Dell OpenManage Connections: An Overview

Enterprise Systems Group (ESG)

Dell™ OpenManage™Systems Management

Dell White PaperBy Manoj Gujarathi

manoj_gujarathi@dell.com

November 2001

ContentsExecutive Summary..............................................................................3Introduction.........................................................................................4OpenManage Connections Architecture..............................................6

Dell OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM for Windows...8Applications Supported by Dell OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM................................................................................9Important Points............................................................................10

Dell OpenManage Connection for CA Unicenter TNG........................11Important Points............................................................................12

Dell OpenManage Connection for Tivoli Enterprise Console.............14How it works..................................................................................14Framework and Operating Systems...............................................15Applications Supported.................................................................15

Dell OpenManage Connections for HP OpenView NNM for HP-UX, for Solaris, and for Tivoli NetView for AIX..............................................17Conclusion..........................................................................................19

TablesTable 1: Version Support for the OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM..9Table 2: Version Support for the OpenManage Connection for TEC.........................15Table 3: Version Support for the OpenManage Connections for UNIX-based

Management Systems.........................................................................................18

FiguresFigure 1: Enterprise Management Framework With Dell Hardware..........................5Figure 2: Architecture of Dell OpenManage Connections...........................................7Figure 3: Event Information Flow in the OpenManage Connection for TEC.............15

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Section 1Executive Summary

Dell™ OpenManage™ Connections enable management of Dell systems from an Industry standard system management enterprise framework. Dell OpenManage Connections offer centralized management of Dell Systems by providing flexibility, reduced complexity, increased availability and most importantly, protecting customer choice of management frameworks. Dell OpenManage Connections allow management of heterogeneous management environments by offering system discovery and status management, ability to launch applications, and event propagation for Dell systems.

If you are using an enterprise systems management framework for managing the heterogeneous environment of your systems and wonder -- can I use Dell OpenManage applications to manage my Dell systems, while continuing to use my existing enterprise management framework? – The answer is YES.This paper presents an overview of all the OpenManage Connections offered by Dell. This paper is both for new users of OpenManage Connections as well as existing users, and it answers the following questions:

What are the different OpenManage Connections available? What is the overall architecture of OpenManage Connections? What kind of Frameworks Versions and Operating Systems are supported? What Dell and IHV agents and versions are supported by each Connection? What are the requirements for each Connection in terms of integration with the framework, and with Dell components and agents?

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Section 2Introduction

Dell OpenManage Connections are part of Dell’s OpenManage suite of system management applications and allow customers to manage and monitor Dell Systems from leading enterprise systems management frameworks. These enterprise frameworks are evident in the following list of Dell OpenManage Connections offered:

Dell OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView Network Node Manager (NNM) for Windows Dell OpenManage Connection for CA Unicenter TNG Dell OpenManage Connection for Tivoli Enterprise Console and Framework Dell OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView Network Node Manager for Solaris and HP UX Dell OpenManage Connection for Tivoli NetView for AIX

The following are the areas of integration provided by one or more OpenManage Connections with the enterprise framework:

Dell System Discovery/Status Management Once a system is discovered by the enterprise management framework, this integration will determine if the system is a Dell system, displays it as such in the framework, and reflects its global status. Dell Application LaunchApplication Launch is the ability to launch Dell OpenManage applications, and IHV applications, to manage Dell systems. Event ManagementEvent management provides the ability to receive asynchronous events/traps from a Dell system, and allows the user to manage the problems indicated by this event. Example events are fan or SMART disk alerts.

Figure 1 shows the areas of integration between Dell components and the enterprise framework, and an overview of the functionality. The management station system is the one running the enterprise framework, which is used to monitor and manage a network of systems, while the managed nodes are the actual systems being managed.

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Figure 1: Enterprise Management Framework With Dell Hardware

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Section 3OpenManage Connections Architecture

Dell OpenManage Connections consist of components on both the management station (the system used to manage and monitor a network of nodes), and on managed nodes (the systems that are being managed). The management station components mainly consist of Dell plug-in components integrated with the enterprise framework components. The plug-in components consist of Dell’s discovery and status components, configuration and policy files, and Dell and independent hardware vendor (IHV) MIBs. (MIB stands for Management Information Base, a database of objects that can be monitored by a network management system.) The discovery plug-in integrates with discovery components and database components of the enterprise framework to retrieve information on Dell Systems, while the status plug-in integrates with status monitoring components of the enterprise framework and gives the status related information on Dell systems. The configuration and policy files are mainly used to filter out and verify the retrieved events from managed nodes. Usually these files have associated files on managed nodes to filter out the event information and send to the management station.

As a part of Dell OpenManage Connections (like Connection for HP OpenView Network Node Manager [NNM] for Windows), many, but not all Dell OpenManage applications are supported and installed on the management station to augment the Dell value add. This helps with ease of use, and makes Dell OpenManage applications instantly available, to be launched in-context, to manage and monitor Dell systems. The Discovery plug-in discovers what kind of OpenManage agents are installed on the managed nodes and within few clicks you can launch OpenManage Applications including:

Dell OpenManage IT Assistant – for overall system configuration, status, asset and event management. Dell OpenManage Array Manager – for comprehensive RAID storage management. Dell Remote Assistant Card (DRAC) Console Application – if you have the Dell Remote Assistant Card installed on the remote system, it is possible to launch this console application for health monitoring, event logs and console redirection.

The Dell Discovery plug-in also detects the installation of other IHV agents like Adaptec CI/O, Symbios LSI, and Intel NIC, and gives the ability to launch these agent applications on the management station pointing to specific managed nodes.

Figure 2 shows the overall architecture of Dell OpenManage Connections. It shows the areas of integration, the components

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residing on management station and managed nodes, and the applications that can be launched.

Figure 2: Architecture of Dell OpenManage Connections

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Section 4Dell OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM for Windows

The Dell OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView Network Node Manager for Windows provides all the important areas of integration with HP OpenView enterprise framework, as follow:

Dell System Discovery/Status Management Once the enterprise management framework discovers a system, the discovery plug-in finds out the discovered system from HP OpenView’s discovery and database components, determines if the system is a Dell system, and then the status plug-in determines the global status of the system and monitors it for status changes.

Dell Application Launch Once the discovered system is identified as Dell system, Dell OpenManage applications and supported IHV applications applicable to the discovered managed node system are available to launch in-context pointing to the managed node system.

Event ManagementYou can define the SNMP trap destination on the managed node as the management station running HP OpenView NNM to receive traps. The Dell Configuration files have all the information on all the traps from supported agents. Once the trap is received and matched with the stored trap information, it is then displayed properly formatted in HP OpenView NNM console.

Dell OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView for NNM supports the full version of HP OpenView Network Node Manager (NNM) 6.0 or greater. Note that the OpenManage Connection application does not install the HP OpenView NNM product itself, but only the customization pieces including Dell OpenManage software applications on top of existing HP OpenView NNM 6.x framework. The details on the OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM versions and other integration components are shown in Table 1.

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Support for HP OpenView NNM Framework and Other Dell Components

OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNMV 1.1 V 1.2

HP OpenView NNM Framework V 6.0. 6.1 V 6.0, 6.1, 6.2Dell OpenManage IT Assistant 5.2 6.1Dell OpenManage Array Manager 2.5 3.0Dell Remote Assistant Card Console 2.3 2.4Dell OpenManage Server Agent (Hardware Instrumentation Package (HIP) Agent)

4.0 (3.5.x)1 4.4

1Do not install Dell OpenManage Server Agent or Hardware Instrumentation Package Agent on management station for local system management.

Table 1: Version Support for the OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM

Applications Supported by Dell OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM

This OpenManage Connection supports the following Dell and other IHV applications. Each application name is followed by the managed node requirement to launch it.

Dell and IHV Applications that are installed with this OpenManage Connection:

Dell OpenManage IT Assistant – requires Dell instrumentation on the managed node Dell OpenManage Array Manager – requires array manager agent on the managed node Dell Remote Assistant Card (DRAC) 32 bit application or Web Console -- requires remote assistant card installed on the managed node Adaptec CI/O Management Software – requires Dell instrumentation on the managed node equipped with Adaptec SCSI Controllers LSI DMI Browser -- requires Dell instrumentation on the managed node equipped with LSI/Symbios SCSI Controllers Qlogic DMI Management Application -- requires Dell instrumentation on the managed node equipped with Qlogic fibre channel host bus adapters (HBA)

Additional application support is provided for the following applications:

Cluster Administration Application – manages clusters from the management station if the Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS) Cluster Administrator or the Dell OpenManage Cluster Assistant With ClusterX application is installed on the managed node. Fibre Channel Bridge Manager – for management of fibre channel bridge to SCSI converter devices (Dell PowerVault 35F) Fibre Channel Switch Manager -- allows management of Fibre Channel switch devices (Dell PowerVault 5xF)

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FilerView -- allows management of the Dell PowerVault 7xxN filer Dell SAN Manager – to manage Dell SAN Appliances Dell PowerVault NAS Manager – to configure and manage NAS Appliances Navisphere Manage Clarion FC RAID Application– requires Navisphere Manage Clarion installed on management station and appropriate hardware on managed node

The OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM also installs the SNMP MIBs for several above-mentioned Dell and IHV applications. You can browse these MIBs using HP NNM’s MIB Browser.

Important PointsThe following are important points to note regarding this OpenManage Connection:

A Dell Managed node system must have Dell OpenManage Server Agent (or Hardware Instrumentation Package Agent) installed in order to be discovered as a Dell system. If HP OpenView NNM SE (based on NNM v 5.2) is the installed framework, it must be uninstalled. HP OpenView NNM v 6.x must be installed instead prior to installing the Dell OpenManage Connection. It is possible to use ‘DCVerify.exe’ (included in the bin folder) to verify the successful installation and for the information on the installed components. OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM 1.1 does not support a management station system installed with Dell OpenManage Server Agent on the same system. OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM version 1.2 does support this configuration. OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM v 1.1 does not offer support for Dell OpenManage IT Assistant v 6.x.

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Section 5Dell OpenManage Connection for CA Unicenter TNG

Dell OpenManage Connection for Computer Associates Unicenter TNG enterprise framework is similar to OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM with respect to feature set. This OpenManage Connection provides the following integration functionality:

Dell system discovery/status management – Once a system is discovered by CA Unicenter TNG framework, Dell’s Unicenter TNG monitoring plug-in finds out the discovered system from CA Unicenter TNG’s discovery and database components, determines if the system is Dell system and then the status plug-in determines the global status of the system and monitors it for status changes.

Dell application launch – Once the discovered system is identified as a Dell system, Dell OpenManage applications and supported IHV applications applicable to the discovered managed node system are available to launch in-context pointing to the managed node system.

Event Management – You can define the SNMP trap destination as the management station running CA Unicenter TNG to receive traps. The Dell Configuration files have all the information on all the traps from supported agents. Once the trap is received and matched with the stored trap information, it is then displayed properly formatted in the CA Unicenter TNG console.

Like other OpenManage Connections, The OpenManage Connection for CA Unicenter TNG does not install the CA Unicenter TNG framework itself, but only the customization pieces including Dell OpenManage software applications on top of existing framework. The current version shipping of this OpenManage Connection is version 1.2 while supported versions of the CA Unicenter TNG are versions 2.2 and 2.3. The Dell OpenManage Connection works both with the CA Unicenter TNG (full) and with the CA Unicenter TNG. It is possible to install either the CA Unicenter TNG Framework or the full CA Unicenter TNG.

The following Dell and IHV applications are supported with this OpenManage Connection:

Dell OpenManage IT Assistant 5.2 - Presents the data available from Dell managed nodes running Dell server instrumentation DRAC II Web Console version 2.3.1 - Supports out-of-band (via dial-up modem or Network Interface Controller [NIC] status retrieval and management operations for certain Dell servers; and out-of-band management for Dell Remote Assistant Card (DRAC) equipped systems.

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Dell PowerEdge Expandable Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) Controller (8.08i) PERC Console Package - Allows management of the hard-disk drive subsystem(s) of servers installed with Dell PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller (PERC), Dell PERC 2/SC, and PERC 2/DC. Flexible Array Storage Tool (FAST) console - Allows configuration, management, and monitoring of RAID subsystems installed with the Dell PERC 2, PERC 2/Si, PERC 3/Si, and PERC 3/Di. Comprehensive Input/Output (CI/O) Management Software 4.01 - Manages and monitors servers that have an Adaptec small computer system interface (SCSI) controller. The controller monitors the channels and devices configured on each channel.

The following agents, when installed on Dell OpenManage Connection managed nodes, can send SNMP traps to the CA Unicenter TNG console.

Server Instrumentation (agent) — Dell OpenManage Server Agent 4.x or Dell OpenManage HIP 3.5.x. Dell Remote Access Card Agent Dell PowerEdge Expandable RAID Agents Adaptec CI/O 

This OpenManage Connection also provides alert message generation and data logging to NT event log. It is also possible to configure automatic server actions in response to certain conditions or SNMP traps and events. The OpenManage Connection for CA Unicenter TNG also installs the SNMP MIBs for several above-mentioned Dell and IHV applications. The Unicenter TNG MIB Browser allows users to browse these MIBs.

Important Points

Dell server instrumentation (Dell OpenManage Server Agent 4.x or Dell OpenManage HIP 3.5.x) cannot be run on the management station that is running the Dell OpenManage Connection. Managed node systems must be instrumented with either Dell Hardware Instrumentation Package 3.5.x or Dell OpenManage Server Agent 4.x. Dell OpenManage Array Manager is not installed with this OpenManage Connection. But OpenManage Connection has the built in support for it. Install OpenManage Array Manager 2.5 or 3.0 later and then launch it through TNG Unicenter framework. OpenManage Connection for CA Unicenter TNG v 1.2 does not support launching of Dell OpenManage IT Assistant v 6.x from the same management system on which the OpenManage Connection components are installed. It is not possible to upgrade from earlier versions of OpenManage Connection for CA Unicenter TNG. First uninstall previous versions and then install Dell OpenManage Connection for CA Unicenter TNG 1.2.

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Section 6Dell OpenManage Connection for Tivoli Enterprise Console

The integration components of Dell OpenManage Connection for Tivoli Enterprise Console (TEC) mainly consist of the configuration files residing on management station as well as node. This OpenManage Connection mainly provides the event management of Dell systems. The events consist of Windows NT events that are logged in the Windows NT event log on the managed nodes. This OpenManage Connection consists of the following components:

The configuration files -- .brc (baroc) files on management station and .fmt (format) files on managed node for each Dell and other vendor components. The readme information files for each component supported, giving details about each event class for the events generated on managed node.

How it works

The format file and the baroc file consist of all the information about the Windows NT events logged by supported Dell and other vendor applications. The event information flow is shown in Figure 3. Once an event occurs on the managed node (arrow # 1), the Tivoli Enterprise Console Adapter service running on the managed node retrieves it from the NT event log (arrow # 2), filters out that event using .fmt file (arrow # 3), and forwards it to the Tivoli Enterprise Console Event Server (arrow # 5) with all the details such as severity, date and time of occurrence, event class name, and the actual event message. TEC Event Server has Dell’s .brc files loaded (arrow # 4), which makes sure that the class name of the incoming event matches and displays it on the Tivoli Enterprise Console.

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Figure 3: Event Information Flow in the OpenManage Connection for TEC

Framework and Operating Systems

As the OpenManage Connection components are integrated with the Tivoli Enterprise Framework, the Windows Operating System support is governed by the framework support for the Operating System. Table 2 details the Windows Operating System version and the framework version supported by the OpenManage Connection for TEC.

OpenManage Connection for TEC

Tivoli Framework and Enterprise Console

Operating SystemsManagement Station Managed Node

Version 1.2 and 1.2.1 Version 3.6 and 3.6.2 Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000

Upcoming Version 1.3 Version 3.6, 3.6.2 and 3.7.11

Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 (with TEC 3.7.11)

Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000

1Please check Dell web site for latest details on the support for TEC3.7.1 support.

Table 2: Version Support for the OpenManage Connection for TEC

Applications Supported

The following is the list of Dell and other IHV agents supported by this OpenManage Connection. Note that these agents must be installed on the managed node in order to receive events.

Dell OpenManage Server Agent – This is the instrumentation agent to manage Dell Server systems. OpenManage Connection version 1.2 onwards has the most up to date support for OpenManage Server Agent events. Dell OpenManage Array Manager – OpenManage Connection version 1.2 supports OpenManage Array Manager version 2.5 while OpenManage Connection version 1.3 supports OpenManage Array Manager 3.1.

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Dell Remote Assistant Card (DRAC) Console Application – OpenManage Connections version 1.2 onwards support events for the latest version of DRAC, version 2.4. Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller 2 and 3 Dell Hardware Instrumentation Package – The older server instrumentation agent, which is replaced by OpenManage Server Agent. Adaptec Comprehensive Input/Output (CI/O) Agent Qlogic Agent Intel NIC Instrumentation Agent

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Section 7Dell OpenManage Connections for HP OpenView NNM for HP-UX, for Solaris, and for Tivoli NetView for AIX

Dell OpenManage Connections are also available for these three Unix-based consoles. These OpenManage Connections mainly provide event management functionality and MIB browsing capabilities for Dell MIBs installed as part of OpenManage Connection components. These OpenManage Connections allow network administrators to browse Dell servers and some IHV components via the SNMP browser included with HP OpenView Network Node Manager or Tivoli NetView. Also, Dell-related and some IHV traps are formatted with this product.

Table 3 describes the support for different Dell agents that each version of OpenManage Connection offers. The support consists of MIB browsing capability for these agents’ MIBs and formatted events from these agents. Note that the SNMP services must be running to carry out this functionality. These releases of OpenManage Connections do not offer support for Dell system discovery/status integration.

Versions OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM for HP-UX and Solaris

OpenManage Connection for Tivoli NetView

Framework Versions HP OpenView NNM for Solaris or HP-UX, version 6.x.

Tivoli NetView for AIX version 5.1.x or later

Dell OpenManage Connection version 1.2

Hardware Instrumentation Package 3.x, Dell OpenManage Server Agent 4.0, Dell OpenManage Array Manager 2.0 and IHV Agents

Hardware Instrumentation Package 3.x, Dell OpenManage Server Agent 4.0, Dell OpenManage Array Manager 2.0 and IHV Agents

Dell OpenManage Connection version 1.3

Added support for: Dell OpenManage Server Agent

4.4 MIB and events Dell OpenManage Array

Manager 3.1 MIB and events Dell Remote Card version 3

events Broadcom NIC MIB and events Dell OpenManage Cluster

Assistant With ClusterX® MIB Dell™ PowerVault™ Storage

Area Network (SAN) Appliance MIB and events

Crossroads Storage Bridges and Router MIB

Added support for: Added support for Dell

OpenManage Server Agent 4.4 MIB and events

Dell OpenManage Array Manager 3.1 MIB and events

Dell Remote Card version 3 events

Broadcom NIC MIB and events Dell OpenManage Cluster

Assistant With ClusterX® MIB Dell™ PowerVault™ Storage

Area Network (SAN) Appliance MIB and events

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Table 3: Version Support for the OpenManage Connections for UNIX-based Management Systems

To update MIBs and events, Dell strongly recommends uninstalling the Connections version 1.2 before installing version 1.3

Following are the MIBs supported by these OpenManage Connections:

Dell Hardware Instrumentation Package Agent Dell OpenManage Server Agent Dell OpenManage Array Manager Dell Remote Assistant Card Agent Dell OpenManage Cluster Assistant With ClusterX New Dell(TM) PowerVault(TM) Storage Area Network (SAN) Appliance Adaptec CI/O Agent Broadcom NIC agent Crossroads Storage Bridges and Routers Brocade Fibre Channel Switch Intel NIC Instrumentation Agent Network Appliance Filer Agent PowerEdge RAID Controller Adapter American Power Conversion PowerNet Symbios Agent

The following agents offer the support for formatted events:

Dell Hardware Instrumentation Package Agent 3.5.x Dell OpenManage Server Agent 4.x Dell OpenManage Array Manager 2.5, 3.0 and 3.1 Dell PowerVault Storage Area Network Appliance, Adaptec CI/O Agent 4.01 PowerEdge RAID Controller Adapter Brocade Fibre Channel Switch

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Section 8Conclusion

This paper introduces Dell OpenManage Connections, their architecture, and then provides an overview of each OpenManage connection Dell offers. All OpenManage Connections are available on Dell’s web site. Please refer to the User’s Guide or readme files of each OpenManage Connection for more details. The enterprise framework primarily drives the installation requirements for each OpenManage Connection. Also note that to install Dell OpenManage Connections, the respective enterprise framework must be installed and configured. Dell OpenManage Connections do not install the framework itself.

Manoj Gujarathi (Manoj_Gujarathi@dell.com) is a systems engineer at Dell Computer Corporation (http://www. dell.com). With over five years of experience in system management applications, he currently works as a lead engineer for Dell OpenManage IT Assistant and Dell OpenManage Connections applications. Manoj has a Masters Degree in Engineering from Washington State University and Masters Degree in Computer Science from Texas Tech University. He is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE).

Dell and PowerEdge are trademarks of Dell Computer Corporation. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell disclaims proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.

©Copyright 2001 Dell Computer Corporation. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of Dell Computer Corporation is strictly forbidden. For more information, contact Dell. Dell cannot be responsible for errors in typography or photography.

Information in this document is subject to change without notice. The content is provided as is, without express or implied warranties of any kind.

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