Dell OpenManage IT Assistant 8.0 introduces the

ability to remotely discover, inventory, monitor, and

manage Dell/EMC devices and track events from

these devices. IT Assistant currently supports three Dell/EMC

product families: the AX series; the CX series’ CX300, CX500,

and CX700 arrays; and the CX-3 series.

To use IT Assistant with Dell/EMC devices, Simple

Network Management Protocol (SNMP) must be enabled on

both the IT Assistant management station and the Dell/EMC

devices, and the EMC® Navisphere® command-line interface

(NaviCLI)—a client utility that queries EMC Navisphere

Manager on Dell/EMC arrays—must be installed on the IT

Assistant management station.

Discovering Dell/EMC devices Dell OpenManage IT Assistant discovers and inventories

Dell/EMC storage devices using both SNMP and NaviCLI.

When a discovery task is initiated, IT Assistant queries

the array’s SNMP service; if it responds as expected,

then the array object is discovered and added to the

database. Administrators can then configure the SNMP

parameters using the IT Assistant New Discovery Wizard

(see Figure 1).

IT Assistant parses the NaviCLI output and uses that

data for inventory details on the Dell/EMC devices.

Because IT Assistant uses the Navisphere Secure CLI

(naviseccli, located by default at C:\Program Files\EMC\

Navisphere CLI) for inventory, administrators must provide

a Dell/EMC array username and password in the New

Discovery Wizard (see Figure 2).

Discovered Dell/EMC arrays are grouped under Storage

Devices > Dell/EMC Arrays in the IT Assistant Devices tree.

The tree displays the array model number or the name

configured by the administrator (for example, “CX600”).

Troubleshooting Dell/EMC device discovery The Dell OpenManage IT Assistant Troubleshooting Tool

(see Figure 3) helps administrators resolve problems with

Dell/EMC device discovery. Before using this tool, however,

administrators should first verify the following:

• That the SNMP agent is installed and enabled on both the

IT Assistant management station and the Dell/EMC device

• That NaviCLI is installed in the correct location on the

IT Assistant management station

• That the Dell/EMC array username and password are

correct

Administrators can launch the Troubleshooting Tool by

selecting Tools > Troubleshooting Tool or by right-clicking

on a device and selecting “Troubleshooting Tool.” They can

then enter the device IP address and select “Get Test

Configuration.” When troubleshooting discovery problems,

administrators should typically run the Ping Connectivity

and SNMP Connectivity tests first, followed by the Dell/EMC

Array Connectivity test.

Related Categories:

Dell OpenManage

Dell PowerEdge servers

Dell/EMC storage

Storage area network (SAN)

Storage management

Systems management

Visit www.dell.com/powersolutions

for the complete category index.

Dell OpenManage™ IT Assistant 8.0 helps administrators discover, inventory, monitor, and manage Dell/EMC storage devices. This article provides a brief overview of device discovery prerequisites, procedures, and troubleshooting.

By Eranna Talur

MahEswarry raMakrishnan

DiscoveringDell/EMCStorageDevices with Dell OpenManage IT Assistant 8.0

storage

DELL POWER SOLUTIONS | May 20071 reprinted from Dell Power Solutions, May 2007. Copyright © 2007 Dell inc. all rights reserved.

The Dell/EMC Array Connectivity test per-

forms a NaviCLI discovery ping test to verify

connectivity. This test executes a NaviCLI com-

mand (naviseccli getagent) to determine

whether the corresponding Navisphere agent

is running on the array. If the test fails, the tool

prompts the administrator to launch EMC

Navisphere Manager to try to obtain additional

information.

Simplifying Dell/EMC device discovery Administrators can use Dell OpenManage IT

Assistant 8.0 to remotely discover, inventory,

monitor, and manage many Dell/EMC storage

devices and to generate detailed inventory

reports. EMC array events can also be for-

warded to IT Assistant to help remotely deter-

mine device status and health. Using these

features helps simplify the monitoring and

management of Dell/EMC devices in enter-

prise data centers.

Eranna Talur is a senior engineer analyst in the

Enterprise System Test Group at the Dell

Bangalore Development Center.

Maheswarry Ramakrishnan is a senior engi-

neer analyst in the Enterprise System Test Group

at the Dell Bangalore Development Center.

2www.dell.com/powersolutionsreprinted from Dell Power Solutions, May 2007. Copyright © 2007 Dell inc. all rights reserved.

www.dell.com/powersolutions

Figure 1. SNMP configuration in the Dell OpenManage IT Assistant New Discovery Wizard

Figure 2. Storage configuration in the Dell OpenManage IT Assistant New Discovery Wizard

Figure 3. Dell OpenManage IT Assistant Troubleshooting Tool

QUICKLINKS

Dell OpenManage IT Assistant User’s Guide:support.dell.com/support/edocs/software/smitasst

Dell/EMC storage: www.dell.com/storage