######################################################################
DELL(TM) MANAGEMENT CONSOLE VERSION 1.0.2 README
######################################################################
Version - 1.0.2
Release Date - October 2009
NOTE: Dell Management Console and its documentation, are available on
the "Dell Management Console" DVD and on the Dell Support web site at
"support.dell.com/manuals" and "www.delltechcenter.com."
Dell Management Console provides a central point of access to monitor
and manage systems on a local area network (LAN) or the wide area
network (WAN). By allowing an administrator a comprehensive view
across the enterprise, Dell Management Console can increase system
uptime, reduce repetitive tasks, and prevent interruption in critical
business operations.
This readme.txt contains updated information for your "Dell Management
Console User's Guide" and any other technical documentation included
with Dell Management Console.
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CONTENTS
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This file contains the following sections:
* Criticality
* Compatibility/Recommended Requirements
* Release Highlights
* Installation
* User Notes
* Known Issues
* Disclaimer
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CRITICALITY
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2 - Recommended
######################################################################
COMPATIBILITY/RECOMMENDED REQUIREMENTS
######################################################################
======================================================================
Supported Operating System Requirements for Dell Management Console
======================================================================
Microsoft Windows Server(R) 2003 SP2 (32 bit only) Standard and
Enterprise Editions
======================================================================
Recommended Minimum Hardware Configuration for Dell Management Console
======================================================================
* Physical Server
- 2 Physical Processors
- 4 GB RAM
- DVD Drive
- Microsoft(R) .NET 3.5 (SP1 is supported)
- Microsoft Windows(R) IIS Version 6.0
- SQL Express 2005 (provided on the "Dell Management Console" DVD)
or SQL Server 2005 (32-bit 'local/remote' or 64-bit 'remote')
- Internet Explorer version 7.0
Note: Dell recommends remote 64-bit database for larger environments.
======================================================================
Additional Software Required to Run Some Features of Dell Management
Console
======================================================================
* For Dell/EMC storage arrays, ensure the array is FLARE(R) version
26 or above.
* Navisphere(R) Secure CLI (version 26 or above) installed on the
management station.
NOTE: This CLI software is included on the "Dell Management Console"
DVD.
======================================================================
Recommended SQL Server Updates
======================================================================
* SQL Server 2005 SP1 is required for using SQL Server 2005 as the
default database.
* Optimize your SQL Server maximum memory settings as indicated in
Microsoft(R) knowledge base articles KB321363 and KB319942. This
Configuration may significantly improve product performance.
NOTE: During installation of the SQL Server 2005, ensure that you
select a case-insensitive collation setting. If you select a
case-sensitive collation setting, then the agent health Web
part for an individual discovered device will always show
empty.
NOTE: The default collation setting in SQL Server 2005 is
case-insensitive.
[281173]
======================================================================
Configuring SSL/HTTPS
======================================================================
* If you are configuring your installation for SSL/HTTPS, configure
SSL before installing the Dell Management Console and the Altiris
Server Management Suite. After SSL is configured, the settings
cannot be changed.
[242160] [247707]
======================================================================
Altiris Notification Server SP 2
======================================================================
* If you have an older version of Dell Management Console, such as
DMC 1.0 and 1.0.1 (or Dell Solutions 1.0.74 and 1.0.75), install
DMC 1.0.2 to upgrade to Altiris Notification Server SP 2. Do no
install SMS or DCM from this DVD without selecting DMC 1.0.2,
otherwise the older versions of DMC will be in an unsupported state.
Only DMC 1.0.2 and higher is supported with Altiris Notification
Server SP 2, so do not install other solutions which include SP 2
without also installing DMC 1.0.2
######################################################################
RELEASE HIGHLIGHTS
######################################################################
* This release of Dell Management Console 1.0.2 includes Symantec(R)
Notification Server (NS) 7 SP 2, NS 7 SP2 hot fix (HF) 1, and NS 7
SP2 HF2. Details are below.
* Symantec SMP 7 SP2:
- A number of issues were addressed in Symantec Management Platform
7.0 SP2. For details, see kb.altiris.com #46035.
* Symantec NS 7 SP2:
- A number of issues were addressed in Symantec Notification Server
7.0 SP2. For details, see kb.altiris.com #45857.
* Symantec SMP 7 SP2 Hotfix 1:
- A number of issues were addressed in Symantec Management Platform
7.0 SP2 Hotfix 1. For details, see kb.altiris.com #48033.
* Symantec SMP 7 SP2 Hotfix 2:
- A number of issues were addressed in Symantec Management Platform
7.0 SP2 Hotfix 2. For details, see kb.altiris.com #47826.
* Dell Management Console support for EqualLogic storage arrays and
Power Distribution Units (PDU).
* New tasks for managing Dell hardware: retrieve warranty info,
configure SNMP settings, configure boot order settings.
* Install - Disable CRL pre-req check is now critical. This was done
to address installs in a disconnected network environment.
* Virtual Machines (VM) - DMC can be installed in a virtual machine
(ESX 3.5 U2).
======================================================================
New Features
======================================================================
* Dell Patch solution has been updated to handle the updates marked as
Application Package or "APAC" applicable to Dell PowerEdge(TM) 11G
systems with Life Cycle Controllers.
Enabling this feature requires you to download the catalog after
upgrading to DMC 1.0.2 and run compliance assessment task against
applicable PowerEdge 11G systems with Life Cycle Controllers.
* Following tasks have been added:
- Boot Sequence task to change the primary boot sequence on managed
systems
- Set Dell OpenManage(TM) Server Administrator Central Web Server
(CWS) Proxy task to set the CWS proxy on managed systems
- Configure SNMP task to remotely configure SNMP service properties on
managed systems running Windows operating system.
* Support of Power Distribution Units for Discovery, Inventory, and
Monitor from APC (AP7900 models). PDU support may also work for the
following models: AP9562, AP9563, AP7840, AP7899, AP9572, AP7800.
NOTE: These models have not yet been certified.
* Dell Management Console support for EqualLogic storage. Dell
Management Console will discover, classify, receive SNMP alerts, and
monitor the health of the group.
NOTE: Hardware inventory and array details are not supported in this
release of Dell Management Console.
* Warranty Extraction Task that enables retrieval of Dell warranty
information for managed devices. The extracted Warranty information
can be viewed from the "Warranty Report."
======================================================================
Fixes and Enhancements
======================================================================
* The Altiris Agent can be installed from the Dell Management Console
to systems running supported Microsoft Windows operating systems
running OpenManage Server Administrator.
* Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Agent Deploy Solution is
updated to allow deployment of Server Administrator version 6.1
######################################################################
INSTALLATION – POINTS TO NOTE
######################################################################
* Installing Dell Management Console version 1.0.2
The Dell Management Console Install Guide is available on the Dell
Tech Center website at "www.delltechcenter.com."
See the Dell Management Console page in the "OpenManage Systems
Management" section.
Also see the Dell Management Console User’s Guide on the Dell
Support website at "support.dell.com/manuals" for more information
on installing the Dell Management Console.
* Symantec Installation Manager (SIM) is the installer for Dell
Management Console. It may take several minutes to launch SIM if your
server is not connected to the Internet.
If you do not have access to the Internet, you can only install
products locally available on the "Dell Management Console" DVD.
* During install:
- Do not disable or disconnect any network port while the
installation is in progress.
- Dell Management Console may need to increase the available ports
for agentless monitoring support. This change requires a reboot to
take effect.
- If you are using a remote SQL database on a system that has its
firewall enabled, ensure that the firewall ports are open for the
SQL Server instance to which the Symantec Platform will connect,
otherwise you will encounter errors during installation.
Alternatively, disable the firewall completely.
- To prevent Microsoft Windows Installer conflicts, do not run
another install while Dell Management Console installation is in
progress.
- Register at "http://www.dell.com/openmanage/register" to receive a
free Dell Management Console license. When installing the free
Dell Management Console license, the license Web part will be
removed from the Dell Management Console portal page and you will
have the ability to customize the portal page.
* After installing Dell Management Console 1.0.2:
-- Enable the Altiris(R) Agent upgrade policy so that the Agent-based
functionality is not interrupted.
-- For Windows Altiris Agent:
Go to "Settings"-> "All Settings"-> "Agents/Plug-ins"->
"Altiris Agent"-> "Windows"-> "Altiris Agent for
Windows - Upgrade".
Change this policy to "On" and save changes.
-- For Linux Altiris Agent:
Go to "Settings"-> "All Settings"-> "Agents/Plug-ins"->
"Altiris Agent UNIX/Linux/Mac"-> "Altiris Agent for
UNIX/Linux/Mac - Upgrade"
Change this policy to "On" and save changes.
- After a successful upgrade of the Altiris Agent on the Dell
Management Console system, ensure that you restart the Monitor
Agent service manually, if it is in a stopped state.
- Be aware the proper operation of the Altiris agent on the managed
systems may require opening ports on any firewall that may be
in operation. See the Dell Management Console Ports document in
the DMC section of the "www.delltechcenter.com" website.
######################################################################
UPGRADES – POINTS TO NOTE
######################################################################
Upgrading to Dell Management Console 1.0.2:
Insert the "Dell Management Console" DVD and click “Install Dell
Management Console” on the start-up screen. The Symantec Installation
Manager (SIM) may need to be updated, so the SIM installs first.
When SIM launches, click "Install New Products" and select
"Dell Management Console."
NOTE:
- If you have other components besides Dell Management Console, some
critical updates will automatically start before you can install the
latest Dell Management Console.
- If you do not see Dell Management Console listed, then you may be
pointing the product listing to a different repository. You can
change this to point to the DVD product listing:
1) On the startup screen of SIM, click "Settings."
2) Click "Change product listing..."
3) Click "Add..."
4) Browse to the "dell.pl.xml" in your Dell Management Console DVD.
5) Click "OK" until the startup screen is displayed.
You should now see Dell Management Console listed in "Install
new products."
######################################################################
USER NOTES
######################################################################
See the Dell Management Console FAQs on the Dell Tech Center website.
======================================================================
Resource Links
======================================================================
1) The Dell TechCenter
http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/Dell+Management+Console
2) Altiris Knowledge Base Articles
https://kb.altiris.com/
3) Juice User Community: A Community for Symantec Customers and End
Users
http://www.symantec.com/community/
4) Altiris Agent Support Matrix:
See kb.altiris.com Article # 46349
######################################################################
KNOWN ISSUES
######################################################################
======================================================================
General
======================================================================
* You must restart the Altiris Agent after the network card is
disabled in a dual-homed environment.
The Altiris Agent does not bind to a particular network card, but
it attempts to connect to the fully-qualified domain name. So, if
you are using a connection-specific DNS name and disable the
connection, you may experience an issue.
Workaround: Reset the Altiris agent.
1. Right-click the round yellow icon in the lower right-hand
corner of your screen and select "Altiris Agent."
2. Select the "Task Status" tab and click "Reset Agent."
3. Wait until this message is displayed: "Registered with
<your_NS_server_name>."
The agent is now reset.
[275039] [282313]
* Dell Management Console stops responding when the zoom level is
changed to less than 100%. To resolve this issue, restart Internet
Explorer.
[282548]
======================================================================
Install & Upgrades
======================================================================
* When creating an install zip package, the following error may be
displayed:
"An error occurred while creating the package and the wizard must
close. Please see log for details."
Relaunch the install and proceed without any issues.
[334784]
* In the "Install New Products" screen of Symantec Installation
Manager, there is a check-box for "Show all available versions".
When you install Dell Management Console from the DVD, the previous
versions are not available.
To get older versions, you must install Dell Management Console
online through the global product listing.
* To point to the online global product (GPL) listing to get the
latest Symantec solutions and updates:
1. You need a connection to the Internet to be able to reach the GPL
online.
2. After verifying that you can access the Internet, launch the
Symantec Installation Manager through "Program Files"-> "Altiris"
-> "Symantec Installation Manager."
3. Click "Settings" in the start-up page of SIM.
4. Click "Change product listing" and type
http://www.solutionsam.com/solutions/pl/symantec.pl.xml.
5. Click "OK".
You will now have access to the latest solutions and updates in the
"Install New Products" page.
* Upgrade failures when upgrading from Dell Management Console 1.0.1
to 1.0.2 because of the SQL Service stopping:
The SQL server service is sometimes stopped when disabling
(deselecting) the “Update Root Certificate” option from the
"Add Remove Programs"-> "Windows Components" dialog box.
Resolution: It is recommended that you reboot the system if you are
disabling (deselecting) the “Update Root Certificate” option and then
then start the DMC 1.0.2 upgrade process.
[337899]
* Upgrade of Dell Management Console, Dell Client Manager and SMS to
the latest version fails.
During the initial installation or upgrade of products/Solutions,
Symantec Installation Manager (SIM) fails during the stop
or restart of services. If you try to restart the service
(in this case the service failing was the Altiris Service) manually,
the following message is displayed:
"Failed while starting service: AeXSvc Configuration failed while
attempting: Restarting services..."
If you try to restart the Altiris Service manually, the following
message is displayed:
Error 1053: The service did not respond to the start or control
request in a timely fashion."
Then the Altiris Service stays in 'starting' mode and does not
starts (until you reboot the machine or run NET STOP 'service name')
Resolution: In the "Properties' tab of the service, change the AppID
from Local Admin Account to a Domain Admin/LocalSystem account that
allows the services to keep running, starting, and stopping properly.
For more information, see
https://kb.altiris.com/article.asp?article=48505&p=1
[334639]
======================================================================
Application Launch Solution
======================================================================
* Launching Server Administrator launch point a second time on the
same browser instance of first login results in an error.
This is expected behavior. As the part of security fix for XSRF
(Cross site request forgery), Server Administrator validates every
session against the secret key generated by the server. Close the
first instance and re-launch the Server Administrator launch point.
[271966]
* All Dell Management Console launch points are hard coded to default
values. If the application is installed in another location, edit the
launch point from "Settings"-> "Console"-> right-click "Actions."
This applies to URL launch points as well.
[248633] [263762]
* Dell Management Console does not display RAC Console or RAC Telnet
launch points for Dell PowerEdge xx0x systems.
To display the RAC Console launch point:
1. Create a new launch point and name it "RAC Console for xx0x
Servers"
2. Set the following parameters:
Resource Type: Dell Computer
Expression: [DMC_RACDevice].[RACType] like iDRAC
Action Type: URL
Base URL: http://%DMC_RACDevice.RACIPAddress%
Open in: New window
Substitution Parameters: DMC_RACDevice.RACIPAddress
To display the RAC Telnet launch point:
1. Create a new launch point and name it "RAC Telnet for xx0x
Servers"
2. Set the following parameters:
Resource Type: Dell Computer
Expression: [DMC_RACDevice].[RACType] like iDRAC
Action Type: Command Line
Command Line: cmd.exe /k telnet.exe %DMC_RACDevice.RACIPAddress%
Substitution Parameters: DMC_RACDevice.RACIPAddress
[281375]
* When creating a right-click action for a particular Resource Type,
several unsupported Data Classes are displayed. Choosing an
unsupported Data Class results in an error.
To determine what Data Classes are supported for a resource:
1. Go to the "Resource Manager" for the Resource Type.
2. Go to "View"-> "Inventory."
Ensure that you only choose those Data Classes that are listed in
the Resource Manager when creating a right-click action for a
Resource Type.
[272329]
======================================================================
Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Agent Deploy Solution
======================================================================
* Server Administrator Agent deploy task wizard displays the status
as "waiting for Agent to get the status" while the agent deploy and
remote installation is in progress on the remote target server.
The functionality to update the task status is not enabled by
default. This is because the option to have intermediate task status
events being reported back to the server results in more bandwidth
usage.
To enable this setting:
1. Click "Settings"-> "Notification Server"-> "Site Server Settings"
-> "Site Management"-> "Settings"-> "Task Service"-> "Settings"->
"Task Service Settings."
2. Select "Send detailed task events" and click "Save Changes."
After saving the changes, the agent nodes require an updated
configuration to apply the changes so that they can start sending
detailed events.
3. Run the "Update Client Configuration" task to update the
changes.
The tasks now have this information reported.
[245096] [257754]
* Reboot target machine option will not work when the target machine
has Windows 2000 or Windows NT installed without the Microsoft
Resource Kit tools.
[270933]
* If you select a create package option for Linux Server Administrator
package:
- and then select to go back on the next wizard screen
- then change the option to use existing package and
- select the uploaded package
the deployment will fail with an unknown error.
Workaround: You can upload the package and go through the wizard
without going back to the first screen or close the wizard and start
over to choose the select existing package option.
[281260]
* Server Administrator Agent deploy task fails when existing Linux
install package is used for deployment. This happens because of the
corrupted software installation package.
Workaround: Go to "Manage"-> "All resources" and delete the four
entries for that version of Server Administrator and upload the
Linux install file again using the wizard.
[296364]
* Existing Server Administrator Linux package may not be displayed in
the Agent Deploy wizard page when Dell Management Console, SMS and
DCM are installed on the same virtual machine.
Workaround: Go to "Manage"-> "All Resources." Search for uploaded
Server Administrator package using the version number as the search
criteria. Double-click the Software release. It displays the Resource
Manager window. Click the "Edit Software Resource" link from the left
hand pane and change the release name to “Dell OpenManage Server
Administrator for Linux 6.0.1” (assuming the uploaded file was
OpenManage version 6.0.1) and save changes. This will display the
package name in the wizard.
======================================================================
Dell Patch Management Solution
======================================================================
* Use update catalogs and package repository from the same source.
It is highly recommended that you use the update catalogs and package
repository from the same source. Although Patch Management Solution
for Dell systems allows you to mix online and offline locations for
catalogs and update packages, this may cause problems with the
availability of packages described by the catalog.
[266854]
* Identical system names may produce errors in the second-level report
results.
Drilling down into report results may produce errors if you have two
servers with identical names in a production environment.
* The "Applicable Computers by Individual Update" report may appear to
display duplicate entries in the first tier report results.
The duplicate entries are actually different releases of the update
that appear with the same name.
* Rollout Jobs fail to complete because the final system reboot does
not occur.
A system receiving updates from the Dell Management Console may fail
to reboot automatically if the "Altiris Power Control" task fails to
execute.
[273064]
* Internet Explorer Memory usage is high when you work with the
Dell Patch Management solution.
Internet Explorer allocates memory when a new window is opened and
does not free the entire memory when that window is closed.
Eventually this decreases the system performance.
Workaround: Close all browser windows and reopen Internet Explorer.
[272419]
* SQL memory usage is high when working with Dell Patch Management
solution.
Dell Patch Management solution involves high use of SQL memory and
affects system performance. It is recommended to use a system with
minimum 4 GB RAM and the following SQL memory settings:
+-------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Total System Memory | Maximum Memory Setting |
+-------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| 2 GB | 500 MB (minimum SQL Express memory |
| | is 256 MB) |
+-------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| 4 GB | 750 MB (minimum SQL Server memory is |
| | 512 MB) |
+-------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| 8 GB | 3.5 GB |
+-------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| 16 GB | 8 GB |
+-------------------------+--------------------------------------+
For more information, see Microsoft KB 321363 and KB 319942.
[273614]
* The Compliance report for a system is displayed only if there are
any updatable components.
* Systems that are rebooted after an update still display a "Reboot
Required" message.
The return code is from the actual update process. You can go to the
job and check the status of the task, including the status of the
reboot.
[272827]
* The "Check applicable updates by Computers" report may display
multiple entries for the same server name even if the report is
grouped by computer name.
[261236]
* The "Server Name" filter does not display any updates Under "Manage
Dell Hardware Updates."
Manage Dell Hardware Updates page may not display any updates when
you select the "filter by server name" option. You can view the
available updates by selecting "filter by server model" option.
[264386]
* Patch Rollout Job fails with message "Schedule occurs in the past."
Scheduling a "stage and distribute task" task does not schedule the
"Staging and Preparing For Distribution" task. It only schedules the
"Rollout Job".
If the "staging and preparing for distribution task" takes a longer
time and surpasses the scheduled time for a rollout job, the rollout
job times out and the update task does not run on schedule. In such
cases, it is recommended to use the "Run now" option to apply the
patch.
If scheduling is required, you should provide enough time gap between
"Staging and distribute task" and a "Rollout job,", so that the
Rollout Job can start after the staging and distribute task is
completed.
[278453]
* A Server Error message is displayed when you launch the Security
Permissions page by clicking "Settings"-> "Security"-> "Permissions"
menu on the Web page that is opened from the "Getting Started" Web
part on Dell Patch Management solution portal page.
The security permissions page can be launched without errors from the
main console window by clicking "Settings"-> "Security"->
"Permissions."
[280961]
* Download DUP Catalog task only shows the completion status but does
not show additional details in the output properties section on the
status page.
[317177]
* "Latest Applicable Updates by Computers" report displays only one
entry for multiple hard drives on a target machine when the hard
drives have applicable update with the same version.
This is a reporting issue and if you select to apply the
update all hard drives will be updated.
[320397]
* Dell Management Console does not support the Dell Patch feature
on the management station. This is because a software update may
require a reboot that may affect other scheduled tasks that are run
on the management station. You can perform software updates using the
"Dell Systems Management Tools and Documentation" DVD after closing
the Dell Management Console application.
======================================================================
Event Console
======================================================================
* Alert-Initiated Discovery will not work for the PowerVault(TM)
Modular Disk (MD) storage devices.
MD Array traps are forwarded from the system where Dell PowerVault
Modular Disk Storage Manager application is installed and the Host
IP address in the trap is the system's IP address instead of the MD
Storage Device. Alert-initiated discovery is run on the Host IP,
which in this case is the device that manages the MD Storage
device.
[271840]
* Traps from some Dell printers, such as model number 2330dn may not be
categorized properly in the Event Console. These models may not
support the standard printer MIB (RFC 3805) for trap classification.
Such traps are received by the Event Console but displayed as
"Unknown" Event Name, "Unknown" Event Category and "Undetermined"
severity.
You can perform all actions, such as Resolve, Acknowledge, and View
Details that can be performed on other recognized alerts. The
difference between recognized and unrecognized traps is that Name,
Category, and Severity do not display the proper values.
[255399]
* Traps may not be received when both Dell OpenManage IT Assistant
and Dell Management Console are installed on the same management
station. To correct this behavior, restart the "Altiris Event
Engine" and "Altiris Event Receiver" services.
[281264]
* Traps received from a managed system having Red Hat(R) Enterprise
Linux(R) 4 (Update 7) (x86 or 64) installed on it, display "0" as
Trap Description in Event Console. This issue is caused by a net-snmp
bug introduced in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (Update 7) operating
system and not specific to Dell Management Console. Install the
following rpms on the managed system to fix this issue [307764]:
net-snmp-utils-5.1.2-13.el4_7.3.x86_64.rpm
net-snmp-libs-5.1.2-13.el4_7.3.x86_64.rpm and
net-snmp-5.1.2-13.el4_7.3.x86_64.rpm
======================================================================
Inventory
======================================================================
* Discovery/Inventory task fails when you discover a very large number of
devices.
If you discover or inventory a large number of devices (1000 or more)
using multiple tasks running simultaneously, the task may
fail or you may see a “Run time error” message displayed.
Workaround: Break the discovery task into multiple tasks _and_
stagger the time in which these tasks are started.
[343512, 344196]
* For PowerVault MD1120, the Enclosure type is displayed as "9" instead
of "external" under Enclosure Information section.
[281683]
* For "Memory Device Failure Type" attribute for server memory, only
the following values are mapped:
1: ECC single bit correction warning rate exceeded
2: ECC single bit correction failure rate exceeded
4: ECC multibit fault encountered
8: ECC single bit correction logging disabled
16: Device disabled because of spare activation
These values are bit masks, so a combination of values is possible.
However, combination values are not mapped, therefore numeric values
are displayed if combinations of the above states are present on
server memory.
[264051]
======================================================================
MIB Import
======================================================================
* After importing traps (using the MIBImport Task or SNMP MIB Browser
Link), if the traps are not recognized properly in the Event Console
window, do the following:
a) Select "Event Console"-> "Protocol Management"-> "Alert
Management Settings."
b) On the right pane, expand the "Unknown" event category
c) Select the traps that display a severity of "Unrecognized"
in the Event Console.
d) Click "Edit" on each trap, but do not modify any parameters.
e) Save the trap. The trap will now be recognized in the Event
Console.
[273477]
======================================================================
Monitoring
======================================================================
* After the Altiris Agent has been updated on the Dell Management
Console system, the monitor agent may be in a stopped state. This
service may need to be restarted for monitoring to continue. [328482]
* Alerts sent from some versions of the PowerVault MD Storage
Management Software for the MD3000 family of devices is not
associated with the MD device in Dell Management Console.
As a result, OnDemand polling for the MD Array is not triggered.
An alert will be generated on the next scheduled health polling cycle
if the device state has changed. Reduce the polling interval for the
primary health metric if you require more timely updates.
Changing the interval will also affect other devices.
[271243]
* Only embedded ESX servers with Update 4 and greater will report a
primary health status over WSMAN. For classic ESX and earlier
versions of embedded ESX, this will result in an undetermined health
state being displayed. For classic ESX servers, you can use SNMP or
WMI to discover and monitor the health of the server.
[261806]
* When the WMI protocol is used for management of systems (either alone
or in combination with SNMP), it may take up to several hours to
provide accurate monitoring statistics (including health and
connectivity status) if a network interruption occurs or the
monitored device is temporarily powered down, due to an interruption
in the WMI session to that device. To reduce the amount of
time to recover the connection to the device, adjust the "Refresh
session every" setting to a smaller number (located under "Home"->
"Monitoring and Alerting"-> "Monitor"-> "Settings"-> "Remote
Monitoring Server Settings"-> "Performance Tuning.") However,
decreasing this number may increase the overall monitoring time and
should typically not be lowered if you are monitoring more than
several hundred devices.
[282757]
* If Performance monitoring is not working, it may be because:
- The performance polices are not enabled by default. See the
"Dell Management Console User’s Guide" or the tutorial video for
details on how to enable these policies.
- Performance policies for Windows require Windows 2003 or greater.
- The server you are attempting to monitor is not classified as a
"Dell Computer." This is a licensing restriction of the limited
license.
- For WMI support, the credentials defined in the connection profile
at the time the device was discovered must be valid credentials for
that device. If the credentials are no longer valid for the device,
the device must be re-discovered with the proper credentials.
- The last discovery for the device must have included the WMI
protocol. When a device is discovered, it will only use the latest
connection information to communicate with the device.
[255062]
* On-demand health monitoring of an EqualLogic device will only work
when all of the arrays in a EqualLogic group are discovered. If only
a subset of the arrays or only the group IP is discovered, the alerts
generated from the individual arrays not discovered will not trigger
an on-demand health poll.
[322832]
* Event Console may show multiple health status for a single device
in a condition where previous status alert was not cleared
from the Event Console, primarily because of a known race condition
issue. This could, for example, display as a 'critical' as well
as a 'warning' alert for the same device in the Event Console.
This might also result in a incorrect health status being
displayed in the Group Health web part on the portal page.
To resolve this problem, perform the following steps:
1. Select all alerts on the Event Console (Shift + click)
2. Right-click and select "Resolve"
3. You can either run the "Events Purge Policy" or
select the events and delete them from the event console. The
Purge Policy is available at "Home"->"Monitor and Alerting"
-> "Event Console"-> "Event Console Purging Maintenance."
To purge all alerts, limit the alerts stored to 0, and run the
policy. Ensure that you revert to the original settings after
this process is complete.
4. After deleting the events, wait for the next monitor polling
cycle, which pulls in the current state of the devices.
[334637]
======================================================================
Network Discovery
======================================================================
* Discovery/Inventory task fails when you discover a very large number
of devices.
If you are discovering/inventorying a large number of devices
(1000 or more) using multiple tasks running simultaneously, the task
may fail or you may see a “Run time error” message displayed.
Workaround: Break the discovery task into multiple tasks _and_
stagger the time in which these tasks are started.
[343512, 344196]
* EqualLogic Storage Discovery
When discovering an EqualLogic storage device, you should _not_
include the group IP address in the discovery range. For example,
if your EqualLogic group includes three arrays, you should enter the
three IP addresses of the individual arrays into the discovery
wizard or discovery task. If you enter the group IP address
and all of the array IP addresses, one of the arrays will not be
properly discovered and as a side effect, the SNMP alerts for that
array is displayed in the Event Console as "unknown", that is, they
will not be correlated back to the group IP address.
[331479]
* SNMP Discovery of Windows Server 2008 Devices
An SNMP-only network discovery task will fail to discover a system if
that system is running Windows Server 2008 with its "Network
discovery" feature disabled.
Perform the following steps to enable "Network discovery" on the
target server:
a) Navigate to the target system's Control Panel.
b) Select "Network and Sharing Center."
c) In the "Sharing and Discovery" section, set "Network discovery" to
"On."
[250493] [253417]
* IPMI Discovery
For proper classification of the IPMI device, the Channel Privilege
Level Limit on the IPMI device and the IPMI Privilege level of the
connection profile must match. If these levels do not match, the
device is classified as a "Network Resource."
The following table lists the appropriate level relationships:
+-------------------------------+----------------------+
| IPMI Device | Connection Profile |
| Channel Privilege Level Limit | IPMI Privilege level |
+-------------------------------+----------------------+
| Administrator | admin |
+-------------------------------+----------------------+
| Operator | operator |
+-------------------------------+----------------------+
| User | user |
+-------------------------------+----------------------+
[270173]
* Discovery of Microsoft High Availability (HA) Clusters
HA Clusters can be discovered using SNMP only. The discovery task
that is intended to discover HA Clusters must have SNMP enabled in
its Connection Profile and the associated credentials must be correct
for the target devices.
To discover the members, the IP address of each cluster member must
be included in the list of addresses to be discovered by the
discovery task.
When discovering HA Clusters, the cluster name may replace the name
of the active cluster node. To avoid this, do not include the cluster
IP address in the discovery range.
If the cluster IP address is the only IP address in the discovery
task that is related to the HA Cluster, the currently active cluster
node will be discovered and its name will be the same as that of the
cluster itself. This results in the cluster name appearing in
several places under the "All Devices" organizational view.
For example:
- Under "HA Clusters" as the HA Cluster
- In the resource pane as the discovered system when the cluster's
organizational group is selected
- In the resource pane as the discovered system when the "Servers"
organizational group is selected
[250834] [250857] [253557] [266123]
* Duplicate entries of a system found after running a discovery task:
If a system and its associated Dell Remote Access Card (DRAC) are
discovered using SNMP (with or without also using IPMI), two entries
for that server are displayed under the "All Devices" organizational
view: one entry for the system and one for the DRAC.
[266778]
* Dell Servers are classified as "Computer" even if IPMI is enabled in
the connection profile.
When discovering Dell servers using only SNMP or WMI, Server
Administrator must be installed and running on the managed system
for the system to be classified as a "Dell Computer."
Consider this situation:
- If IPMI is used in combination with SNMP or WMI,
- You specify both, the server IP address and baseboard management
controller (BMC) IP address in the discovery task, and
- Target server is not running Server Administrator
two devices will be discovered: a "Computer" and a "Dell Computer."
In this case, the "Dell Computer" is associated with the BMC IP
address and the "Computer" is associated with the target server.
[272225]
* Altiris Agent push fails in certain cases when using SNMP+IPMI to
discover a server
If a server and its DRAC or BMC are discovered using SNMP and IPMI,
the IP address of the BMC may be associated as the primary IP
address of the server.
It is recommended that only SNMP be used in the discovery task to
avoid this situation.
For more information, see the Altiris Knowledgebase Article #45977.
[285037]
* Resource type improperly set to "Dell Computer":
If a server with Server Administrator is discovered, then when Server
Administrator is uninstalled, and the server is re-discovered, the
resource type will still be (incorrectly) set to "Dell Computer". The
resource type should only be set to this if Server Administrator
is installed.
[291329]
======================================================================
Reports
======================================================================
* When you perform a right-click on a tape device for the tape drive
Drill-down report, an exception is displayed. This is a known issue
and will be resolved in a future release.
[281224]
* Currently, Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) backplane versions
report displays backplane versions only for BMCs that have been
discovered through IPMI.
To display BMCs that have been inventoried from a server, do the
following:
a. Clone the Baseboard Management Controller backplane versions
report.
b. Edit the report.
c. Go to "Filter Expressions" tab.
d. Remove the "DeviceClassGuid" filter.
e. Change [DMC_Firmware].[FirmwareType] to
[DMC_Firmware].[FirmwareName]
Leave the text as "BMC."
[282687]
* For Storage Array report, the drill-down will not display details for
EMC Storage devices.
To resolve this issue, do the following:
a. Click on any section of the pie chart to open the drill-down
report.
b. Export the report (available through the report name drop-down
box.
c. Remove the following:
<expression operator="LIKE" position="2">
<dataField name="[DMC_Firmware].[FirmwareType]" position="0" />
<value type="Text" position="1">Firmware</value>
</expression>
d. Save the file.
e. Right-click "Dell report" and select "Import."
This is a known issue and will be resolved in a future release.
[283230]
* CERC/PERC Controller drilldown report will not show data for Patrol
Read State.
This is a known issue and will be fixed in a future release.
[282293]
* EqualLogic devices will not appear in the Storage Array report.
EqualLogic devices are currently not supported in reports.
EqualLogic devices will be supported in a future release for
reports.
======================================================================
Tasks
======================================================================
* To run IPMI-related tasks against IPMI-capable devices, such as Dell
servers, you must enable the IPMI protocol to discover these devices.
The discovery task for IPMI devices should include the IP Addresses
that support the IPMI protocol. For Dell servers, these are the IP
Addresses by which the DRAC and/or BMC communicate.
[270643]
* On managed systems running Windows, if you want to set the front
panel LCD text to a multi-word text that contains spaces, use the
Command Line Builder task or the BIOS Configuration task. Also,
enclose the text in quotes. For example, "PowerEdge 2950."
[265432]
* On managed systems running Linux, you cannot set the front panel LCD
text to a string with embedded spaces using the Command Line Builder
or BIOS configuration tasks. "PowerEdge 2950" is not a valid setting
for LCD text on Linux systems.
Managed systems running Linux have additional restrictions on custom
text: some special characters like "&" and "(" cannot be used in the
custom text for the above tasks.
[235693]
* You may be required to re-enter the administrator password on the
"Advanced" tab of the "Hardware configuration" tasks, when any
change is made on the "Advanced" tab.
* In the Command line builder task, you can run IPMI commands as
defined in the "Dell OpenManage Baseboard Management Utility User’s
Guide" at the Dell Support website at
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/software/smbmcmu/BMCMU_4_0/en/ug/bmcugc0d.htm#wp1099512
[270202]
* In the "Associate Dell Devices" task, in "Target Selection,"
("Apply to"-> "Computers,") if you choose the filter (Add Rule):
"exclude computers not in"-> "Group"-> "Computers," then it only
displays (managed) systems that have the Altiris agent installed on
them.
To select unmanaged computers, choose the following filter:
"exclude computers not in"-> "Computer list"-> "Computers."
[267443]
* When Dell Management Console and Altiris Server Management Suite
are installed together on the same server, the "Download Q Chain"
task displayed in the "Job and Task Status" Web part on the Dell
Management Console portal page fails if the server is not connected
to the Internet.
[279830]
* Some Server Administrator commands displayed in the "Command Line
Builder" and "Hardware Configuration" tasks may not be backward
compatible. For example, Server Administrator 5.x has "nic1" and
"nic2" attributes but no "nic" attribute, whereas Server
Administrator 4.3 has only the "nic" attribute.
See the respective versions of "Dell OpenManage Server Administrator
User’s Guide" for the complete list of commands and options
supported.
[270384]
* Exporting a task or policy to an external USB device does not release
the device handle.
To work around this issue, export the task or policy to a local drive
and copy the exported files to the external USB device.
[236272]
* When two or more tasks are added to a Server job, the job may stop
responding if any of the tasks in the job is unable to find an
applicable target device. If the job stops responding, any remaining
tasks in the job may not run.
[284549]
* In the "Job and Tasks portal" page, when "Create a new job or task"
link is clicked, the "Create New Task" window does not show
Client Job and Server Job. To create a Server Job or a Client job
from the "Job and Tasks portal" page, right click on any folder in
the left pane and select "New"-> "Server Job" or "New"-> "Client
Job".
[315295]
* DWS Configuration is not supported for Linux targets in Server
Administrator version 6.1.
As a consequence configuring DWS through either the DWS Configuration
Task or the OpenManage CLI task on Linux targets will cause the task
to fail. Due to an issue in the task framework with Linux targets,
these tasks when executed against Linux targets take a long time
(~1 hour) to show the failure.
[322877]
* If you click on the "Warranty Report" link from the "Warranty
Extractor Task" UI on an SSL enabled DMC, you are required to enter
Administrator credentials to access the page. This is due to an issue
in the framework API used to retrieve the URL prefix.
If you provide the correct credentials, you can view the report from
the Task UI page. Alternately, you can choose to view the report from
the "Reports"-> "Dell Reports" page, where you are not required to
supply credentials.
[330609]
* The online help of "Configure SNMP" task mentions the following task
settings that are not implemented in this release:
Is Dell OpenManage Server Administrator installed on the remote
managed system(s)?
Yes
No
Unknown
Remove SNMP service properties
[318296]
* Remote Server Administrator command line task may fail for Server Administrator running
on Microsoft Windows 2008 and Microsoft Windows 2008 R2.
To enable the successful functioning of remote Server Administrator CLI, the managed
system and the management station must be on the same domain or there should be a
trust relationship between the two domains.
If you have a Windows firewall configured on either the management station or the managed system,
change these settings:
On the management station:
1. Open TCP port 135.
2. Add the "omremote.exe" application (located in \dmc\DMCTasksSolution\ToolsBin) to the firewall
exception list.
On the managed system:
On the command prompt, type:
"netsh firewall set service RemoteAdmin"
For more information on connecting through the Windows firewall, see Microsoft’s MSDN website
for Platform SDK: Windows Management Instrumentation (Connecting through Windows Firewall)
at:
- http://support.microsoft.com/kb/875605
- http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa822854(VS.85).aspx
Ensure the following settings are applied for users with non-administrator privileges:
1. Grant DCOM remote launch and activation permissions for a user or group.
2. Grant DCOM remote access permissions.
3. Allow users access to a specific WMI namespace.
For more information see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa393266(VS.85).aspx
======================================================================
ESX Support
======================================================================
* The Altiris Agent is not supported on ESX 4.0 (classic). As a
result, Dell Patch Management and Performance metrics are not
supported.
* Dell Management Console 1.0.2 has not been certified with ESXi 4.0.
See the Dell Tech Center for whitepaper updates on this issue.
======================================================================
Installing Dell Management Console into a Virtual Machine (VM)
======================================================================
* Dell Management Console is tested to install in the following
VM environment:
--ESX 3.5 U2
Other notes for VM installs:
--Minimum 4GB Virtual RAM
--Minimum 4 Virtual Processors
--Physical server should have VT enabled processors
--Use a remote SQL database
--Variations on this configuration may work, but have not been tested.
--See kb.altiris.com - 45258 and 45257 for additional details.
######################################################################
DISCLAIMER
######################################################################
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
Copyright(C) 2009 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the written permission
of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: "Dell," "OpenManage," "PowerConnect,"
and "PowerEdge" are trademarks of Dell Inc.; "Microsoft, "Windows,"
"Windows Server," and "Excel," are registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation; "Novell" and "SUSE" are registered trademarks
of Novell Inc.; "Red Hat" and Red Hat Enterprise Linux are registered
trademarks of Red Hat, Inc.; "EMC," "Flare," and "Navisphere" are
registered trademarks of EMC Corporation; "Java" and "JRE" are
trademarks of Sun Microsystems.
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 Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and trade
names other than its own.
October 2009