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NYSDHCR
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Dell and OpenManage on ESX hosts

We are a 100% Dell shop running 6 Dell 6850s and 4 2950s. Has anyone had any issues running Dell OpenManage on their ESX hosts? Our hosts are at 3.0.1 and 3.0.2 level. A while back we had an issue (not OpenManage related) with one of our ESX hosts and the first thing VMware told is they do not recommend running any 3rd party products on the host...

I plan to install OpenManage 5.2.

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RParker
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Fine, everyone has their own way to manage the servers. One day you will wish you had it.. trust me.

Openmanage was made by Dell to support their hardware, and it's been on the machines for years.. They won't break a box, it's there to improve management of the server, not to mention the hardware monitoring / health of the box. IT shops everywhere use it, and I would even bet you are in the 1% that won't run it...

there isn't much we can do if you don't see a benefit to running it, but it's not "clutter".

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RParker
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NONE. We just installed 5.3.

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Bengyke
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How did you install O.M 5.3, do you have a link to the correct tar file, in my download i don't find any .sh script to install ....

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rossb2b
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I have been running OpenManage on ESX hosts successfully in versions 2.5, 3.0.1, and 3.0.2

No problems

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rossb2b
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With regards to the 3rd party products not being recommended by VMware... I worked with VMware Professional Services for our first ESX deployment and the consultant recommended we use OpenManage and like you I have been told that this is not reccommended by VMware Support. I'm not sure why there are different messages being sent here but I believe our Professional Services consultant was fantastic and really knew his stuff.

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TomHowarth
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My personal preference is not to install 3rd party products into the service console, it is only because it increases load on the SC and therefore increases load on the ESX host. if your company has a strategy in place that states that all servers will be managed by Openmanage or TSM or what ever. then as long as they work and do not interfere with core product then do so.

also remember the support guy states it was not recommended, they did not say it was not supported and that is key.

Tom Howarth

VMware Communities User Moderator

Tom Howarth VCP / VCAP / vExpert
VMware Communities User Moderator
Blog: http://www.planetvm.net
Contributing author on VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing ESX and the Virtual Environment
Contributing author on VCP VMware Certified Professional on VSphere 4 Study Guide: Exam VCP-410
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RParker
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Go to support.dell.com. Locate the downloads for your system.

Change OS to redhat Enterprise 4. Download systems management : Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Managed Node / |OM_5.3.0_ManNode_A00.tar.gz|79 MB|3.2 hr|GNU-Zip|

The following are the steps to install OpenManage 5.x on ESX 3.0.x:

1. Log on with administrator privileges (root) to the Service Console.

2. Make sure there is at least 512MB of free disk space in the /root partition of ESX Server service console. This can be verified by running the df -lh command in the service console.

3. Use the following steps to install OpenManage Server Administrator:

a. If you are using an OpenManage CD, mount the CD and change the working directory with the following command:

$ mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

$ cd /mnt/cdrom/srvadmin/linux/supportscripts

b. If you are using a tar file from http://support.dell.com, download the file to a temporary directory and extract the files:

$ tar -zxvf OM_5.1_ManNode_LIN_A00.tar.gz

where OM_5.1_ManNode_LIN_A00.tar.gz

5. Install OpenManage by executing one of the following commands:

a. If you are installing OpenManage on a Dell PowerEdge 1855, PowerEdge 1955, or on a system that does not have a Dell Remote Access Card (DRAC), use the following command: $ ./srvadmin-install.sh -b -w -s

b. For all other configurations, use the following command:

$ ./srvadmin-install.sh -b -w -r -s

6. Follow the instructions presented by the installation script. The options used in the OpenManage installation script expand as:

+

b: Base install of OpenManage Server Administrator

++

w: Web interface for OpenManage Server Administrator

++

r: Dell Remote Access Controller (DRAC) services

++

s: OpenManage Storage Management (OMSM)

+

7. If you have installed the IT Assistant management application on your network, configure the SNMP daemon to send SNMP trap messages to the management console. Edit /etc/snmp/snmpd.conf and add the following line to the end of the file:

trapsink <ITA_IP_Address> <community name>

8. If you are using an OpenManage CD, unmount and eject the CD with the following command:

$ eject

9. To access the ESX server using an OpenManage Web Administrative console, open the ports used by OpenManage using the following commands:

$ esxcfg-firewall -o 1311,tcp,in,OpenManageRequest

Bengyke
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Thanks this posted helped me out, I was using an incorrect tar file with no .sh file in it.

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Ryan_Witschger
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They do not recommend it, but they do support it:

I, personally, do not run it, however. I find it much more to my liking to run a clutter free ESX enviornment, so unless there is some overwheling reason, I won't be convinced it's a needed addition.

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RParker
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you haven't called for support on a server yet have you?

I can give you 3 reasons.

1) Service tag. You can easily see which device is not working, get the tag and everything from the machine without physical access.

2) DRAC access. You can reconfigure the DRAC and you don't need to reboot the host.

3) RAID. You can reconfigure the RAID and you don't need to reboot the host.

Those alone along with monitoring your server, managing them with IT assistant is enough.. if you don't see any of these as beneficial, then I question why you like to do things the hard way if you don't have to....

Open manage takes 128 meg of SC memory, and it's barely noticeable, and as you already noted it IS supported by Dell and VM ware, so why WOULDN'T you use it?

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Ryan_Witschger
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I run ESX on 1955 blades. Given that, I get everything you mention from the DRAC/MC on the chassis except for RAID configuration, but I never see myself needing to reconfigure a RAID on the host, as our EMC based SAN management sits elsewhere.

Even with your valid arguments I still see no reason to run OpenManage in my enviornment.

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RParker
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Fine, everyone has their own way to manage the servers. One day you will wish you had it.. trust me.

Openmanage was made by Dell to support their hardware, and it's been on the machines for years.. They won't break a box, it's there to improve management of the server, not to mention the hardware monitoring / health of the box. IT shops everywhere use it, and I would even bet you are in the 1% that won't run it...

there isn't much we can do if you don't see a benefit to running it, but it's not "clutter".

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IB_IT
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Agree with Parker....

Just increase the console memory if you think it will interfere with memory resources. Critical hardware components can and should be monitored by this. Few months back I had a sense key error on one of my drives that ultimately led to a host crash. I knew about this error the minute it happend via email alert from the snmp trap that was sent to IT Assistant server. Had I not had OMSA, I would have never of known...the drive itself was not putting out any amber or red lights. I was able to be PROactive in the quick resolution to this rather than REactive.

mfurth
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:smileysilly: Excellent!

Sincerely,

Mikael.

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NYSDHCR
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Thanks, RParker!

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opbz
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hi bit more information

OM defintelly works on ESX in fact you can download a installation configuration manual for it at

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/alliances/en/vmware_resources?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=biz&...

Not sure if it supports ESX 3.5 yet though but all other versions do work fine

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