This reference guide documents the Dell™ OpenManage™ Server Administrator Common Information Model (CIM) provider contained in the Management Object File (MOF) dccim32.mof.
CIM provides a conceptual model for describing manageable objects in a systems management environment. CIM is a modeling tool rather than a programming language. CIM provides the structure for organizing objects into a model of a managed environment. For modeling a managed environment, CIM makes available a set of abstract and concrete classes of objects. These classes model the basic characteristics of systems, networks, and applications, as well as groupings of management-related data.
For more information about CIM, see the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) website at www.dmtf.org and the Microsoft® website at www.microsoft.com.
Server Administrator
Server Administrator 1.0 or later provides a suite of systems management information for keeping track of your networked systems. In addition to providing systems management agents that are independent of the management console, Server Administrator supports these systems management standards: CIM and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).
In addition to supporting systems management industry standards, Server Administrator provides additional systems management information about the specific components of your Dell™ system.
Documenting CIM Classes and Their Properties
The Dell CIM provider extends support to Dell-specific software and hardware components. The Dell MOF defines the classes for the Dell CIM provider. All of the supported classes and properties in the MOF are documented in this guide.
The following subsections define some of the basic building blocks of CIM classes that are used in describing the dccim32 provider name. These subsections also explain how the elements used in describing these classes are organized. This section does not document the entire CIM schema, but only those classes and properties supported by the dccim32 provider. The list of properties for each supported class varies greatly.
Base Classes
The classes listed in the Server Administrator CIM provider class hierarchy do not have a parent property. These base classes do not derive from another class. The base classes are:
CIM_ManagedSystemElement
CIM_Dependency
DELL_Esm Log
DELL_PostLog
DELL_CMApplication
DELL_CMDevice
DELL_CMDeviceApplications
DELL_CMInventory
DELL_CMOS
DELL_CMProductInfo
The CIM_ManagedSystemElement class is the base class for the system element hierarchy from which all other CIM classes are derived. As a result, CIM_ManagedSystemElement has no parent. Examples of managed system elements include software components such as files, devices such as hard drives and controllers, and physical subcomponents of devices such as chip sets and cards. For the CIM_ManagedSystemElement properties, see Caption, CreationClassName, Description, Name, and Status in Table 1-2, "Common Properties of Classes."
The Dell-defined classes are not defined in the official schema by the DMTF, the industry group that defines the standards for CIM, and hence do not have parent classes. CIM_Dependency does not have a parent class because it is a relationship or association between two managed system elements.
Parent Classes
Most classes in the dccim32 provider document both a Class Name and a Parent Class property. The parent class is the class from which any given class inherits its core properties. For example, the CIM_Controller class has the CIM_LogicalDevice class as its parent, and has various types of controllers (CIM_ParallelController, CIM_SerialController) as its children.
Classes That Describe Relationships
Classes that derive from CIM_Dependency have CIM_Dependency as their parent class, but they are documented in terms of antecedent and dependent elements in a relationship rather than in terms of common properties. Consider the following relationship between two CIM_ManagedSystemElements:
Antecedent
CIM_PackageCurrentSensor
Dependent
CIM_PhysicalPackage
The CIM_PackageCurrentSensor monitors an entire physical package, such as all the components contained in a given system chassis. The CIM_PhysicalPackage is dependent on the CIM_PackageCurrentSensor for this monitoring function.
Dell-Defined Classes
Server Administrator has extended some CIM classes and has created new classes to assist in managing systems and their components. In the diagrams that appear in the documentation for each class, those classes created and populated by Dell are designated by the gold (lighter gray) triangle
icon.
Typographical Conventions
The following example shows how most of the classes in the Dell CIM provider are documented. Table 1-1 shows a partial class description for the DELL_DMA class. (For a full class description, see Table 3-41, "CIM_DMA Properties.")
Class Name appears in Courier typeface and provides the string that names the class in the MOF.
Parent Class appears in Courier typeface and provides the name of the class from which the present class is derived.
Property denotes the name of the attribute that is being defined for this class.
Description includes text that defines the property.
Data Type stipulates the format that the values of this property must take. Common data types include Boolean, string, and various types of integer. Boolean indicates that the property must be expressed as one of two alternatives.
Table 1-1. CIM_DMA Properties
Class Name:
CIM_DMA
Parent Class:
CIM_SystemResource
Property
Description
Data Type
DMAChannel
A part of the object's key value, the DMA channel number.
uint32
Availability
Availability of the DMA. Availability values are defined as follows:
Other
Unknown
Available
In Use/Not Available
In Use and Available/Shareable
uint16
Common Properties of Classes
Many classes have properties such as Caption, Description, and CreationClassName. Table 1-2 defines properties that have the same meaning in every class that has this property and are defined more than once in this guide.
Table 1-2. Common Properties of Classes
Property
Description
Data Type
Caption
Describes the object using a short textual description (one-line string).
string
CreationClassName
Indicates the name of the class or the subclass used in the creation of an instance. When used with the other key properties of this class, this property allows all instances of this class and its subclasses to be uniquely identified.
string
CSCreationClassName
Indicates the computer system's creation class name.
string
CSName
Indicates the computer system's name.
string
CurrentReading
Indicates the actual current value indicated by the sensor in amperes.
sint32
Description
Provides a textual description of the object.
string
LowerThresholdNonCritical
If current reading is between lower threshold noncritical and upper threshold noncritical, the current state is normal. See Figure 3-2.
sint32
LowerThresholdCritical
If the current reading is between upper threshold critical and upper threshold fatal, the current state is critical. See Figure 3-2.
sint32
IsLinear
Indicates that the sensor is linear over its dynamic range.
Boolean
Manufacturer
Provides the name of the organization responsible for producing the CIM_PhysicalElement or CIM_SoftwareElement. This may be the entity from whom the element is purchased, but not necessarily. Purchase information is contained in the Vendor property of CIM_Product.
string
Name
Defines the label by which the object is known. When subclassed, the Name property can be overridden to be a Key property.
string
Status
Provides a string indicating how well the component is functioning—comparable to "health." Status values for operational and nonoperational conditions include:
Operational Status Values:
OK indicates that the object is functioning normally.
Degraded means that the item is functioning, but not optimally.
Stressed indicates that the element is functioning, but needs attention. Examples of Stressed states are overloaded, overheated, and so on.
Nonoperational Status Values:
Non-recover means that a nonrecoverable error has occurred.
Error means that an element has encountered an operational condition that is severe as compared to its normal mode of operation.
string
SystemCreationClassName
Indicates the system's creation class name.
string
UnitModifier
Provides the unit multiplier for the values returned by this sensor. All the values returned by this sensor are represented in units of 10 raised to the power of the unit modifier. If the unit modifier is –6, then the units of the values returned are microvolts. The units apply to all numeric properties of the sensor, unless explicitly overridden by the units' qualifier.
sint32
UpperThresholdCritical
If the current reading is between upper threshold critical and upper threshold fatal, the current status is critical. See Figure 3-2.
sint32
UpperThresholdNonCritical
If the current reading is between lower threshold noncritical and lower threshold critical, the current status is noncritical. See Figure 3-2.
sint32
Version
Version should be in the form <major>.<minor>.<revision> or <major>.<minor><letter><revision>; for example, 1.2.3 or 1.2a3.
string
Other Documents You May Need
Besides this Dell OpenManage Server Administrator CIM Reference Guide, you can find the following guides either on the Dell Support website at support.dell.com or on the documentation CD:
Server Administrator Online Help is context-sensitive help that you can access while running Server Administrator. Help screens provide step-by-step instructions on how to perform systems management tasks using Server Administrator.
Dell OpenManage Server Administrator User's Guide documents the features, installation, and uninstallation of Server Administrator.
Dell OpenManage Installation and Security User's Guide provides complete information on installation procedures and step-by-step instructions for installing, upgrading, and uninstalling Server Administrator for each operating system.
Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Command Line Interface User's Guide explains how to perform tasks using the text-based command line interface.
Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Messages Reference Guide lists the messages that you can receive on your systems management console or on your operating system's event viewer. This guide explains the text, severity, and cause of each message that the Server Administrator issues.
Dell OpenManage Server Administrator SNMP Reference Guide documents the SNMP management information base (MIB). The SNMP MIB defines variables that cover the capabilities of Server Administrator systems management agents.
icon.