Dell OpenManage Tutorial

Catching issues before they happen !

A Guide to Proactive Device Monitoring with Dell OpenManage Server

LET'S GO !

Index

A guide within a guide so you don't get lost ;)

Prerequisites

Introduction & Goal of the Tutorial

Contacts

Part Two: Configuration

Part One: Deployment

Part Three: First Discovery

Introduction

Deploy, configure and discover your first iDRAC with Dell OpenManage Enterprise

The aim of the tutorial is to provide fundamentals about the deployment, configuration, and discovery of iDRAC equipment within OpenManage Enterprise. Disclaimer: This tutorial is intended for beginners. The scope of this guide is strictly limited to a local area network. It does not cover other use cases that may involve internet connectivity.

Prerequisites

We can't cover everything, so we're simply providing what's needed and a link to meet the requirement.

Windows Server 2022

VHD Image of OpenManage Enterprise

Basic Network Knowledge

Contacts

In case you need more assistance or want to help me with the writing of this tutorial

Valentin Wibaillie Mail: tutorial@iwontrespond.com

Part One: Deployment

Table of content:

Overview

• Step 1 - Locate, extract and store the VHD file

The goal of this part is to highlight the most important steps regarding the deployment of your OpenManage Enterprise Server.

• Step 2 - Create Virtual Machine | Name and Location

• Step 3 - Create Virtual Machine | Specify Generation

• Step 4 - Create Virtual Machine | Assign Memory

• Step 5 - Create Virtual Machine | Configure Networking

• Step 6 - Create Virtual Machine | Create Virtual Network

• Step 7 - Create Virtual Machine | Connect Virtual Hard Disk

• Step 8 - Virtual Machine Settings | Processor

10 to 15 minutes

Part One: Deployment

Step 1 - Locate, extract and store the VHD file

First, locate and extract the zip file you downloaded from the prerequisites page. After extracting, open the folder and navigate to the following path: appliance -> vmx -> vhd. Within this path, you will find the VHD file. Once you have located the VHD file, you are free to choose where you want to store it. If you're unsure, I recommend using the following path: C:\OpenManage.

Part One: Deployment

Step 2 - Create Virtual Machine | Name and Location

Open Hyper-V Manager, on the left panel, right click -> new -> Virtual Machine... This open a creation wizard asking to choose a name for your VM and eventually store it to a different location if you have multiple storage devices across your server.

Part One: Deployment

Step 3 - Create Virtual Machine | Specify Generation

The next step involves choosing between two generations of Virtual Machines. The first generation, which is the one required for our case, supports the VHD image format. The second generation can be used if Dell provides a VHDx image, but as of the time of writing this tutorial, that is not the case.

Part One: Deployment

Step 4 - Create Virtual Machine | Assign Memory

On the next page, you can specify the amount of memory available for this virtual machine. In this guide, we will be using 16GB of RAM. Disclaimer: Please note that 16GB of RAM is the minimum requirement to boot the virtual machine. Using a value below 16GB may have unexpected effects that are not covered by this tutorial.

Part One: Deployment

Step 5 - Create Virtual Machine | Configure Networking

Next, the wizard will prompt you to select the network adapter you want to use. There are two possibilities:

• If you have a default switch available, you can select it right away.

• If you don't have a default switch or need to create a new network adapter, the steps to create one will be provided on the following page.

Part One: Deployment

Step 6 - Create Virtual Machine | Create Virtual Network

If you need to create a network adapter outside of the wizard, follow these steps:

• Go to the main page of Hyper-V Manager.
• On the right panel, under the "Virtual switch" section, select "New Virtual network switch."
• Under the question "What type of virtual switch do you want to create?", choose "External."
• Click on the "Create Virtual Switch" button to proceed.

Part One: Deployment

Step 7 - Create Virtual Machine | Connect Virtual Hard Disk

The last step of the creation wizard is where you select the existing virtual hard disk or VHD that you downloaded and stored previously. Choose the "Use an existing virtual hard disk" option and browse to the location where your VHD is located. After this step, a screen will summarize all the information about your virtual machine and provide an option to create it.

Part One: Deployment

Step 8 - Virtual Machine Settings | Processor

Once your virtual machine (VM) is created, you should see it on the left panel with the name you provided. Right-click on your VM and select "Settings". Under the processor section, it is recommended to increase the number of virtual processors to allow your VM to benefit from more resources.

Part Two: Configuration

Table of content:

Overview

• Step 9 - Configure Virtual Machine | First Boot

The purpose of this section is to walk through the basic configuration steps before performing our initial device discovery.

• Step 10 - Configure Virtual Machine | Set Admin Password

• Step 11 - Configure Virtual Machine | Set IP Parameters

• Step 12 - Configure Virtual Machine | Admin Web Page Availability

• Step 13 - Configure Virtual Machine | Initial Settings

20 to 30 minutes

Part Two: Configuration

Step 9 - Configure Virtual Machine | First Boot

When you initially boot the virtual machine (VM), you will encounter two boot options. Select the first option and then wait for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, which may vary depending on the processing power allocated to your VM. The VM might restart multiple times during this process. Once the initialization is complete, you will be presented with a page displaying an End User License Agreement (EULA) that you need to accept.

Part Two: Configuration

Step 10 - Configure Virtual Machine | Set Admin Password

On the main menu, the first option available is to change the admin password. This is a crucial step to ensure access to the web administration page later on. Disclaimer: It is important to keep your password in a secure place and remember it. If you happen to lose or forget the password, the only remaining option would be to reinstall everything.

Part Two: Configuration

Step 11 - Configure Virtual Machine | Set IP Parameters

Another crucial step is to configure your IP parameters for the network adapter. The static IPv4 address, gateway, subnet, and DNS servers should align with the settings of your local area network. To get an idea of your LAN configuration, you can open a command prompt (CMD) and run the command "ipconfig /all" to check how your server's network adapter is currently configured.

Part Two: Configuration

Step 12 - Configure Virtual Machine | Admin Web Page Availability

If the previous step was successful, you should now be able to access the web administration page using the local IPv4 address you provided. Please note that when accessing the website for the first time, you may encounter a warning. This is completely normal because your server uses a self-signed certificate that cannot be verified by a trusted certificate authority. You can safely ignore the warning and proceed to access the website.

Part Two: Configuration

Step 13 - Configure Virtual Machine | Initial Settings

After entering your admin credentials to log in, you will be greeted with a welcome screen. The crucial part for us is "Step 1", where you can configure the time settings for the server. You have two options: You can either use an NTP server, which is the recommended solution, or you can set up the time manually on the local server.

Part Three: First Discovery

Table of content:

Overview

• Step 14 - Create first discovery

The purpose of this section is to emphasize the most important steps and provide useful tips for discovering and managing your devices using OpenManage Enterprise Server.

• Step 15 - Device health check

• Step 16 - Discovery name

• Step 17 - Warranty

• Step 18 - Custom alert policy for warranty

• Step 19 - Alert given by the iDRAC

• Step 20 - Email configuration

• Conclusion

20 minutes

Part Three: First Discovery

Step 14 - Create first discovery

Once you are logged in, navigate to the "Discovery" section and click on "Create Discovery Job." Specify the target IP range or individual IP addresses of the iDRAC servers you wish to discover. Select the appropriate credentials to access the iDRAC servers, which may include a username and password or other authentication methods. Remember to check the SNMP Trap checkbox to enable alerts from the iDRAC to be sent to the OME. Configure any additional settings, such as the discovery schedule and job name. Finally, click on "Start Discovery" to initiate the process.

Part Three: First Discovery

Step 15 - Device health check

Navigate to "Application Settings" and locate the options for "Console Preferences" and "Device Health." Within these settings, you can configure the interval at which the OpenManage Enterprise (OME) will check discovered devices according to your preferences. Adjust the time interval to your liking and save the changes.

Part Three: First Discovery

Step 16 - Discovery name

In the same section as the previous step, under "Discovery Settings," modify the "General Device Naming" to "Instrumentation (NetBIOS)" and the "Server Device Naming" to "iDRAC Hostname." Why these choices? By selecting these options, you will have clear names for all your discovered devices based on the iDRAC itself rather than relying on IP addresses or DNS. This ensures consistent and easily identifiable naming conventions across your discovered devices.

Part Three: First Discovery

Step 17 - Warranty

When you discover a Dell equipment, you can access their warranty information, and a small widget on the main dashboard helps you keep track of these details. You can adjust these settings according to your preferences. However, if you're unsure about what values to choose, I recommend showing expired warranties and displaying warnings for warranties expiring within the next 90 days.

Part Three: First Discovery

Step 18 - Custom alert policy for warranty

I recommend creating a custom alert policy to eliminate unnecessary alerts related to warranty status. The reason behind this recommendation is that after every health check, a warranty alert will be generated. To create an alert policy, you can navigate to the "Alerts" section and select "Alert Policies".

Part Three: First Discovery

Step 19 - Alert given by the iDRAC

This step requires logging on to the iDRAC Administration Page and navigating to the "Alert" section. To avoid being flooded with unnecessary alerts, we recommend selecting the critical and warning severity for all categories through SNMP Trap.Important note: Since we checked the SNMP Trap checkbox earlier during the discovery process, there is no need for any additional steps on the iDRAC itself. All necessary setup has already been configured.

Part Three: First Discovery

Step 20 - Email configuration

Navigate to the "Settings" section and choose "SMTP Configuration." In this section, you can enter the details of your SMTP server, including the server address and port number. Specify the appropriate authentication method, such as username and password, or select anonymous access if applicable.Furthermore, you can set the sender's email address, which will be used as the "From" address for email notifications sent by the system.

Conclusion

What's next ?

Now you have all the essential tips and knowledge for deploying a new OpenManage Server. However, if you're craving for more, you're not alone! For those who need additional assistance, you can explore advanced features such as creating device groups, generating personalized reports, managing iDRAC firmware, and much more. Don't hesitate to try and experiment with these features, and don't be afraid to learn and explore on your own. The documentation is well-crafted and will provide you with valuable resources. Thank you, and happy exploring! ;)