Heterogeneous environments can be a challenge to
monitor and manage, typically requiring different
management consoles for different systems. Dell
OpenManage Connection plug-ins are designed to simplify
that challenge by integrating the management of Dell
PowerEdge™ servers, Dell PowerVault™ storage, Dell OptiPlex™
desktops, and Dell Latitude™ notebooks into third-party soft-
ware. Deploying these plug-ins enables administrators to
monitor Dell system health with Dell agents by collecting
information from widely dispersed enterprise networks and
viewing it in real time through a single console, and to launch
and use Dell systems management applications such as Dell
OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA), Dell OpenManage
Array Manager, and the Dell Remote Access Controller
(DRAC) console.
Dell OpenManage Connection plug-ins are currently
available for four management applications: Microsoft
Operations Manager (MOM), IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console
(TEC), CA Unicenter, and HP OpenView Network Node
Manager (NNM). Figure 1 illustrates how Dell OpenManage
Connection plug-ins function as part of an enterprise moni-
toring framework.
Dell OpenManage Connection for Microsoft Operations Manager MOM is a comprehensive monitoring application that pro-
vides a centralized console and automated problem resolu-
tion for enterprise networks.1 The Dell OpenManage
Connection for MOM—also called the Dell Management Pack
for MOM—is a software module imported into the MOM con-
sole that enhances its ability to depict Dell system status
for a defined network segment. The enhanced representa-
tion, which includes general status alerts and pre-failure
alerts, can help administrators assess, respond to, and
ensure the availability of Dell systems monitored through
the centralized MOM console, as well as allowing them to
install and uninstall MOM agents on monitored servers.
Figure 2 illustrates this plug-in as part of a MOM-based
enterprise monitoring framework.
The plug-in also imports processing rule groups for Dell
events generated by OMSA to help administrators monitor
and manage Dell servers. These rules are invoked based on
the criteria defined for each rule, which include event source,
ID, and type. When event criteria match a particular rule and
the event is a warning or critical event, a Dell-specific alert
Related Categories:
Dell PowerEdge servers
Dell PowerVault storage
Systems management
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Centralizing access to routine tasks can help increase efficiency for data center administrators. Dell OpenManage™ Connection plug-ins are designed to simplify the monitoring and management of Dell™ hardware by integrating Dell systems management data and applications into Microsoft® Operations Manager, IBM® Tivoli Enterprise Console, CA Unicenter, and HP OpenView Network Node Manager software.
By Sanjeev Kumar Singh
neeraj Sharma
1 mOm is now part of the microsoft System Center family of solutions; the latest version of this software is called System Center Operations manager 2007.
Importcorner art
here
systems management
DELL POWER SOLUTIONS | august 20071 reprinted from Dell Power Solutions, august 2007. Copyright © 2007 Dell inc. all rights reserved.
Simplifying Dell Systems Management with Dell OpenManage Connection Plug-ins
is generated and logged in the MOM Dell
OpenManage Alerts view, located in Public
Views > Dell OpenManage.
After installation, the MOM Operator con-
sole should look similar to Figure 3, provided
that the Dell servers already have OMSA
installed. The plug-in makes various Dell-
specific views available in MOM, including the
Dell State, Dell Services Role, Dell Topology, and
Dell Tasks views.
Dell State view. The Dell State view reflects
the health of Dell servers managed by MOM.
Administrators can access this view from the
MOM Operator console by clicking on the State
tab in the left Event Views pane, then clicking
on “Dell OpenManage.”
Dell Services Role view. The Dell Services
Role view shows the health and color-coded
status for Dell services running on agent-managed
nodes, with red, yellow, green, and white denot-
ing stopped, paused, running, and inapplicable,
respectively. The health is determined by the
severity level of the most severe unresolved alert
for each service, and is updated based on sched-
uled time intervals or specific tasks.
Dell Topology views. The Dell Topology
views display diagrams representing Dell serv-
ers in a network; these views include the Dell
Computer Listing and Dell Computer Group
Listing views. The Dell Computer Listing view
displays discovered Dell servers both with and
without OMSA installed along with their status,
depending on the computer group selected in
the MOM Operator console toolbar. The Dell
Computer Group Listing view shows Dell com-
puter groups, which administrators can view by
setting the computer group to “Dell Computers”
or “Dell Computers without OMSA” in the MOM
Operator console toolbar. The plug-in can dis-
cover hardware properties in addition to roles
and components for particular servers, and
some of these attributes are displayed when
administrators hover the mouse pointer over the
server icons in these views.
Dell Tasks view. Installing the plug-in adds
several options to the MOM Tasks view: Launch
Server Administrator, which launches OMSA for
the selected server; Intelligent Platform
Management Interface (IPMI) tasks such as
Check Power Status and Power Cycle; and Clear
Agent ESM Log, which stores the contents of the
Embedded Server Management (ESM) log for
the selected server in a backup file and clears
the ESM log. The backup log file for the Clear
Figure 1. Dell OpenManage Connection plug-ins as part of an enterprise monitoring framework
Delldiscovery
plug-in
Dellconfiguration
files
Dellstatusplug-in
DellmiBs
Dell OpenManage Connection components
Discovery eventsStatusmanagementinformationbase (miB)
browser
Enterprise monitoring framework
in-context launch
OMSA
Dell OpenManageArray Manager
DRAC
Dell Embedded RemoteAccess (ERA) controller
management station
managed node
Dell OpenmanageiT assistant
Out-of-context launch(SnmP, Desktop management
interface [Dmi], Commoninformation model [Cim])
SnmP, Dmi
OmSa
Dell agents and other components
Dell Openmanagearray manager
agentDraC agent Other agents
mOmOperatorconsole
MOM management station
Dell views
Dataaccess
agentmanagerDell alert
Sendsupdates
generatesalerts
mOmdatabase
Dell OpenmanageWeb console(s)
Launchesconsole(s)
Managed nodemOmDell
processingrules
Dellresponse
scripts
executesscripts
Dell Openmanagearray manager, OmSaStorage management
OmSa
microsoft Windows®
event log
Sendsevents
SnmP, Cim
runs OmSa command-line interfaceand returns global status
monitorsevent logs
installs and uninstalls agents
Sends collected information
Pushes processingrules and scripts
Dell Openmanage software
Dell Openmanage Connection for mOm
mOm
Figure 2. Dell OpenManage Connection for MOM as part of an enterprise monitoring framework
2www.dell.com/powersolutionsreprinted from Dell Power Solutions, august 2007. Copyright © 2007 Dell inc. all rights reserved.
www.dell.com/powersolutions
Agent ESM Log task is created on the managed
node in X:\DellMP\ESMData-timestamp.log,
where X:\ is the OMSA installation drive and
timestamp is the time at which the backup log
was created.
Dell OpenManage Connection for Tivoli Enterprise Console The Dell OpenManage Connection for TEC allows
events generated by Dell systems management
applications to be logged in the managed node’s
Windows event log and forwarded to the TEC
console on the management station by the TEC
Windows Event Log Adapter. This plug-in’s instal-
lation package comprises a set of .baroc and
.fmt files containing Dell events in a TEC-specific
format. Using the plug-in requires that the TEC
framework and console be installed on the man-
agement station and that the TEC Windows Event
Log Adapter be installed on the managed node.
Installing the plug-in on the management
station creates a new set of rules and then loads
and compiles the rules from the .baroc files,
which the TEC rule engine uses to process
events. Similarly, the plug-in appends new
events to the tecad_win.fmt file and generates
a new .cds file using the win_gencds.exe tool.
After the .cds file has been generated, new
events are formatted and forwarded to the TEC
console, where administrators can review them
using the TEC Event Viewer (see Figure 4). Alerts
are generated in formats beginning with
Dell_OMSM_SCSI, Dell_OMSA, and so on to
help make different types of events readily
identifiable, particularly in heterogeneous
environments.
Dell OpenManage Connection for CA Unicenter The Dell OpenManage Connection for CA Unicenter
enables administrators to monitor and manage
Dell systems through CA Unicenter. Administrators
can install the plug-in by running a Dell-provided
executable. Once installed, the plug-in dynami-
cally creates a Business Process View called “Dell
Managed Systems” (see Figure 5) and populates
it with each discovered system running OMSA
or agent instrumentation.
The primary plug-in functionality is carried
out through the Distributed State Machine
(DSM) component, which discovers and moni-
tors agents and formats traps for agents, and
the WorldView (WV) component, which provides
Figure 3. Dell server monitoring in the MOM Operator console
Figure 4. Dell server monitoring in the IBM Tivoli Enterprise Console Event Viewer screen
Figure 5. Managed objects in CA Unicenter showing the Dell Managed Systems Business Process View
systems managementsystems management
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launch points for systems management applica-
tions and displays subsystem status.
Administrators can launch Dell systems man-
agement applications by using the Dell view and
opening the Dell Managed Systems group. They
can also view descriptions of events and alerts
through the console logs.
Dell OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView Network Node ManagerThe Dell OpenManage Connection for HP
OpenView NNM allows administrators to moni-
tor and manage Dell systems through HP
OpenView NNM and creates Dell submenus
through which they can launch OMSA, Dell
OpenManage IT Assistant, the DRAC console,
and so on. Administrators can install the Dell
OpenManage Connection for HP OpenView NNM
by running the Dell-provided installer.
HP OpenView NNM discovers systems using
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
polling and displays them in the HP OpenView
NNM submap as icons. The Connection plug-in
can automatically query the object ID (OID) spe-
cific to Dell instrumentation on each discovered
system; if it recognizes the OID, it classifies the
system as a Dell system. Administrators can
also discover systems manually by selecting
Tools > Dell in the HP OpenView NNM menu bar,
then selecting the Discover Selected or Discover
All option (see Figure 6). These options run the
discovery process against either a selected
system or all potential Dell managed systems
to determine whether they are Dell systems. If
they are, the appropriate Dell icon is displayed
for those systems; if they are not, a generic icon
is displayed.
Once the Dell systems have been discov-
ered, administrators can manage them using
the various Dell systems management applica-
tions, which they can launch by double-clicking
the icons in the HP OpenView NNM submap.
Administrators can also view SNMP trap details
using the Alarms browser.
Integrated management for Dell systems Dell OpenManage Connection plug-ins are
designed to simplify the monitoring and man-
agement of Dell systems by allowing administra-
tors to view system health and launch Dell
management applications from Microsoft
Operations Manager, IBM Tivoli Enterprise
Console, CA Unicenter, or HP OpenView Network
Node Manager software. Taking advantage of
these plug-ins can help administrators increase
efficiency and flexibility, particularly in large
heterogeneous environments.
Sanjeev Kumar Singh is a senior test engineer
on the Dell Enterprise Systems Test team at the
Dell Bangalore Development Center. He has a B.E.
in Electronics and Communication Engineering
from Visvesvaraya Technological University.
Neeraj Sharma is a senior test engineer on the
Dell Enterprise Systems Test team at the Dell
Bangalore Development Center. He has an M.S.
in Information Technology from Allahabad
University.
Figure 6. Tools > Dell submenu in HP OpenView Network Node Manager
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QUICK LINK
Dell OpenManage Connection documentation: support.dell.com/support/edocs/ software/smconect
reprinted from Dell Power Solutions, august 2007. Copyright © 2007 Dell inc. all rights reserved.
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