manage mx chassis infrastructure in openmanage integration ...€¦ · a dell emc technical white...

A Dell EMC Technical White Paper

Manage MX Chassis Infrastructure in OpenManage Integration for VMware vCenter (OMIVV) with a Unified Management IP This technical white paper describes the procedure for monitoring PowerEdge MX7000 chassis inventory, health information, firmware update, and event monitoring from the VMware vCenter Web Client by using OMIVV.

Dell Engineering April 2019

2 Manage MX Chassis Infrastructure in OpenManage Integration for VMware vCenter (OMIVV) with a Unified Management IP

Revisions

Date Description

April 2019 Initial release

Acknowledgements This technical white paper is authored by the following members of the Dell EMC Server Solutions Engineering team:

Authors— Vijay Bhatt and Atanu Sikder Support— Swapna M (InfoDev)

The information in this publication is provided “as is.” Dell Inc. makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to the information in this publication, and specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Use, copying, and distribution of any software described in this publication requires an applicable software license. Copyright © April/2019 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. Dell, EMC, and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be the property of their respective owners. Published in the USA [5/31/2019] [Technical White Paper] [] Dell believes the information in this document is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice.


Contents Executive summary ............................................................................................................................................................. 5

1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................... 6

2 Prerequisites for managing MX7000 using OMIVV...................................................................................................... 7

3 Onboard a PowerEdge MX chassis by using OMIVV .................................................................................................. 8

3.1 Manage chassis profile in OMIVV .................................................................................................................... 10

3.2 Create chassis profile by using OMIVV ............................................................................................................ 10

3.3 Edit, delete, and test chassis profile in OMIVV ................................................................................................ 15

4 Monitor inventory and health of chassis and its hosts in OMIVV ............................................................................... 16

4.1 Run chassis inventory in OMIVV ...................................................................................................................... 16

4.2 View health and inventory data of chassis in OMIVV ....................................................................................... 16

4.3 View the chassis summary page ...................................................................................................................... 18

4.4 Dell EMC chassis information page.................................................................................................................. 20

4.5 View hosts associated with chassis in OMIVV ................................................................................................. 23

4.6 View associated chassis in Multi-Chassis Management .................................................................................. 24

4.7 Host inventory information ................................................................................................................................ 24

5 Manage firmware update in OMIVV ........................................................................................................................... 26

5.1 Prerequisites for updating firmware version of vSAN clusters in OMIVV ......................................................... 26

5.2 Manage repository profile in OMIVV................................................................................................................. 26

5.3 Update vSAN cluster firmware in OMIVV ......................................................................................................... 29

6 Monitor events in OMIVV ........................................................................................................................................... 32

7 Manage Proactive HA (PHA) in OMIVV ..................................................................................................................... 34

8 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................. 34


Acronyms Acronym Expansion OMIVV OpenManage Integration for VMware vCenter

CSIOR Collect System Inventory On Reboot

DRS Distributed Resource Scheduling

FQDN Fully Qualified Domain Name

MCM Multi Chassis Management

iDRAC Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller

SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol

PHA Proactive HA


Executive summary

PowerEdge MX connects traditional and software-defined data centers with unequal flexibility and agility. Basically, the PowerEdge MX7000 chassis hosts disaggregated blocks of server and storage to create consumable resources on demand. Shared power, cooling, networking, I/O, and in-chassis management provides outstanding efficiencies. This technical white paper provides you information on how the OpenManage Integration with VMware vCenter (OMIVV) can help you surface hardware inventory and health information of MX chassis into VMware vCetner, the console that many IT administrators use for their daily virtualization management tasks. With this integration, important information is now easily obtained within vCenter instead of having to log into the OpenManage Enterprise-Modular console directly.


1 Introduction Dell EMC has introduced new modular chassis called MX7000 having 7U modular enclosure with eight slots that can hold 2S single or four 4S double-width compute sleds, which support 12Gbs single-width storage sleds. For more information about PowerEdge MX7000 chassis, go to https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/povw/poweredge-mx7000.

This technical white paper provides information about viewing the overall MX chassis inventory, the individual components health, and firmware update in OMIVV 4.3 and later versions.

By using this white paper as a guide, you can have a better understanding about PowerEdge MX Chassis infrastructure process using unified management IP and how to configure a chassis profile.

After creating the chassis profile, you will be able to see inventory and health information about the managed chassis, compute nodes (hosts), storage, and IO modules. Also, you will be able to perform cluster-aware firmware update on vSAN clusters of MX chassis compute notes using unified management IP and monitor events emanating from the MX chassis and its compute nodes (hosts).

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/povw/poweredge-mx7000

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/povw/poweredge-mx7000


2 Prerequisites for managing MX7000 using OMIVV The OpenManage Integration for VMware vCenter 4.3 release is designed to display the MX chassis information within the VMware vSphere Web Client. Chassis information is available only on the current iDRAC9 supported servers that are exclusively designed for PowerEdge MX chassis. For more information about installing OMIVV 4.3, see the OMIVV 4.3 Installation Guide available at dell.com/support.

If you want to view the information about chassis and health in the VMware Web Client, the chassis must be added and inventoried. To monitor the PowerEdge MX chassis using Web Client, ensure that the following configuration prerequisites are fulfilled:

• A valid PowerEdge MX Chassis management IP and user credentials. • The host (compute sleds) of the MX chassis managed by VMware vCenter.

https://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/openmanage-integration-vmware-vcenter-v43_install-guide_en-us.pdf


3 Onboard a PowerEdge MX chassis by using OMIVV Associate a host having valid IPv4 iDRAC IP to the connection profile. During the host inventory, the associated MX chassis is automatically discovered and displayed on the Dell EMC Chassis page.

If an iDRAC IPv4 is disabled for a host, the host inventory operation fails, and chassis is not discovered. To manage chassis and associated hosts in such cases, manually add an MX chassis, and then associate it to a chassis profile.

1. Log in to VMware vSphere Web Client, and then click Home. 2. Click Global Inventory Lists.

The OMIVV option is displayed in the left pane.

Figure 1 The Global Inventory Lists option is displayed from home icon of vCenter web client


3. In the Navigator pane, click Dell EMC Chassis.

Figure 2 The Dell EMC Chassis tab is displayed from Global Inventory Lists of vCenter web client

4. On the Dell EMC Chassis page, click Add MX Chassis. 5. In the Add MX Chassis dialog box, enter the IP address or FQDN value of the lead or standalone

chassis, and then click OK.

Figure 3 Add MX Chassis to be discovered by OMIVV

The chassis is displayed in the Objects tab.


Figure 4 The Dell EMC Chassis objects are created

3.1 Manage chassis profile in OMIVV A chassis profile is used to associate one or more chassis with credentials that are used to access the chassis to obtain inventory and health information.

3.2 Create chassis profile by using OMIVV 1. On the VMware vSphere Web Client page, click OpenManage Integration.

Figure 5 The OMIVV appliance plugin logo on the VMware vSphere Web Client page


2. On the OMIVV home page, click Manage Profiles Chassis Profiles.

Figure 6 View chassis profiles

3. Click (add). The Chassis Profile Wizard is displayed.

4. Enter chassis profile name and description. 5. Enter the chassis credentials and click Next.

The Select Chassis page is displayed.

Note—OMIVV requires chassis user credentials with administrator role.

Figure 7 Enter a chassis profile name and its login credentials


6. Select the chassis that you want to associate with the chassis profile and click OK.

The selected chassis is displayed on the Associated Chassis page.

Figure 8 Select Chassis page of the chassis profile wizard. 7. To remove the associated chassis, click (add).

Figure 9 Add or remove chassis from associated chassis list


Test connection operation runs automatically for the selected chassis.

Note—If there are no ESXi hosts present in the registered vCenters that are associated to the added MX chassis then the respective chassis test connection operation fails.

For a PowerEdge MX chassis configured with an MCM group, Dell EMC recommends managing all the lead and member chassis using the lead chassis. The member chassis test connection operation fails, and the test result is indicated as Fail. To discover the complete MCM group, click the IP address of the lead chassis.

Figure 10 List of chassis whose test connection status is successful


Figure 11 List of chassis whose test connection status is indicated as Fail

8. Click Finish. A chassis profile is created and displayed in the list of profiles.

Note—To complete the tasks on this wizard, ensure you have at least one successfully validated chassis.

Figure 12 Chassis Profile created successfully


3.3 Edit, delete, and test chassis profile in OMIVV To edit a chassis profile, select a chassis profile, and then click edit ( ).

To delete a chassis profile, select a chassis profile, and then click delete ( ).

To test a chassis profile. Select a chassis profile, and then click test connection ( ).

The icons for the action items are greyed out if a chassis profile is not selected.

Figure 13 List of chassis profiles created in OMIVV


4 Monitor inventory and health of chassis and its hosts in OMIVV Chassis inventory is the process of using the credentials in the chassis profile to obtain and store more information about the chassis into the OMIVV database. This inventory information is then available for use and is displayed on the various pages provided by the integration. If required, the chassis health information is retrieved and displayed on the Summary page. The inventory page is not refreshed automatically. Refresh the page to get the latest data.

4.1 Run chassis inventory in OMIVV All chassis that are part of a chassis profile are inventoried immediately after the creating the chassis profile. Hosts (that are associated with a chassis profile) inventory is also triggered from the chassis inventory. A chassis inventory can be initiated on demand for all the chassis profiles.

1. To run the inventory, click Monitor Job Queue. A table displays information about the last inventory ran for each chassis which is associated to a chassis profile.

2. In the left pane, click Chassis Inventory, and then click .

Figure 14 The Chassis Inventory job data in OMIVV

Note—The schedule icon is not available. However, the chassis inventory job is run immediately after a chassis profile is created.

4.2 View health and inventory data of chassis in OMIVV After running inventory, additional information about the chassis is displayed in the Dell EMC Chassis objects list. The chassis information pages are now populated with information.

We can manage the PowerEdge MX chassis in a standalone mode by having public IPs for OpenManage Enterprise-Modular. We can also configure an MX chassis in the Multi-Chassis Management (MCM) mode that has one lead and multiple member chassis.


Figure 15 List of chassis monitored by OMIVV

Note—When first discovered, the role of a chassis is indicated as NA. However, after running an inventory job on the chassis, the role status changes to either Standalone, Lead, or Member.


4.3 View the chassis summary page 1. To view the chassis summary page, double-click the chassis name.

The chassis summary page is displayed for the selected chassis. A summary of the chassis data is displayed as shown in the sample screenshot.

Figure 16 Summary of chassis data inventoried by OMIVV


Figure 17 Chassis sub-component health after successfully inventory


4.4 Dell EMC chassis information page 1. To view the Dell EMC chassis information page, click Monitor.

The Dell EMC Chassis Information page is displayed. The Dell EMC Chassis Information page displays granular data about the chassis.

2. In the left pane, click the respective chassis components to view the information about each chassis components.

Figure 18 Granular data about MX chassis displayed by OMIVV Based on the chassis type, the fields and data displayed on the page vary.

Figure 19 Chassis Fabrics Information


Note—If fabrics are created using OpenManage Enterprise-Modular, the fabric information is displayed only for lead chassis in an MCM configuration.

Figure 20 Chassis Fans Information

Figure 21 Chassis PSU Information


Figure 22 Chassis Temperature Information

Figure 23 Chassis IOM Information

Figure 24 Chassis firmware Information


4.5 View hosts associated with chassis in OMIVV The PowerEdge MX chassis can be deployed in a standalone mode or Multi-Chassis Management (MCM) mode by having one lead and multiple members. The Related Hosts section in the Manage tab for a Dell EMC chassis shows a list of Dell hosts that belongs to the chassis. For lead chassis, all the hosts present in lead and member chassis are displayed. However, for a member chassis, only the hosts associated with that chassis are displayed.

Figure 25 Hosts associated with a chassis in OMIVV To view the Dell EMC hosts that are managed by a chassis, in the VMware vSphere Web Client, click Global Inventory List Dell EMC Hosts.

Hosts that are managed by a chassis profile are identified by using Chassis Profile which is suffixed to its connection profile name.

Note—When the hosts are managed using chassis, the following features are not supported: • Configure System Lockdown Mode, • Clear SEL, • Bare metal work-flow, • System Profile reference • Drift detection

Figure 26 List of hosts managed using chassis profile


4.6 View associated chassis in Multi-Chassis Management The Related Chassis section of Manage tab for a PowerEdge MX chassis shows a list of other MX Chassis (either lead or member) present in that MCM setup.

Figure 26 Associated chassis in MCM set-up

4.7 Host inventory information Host inventory gets triggered after the chassis inventory is completed. The host Summary page displays brief information about the ESXi host along with the individual component status of the host.

Figure 27 Granular information about the host managed by OMIVV


Figure 28 OMIVV host health status


5 Manage firmware update in OMIVV By using OMIVV, you can update the firmware of hosts in the vSAN-enabled clusters (managed by using unified MX chassis IP address or FQDN name).

5.1 Prerequisites for updating firmware version of vSAN clusters in OMIVV • Host must have a valid iDRAC Express or Enterprise license. • Host have compliant CSIOR status, hypervisor, and minimum firmware versions. • The Collect System Inventory on Reboot (CSIOR) feature is enabled. • An inventory job is run on the hosts. • The DRS feature is enabled on the cluster. • Host is not in the maintenance mode. • vSAN data objects are in healthy status

5.2 Manage repository profile in OMIVV Repository profiles enable you to create and manage multiple driver or firmware repository profiles. These driver or firmware repository profiles can be used to update driver or firmware for vSAN clusters.

1. On the OMIVV home page, click Manage Baseline Repository Profile. 2. Click (add). 3. On the Welcome page, read the instructions, and then click Next. 4. On the Name and description page, enter profile name and description, and then click Next.

Figure 29 An example of driver and firmware repository profile

5. On the Profile Settings page, select either a firmware or driver repository. We need to successfully create a repository profile for either driver or firmware or both to allow catalog download and parsing. Successfully parsed repository profiles are available during the vSAN firmware update and cluster profile creation.

a. In the Repository Share Location box, enter the repository share location (NFS or CIFS). b. For CIFS, enter the credentials. c. To validate the catalog path and credentials, click Begin Test.


To continue creating a repository profile, you must complete this validation process. Results of the test connection are displayed.

6. On the Summary page, review the profile information, and then click Finish.

Figure 30 Create a firmware repository profile in OMIVV


Figure 31 Create a driver repository profile in OMIVV

Figure 32 Cluster Profile created using the repository profile.

Note—For an MX host managed by using a chassis profile, only the firmware and driver compliance levels are calculated even if its cluster profile has a well-defined system repository profile, firmware repository profile, and driver repository profile.


5.3 Update vSAN cluster firmware in OMIVV OMIVV enables you to update the firmware and schedule such update jobs by using vSphere Web Client. 1. To access the firmware update wizard, on the Hosts and Clusters page, perform either of the following:

• Right-click a cluster, select All OpenManage Integration Actions Firmware Update. • Select a cluster, click Monitor OMIVV Host Information Firmware Run Firmware Wizard.

Figure 33 Run Firmware Wizard 2. On the Welcome page, read the instructions, and then click Next.

The Select Servers page is displayed.


3. Select one or more hosts that are managed using chassis profile and click Next.

Figure 34 Select Servers Page 4. On the Select Update Source page, select already created firmware or driver or both repository profiles. 5. Select appropriate bundles linked with the repository profiles and click Next.

Figure 35 Update Source Page


6. On the Select Components page, select the firmware components for firmware upgrade.

Figure 36 Components Page 8. On the Update Information page, read the instructions and click Next. 9. On the Schedule Firmware Update page, enter the job name and job description. 10. To cancel any jobs on the iDRAC, select the Delete Job Queue and Reset iDRAC check box. This will increase execution time and reset the iDRAC, but does not delete the jobs from iDRAC Job Queue.

Figure 37 Schedule Firmware Update Job Page


6 Monitor events in OMIVV The goal of hardware management is to provide the system health status and up-to-date infrastructure information that an administrator requires to respond to critical hardware events without exiting from either the OMIVV appliance or vCenter.

To receive events from hosts, OMIVV is configured as a trap destination for all monitored devices. OMIVV supports SNMP v1 and SNMP v2 alerts for 12G and later hosts.

For a PowerEdge MX chassis in an MCM configuration, the trap destination is configured on a lead chassis. OMIVV receives alerts from all lead and member chassis using the lead chassis.

Figure 38 Alert policy related log data in OMIVV


You can edit events and alarms from the OMIVV on the Manage Settings tab. Also, select the event posting level, enable alarms for the Dell EMC hosts and chassis, or restore default alarms.

Figure 39 Enable alarms and events for OMIVV.


7 Manage Proactive HA (PHA) in OMIVV Proactive HA is a vCenter (vCenter 6.5 and later) feature that works with OMIVV. When you enable Proactive HA, the feature safeguards your workloads by proactively taking measures based on degradation of redundancy health of supported components in a host.

After assessing the redundancy health status of the supported host components, the OMIVV appliance updates the health status change to the vCenter server. The available states of redundancy health status for the supported components (PSUs, fans, and IDSDMs) are:

• Healthy (Information)—component operating normally • Warning (Moderately degraded)—component has a noncritical error • Critical (Severely degraded)—component has a critical failure

Note—When hosts (that are managed by using chassis) are added to a PHA-enabled cluster, and if IDSDM components are present, ensure that the Internal SD Card Redundancy is configured as “Mirror” in iDRAC Settings.

For more information, see the OMIVV User’s Guide at dell.com/support.

Conclusion Starting with version 4.3, the OpenManage Integration for VMware vCenter presents information about the MX chassis to the VMware vSphere web client. By configuring a chassis profile, an administrator can view high-level inventory and health information about the associated MX chassis and MX hosts, and then drill down to additional information as required, all these can be done without logging in to the OpenManage Enterprise-Modular web console.

https://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/openmanage-integration-vmware-vcenter-v43_users-guide_en-us.pdf

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