Installing Dell Openmanage on an ESXi Host

Found this when paroozing the VMware communities sites for more info on Dell Openmanage for ESX.


Section 1: Install the vSphere Client and put the target host in maintenance mode

1. Connect to your Host Server via Internet address.
2. Download the vSphere Client appropriate for your version of ESXi
3. Install the vSphere Client
4. Open the vSphere Client and connect to your vCenter or directly to the host
5. Shut down all the guests on the target host, or migrate them to another host.
6. Right click on the target host in the left hand pane and click "Enter Maintenance Mode."

Section 2: Install Dell OpenManage

1. Download and install ‘vSphere CLI’ from VMware website (you will need to create an account in order to login and download the file):

http://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vcli/

Most recent at time of this post is: VMware-vSphere-CLI-5.0.0-615813.exe (https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/get-download?downloadGroup=VCLI50U1)

2. Obtain the Dell OpenManage package for ESXi:

v4.0 OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-6.3.0-2075.VIB-ESX40i_A00.9.zip
v4.1 OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-6.5.0-2247.VIB-ESX41i_A01.zip
v5.0 OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-7.1.0-5304.VIB-ESX50i_A00.zip


ESXi 4.0: http://ftp.dell.com/sysman/OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-6.3.0-2075.VIB-ESX40i_A00.9.zip
ESXi 4.1: http://ftp.dell.com/sysman/OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-6.5.0-2247.VIB-ESX41i_A01.zip
ESXi 5.0: http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/84/DriverDetails/DriverFileFormats/Product/poweredge-2950?DriverId=Y0WHR&FileId=2990390081&urlProductCode=False

3. Launch ‘vSphere CLI’ via Start > VMware > VMware vSphere CLI > Command Prompt.
4a. On ESXi 4.X, do the following:
- In the CLI window, type "cd bin" and hit enter to change the directory to the "bin" subfolder
- type "Vihostupdate.pl --server IpAddressOfHost -i -b PathToVIBinstallPackage" and hit enter.
(eg: Vihostupdate.pl --server 192.168.0.1 -i -b C:\OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-7.1.0-5304.VIB-ESX50i_A00.zip)

4b. On ESXi 5.X, do the following:

- Copy the zip file containing the VIB to a datastore that the host can access. I used the vSphere client to connect to the host, then hit the configuration tab, Storage, then right clicked on the default local storage and hit "browse datastore". From that window I created a new folder named "updates" and uploaded the file into it.

- Take note of the Datastore location and name that is shown under "Datastore Details" in the bottom pane while the datastore you uploaded the file to is selected. My local store was /vmfs/volumes/502e86dd-dfa6c7f0-9ce2-0022197a5bef ...

- In the CLI window, type "esxcli --server IpAddressOfHost software vib install -d PathToVIBinstallPackage" and hit enter.
(eg: C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI>esxcli --server 172.16.8.201 software vib install -d  /vmfs/volumes/502e86dd-dfa6c7f0-9ce2-0022197a5bef/updates/OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-7.1.0-5304.VIB-ESX50i_A00.zip)


5. The system will prompt for the username ( root - then press enter) and the root password (then press enter). The update will now be applied to the ESXi server. The update will take approx 5mins on ESXi 4, and only moments on ESXi 5. (You can view the progress on the vSphere Client screen if you have it open).

Note, you may need to enable CIM providers as well... 4.1 and 5.0 do this automatically, but I think certain builds of 4.0 require you do it manually. You can do this by opening up the CLI again and typing CIMoemProviderEnabled = 1 (thanks to a comment below for pointing this out!)


6. Once completed, close the command prompt screen and reboot the ESXi server. Once the server has come back from being rebooted, using the vSphere Client, right click on the server which is in (maintenance mode) and choose “Exit Maintenance Mode”.


Section 3: Connect to the server via Server Administrator


1. Download the latest version of Dell Open Manage Server Administrator by entering the following into your web browser:

(Version 6.3) http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?s=biz&c=us&l=en&cs=555&k=managednode%2Cv.6.3.0&cat=sup

(Version 7.1) http://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER00574377M/1/OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-WIN-7.1.0-5304_A00.exe

and searching for the right package for your needs.

For windows it is:

(6.3) OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-WIN-6.3.0-2075_A00.20.exe (125MB)
(7.1) OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-WIN-7.1.0-5304_A00 (186MB)

2. Install Server Administrator
3. Run Server Manager and choose "Manage a Remote Node", connect via IP Address, enter in the root and root password, and ensure "Ignore Certificate Warnings" is ticked.

NOTE: If your OMSA is responding extremely slow, as mine was, and you are using the Dell Customized version of ESXi 5.0 update 1, look at this article, which details an update to fix some CIM issues. You'll need to use vSphere Update Manager to install a patch on your hosts. http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2016538