Using Dell OpenManage Server Administrator's graphical user interface (GUI) or the command line interface (CLI) you can perform essential systems management tasks.
The reporting and viewing features allow retrieval of overall health status for systems on your network. At the component level, you can view information about voltages, temperatures, fan's revolutions per minute (RPM), memory functioning, and many other critical component details. You can see a detailed account of many relevant cost of ownership (COO) facts about your system in a summary view. Version information for BIOS, firmware, operating system, and all installed software is easy to retrieve.
Configuration features allow Server Administrator to perform essential tasks described in detail in the following sections.
NOTE: You can use the CLI instead of the Server Administrator home page, and turn the Server Administrator Web server off if you have security concerns. The CLI does not use the Web server. Use the omconfig system webserver action=stop command to turn off the Web server. The Web server starts automatically after a reboot, so this command must be issued each time a system starts up. See "omconfig system webserver/omconfig servermodule webserver" for more information.
What's New for Version 5.3
The following features are new in this release of Server Administrator:
Added support for the following Dell systems: R200
and R900.
Added support for the following Dell PowerVault™ systems: 100, 500, and 600.
Added support for Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008 (32 bit x86) and (x64), Standard, Web, DataCenter,
Enterprise, and Core editions
NOTE: Microsoft Windows Server 2008 is scheduled to be available in the first half of 2008. For latest information, see http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/default.mspx
Added support for Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® Version 4.5 (x86_32) and (x86_64) for AS, ES, and WS editions.
Added support to configure or report Integrated Dell Remote Access Controllers' (iDRAC) Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) settings and extended settings for modular servers.
Added interface to launch the iDRAC and Chassis Management Controller (CMC) from GUI.
Added support to display the modular server slot name and the slot number in the System/Server Module Summary page.
Added support to display the internal USB device information in the BIOS Setup and Ports Information page.
Added support to display Trusted Platform Module (TPM) information in the BIOS Setup page.
Added support to disable baseboard management controller (BMC) automatic system recovery (ASR) when the operating system's watchdog timer (WDT) is configured.
Added support for additional LAN network ports on the motherboard.
Added support to display embedded hypervisor information in the BIOS Setup page and Ports Information page.
Added support to configure the optical drive controller in the BIOS Setup page.
Added support to edit Server Administrator user privileges on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server operating systems.
Added support for iSCSI enablement of Network Interface Controller.
Added support to configure power monitoring settings.
NOTE: This feature is supported only on Dell systems with PMBus Interface.
Added support to update inventory for hot pluggable devices. Server Administrator monitors and updates the inventory information when plug-and-play USB devices such as CatFish tape drives and SAS disk drives are attached or detached from the managed system.
Added support to restrict remote access configuration when DRAC inband configuration is disabled. When inband configuration is disabled, remote access functions can be configured only through out-of-band (OOB) interface.
Added support for PERC 6/i, PERC 6/E, and SAS 6/iR controllers on limited Dell x9xx and xx0x systems.
Added support for RAID-6 and RAID-60 on PERC 6/i and PERC 6/E controllers.
Added support to display storage dashboard information in Storage® Properties page.
Added support to display storage alerts in the Server Administrator Alert Action Information page.
Using CLI Commands from Windows Command
Prompts
If you are running the Microsoft Windows® operating system, use the 32-bit command prompt to issue a Server Administrator CLI command. You can access the 32-bit command prompt by clicking the Start button and pointing to Programs® Accessories® Command Prompt shortcut, or by clicking the Start button, selecting Run, and typing cmd.exe in the Run dialog box.
Do not type command into the Run dialog box to launch a command line window; this activates the MS-DOS® emulator command.com, which has environment variable limitations that can cause subtle problems with the CLI.
Primary CLI Commands
The commands that carry out the functions of Server Administrator are:
omconfig
omhelp
omreport
The omconfig command writes values that you assign to an object's properties. You can specify values for warning thresholds on components or prescribe what action your system is to take when a certain warning or failure event occurs. You can also use the omconfig command to assign specific values to your system's asset information parameters, such as the purchase price of the system, the system's asset tag, or the system's location.
The omhelp command displays short text help for CLI commands. The shorthand equivalent of omhelp is the command for which you want help followed by -?. For example, to display help for the omreport command, type one of the following commands:
omhelp omreport
omreport -?
The omreport command produces reports of your system's management information.
NOTE: For an overall summary of CLI commands, type omhelp.
Table 1-1 lists the primary CLI commands used by Server Administrator. This guide contains a section for each primary command.
Table 1-1. CLI Commands and Sections in This Guide
NOTE: omupdate commands are no longer supported in Server Administrator and are replaced by Dell Update Package or Server Update Utility commands. To update the different components, download the Dell Update Package and run <package name> /s [/f]. See the Dell Update Packages for Microsoft Windows Operating Systems User's Guide, the Dell Update Packages for Linux User's Guide, or the Server Update Utility User's Guidefor more information on corresponding CLI syntax.
When you type CLI commands, the CLI checks these commands for correct syntax. If you enter a command and the command is executed successfully, a message displays, stating that your command has been successful.
Success Messages
When you type a successful omconfig command, data for that component displays.
The following omconfig command examples show valid CLI commands and their success messages:
Command:
omconfig chassis temps index=0 warnthresh=default
Message:
Temperature probe warning threshold value(s) set successfully.
omconfig system assetinfo info=depreciation duration=6
Message:
Asset information set successfully.
Failure Messages
CLI failure messages provide reasons why some commands do not succeed. Some common reasons why commands fail include syntax errors and components that are not present. Many error messages provide syntax information that you can use to execute the command successfully.
If you try to execute a command for a component or feature not present in your system configuration, the error message states that the component is not present.
Error! Number with up to 3 digits after decimal point expected, read 3.3000
The value given by the command specifies more than 3 digits after the decimal point. A valid minimum warning threshold value for volts contains up to 3 digits after the decimal point.
Voltage probe warning threshold(s) set successfully.
Scripting and Comparing With the CLI
The Server Administrator CLI allows administrators to write batch programs or scripts to be executed by the operating system. For an enterprise with many systems, an administrator could write a configuration script that specified the warning thresholds for each major component of a system and also specified a set of actions that the administrator wants each system to take in case of a warning or failure event. In the most critical cases, the administrator could write a script so that the system shuts down to prevent damage. The administrator could then distribute and execute the script to many managed systems at the same time. Such a scenario facilitates configuring any number of new systems acquired by a company and makes implementation of new system administration policies easier across many existing systems that require reconfiguration.
A similar scenario could be used to populate a large number of newly acquired systems with detailed asset information. Much of the information would be the same, such as the manufacturer or lessor of the system, whether support for the system is outsourced, name of the system's insurance company, method of depreciation, and so on. Any variable that is common to all systems could be scripted, sent to all managed systems, and executed. Asset information that is unique to a system could be scripted as a group and sent to that managed node for execution. For example, a script could specify values for all unique variables such as owner, primary user phone number, asset tag, and so on. Scripts to populate unique values would set all unique variables at once rather than one by one through the system's command line.
In many cases, the CLI allows a user with a very well-defined task in mind to retrieve information about the system rapidly. If a user wants to review a comprehensive summary of all system components and save that summary information to a file for comparison with later system states, the CLI is ideal.
Using CLI commands, administrators can write batch programs or scripts to execute at specific times. When these programs execute, they can capture reports on components of interest, such as fan RPMs during periods of high system usage compared with the same measurements at times of lowest system usage. Command results can be routed to a file for later analysis. Reports can help administrators gain information that can be used to adjust usage patterns, to justify purchasing new system resources, or to focus on the health of a problem component.
Command Syntax Overview
Commands vary in complexity. The simplest command has only command level 1. The omhelp command is a simple command. When you type omhelp, a list of the main CLI commands is displayed.
The next level of complexity includes commands that contain command levels 1 and 2. All of the about commands are examples of command level 2 complexity. The omconfig about and omreport about commands cause a very brief summary to display. The summary shows version information for the systems management software installed on your system; for example, Server Administrator 1.x.
Some commands have command level 1 and command level 2 and one name=value pair. Consider the following example command that instructs Server Administrator for more details about the environment for Server Administrator:
omreport about details=true
Command level 1 is omreport, command level 2 is about, and the name=value pair is details=true.
Many commands use command level 1, command level 2, and command level 3, but do not require any parameters (name=value pairs). Most omreport commands are of this type. For example:
omreport system alertaction
causes a list of alert actions that are configured for components on your system to be displayed.
The most complex commands have all three command levels and can have multiple name=value pairs. An example of two name=value pairs:
omconfig system assetinfo info=depreciation duration=3
