Download OpenManage or How to Navigate the Maze to OpenManage Downloads

We use Google Analytics to monitor the traffic on our web site. Great tool, I also use it on my personal blog. I was looking through the keyword searches that people use to get here, and it looks like quite a few people are searching on "Download OpenManage" or "openmanage download." Actually, for Jan 8–Feb 8 the top keyword for the entire site was "openmanage 5.3 download."

Since that is what is bringing you here, I thought I'd take a few moments to help you navigate the maze. Let's examine the multiple ways to get what you want.

First - the most obvious: go to http://support.dell.com and drill through your machine type. For example, if we choose the Dell PowerEdge 2950 and select "Systems Management" for the Category we get this list of files to download.

Now comes the fun part of deciphering these file names to what you may commonly know them as.

"OpenManage Server Administrator Managed Node" – This is more commonly known as OMSA. This agent is installed on the server and can then be accessed through the Web over port 1311. You will see two different download packages, one with an .exe extension and one with an .msp extension. The .exe is the full version, and the .msp is a Microsoft Service Pack to upgrade an existing OMSA installation.

"Dell CD ISO - PowerEdge Updates" – This name is for the Server Update Utility (SUU). Double check the dates; this one is usually the 5.2 older version.

"Dell DVD ISO - Dell Server Updates" – This name is also for the SUU, but in DVD format because SUU is cumulative. This stand-alone bootable image will apply Dell Update Packages (DUPs) to your server.

"Dell OpenManage Management Station" – This name is for IT Assistant. This link also has two versions, the .exe is the full version, and the .msp is the upgrade from version 5.2.0 and later.

"Dell OpenManage Deployment Toolkit" – Commonly called DTK. This toolkit is used to create scripts for mass deployment. See some of the functionality in my demo called "Scripting with Systems Build and Update Utility"

"Dell CD ISO - Dell Systems Build and Update Utility" – Ah, this one is easier to decipher. You see this commonly referred to as SBUU or SBU. I've got a couple of demos using this image.

"Dell DVD ISO - Dell Systems Management Tools and Documentation" – A 3 GB bandwidth choking download of SBUU, OMSA, ITA, DUPs, service/diagnostic tools, and systems documentation. Everything you need. You sometimes see this called SMTD.

Secondly – The more old-school way, drop into the FTP site at ftp://ftp.dell.com/sysman. Now, if you hit that link through your browser, you will be lost. It's a little overwhelming to see about 1,000 file names all in alphabetical order. The better way is through an FTP client so you can sort by date. I use FileZilla. When you sort by date and have the knowledge of the naming conventions that we just learned, you can easily interpret this screen shot:

Systems Edge - The Dell TechCenter

Hope that helps. Should be enough to get you started.

Scott