. This avoids the possibility of duplicate WWNs and MACs.

Question: What fabrics support Flex Addressing?

Answer:

> All the fabrics supported in the chassis support Flex Addressing. This is a big advantage we have over

our competition. You are not locked into a particular switch.

Gotchas:

> There is a Context Sensitive help button in the right corner of every CMC menu page to help

answer any questions about the current page you are viewing. You will need at least CMC firmware

version 4.5 in order to remove VRTX CHASSIS MANAGEMENT CONTROLLER from the heading.

> We used to say you could do an iDRAC firmware update without having to reboot the blade. You

still can BUT if you update the iDRAC firmware from the CMC Update menu, it will reboot the blade

and go into the Lifecycle Controller to perform the firmware update.

> If the customer will not let the server access the network, updates will need to be performed by

downloading a recent copy of Repository Manager to an internal server.

> If you are not using L3 switching, all available IP addresses must be on the same subnet.

o CMC

o Embedded Switch

o IDRAC

o Operating System

o The Embedded switch does not support L3


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3.1.5 LAB 1 – Navigate the Chassis Management Controller (CMC) Interface

Once you have successfully started your scheduled demonstration within the environment please conduct the

following;

On the desktop double click on the CMC icon and enter the following details when prompted:

- Username: root

- Password: calvin

Note: Ensure that the Session Time out is defaulted to 90 minutes on the login screen. If not, please change

it to 90 minutes to avoid any timeouts during your customer demonstration.

Talking Points:

Security is a good point to make here by highlighting the importance of changing the default logon from

root & calvin to something more secure, or even better by creating an active directory group for security

and adding users. The default Root/Calvin username and password for the CMC can be changed by

selecting the appropriate Chassis from the console tree. Select the User Authentication menu. Select the

Local Users subtab.


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Navigation of the CMC Interface

Once you have the Chassis CMC on the management network, the easiest way to complete the customization

of the Chassis is to use the graphical interface.

From the tree located on the left of the Console, select Group: DemoGroup to display the Chassis Group

Health properties.

Navigate to the bottom of the Chassis Group Health page to identify the components and view the health

status of OM-Demo-Chassis1.


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Talking Points:

You can access the most frequently requested information and functions without leaving the initial Home

Page. The CMC home page is context sensitive. The content displayed to the right of the graphic changes

dynamically in response to selecting a component on the graphic without leaving the page. This saves on

the number of

“clicks.”

Explain the current Chassis configuration in terms of: o Front view: Types of blade servers in each slot o

Back view: CMC, fans, I/O modules, PSU

Drill down into some of the individual components to demonstrate the level of detail that is available. For

example, you can hover over the Server in Slot 1 to get more details on the server.

If “yellow” or “red” alerts are displayed during your customer presentation, use the opportunity to discuss

the “color coded status at a glance” either on the graphic or in the tree.

- This is also where you could present the Dell advantage. Dell builds extremely resilient high availability

level four hardware that prevents system downtime. No one does it better than Dell, not even IBM.

You could state, “There may have been some isolated issues on the box, but it did not

affect the overall outcome of what the services on the system are providing.” Part of a

customer’s buying decision will be based upon how easy it is to diagnose a problem and fix it.

During the CMC interface discussion, ensure that the customer understands where they are in the interface

at all times and if the setting you are discussing affects the Chassis as a whole or just an individual

component such as a Server, PSU, I/O module, etc.

- Group:DemoGroup provides management options for all Chassis in a multichassis environment

- OM-Demo-Chassis1 provides management options for the named Chassis as a whole.

- Server Overview shows an overview of all the servers in the Chassis o OM-12G-1 provides 1:1

management of the named Server only.

Select OM-Demo-Chassis1 from the left hand menu to focus on the configuration of a specific M1000e

Chassis.

Select your assigned blade server and review the Health properties displayed.


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Talking Points:

Draw attention to the Quick Links on the page. Quick Links give direct access to frequent actions.

You will see Chassis Quick Links and Quick Links for the selected component (ex. Server).

Multi-Chassis Management

To manage a multi-chassis environment, select the Setup tab. Select the Group Administration subtab.


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Talking Points:

The Chassis Management Controller provides a single pane of glass for up to nine (9) PowerEdge M1000e

chassis (one group Leader and up to 8 chassis group members). When you start to look at clouds, it is

important to link multiple chassis together and see them as one combined entity.

Group members do not need to be physically wired together, in the same rack or even in the same location.

They just need to be able to talk to each other over the same IP network. This could also be done over the

WAN if the customer has a high speed connection to a remote data center. A low speed connection will

introduce latency issues such as timeouts when attempting to communicate with the remote chassis.

Lead Chassis Properties can be configured to be propagated to member chassis’ when a property setting

changes or when they are manually pushed.

Chassis Power Overview

Next we will discuss the Power options available for the Chassis. Dell is a leader in Power and Cooling.

Power Monitoring


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To view the power consumption of the Chassis, select OM-Demo-Chassis1. Select the Power tab. Select

Power Monitoring from the subtab. The Power Monitoring screen appears:

Talking Points:

Explain the capabilities of Power Monitoring and Capping. You can monitor the power being used by the

Chassis as a whole or an individual component such as a Server Module.

System Input Power is the current power being used by the Chassis.

Peak System Power Start Time is the time that the peak power occurred. This is user resettable.

To view the Power consumption of the Server modules, select Server Modules from the Jump to: links.

Chassis Power Budget/Redundancy Configuration

Power management enables customization of the power budget/redundancy options for the entire chassis

(chassis, servers, I/O modules, iKVM, CMC and power supplies). Power management determines how devices

in the Chassis utilize the available power capacity of the Chassis.

To set the Chassis power attributes select OM-Demo-Chassis1 from the left hand menu. Select the Power

tab. Select Configuration from the subtab. The Budget/Redundancy Configuration screen appears:


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Talking Points:

The M1000e is powered by up to six 2700W power supplies (110-120v) in a fully redundant configuration.

Based on Dell’s Energy Smart technologies, the M1000e PSUs deliver greater levels of efficiency, even at

low levels of utilization. The M1000e requires only three power supplies to power a fully populated system,

and can be configured in one of three redundancy configurations: Grid Redundancy mode (default with six

PSUs connected), Power Supply Redundancy mode, or No Redundancy mode.

Dynamic Power Supply Engagement (DPSE) puts lightly loaded power supplies into standby mode, driving

up the utilization and the efficiency of the active PSUs. DPSE mode saves power by optimizing the power

efficiency of the PSUs supplying power to the chassis. This also results in increased PSU life, and reduced

heat generation. Since the online PSUs are more efficient when running at higher utilization, one PSU

running at 94% efficiency is more efficient than three power supplies running at 1/3 capacity.

OpenManage Power Center allows you to configure an emergency power button that will enable you to

put a whole data center, isle of servers, or rack of servers in power conservation mode. OpenManage

Power Center is only applicable to Intel based systems.

Gotcha:


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We used to say that you could run a fully populated Chassis on three power supplies. That conversation has

changed with the introduction of the M420s, M910s and EQL storage blades. There is a configuration with

those that require more than three power supplies. The ESSA tool allows you to plug all the numbers in and

it will give you the power draw of the configuration to help determine the power requirements.

Power supplies can switch and run at 110 as well as the higher 220 voltage. You could power up on 110 but

you might trip a circuit breaker if there are more than a couple of blades installed. Good for Test and

Development or assigning a chassis for staging to configure blades when there is no access to 208v power

options. Dell recommends 208-240v AC for all production environments. The Allow 110 VAC Operation

check box must be selected if a PSU is plugged into 110v or the blades will not power up. The Chassis will

still power up.

Power Budgeting and Priorities

Setting priorities within the chassis helps to determine how power is budgeted and spread across the blade

servers.

To view the System Power Policy, Power Budgeting, Server Priority Policy, and the current power state of

the Chassis power supplies select the Power tab. Select the Budget Status subtab.

The Power Budget Status screen is displayed:

Talking Points:


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Previously it was discussed that you can set a power cap on the whole Chassis. Setting the Server priority

policy lets you determine which servers get highest priority for power allocation.

Server Priority levels are from 1-9 with one (1) being the highest. Fans and I/O modules get first priority so

they are always set at a priority of zero (0).

Setting a power cap below current consumption causes the blades to be throttled back starting with the

lowest priority ones until the cap is satisfied.

Blades currently off will not power on if the additional power cannot be allocated per the policy. When a

blade server is attempting to power on, it asks the CMC if there is enough power available based upon the

current configuration of the server.

Navigate to the bottom of the Power Budget Status screen to view the current power state of the Chassis

power supplies:

Chassis Power Up/Down

To power on/off the Chassis and all components within the chassis, select OMDemo-Chassis1 from the

console tree. Select Power from the menu. Select the Control subtab. The Chassis Power Control

screen appears.


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Gotchas:

Proceed with CAUTION here. Selecting Power Off System powers off the Chassis and all of its

components. You will get a warning when you click Apply before the Chassis is shut down.

If you power down the chassis and have the CMC routed through the internal switch you will need to be

physically present to power on the chassis.

Chassis Fabric Configuration

To configure the CMC network settings, of OM-Demo-Chassis1, select OM-DemoChassis1 from the

console tree. Select the Network tab. Select the Network subtab.

The Network Configuration page appears.


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Talking Points:

It is important to discuss with the customer how the traffic moves through the Chassis.

- Server NICs communicate through the network switches on the back of the Chassis.

- All of the iDRACs talk through the CMC ports.

- Best practice is to isolate all of the management traffic coming through the CMC. You have the option

to VLAN each of the iDRACs. This would require you to have the switch port that the CMC plugs in to

trunked and VLANs configured.

Up to 4 people can be logged in concurrently to the CMC of a Chassis and work independent of each

other. A session can be terminated by selecting the Chassis from the console tree, select the Network

menu, select the Sessions subtab. You cannot terminate your own session.

The Advanced Settings button will take you to the Security subtab where you can filter a range of IP

addresses that allows only the people using devices in that range to access the CMC.

12.

To manage the services used by the CMC of OM-Demo-Chassis1, select OM-Demo- Chassis1 from the

console tree. Select the Network tab. Select the Services subtab.

The Services Management page appears.


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Talking Points:

This is where you can secure the Chassis by disabling ports not used like Telnet, set limits to number of

sessions and configure timeout intervals for services.

CMC Serial Configuration manages the settings for the serial port on the back of the CMC. You could plug

your laptop into it if a networking setting got corrupted and internet access was not available.

SNMP Configuration allows you to enter a community string and MIB file for monitoring the CMC with a

third-party console.

Dell Support for the M1000e Chassis

If a customer has a question and needs to connect with Dell Support, the CMC interface provides a Support

quick link to the Dell Support page.

From the upper right menu of the CMC GUI select Support.


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Talking Points:

Reinforce that Dell is a unified support model which is very different from HP and IBM who have multiple

divisions you have to navigate. This unified support model consolidates a customer’s help request into just

one phone call. This is very helpful in larger accounts.

The About link displays the current version of the Chassis Management Console (CMC).

25 Dell Demo Center – https://demos.dell.com | Dell Inc., 2016

Server Overview and Management

This section focuses on the status and configuration of individual blade servers in the chassis.

To view the status of the servers in the Chassis, select Server Overview from the console tree.

Navigate to the Properties tab. Select the Status subtab.

Talking Points:

You can launch the server iDRAC GUI from here as well as go to the Remote Console directly and

access the BIOS and operating system.

iDRAC and Remote Console provide both out-of-band and in-band management capabilities.

iDRAC and Remote console are available for the Dell PowerEdge Server range of products

You are now going to utilize the iDRAC Enterprise Edition technology that is present on all 12G servers

to open up a virtual console for your server. This will enable you to access the Lifecycle Controller

and install Windows Server 2012 on the server.

To get ready for Lab 2 – iDRAC and Lifecycle Controller, select the iDRAC button next to an

availalbe Server.

https://demos.dell.com/


3.2 Session 2 - iDRAC7 with Lifecycle Controller One of the most differentiating features of the 12G PowerEdge servers is the ability to

comprehensively manage them throughout the entire lifecycle using embedded out-of-band

management tools.

Supporting eLearning course: GSTB5062 – SvrSysMgmt: iDRAC7 & Lifecycle Controller Technical

Overview

3.2.1 Introduction In this demo you will be performing the following tasks:

Launch the iDRAC console from the CMC Server Overview tab.

Launch the Virtual Console menu and boot to the Lifecycle Controller.

Navigate the Lifecycle Controller interface and install Windows Server 2012 on a server.

Navigate the iDRAC console.


The iDRAC interface provides 1:1 out-of-band management and configuration information for an

individual server.

The CMC provides single sign-on capabilities. If you have administrative privileges while logged

into the CMC, you will not be asked to enter a User Name and Password when you launch the

iDRAC from within the CMC Console.

3.2.3 Technical Selling Points

iDRAC7 with Lifecycle Controller (LC) is based on intelligent hardware providing embedded out-of-

band management which is OS independent. For 12G servers, the iDRAC7 functionality is

embedded onto the system board and can be enabled or upgraded at any time, by purchasing the

desired digital license key from Dell.

iDRAC7 with LC is the foundation for Dell systems management and provides complete lifecycle

management (deploy, update, monitor, maintain). iDRAC7 with LC provides information to Dell

consoles (OME, CMC, etc.), Active System Manager, Repository Manager, and 3rd party consoles

with appropriate connections as needed.

The iDRAC7 with LC utilizes one code base across the entire 12G server portfolio and are great

tools for lights out data center, remote location or on call support.



Agent free monitoring is supported on 12G and agent free firmware updating on 11G and 12G.

There is no need for access to the OS to monitor the hardware. The OS can be locked up or no OS

present.

The iDRAC7 now has the capability to monitor everything (ex. Memory, hard drives, voltages,

temperatures, etc.) and send alerts without having to install any agents on the system.

You can monitor hardware for an OS that we have no agent support for like Unix or some version

of Linux.

iDRAC7 provides an easy to use and comprehensive (model number, service tag, etc) email format

for alerts. It has been authenticated for the email service and no longer uses Open Relay which is

more of a SPAM.

You can completely power down a system and then power it back up through the iDRAC.

iDRAC7 Enterprise provides server-level power management. iDRAC 7 powered by Intel Intelligent

Node Manager monitors, reports and controls power consumption at the processor, memory and

system level. It can cap usage in just milliseconds when power or thermal events occur to prevent

overloading and tripping circuit breakers.

OpenManage Power Center is a feature of iDRAC7 Enterprise and has the ability to respond to

power events and aggregate monitoring and control across the rack, row and data center level.

3.2.4 Technical Objective Handling

Question: Do I need iDRAC enterprise since my servers are in the data center?

Answer:

> What about when you are on call? Is your data center staffed 24/7? Do you want to drive

in to look at an issue?

Question: How many sessions can you have on your KVM at one time? Have you ever wanted to

access a server and could not because all the KVM sessions where taken?

Answer:

> With iDRAC Enterprise you can have 1 to 1 KVM access to every server.

Question: Can the iDRAC and Lifecycle Controller be separated?

Answer:

> No. The iDRAC provides the processing power for most LC features. The iDRAC firmware

image contains most LC code.



Gotchas:

You need IDRAC enterprise for these options to work:

Virtual Flash Partitions

Dedicated NIC 1Gbps

Server Back up/Restore

Multiple User Virtual Console

Virtual Media

Remote File Share

Two-Factor Authentication

PK Authentication

Directory Services

Crash Video Playback

Boot Playback

Console Chat

Virtual Folders

Millisecond power capping

Platform Power Management

12G Express for Blades now includes:

Single user Virtual Console with remote launch (no sharing, no chat)

Full Virtual Media

CMC power control and dedicated NIC (as required for blades)



3.2.5 LAB 2 Navigate the iDRAC and Lifecycle Controller Interfaces

From the previous lab, you launched the iDRAC from the Server Overview, Properties tab, Status

subtab.

Talking Points:

Remember, if you have administrative privileges while logged into the CMC, you will not be asked

to enter a Username and Password when you launch the iDRAC from within the CMC Console.

If you launch the iDRAC from the desktop or a browser window using it’s IP address, you are asked

to enter the login credentials of root/calvin for the iDRAC. This is because you are not opening the

GUI from within the CMC or OME consoles where you were logged in with administrative

privileges.

Navigate the Lifecycle Controller interface and Install an OS

To view the iDRAC Virtual Console Server, select Server from the left hand navigation tree. Select

the Properties tab, Select the Summary subtab.

Select the Launch link located under the Virtual Console Preview.



To launch the Lifecycle Controller, select Next Boot from the Virtual Console menu.

Select Lifecycle Controller from the drop down menu.

Select OK to acknowledge the Lifecycle Controller as the Next Boot device selected.

To force a reboot into the Lifecycle Controller, select Power from the menu.

Select Power Cycle System (Cold Boot) from the submenu.

Click Yes to continue.



Note: What you see in the Virtual Console window can be different each time you launch it.

This is dependent on how the last user left the demo environment.

Talking Points:

Booting to the Lifecycle Controller from the Next Boot menu allows you to bypass pressing the F10

key during the boot process.

While we are waiting for the server to boot to the Lifecycle Controller you will mount to the drive

where the ISO file for Windows Server 2012 is located.

Select Virtual Media from the menu.

Select Launch Virtual Media from the submenu.



The OS image file is located under C:\installs. Select Add Image and browse to C:\Installs.

Select the ISO and click Open. This will mount the ISO as virtual media and use it for deployment.

Select the Mapped checkbox and then minimize this dialog box to keep the mapping active.

CAUTION: If you Exit the dialog box or close the Virtual Console window, the mapping will be

removed.

Discuss with the customer the benefits of the Lifecycle Controller and give a quick review of the

interface before starting the OS deployment.



To install an operating system on the server, select OS Deployment from the left hand menu of

the Lifecycle Controller.

Select Deploy OS.

Select Go Directly to OS Deployment and click Next.



Select the Microsoft Windows Server 2012 operating system and click Next.

Select the BIOS Boot Mode and click Next.



Click Next to bypass Insert OS Media because the ISO was mapped in an earlier step.

Select Next Boot from the Virtual Console menu. Select Virtual CD/DVD/ISO from the drop down

menu.

Click Finish to reboot.

Press any key to boot from CD or DVD when prompted.

If the following screen appears it means that you are installing over an existing operating system.

Ensure that Windows Setup [EMS Enabled] is selected and press Enter.



When the operating system files are finished copying, select the appropriate language.

Select Next to continue.

Select Install now.

Select the Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard Evaluation (Server with a GUI) option and click Next.

Accept the license terms and click Next.

Select the Custom: Install Windows only (advanced) to install a new copy of Windows.

Select the Primary partition as the drive to install the OS on and click Next.

When asked to give a password to the installation use Password01.

Talking Points:

Now is a good time to discuss the iDRAC virtual console while the operating system is being

installed. The goal is to communicate at the iDRAC level what each menu option from left to right

provides at a high level. Then pick one or two of interest to the customer for a deeper discussion.



Next Boot – This is where the typical tasks that an admin performs will exist (e.g. PXE, tweek BIOS,

load media). A critical advantage to Dell is the Local SD Card option. The fact that we have dual

SD cards built into our servers is a competitive advantage over HP and IBM because it eliminates

the need to do a SAN boot. Restore and recovery time is shortened because you are not

dependent on bringing up the SAN before bringing up the servers.

Navigate the iDRAC Console

Make the iDRAC GUI screen the active window. You may want to cascade the Virtual Console and

iDRAC GUI to monitor the Windows installation.



Talking Points

The iDRAC provides remote out-of-band management of a server.

The Properties menu, Summary subtab gives Server Health, Server Information, Quick Launch

Tasks, Virtual Console Launch, Work Notes to view and add permanent notes of changes to the

Server.

You can view the I/O Mezzanine Cards in the Server from the Properties menu, Details subtab.

You can view the real and virtual WWN/MAC addresses from the Properties menu, WWN/MAC

subtab.

A very detailed System Inventory can be viewed from the Properties menu, System Inventory

subtab. You can see the rank, speed and manufacturer of a DIMM, Type of CPU, etc. This

information is provided by the Lifecycle Controller.

From the Console menu, you can set the max number of 4 console redirection sessions running

simultaneously. The default action is to deny access to the other sessions until you manually

accept them because there will be mouse contention.

Attached Media –Attach media to load or boot from media such as an ISO file. Attach to a remote

file share to access an ISO file locally at the remote site to avoid loading an ISO over a WAN link.

- vFlash – View properties of installed SD Cards. You might want to point out that you can

initialize the SD flash card from here (but don’t run it).



To view details of the Server Main System Chassis select Server from the navigation Tree. Select

Properties from the Server menu. Select Details from the Properties menu.

Note: If you are drawing the components of the Chassis on a whiteboard for the customer, this is

where you would get a summary view of the Server configuration (MAC addresses, WWNs, etc.)

To view details of the server Power/Thermal select Power/Thermal from the the navigation Tree.

Select Power Monitoring..



Talking Points:

This allows you to view power/thermals at the individual blade level.

The important point here is Fresh Air and the fact that Dell has the most efficient and robust

thermal thresholds of any server in the market. We run to 113 degrees centigrade which exceeds

any HP or IBM servers today.

You can view Power Units in both Watts and Amps. This is important during planning of data

center environments. Dynamic loads can change by several thousand amps during the course of

the day and sometimes things have to be shifted in the data center to keep everything running

properly. Some processes may need to run at night because there is not enough power to run

them during the day.

When the operating system install is complete, make the Virtual Console the active window.

Select the Macros tab and select “Ctrl-Alt-Del” to logon to the Windows 2012 Server.

Enter the following details when prompted:

Username: Administrator

Password: Password01

From Server Manager select Local Server from the left hand pane.



From the TASKS Dropdown menu, on the top right hand side, select Computer Management.



Open Device manager from the left hand pane and expand the Network adapters and Storage

Controllers sections in the right hand pane to view the connected devices.

Select Disk Management from the left hand pane and look at the assigned disks in the right hand

pane.



Talking Points:

Re-emphasis the capabilities of the Remote Console and that it is available for the Dell PowerEdge

server range of products with iDRAC Enterprise.



3.3 Session 3 - Management and Reporting with Dell

OpenManage Essentials

Dell OpenManage Essentials provides a single centralized console that can be used to:

Monitor Dell servers, storage and networking

Update and configure Dell Servers

Report hardware asset information (ServiceTag, FRU and Warranty, etc.)

Enables phone home capability for Dell hardware through Dell SupportAssist with OME

Agent-free management for 11G/12G servers with iDRAC7 and Lifecycle Controller Free software

download from Dell OpenManage website

Supporting eLearning course: GSTB5063 – SvrSysMgmt: OpenManage Essentials Technical

Overview

3.3.1 Introduction

In this demo you will be performing the following tasks:

Navigate the OME interface (v1.2 latest) o Group discovered devices into a custom group and

assign role-based permissions to group

View overall system health status of a device and rapid access to system alerts View detailed

hardware inventory.

Define an event filter for an alert.

View system update report to determine what systems need to be updated. View

comprehensive reports for server hardware and software.


Talk to the customer about the capabilities of OpenManage Essentials:

OME is an end node hardware management tool.

Free console that allows you to centrally collect all of your alerts and configure actions on the

alerts such as send an email.

Non-Dell hardware with MIBs can only be monitored. You cannot do firmware updates.

Perform 1:many scheduled firmware updates

Agent-less inventory collection from 11G/12G server iDRAC7 with Lifecycle Controller, removing

the need to deploy OMSA into the operating system.



Basic reporting capabilities

SupportAssist feature can be installed with OME or added later as a software plugin.

A discovery has previously been performed for this OME demo to pre-populate the interface with

Dell hardware. This is a canned demo and no additional discovery and inventory tasks can be

performed.

The OME console can be populated from an exported list of devices from Active Directory and

import the .csv file into OME.

Best practice is to use only one protocol configured in OME for discovery.

- If you need to discover an older Windows server through the operating system, you will need

to configure SNMP parameters in the OS on the server.

- WMI is more secure than SNMP. OME will have to pull the server and ask for permission to do

discovery.

- The WS-Man protocol is used for discovery of an ESXi operating system. o The SSH protocol is

used for discovery of LINUX servers.

- The IPMI protocol is used for discovery of Dell PowerEdge C servers or servers that do not

have an iDRAC.

Critical OME 1.2 prerequisites are: SNMP Service (SNMP v1 and v2); IIS7; Microsoft .NET 3.5 SP1;

ASP.NET4; Microsoft Silverlight 4.0; Microsoft Visual Studio Runtime 9.0; IPMI Utility (BMU Tools);

DRAC Tools; PowerShell.

3.3.3 Technical Selling Points

Ease of use

Intuitive interface

Does not require a dedicated resource like more complex solutions

Integrated with our iDRAC/Lifecycle Controller

Automatic support case creation with SupportAssist.

3.3.4 Technical Objective Handling

Question: Is it true that OME is not an enterprise console like HP Insight?

Answer:

> HP Insight has identical limitations to OME. It can only update HP systems and only gives a

visual health indicator on HP systems.

Question: Is it true that OME only monitors Dell hardware?

Answer:

> We have the ability to import MIBs.



Gotchas:

OME is not a performance monitoring tool for hardware, operating system, or applications.

The WS-Man protocol is used for discovery of an ESXi operating system. If ESXi is on a server older

than a 12G, WS-Man would need to be used to do the monitoring because the iDRAC6 and lower

does not monitor the hard drive and memory. If ESXi is on a 12G server and you want to monitor

the hard drive and memory through iDRAC7, you still use WS-Man for the iDRAC and ESXi.

To enable WS-Man discovery select the Enable WS-Man Discovery box and enter in the credentials

for the iDRAC or the ESXi operating system. You must also check the Secure Mode box, the Skip

Common name check box, and the Trusted Site box. They are not checked by default for security

reasons because Telnet is Secure Mode and it is a Trusted Site.

To get detailed alert information we need SNMP traps to the OME console from the managed

node.

3.3.5 LAB 3 Navigate the OME Interface

To log into OME, on the desktop double click the OpenManage Essentials icon and enter the

following details when prompted:

Username: demouser

Password: password

By default, the Home Portal Dashboard displays a summary view of the status of all discovered

devices, alerts and tasks.



Click on the red (critical) alerts portion of the pie to open a separate screen displaying the alerts.

Select the Home tab. Select the Map View subtab to see a global map of where VRTX systems are

located in the environment.

Select the Manage tab. Select the Devices subtab. In the left hand pane, navigate down the tree

to view the different device categories available (RAC, Servers, Network, Storage, etc).

Expand the Unknown device category in the left hand tree.

To manually categorize non-Dell devices into a custom Group, right click All Devices in the left

hand tree. Select New Group from the drop down menu.

Name the new group and click Next.

Select the Select the devices/groups from the tree below radio button.

Expand the Unknown category and select a couple of devices. Click Next.

Click Finish.

View the custom group in the left hand tree.

Talking Points:

The front portal is user specific and customizable. Objects can be moved around. Users with

different responsibilities have the option to create a personalized Home Page.

The pie charts are links to drill down into the devices or alerts that are Green (normal), Yellow

(warning), Red (critical) or Gray (unknown).

In addition to the Dashboard, you can also switch between the Schedule View (calendar of

scheduled events) and Map view (intended only for VRTX systems to show where they are

geographically located).

OME is vendor agnostic to some extent because it will pick up non-Dell hardware. The devices can

be monitored and will be shown as “unknown” until MIBs are imported into the console. An email

alert could be generated using the MIBs as interpreters. The health of the device will never be

displayed with an and you cannot do firmware updates to the device.

A MIB import utility is automatically installed with OpenManage Essentials. If you have non-Dell

hardware, use this tool to define new alerts to OME. This lets you monitor a wider range of

hardware and setup email and forwarding rules for these devices.



A troubleshooting tool is automatically installed with OpenManage Essentials. This tool is useful for

troubleshooting errors pertaining to supported device discovery and device connections.



Inventory, System Health Status and Alerts

OME provides a detailed hardware inventory for each discovered device. A key functionality provided

by OME is the ability to see overall system health status and rapid access to system alerts.

To drill down to the inventory page of a device, select the Manage tab. Select the Device subtab.

Expand Servers in the left hand device tree and select a server from the list.

Talking Points:

• With Dell 12th generation servers OME can collect inventory from iDRAC7 with

Lifecycle Controller. This removes the need to deploy OMSA into the operating

system. Still need OMSA for monitoring 11G and older servers. We can update

11G and 12G through the iDRAC without OMSA.

• OME can support inventory for PowerEdge C line servers through the IPMI interface

with a reduced set of inventory data due to lack of iDRAC7 with Lifecycle controller

on those systems.

• User can choose to drill down to the inventory page of each device to see what

caused the warning state and they can also link and launch a device element

manager to further diagnose and remediate the system.

• Alerts can also be generated if overall system health status changed.



Define an Event Filter for an Alert

Alerts or traps can be sent from managed end nodes to the OME console as they happen. OME can

be programed to take a variety of actions based on the alerts it receives. It can forward it with some

diagnostic data to someone through an email. It can also execute a set of pre-defined commands or

scripts to take immediate remediation action.

To define an event filter for an alert, select the Alerts subtab from the Manage tab.

Select Alert Actions from the tree. Right click Email and select New Alert Email Action.

Name the email alert as Critical HW. Click Next.

Enter [email protected] in both the To: and From: fields.

Click Next.

Select Critical as the severity to associate with this action. Click Next.

Select the following Alert Categories to filter: Environmental, Memory, Network, Physical, Power

and Processor.

Click Next.

Choose the Select the devices/groups from the tree below: radio button.

Select RAC and Servers from the list.

Click Next.

Click Next to keep the default schedule.

Click Finish.



If you want to clone the Critical HW alert you just created, right click Critical HW in the left hand

tree and select Clone from the drop down menu.

Talking Points:

OME console needs access to the customer’s SMTP server settings.

Be aware that email alerts can get blocked by firewalls and virus scanners configured on a system.

If you want to monitor server hardware, select the Environmental Alert Category to get all of the

temperatures. Also select Memory, Network (if the NIC is down it will not be able to tell you it is

down), Physical Disk, Power, and Processor.

Be aware that if you select the General Redundancy Alert Category, multiple emails may be

generated.

You can create Custom Groups and build Alerts based on the custom group.

System Updates

Updating of server firmware or BIOS can be very time consuming without OME. The OME update

process starts from OME providing a report showing which servers need to be updated based on a

pre-defined baseline. The baseline could be dell.com or an update repository managed by Dell

Repository Manager.

Select the Manage tab. Select the System Update subtab.



Talking Points:

You can download the latest catalog version from this page to perform a comparison of current

system version vs. update available.

The Issues And Resolutions for Updates tab makes recommendations to solve the unknown

systems.

The Non-Inventoried Systems tab shows the systems that did not get inventoried.

To view the Non-Compliant Systems, select the Non-Compliant Systems in red on the pie chart

or select the Non-Compliant Systems tab..

Select a device to view the possible updates for the system.

Talking Points:

These are the non-compliant systems after a comparison of the current system version versus the

update version performed against the latest downloaded catalog. Gotcha:

The update is based on what is in the database. When a comparison is done, it does not go out

and touch each box and do an immediate comparison. The comparison is based on the inventory

that was collected from the system at a point in time. After the updates are performed on the

system, it will still show up in the Non-Compliant Systems tab until a new inventory is run on the

system and the database is updated.



For VMware ESX you can can push updates through the service console. You can only do firmware

updates for ESXi if it is running on 11G and 12G servers because there is no way to do it through the

operating system. You have to do it through the iDRAC talking to the Lifecycle Controller.

Select the Apply Selected Updates button to schedule the updates.

Click Cancel to close the window without performing an update.

Talking Points:

The credentials required are dependant on the update method being used. For example, if the

server has an iDRAC6 or lower, OMSA will be required to push the update. You will need to enter

the credentials for the operating system to access OMSA.

11G and 12G servers have the Lifecycle Controller. The update will be pushed through the iDRAC.

You will need to enter the iDRAC credentials.

Updates for Storage and Network devices are performed through the launch of their respective

domain element managers. For example, OpenManage Switch Administrator and EQL Manager.

Comprehensive Reports

OME provides comprehensive reports for server hardware and software. It provides detailed 1:Many

reports about hardware inventory, such as, hard drive, Field Replacement Unit, memory, firmware

version etc.

To create a report select the Reports tab. Select the Managed Systems Reports subtab.



Talking Points:

All the report data can be exported as a .csv file so it can be imported to some other reporting

engine or tool for custom reporting.

Warranty expiration can also be reported by retrieving contract information from Dell.com. Select

Warranty Information from the left hand tree.



Talking Points:

Use the Warranty Information page to expose more opportunities at the customer site.

If systems are out of warranty, you may recommend that they need to be replaced.

You can select the View and Renew Warranty link in the upper right hand corner to renew any

outdated warranties.

Dell SupportAssist Overview

To launch Dell SupportAssist from OpenManage Essentials select the Extensions tab from the top

menu.



Talking Points:

OME enables Phone Home capabilities for Dell hardware through Dell SupportAssist with

OpenManage Essentials. SupportAssist provides an enhanced support experience for customers. It

decreases time spent troubleshooting and accelerates time to resolution.

Dell SupportAssist is a software plug-in for OME that enables remote monitoring of hardware

environments, automatic data and log collection, proactive case creation and parts dispatch. It can

be installed together with OME or added later as a software plug-in from the OpenManage

Essentials/SupportAssist download page by selecting To download application bundle.

SupportAssist will automatically create a corresponding support case, collect all the necessary

diagnostic data and submit them back to Dell at the same time. A Dell support technician will then

call the customer back with remediation or resolution for the issue reported. The Customer no

longer has to spend time on the phone with Dell tech support to report a problem, run the

diagnostic tool and report the diagnostic result to Dell.

Dell SupportAssist with OME becomes a mandatory component in order for a customer to take

advantage of the advanced serviceability delivered by Dell ProSupport.

Click the Launch link. Select the Devices tab. Any device that has ProSupport on it will

automatically get loaded into the Devices tab and monitored. No manual configuration is needed.



Select the Settings tab to configure how communications will happen with Dell.

Select the Cases tab to see any open support cases.



Supported systems

9G-12G PowerEdge servers (includes VRTX) running the following operating systems:

- Windows

- Linux

- ESX/ESXi

PowerVault Storage (MD,NX,DL)

PowerConnect Switches

EqualLogic Arrays

F10 S4810

Prerequisites

OpenManage Essentials (OME)

SNMP configured on monitored devices to send Traps to OME

ProSupport entitlement on monitored devices


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