Dell OMSA - Windows Servers

Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application is a free tool which Dell provide, enabling Dell PowerEdge users to have greater control over their server. OMSA is downloadable through Dell’s support website and is compatible with most of the latest Operating systems and with most PowerEdge chassis. OMSA compatibility is based on the Dell PowerEdge server’s generation and the version of Windows Server installed onto the server. See below to see what server generation Vs. what Operating System OMSA supports.

Dell PowerEdge Generation	Compatible with Windows Server 2012 & 2012 R2	Compatible with Windows Server 2016
Dell PowerEdge 11th Gen (R_10)	Yes	Not Supported*
Dell PowerEdge 12th Gen (R_20)	Yes	Yes
Dell PowerEdge 13th Gen (R_30)	Yes	Yes
*There is no officially supported version of OMSA for Windows Server 2016 for 11th Gen servers. However, you may be able to install the 12th generation version for 2016 onto a 11th Gen server. Please note, compatibility issues may arise from doing this. Also, iomart (or any company within the iomart group) are not responsible for any issues caused by performing this action, and Dell EMC would advise not to perform this action.

Please note that OpenManage Server Administrator is a free piece of software supplied by Dell EMC. As such iomart (and any company within the iomart group; including RapidSwitch and Redstation) are not responsible for this software, nor are they responsible for any effects downloading, installing or using this software may have on your platform. We can only advise you to use OMSA and provide you with advice on how to do so; the choice to download, install and use the software must be your own. Also, as a managed infrastructure provider, we do not officially support OMSA; as such we will not be able to install, use or configure this software.

The Dell OMSA product is downloaded through Dell’s website, on their Product Support – Drivers & Downloads page, found here:

Dell Product Support - Drivers & Downloads

First, open up this page on your server’s web-browser.

Once you are on the Drivers & Downloads page, you now need to select the model of you server. To find the model of your server, while on the MyServers control panel, press the My Servers button.

Then click on the name of the server you wish to install OMSA onto.

On this page, under Service Description, you will be able to see the make and model of this server. In my example below, you can see that the server is a Dell PowerEdge R220.

Now you know the model of your device, you can enter the model of your server on the Dell Support website, by typing the chassis’ model in the search bar and then pressing the green arrow. Please type in the chassis model in the same format as shown in the image below; ‘PowerEdge R---‘.

You should now be presented with the chassis’ Drivers & Downloads page. If you are presented with a list of search results, however, please look through the results and click on your chassis model. Once you are on the Drives & Downloads page you should now select the Operating System which is installed on the server. Do this in the Operating System drop-down box.

Now in the Keyword search box enter ‘OMSA’. Then select Systems Management in the Category drop-down box.

Now find the Dell EMC OpenManage Server Administrator Managed Node for Windows within the list of downloadable software and click on the download button. The software installer file will now download onto your server.

Once the OMSA file has been downloaded onto your Windows server, you can begin to install the software. Start by unpacking the downloaded Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Managed Node file. You will need a program capable of un-zipping files installed on your server, such as WinZip.

Once the file is un-zipped, run the autorun.exe/setup.exe file, found within the OpenManage > Windows folder of the download, to begin the installation wizard.

If the Dell Open Manage Install window appears and prompts you to choose what utility to install, select Dell OpenManage Server Administrator (Standalone Server Management) and click install.

On some versions of OMSA, this screen may not appear and you will be able to skip this step.

The Dell OpenManage Server Administrator prerequisite status screen will now run and display the prerequisite checks for the managed system.

Once it has completed scanning for prerequisite information, it will list any errors or warnings that it encountered. You should resolve all error and warning situations before continuing the installation. Some errors are correctible by simply clicking on the blue text within the error. Once you are ready to install OMSA, click Install Server Administrator.

The Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Install Wizard now appears. Click Next to begin to proceed.

The Dell End User License Agreement now appears. Please read through this agreement. If you wish to proceed, select the ‘I Accept’ option and then click Next.

You now need to select the type of installation required. There are two options:

• Typical: All program features will be installed in the default install location.

• Custom: Choose which features you want installed and choose the installation directory.

If you wish to perform a typical install, meaning you wish to install all features and you are happy for the software to be installed in the default location, select Typical and then press next.

If you wish to perform a custom installation, select Custom and click Next to continue.

This guide will show you how to perform a Custom install; however, if you are performing a Typical install, once you have pressed next, simply press install to start the installation.

If you have selected a custom install, you can now select the features to install. If you want to change a feature so that it is set to be installed or set to be not to be installed, simply click on the icon next to the feature, and then select the option you wish to change it to.

Once you have finished selecting which features you wish to install, you can now check the destination folder. This current install destination is shown under ‘Install to’.

If you wish to change the folder where the software will be installed, press the change button, then us the box that appears to select the destination folder and then press OK.

When you have finished selecting which features you wish to be installed and once you have selected the destination folder, press Next to proceed.

If you are performing a custom installation, you may now be able to select the Alert Messaging Type. There are two options:

• Enhanced Message Format.

• Traditional Message Format.

You can see the descriptions for each format within the installation wizard box. Select which message format you wish to use and then press Next.

 

You can now start the installation. To begin the installation, click Install.

The installation process will begin.

Once the installation has completed, click Finish to exit the installer.

Dell EMC’s OpenManage System Administrator will now be installed onto your server. You can then use this software to manage and monitor the hardware within this server. You may need to restart your server before you can access the OpenManage application, however.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

When Dell OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) is installed on a Windows Server, the OMSA product is accessible through a web browser-based GUI, on the Administrator account of the server. To access the web browser-based GUI, enter the following into the URL box of the web browser on your server, while changing the text in red to your server’s external IP address. The external IP of the server will be the one you use to RDP into the server’s administrator account, remotely. Then press enter.

https://[Insert Server’s External IP]:1331

Once you have entered your IP address followed by ‘:1331’ into your server’s web browser, the Dell EMC OpenManage portal will appear, showing a login screen.

If an error does appear after you have entered this into your web-browser, stating that this page cannot be accessed, there may be a firewall rule configured on your server blocking port 1331. If this is the case, you will need to allow access to port 1331 through Windows firewall. Please use Dell’s Support website and documentation for any troubleshooting information.

To login to the OpenManage portal, enter the credentials for the Administrator user of the Windows Operating System of this server. Then press Submit.

You have now accessed and logged into Dell EMC’s OpenManage software. You can now use OMSA to check the hardware of your server and to monitor for any errors. We would recommend familiarising yourself with the application and the configuration of the server after you have logged in for the first time; so if an error does occur in future, you already understand how your server should be configured and how to use the application.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

One of the main features of Dell’s OpenManage Server Administrator tool is that it allows you to check for any errors that may have occurred with the server’s hardware.

When you first log into the OpenManger portal on a Windows server, you will be presented with the current health status of the server. If there are currently any errors with the server, they will be displayed here.

As you can see from this example, there is currently an error with the storage of this server. The severity and type of error is identified by the symbol in-line with the error. There are four statuses within OpenManage:

Icon	Status	Description
	OK	The component is working as normal and is healthy.
	Non-Critical Warning	These errors normally indicate a problem which is not service impacting, but still require prompt attention.
	Failed / Critical Warning	The component has either failed or has a critical warning. If a critical error has occurred, the error must be addressed as soon as possible.
	Unknown Status	The status of this component is unknown.

How you identify the specific error and how you proceed is dependent on what type of component has an error. Please see below how to investigate specific pieces or hardware.

When storage is mentioned in the Dell EMC OpenManage portal, this is referring to the server’s RAID controller (if a RAID controller is present), all the physical drives, and all the virtual drives (or RAID arrays) within the server. When an error occurs related to storage, this would normally mean that there is an error with a physical drive, which has then effected the RAID array it is configured within. This is for the majority of cases; however, there can be other issues related to storage, which can cause storage errors.

In my example by below, there is currently a non-critical error with the storage of this server. To find more details out about any present error, first, simply click on the component with the error, under the Component column.

Depending on the set-up of the server, you may now need to navigate further to identify the details of the error. In my example, it is an SSD which has an error; so I need to Navigate from the RAID controller component, into the array which contains the SSD. This will bring up the list of Physical Disks configured within this array. Navigate by clicking on the component title with the error.

Once you are presented with the specific component with the error, click on the symbol to bring up more details about the component.

Here you can see the details about the physical drive, its state and its current status.

These details can be used to identify which drive is faulty and can help our technicians locate the failed drive to replace it. Using this information, you can decide what action you wish to be taken. If you wish for a drive to be replaced, please see the section on having a drive replaced using OMSA for more details on how to get a faulty drive replaced, using the information available on OMSA.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

Due to the nature of hardware, it is good practice to regularly check the status of your server’s hardware, and specifically to check the status of the storage within the server for any errors. Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application allows you to check the current status of each RAID array (or Virtual Disk) configured on your server and the status of each physical drive.

To check the status of the storage devices within the server, first log into the OMSA portal on the server’s web browser. Once you are logged in to the OMSA GUI, click on storage in the left hand side panel.

Depending on the configuration of your server, you will now be presented with a list of RAID controllers and Virtual Disks configured on the server (if present), or a list of Physical Disks.

If there are any errors with any of the storage components or with the storage configuration, you should see either a non-critical or critical warning symbol, next to one of the items. You should also be able to see the status of the Virtual Disks (if present) on this server.

At this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server should be, especially related to RAID arrays and drive configuration.

For the server in my example, the server was meant to have 4x RAID 0s configured, which means there should be 4x Virtual Disks. However, as you can see in my example, one of the Virtual Disks is missing and there is an error symbol next to the RAID controller’s name.

If an error does appear with any storage device, you will need to click on the name of the device with the error to investigate further, and you would need to check the status of the relevant Physical Disks.

If nothing appears to be wrong with the server’s storage, it is good practice at this point to still check the status of all the Physical Disks within the chassis.

Unless you first wish to investigate a specific issue with a Virtual Disks, you should now click on the RAID controller’s name to check the individual components within the RAID controller. To do this, click on the RAID controller. You should repeat this and each step below for each RAID controller configured within the server.

You should now see a list of components attached to the RAID controller. This list can differ depending on the RAID controller that is installed in your server. In my example, the RAID controller has a Battery, two connecters, Firmware/Driver Version and Virtual Disks attached/configured on the RAID controller.

You can see the status of each RAID controller component under the Severity column; however, if a Virtual/Physical Disk is completely offline and is missing from OMSA, the status may still show as OK for the Virtual Disks and Connectors, so it is still worth clicking into these component. Click onto Connector 0 to begin with.

Depending on the configuration of you server, you may need to click on further components (e.g. Enclosure), until you reach the list of Physical Disks.

Here you will now be able to see a list of Physical Disks attached to this connecter on the RAID controller. Please note, depending on the setup of your server, not all of the physical drives may be connected to connecter 0; so you should keep this in mind while following the below steps.

While a list of all the physical drives are shown you will also be able to see any errors and the state of each Physical Disk

At this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server should be, especially related to RAID arrays and disk configuration. As an example, the server below is meant to have 4x Physical Disks attached to the RAID controller (all through connector 0), however, only 3 are listed. This is normally caused by a drive completely failing; causing it to disappear from the monitoring. The monitoring may not show this, but by comparing your knowledge of the server’s configuration to what components are currently listed, you can see a drive is missing.

You can use this screen to see the current state of each drive attached to the RAID controller through this connector. In my example, one of the disks has a foreign configuration, which would normally suggest an error has occurred with the drive.

If you are presented with a component with an error, click on the symbol to bring up more details about this component.

Here you can see the details about the physical disk, its state and its current status.

You can now use this information to inform your decision on what to do next. If you wish to have a drive replaced, please see the section on our FAQ on how to go about getting a technician to perform this action, using the information found on OMSA. If you do wish for a drive to be replaced, you will need to provide the details found on the physical drive’s information page, as shown in the example above. This will aid our technician in identifying the faulty drive during the drive swap process.

You should now repeat this process for any other connectors and then any other RAID controllers. How many connectors are present depends on the model of the RAID controller. How many connectors are in use depends on how your server was built and configured. Most of our dedicated servers only use one connector, meaning that other connectors may have no Virtual Disks or Physical Disks behind them, but please check to make sure.

Once you have checked all the connectors, you can now also check the Virtual Disks and find more details about their configuration and status, by clicking on the Virtual Disks button. The status of the Virtual Drives were shown in a previous screen, but by using the below steps, you can check the Virtual Disks in more detail.

Here you will be able to see a list of all the Virtual Disks (or RAID Arrays) configured on this RAID controller and their current status. You will also be able to see the details of each Virtual Disk; including the layout (i.e. the RAID configuration/level).

At this point, it is good to know what the configuration of your server should be, especially related to RAID arrays and drive configuration. For the server in my example below, the server is meant to have 4x RAID 0s configured, which means there should be 4x Virtual Disks. However, as you can see in my example, one of the Virtual Disks is missing. The most likely cause for this is either an error with a Physical Disk or a missing drive; which you should have been able to identify on the page which listed all the physical disks attached to the connectors.

If an error does appears against one of the Virtual Disks, you can click the name to find out all the Physical Disks configured within this Virtual Disk, and check for any drives with errors or identify any missing drives.

After checking the status of each component attached to each RAID controller, checking through each connector of the RAID controller, all the Physical Disks and all the Virtual Disks, you should have a clear picture of the status of your server’s storage and if there are any errors or missing drives. If you have encountered any issue with any of the hardware, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to help. If you need further advice on how to proceed, please feel free to get in touch or check through our FAQ section on our MyServers Control Panel.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

Due to the nature of hardware, it is good practice to regularly check the status of your server’s hardware, to check for any errors or failed components. Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application allows you to check the current status of several sub-components of the server.

To check the status of the components within the server, first log into the OMSA portal on the server’s web browser. Once you are logged in to the OMSA GUI, click on Main System chassis, on the left hand side panel.

You will now see a list of all the components which OpenManage monitors; other than components related to storage (e.g. drives and RAID controllers). Depending on the model of your chassis and its configuration, the list of components that OpenManage can monitor will differ. In my example, you can see that the Batteries, Fans, Intrusion switch, Memory (RAM), Processors, Temperatures and Voltage are all monitored. You will also see the current status of each component. In my example below, there are no errors.

In addition to the components listed on the main section of this page, you may also see several other components listed under Main System Chassis, on the left-hand-side panel. In my example, I can see BIOS, Firmware, Network, Ports, Power Management, Remote Access, Removable Flash Media and Slots within the left-hand-side panel; which are not listed within the main section of the page.

To find out more details about each specific component, click on the component name.

Below is some detail on how to check the status of the main components within these lists. If you require more details about components monitored by OMSA, which are not outlined below, content can be found on Dell’s support website. If you need any assistance, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

Memory

The memory component refers to all the RAM within the chassis. When you click on memory, you will be able to find the details about how much memory you server is currently configured with, the total amount of memory this chassis can take, what type or RAM sticks are in the chassis, the details of each individual stick and their current status.

If a stick of RAM ever does become faulty, you should be able to find the details of the faulty RAM here. If you wish for a faulty stick of RAM to be replaced, please let us know all the details found within the ‘Details of Memory Array’ section, so we can easily identify the faulty stick of RAM. If possible, a screenshot of this page would also be helpful. Please see the section on getting faulty RAM replaced using OMSA for more details.

Processors

Once you click into the processor page lists all the processors (or CPUs) within the server, their details, and their current status.

If you wish to find out more details about a processor, you can click on the Connector Name to bring up more details. If an error does ever occur with a processor within a server, please feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to investigate this for you. If there is more than one processer installed in your server, please provide us with the Connector Name of the faulty CPU, so our technician can easily identify which processor needs replacing. For more details on getting a faulty CPU replaced, please see the section on getting a CPU replaced using OMSA.

Network

Once you click on Network, you will be able to see a list of all the network ports attached to the server.

You can also see the description of the network ports (i.e. the network port device’s details) and if they are currently shown as connected or not connected. You can also click on the interface name to find out more details about this connection; including the MAC address, the duplex settings, the link and connection status, the IP settings and the port’s speed.

The above monitoring tools, provided by OMSA, allows you to check the status of several components and to check for errors. This information allows you decide on what action you wish to be taken on the server and allows you to effectively troubleshoot any hardware related issues with the server.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

If you do encounter a physical drive with an error and you wish for this disk to be replaced, you will need to provide as much of the following information about the failed drive as possible, to allow our technicians to correctly identify which drive needs replacing:

1. Serial number

2. Type of drive (e.g. SSD, SATA HDD, etc.)

3. Capacity

4. Product ID

5. Physical Drive Bay Number

This information will aid the technician in locating the failed drive and swapping it with the correct replacement drive. You can use Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application to find this information.

To find this information, you must first access the OMSA’s GUI panel through the server’s web browser, and then locate the physical drive with the error. Please see the sections on accessing OMSA and then the section on investigation storage errors/checking storage status, if you are un-sure how to do this. Once you have found the physical drive with the error, you will be able to click the button to find more details about the drive, including the details required by our technicians to locate the drive. See the image below as an example of how to find the necessary information from the details of a physical drive:

To work out the drive’s physical bay number, you can use the ID of this drive in conjunction with all the other Physical Disks’ ID numbers. If you return to the list of all the Physical Disks, you can see the drive I wish to be replaced is drive 0:1:1, the first drive in the server is disk 0:1:0 and the last drive is 0:1:3. When asking the technicians to replace this drive, simply inform them of the failed drive’s ID number (e.g. 0:1:0) and inform them of the drive’s ID counting format (e.g. 0:1:0 to 0:1:3), as they should be able use this to locate the physical disk.

In addition to providing the information above, OMSA on most servers will also allow you to set the drive to ‘blink’, which can be used to help the technician locate the appropriate drive. To get the drive to blink, while on the page which lists all the Physical Disks, set the task to ‘blink’ in-line with the drive you wish to be swapped and then press Execute. This will then make the LED light on the drive’s caddy blink.

If you are able to set the drive to blink, please inform the technicians in the support ticket that you have done so. Some chassis may not allow you to perform this action, however. If you cannot set the drive bay to blink, this is most likely not a non-hot-swappable chassis, meaning this is not required.

When the technicians have completed any drive swap, you can use this same process to set the drive to ‘un-blink’, using the ‘un-blink’ task, to stop the drive bay blinking. It is important to do this, to make sure this drive bay isn’t still blinking during any further drive changes at a later date, as this may lead to some confusion.

Once you provide all this information in a support ticket and set the drive bay to blink (if possible), our technicians will be able to look into swapping the failed drive.

If the drive is missing from the OMSA monitoring completely (opposed to having an error), then you will not be able to provide the necessary information listed above to get the drive replaced, nor set the drive bay to blink. Instead, you can provide the information on all the drives still present on OMSA and their details, so that by process of elimination our technicians can identify and replace the missing drive.

Once you have provided all the information from the drives that are still present, the technicians should be able to identify the missing drive and replace it.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

If you do encounter an error related to the server’s memory (RAM) and you wish for a RAM stick to be replaced, you will need to provide as much of the following information about the failed stick as possible, to allow our technicians to correctly identify which RAM stick needs replacing:

1. The failed RAM stick’s DIMM slot number (i.e. the Connector Name)

2. The failed RAM stick’s size

3. The failed RAM stick’s type

This information will aid the technician in locating the failed RAM stick and swapping it with the correct replacement RAM. You can use Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application to find this information.

To find this information, you must first access the OMSA’s GUI panel through the server’s web browser, and then locate the RAM stick with the error. Please see the sections on accessing OMSA if you are unsure on how to access OMSA. To find the details about the memory configured in the server, first click on Main System Chassis and then Memory, in the left-hand-side panel.

Under Details of Memory Array you will be able to see a list of the RAM sticks attached to the motherboard, their status, their connector names, their type and their size. If a stick of RAM appears with an error, you will need to simply supply all the information about this RAM stick that appears in this table, in a support ticket, so that our technician can identify the failed DIMM and replace it. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Occasionally, if a RAM stick completely fails, it may not appear on this page with an error, but might actually be missing from this page all together. As an example, if your server is meant to be configured with 4x 16GB RAM sticks (or 64Gb of memory in total), but only 3x 16GB RAM sticks are appearing, then it is quite likely that a stick has completely failed and needs replacing. If this is the case, you will not be able to find the information above on the failed RAM stick, to get it replaced. Instead, you can provide the information on all the RAM sticks that are present without errors, so our technicians can locate the failed DIMM through a process of elimination. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Once you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty RAM stick.

If you have any further questions about OMSA, please look through our FAQ section. If our FAQ page does not have the answer, please feel free to raise a support ticket, and we will be happy to help.

If you do encounter an error related with a server’s CPU and you wish for it to be replaced, and if there is more than one CPU in this server, you will need to provide as much of the following information about the failed CPU as possible, to allow the technicians to correctly identify which CPU needs replacing:

1. The failed CPU’s slot number (i.e. the Connector Name)

2. The failed CPU’s Make and Model (i.e. Processor Brand information)

If your server only has one CPU installed, we do not require this information to locate and replace the CPU. Please feel free to raise a support ticket and we will be happy to help.

If you do have more than one CPU in the server, this information will aid our technician in locating the failed CPU and swapping it with the correct replacement CPU. You can use Dell EMC’s OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) application to find this information.

To find this information, you must first access the OMSA’s GUI panel through the server’s web browser, and then locate the CPU with the error. Please see the sections on accessing OMSA if you are un-sure how to access OMSA. To find the details about the CPUs configured in the server, first click on Main System Chassis and then click on Processors, on the left-hand-side panel.

Here you will now be able to see a list of the CPUs installed in the server, their make and model, their connector name and their specifications. If a CPU appears with an error, you will need to supply all the information about this CPU that appears in this table, in a support ticket, so that our technician can identify the failed processor and replace it. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Occasionally, if a CPU completely fails, it may not appear on this page with an error, but might actually be missing from this page all together. If this is the case, then you will not be able to find the information above on the failed CPU, to get it replaced. Instead, you can provide the information on all the CPUs that are present without errors on OMSA, so the technicians can locate the failed processor through a process of elimination. You can also supply a screenshot of this page.

Once you have provided all the above information in a support ticket, the technicians should be able to locate and replace the faulty CPU.