OpenManage Server Administrator:
Usage, Benefits, and Installation
Enterprise Systems Group (ESG)
Dell OpenManage™
Systems Management
Dell White Paper
By Jeff Jilg, PH.D.
February 2002
Contents
Executive Summary 3
Introduction 4
Server Administrator Usage Scenarios 5
Requirements and Positioning 5
Usage cases 6
Individual Server Administration 6
Comparing and Managing Multiple Servers 9
Alerting and Error Notification 10
Upgrading Dell OpenManage Agents to Server Administrator 11
Architecture Overview and Feature Highlights 13
Server Administrator Design Advantages 13
Server Administrator Common Infrastructure and Services 13
Web Server 15
User Interfaces 15
Legacy and Enterprise Console Support 15
Lightweight User Interface 16
Command Line Interface (CLI) 16
Storage Management 17
Install and Uninstall 18
Installation and Uninstall Flexibility 18
Installation Methods 19
Conclusion 21
Author Biography 21
Figure 1: Server Administrator Use in a Network 6
Figure 2: Reviewing and Recording Asset Information 8
Figure 3: Reviewing and Modifying Temperature Thresholds 9
Figure 4: Comparing Two Servers’ Configurations 10
Figure 5: Configuring an Email Alert/Notification 11
Figure 6: Server Administrator Architectural Overview 14
Figure 7: Server Administrator Install/Uninstall Options 18
February 2002 Page 4 Dell Enterprise Systems Group
Section 1
Executive Summary
OpenManage Server Administrator is a new web-based tool for inspecting and managing an individual Dell server. The product is designed for easy integration into existing systems management solutions, including standard enterprise network management solutions like those from Hewlett-Packard, Tivoli, and Computer Associates. Server Administrator includes a Command Line Interface as a scriptable mechanism to monitor and manage Dell servers.
Section 2
Introduction
OpenManage Server Administrator (Server Administrator) 1.0 is a new Dell software product that is designed to replace Dell’s current individual server systems management agents while increasing functionality and improving ease-of-use. The primary objective of Server Administrator is to provide systems management services and associated user interfaces on an individual server. Server Administrator is not a console. Server Administrator includes a variety of features that are necessary for IT organizations to monitor, manage, install and service Dell servers. Server Administrator is designed for easy integration into existing systems management solutions. The product provides features that include the following:
· Standards-based support for SNMP and WMI for standard alerting and messaging.
· HTML (web) interface to systems management agent locally or remotely to a single server.
· Command Line Interface (CLI) to provide a scriptable interface to systems management features.
· Server configuration changes including BIOS configuration.
· Secure access from the web interface leveraging the SSL protocol.
· Simplified install / upgrade install of all agents or services required to manage Dell servers.
· Online Diagnostics for all the components in a Dell server.
This paper discusses these features in detail, and is organized as follows: the first section provides usage cases to outline scenarios where Server Administrator is beneficial. The next section discusses the product features and the architecture of Server Administrator, which is important to understand because different interfaces provide access to different parts of the product. The final section discusses installation and un-installation, which includes the ability for customization and batch installation.
Section 3
Server Administrator Usage Scenarios
The usage scenarios outlined in this section are designed to demonstrate the benefits of Server Administrator, and how it is used with existing or new servers. However, before the usage cases are evaluated, Server Administrator requirements and positioning should be clear.
Requirements and Positioning
The Server Administrator requirements are simple. To leverage the features and functions in Server Administrator, it needs to be installed on each server that you want to upgrade. An upgrade installation procedure is provided with Server Administrator to upgrade customers using current Dell management agents. The install and uninstall steps for Server Administrator are discussed in Section 4: Install and Uninstall on page 18.
Server Administrator is a management interface to an individual server as shown in Figure 1.
In the context of an overall solution, Dell’s IT Assistant management console is used as a reporting and alert collection tool for multiple servers. Similarly, an enterprise console (i.e. HP OpenView or CA Unicenter) is used as a more comprehensive reporting and collection tool for multiple servers. In this context, Server Administrator can be used to manage or configure an individual server when IT Assistant or an enterprise console identifies a problem. For example, if Server Administrator detects a temperature deviation, it sends this information to a console (IT Assistant or enterprise console) using SNMP or CIM. In turn, one of the consoles sends an alert via email or a pager. To directly inspect the problem, an administrator can use Server Administrator remotely over the network, and possibly resolve the problem. Server Administrator supplements IT Assistant, since Server Administrator now provides the features necessary to manage an individual server. To summarize this positioning and configuration:
a. Server Administrator performs initial status detection and typically forwards this to a management console.
b. The management console can be configured to inform an administrator of the status if there is a problem.
c. Server Administrator can be used to manage or configure an individual server to delve deeper into the problem.
Figure 1: Server Administrator Use in a Network
Usage cases
The four usage cases discussed in this section are:
1. Individual Server Administration
2. Comparing and Managing Multiple Servers
3. Alerting and Error Notification
4. Upgrading Dell OpenManage Agents to Server Administrator
In each of the following usage cases, Server Administrator is used as a systems management interface to an individual server. In some cases, IT Assistant is used as an interface to multiple servers and storage units as shown in Figure 1. OpenManage IT Assistant is a management console from Dell that provides a management interface to multiple servers. In all cases, Server Administrator can be easily accessed through the Server Administrator web browser interface or the Command Line Interface (CLI). IT Assistant is used as a single console to monitor and manage the many components in the network.
Individual Server Administration
Server Administrator provides the ability to administer (manage) an individual Dell server to proactively set up hardware and software configurations, or to diagnose problems over the network. Consider two examples:
Asset information
A user may want to enter asset information associated with a specific server (i.e., “PowerEdge B”) to store ownership information on that system.
Thresholds
It is possible to use Server Administrator to modify preset thresholds, such as the backplane temperature threshold, if an administrator wanted to monitor a higher or lower temperature than the preset default.
Note: These examples are discussed briefly below in the context of the Server Administrator GUI. The Server Administrator command line interface (CLI) can optionally be used to review or modify the data discussed in the examples.
To enter asset information or modify thresholds, Server Administrator can be run locally or remotely from a Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape browser by typing in the hostname or IP address and the appropriate port number. For example, to access “PowerEdge B,” type “https://poweredge_b:1311” . This brings up the Server Administrator GUI directly inside the web browser. The “1311” is Dell’s registered default port number that is configured with the product. The port number can optionally be configured to other numbers to suit a network configuration. However, changing the port number, especially if different port numbers are assigned to different machines, can impact integration.
For example 1, ownership data on the server is stored in the “Asset Info” screen in the main system tree as shown in Figure 2. There are several dozen pieces of information that may be set for each server that are associated with asset information. For example, the usage information can be recorded in the System Information screen. On this screen it is possible to record system location and primary user name and phone number. Other categories of information that can be recorded include warranty, maintenance, and support information.
Figure 2: Reviewing and Recording Asset Information
For example 2, temperature and other thresholds can be administered by Server Administrator. Thresholds are used by Server Administrator to monitor the health of various server components such as the backplane. If a component gets too hot, it could fail. Dell presets default minimum and maximum temperature thresholds, but a user may decide to increase or lower a threshold. Temperature thresholds can be accessed on the Temperature sub-tree in the Main System Chassis tree in the GUI as shown in Figure 3. The screen will indicate the current temperature and the default thresholds, which can be reset through this screen. Note that the current overall system health is also shown on the initial Server Administrator screen. If temperatures are out of bounds, then the system health will reflect this condition and the Server Administrator GUI can be used to “drill down” into the problem.
Figure 3: Reviewing and Modifying Temperature Thresholds
Comparing and Managing Multiple Servers
The Server Administrator interface can only be used to access one individual server at a time. However, multiple servers can easily be compared and managed by Server Administrator. When setting up or configuring servers it is common to compare one server’s configuration with another server. This is done by bringing up two web browser instances and pointing each browser to Server Administrator on the independent servers. An example of this is shown in Figure 4. In this example, the two Server Administrator instances can be brought up in two web browser instances by typing “https://poweredge_A:1311” and “https://poweredge_B:1311” respectively.
Figure 4: Comparing Two Servers’ Configurations
Figure 4 shows the configurations of two servers being compared in two web browsers, both running the Server Administrator GUI. This can be done to compare a known “good” configuration on one server “A” to a configuration of a second server “B” which might have a different configuration, or may be having problems. While comparing the two servers, both software and hardware status and configuration can be compared by toggling between different screens in the two instances of the Server Administrator GUI.
Only one server at a time can be configured using the Server Administrator GUI. The GUI portion of the product is not intended for simultaneous use on multiple target servers. To configure multiple servers simultaneously, Server Administrator provides a command line interface (CLI), which can be used to access or configure multiple servers in conjunction with an enterprise console. The CLI is discussed further in the Command Line Interface (CLI) part of the User Interfaces section.
Alerting and Error Notification
If a temperature fluctuates outside the safe preset range, Server Administrator can generate an alert with the appropriate information. Server Administrator can be configured to automatically send alerts via SNMP. While reviewing a server’s configuration, system administrators can manually email copies of individual Server Administrator pages to other system administrators or Dell technical support for review and consultation. It is fairly easy to set up emailing of pages through the GUI as shown in Figure 5. The target email address (“”) is used as a sample target email ID. The content of the message is very flexible. The subject line and the textual content of the message may be modified. Additionally, there are two default attachments that can be optionally attached, or it is possible to configure an attachment to be sent with the email (i.e., “test_attach.doc”).
Figure 5: Configuring an Email Alert/Notification
If there is a central management console such as Dell’s IT Assistant or a 3rd party console (HP OpenView, C.A.Unicenter, etc.), then Server Administrator can be set up to generate and forward SNMP traps (software alerts). Server Administrator can be configured to send alerts to a central management console to indicate various types of warnings. This set up is represented in Figure 1. For example, if there is concern with servers potentially overheating, it is possible to set up Server Administrator on each server to monitor various temperatures in that server. If the temperature goes over a preset threshold (set by the administrator), the product will send out a trap (alert) to the IT Assistant console (or another enterprise console).
Upgrading Dell OpenManage Agents to Server Administrator
Current users of OpenManage™ may be using Dell’s HIP or OpenManage Server Agent (OMA) products on each server to provide SNMP or WMI services and alerts. Further, IT Assistant may be installed on each server in order to make systems management changes (i.e., fan threshold settings) on each server. Server Administrator is a direct upgrade for the Dell Hardware Instrumentation Package (HIP) 3.5 and Dell OpenManage Server Agent (OMA) 4.0. An upgrade install is included with the Server Administrator package. Server Administrator provides a full replacement set of features for all those features in IT Assistant that specifically apply to a single server. For example, all single server-specific reports found in IT Assistant can be found in Server Administrator, along with some new reports.
Server Administrator also provides all the options found in IT Assistant that allow the changing of configurations on an individual server. Examples include changing thresholds, specifying SNMP alert targets, and turning off alerts. It is also possible to reboot a server either locally or remotely. To gain the new features, it is necessary to upgrade each server to Server Administrator. (The new features are listed in Section 2 of this paper.) Server Administrator may be upgraded through the GUI one server at a time. The upgrade can also be driven unattended from a script to target multiple servers.
For example, an administrator may want to setup diagnostics to run against each Dell server on a periodic basis as a proactive way of monitoring system health. In this case it is necessary to install Server Administrator since Server Administrator contains a diagnostic service that can be scheduled through the GUI or scripted through the new Command Line Interface (CLI). The CLI would allow the administrator to create and run a diagnostic script on each Dell server. The script must be visible to each server for it to run. It can be made visible through a shared network drive or by using a distribution tool like SMS or ShipIt to place the script locally on each server. Server Administrator is the sole upgrade path to the new features. Server Administrator also supports the legacy agent interfaces that have always been part of OpenManage.