Remote Access Management: Dell OpenManage IT Assistant User's Guide

Remote Access Management

Dell OpenManage™ IT Assistant User's Guide

	Overview		Connecting to RACs
	Address Book Management		Known Issues

Overview

The Dell OpenManage Remote Assistant Card II (DRAC II), Dell Remote Access Card III (DRAC III), Dell Remote Access Card III/XT (DRAC III/XT), Embedded Remote Access (ERA), Embedded Remote Access Option (ERA/O), and Embedded Remote Access/MC (ERA/MC) are systems management hardware and software solutions designed to provide remote management capabilities for server systems. Collectively, these solutions are known as remote access controllers (RACs). RACs are always installed in a host server system, or in the case of ERA/MC, in a host modular system.

During normal system operation, a RAC provides management capability for its host. A RAC communicates with the host's Embedded Server Management (ESM) system, which monitors critical server components. The RAC can send notifications to preset destinations on receipt of alerts generated by ESM. ESM generates alerts when component conditions on the host exceed threshold values. However, you cannot set alert thresholds for component conditions through the RAC; you must set the thresholds through IT Assistant.

If the host becomes inoperable, a RAC provides remote access, which is a communications path to the host using resources on the RAC (network interface controller [NIC], modem, serial port) rather than the host system's NIC.

NOTE: Not all RACs have all three remote access resources (ports) described above (NIC, modem, serial port). See your RAC documentation for the remote access ports available on your RAC.

Remote access allows you to get the system up and running as quickly as possible. While the system is down, a RAC provides alert notification and allows you to remotely restart the system. In addition, some RACs log the probable cause of system crashes and enable you to view the most recent crash screen.

IT Assistant discovers, monitors, and allows you to configure RACs installed in host servers. IT Assistant also enables you to connect to a RAC's remote access port(s) and run the RAC's remote access interface, which is the program you use to access the RAC's server management capabilities.

For DRAC II, the remote access interface is the Dell OpenManage Remote Assistant program or the DRAC II Web Console program. For DRAC III, DRAC III/XT, ERA, ERA/O, and ERA/MC, the remote access interface program is embedded in the RAC's firmware along with a Web server. This arrangement enables you to use IT Assistant or just a Web browser from any system on the network to connect to the RAC and run the remote access interface.

NOTE: RACs communicate using Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) only.

Address Book Management

To add connection information for a RAC to the remote access address book, perform the following steps:

On the IT Assistant navigation tree, expand the Management branch and click Remote Access Address Book.
In the remote access address book window, click Add.
In the Add Entry dialog box, enter the required connection information in the fields provided.

See "Add Entry/Edit Entry" for information on valid values for each field.
Click Save.

The new entry appears in the system list.

To edit connection information for remote access hardware, perform the following steps:

On the IT Assistant navigation tree, expand the Management branch and click Remote Access Address Book.
In the remote access address book window, click a system in the system list.
Click Edit.
In the Edit Entry dialog box, change the information in the connection information fields as necessary.

See "Add Entry/Edit Entry" for information on valid values for each field.
Click Save.

To import connection information for remote access hardware, perform the following steps:

On the IT Assistant navigation tree, expand the Management branch and click Remote Access Address Book.
Click Import DRAC II Address Book.

IT Assistant imports all the entries in the DRAC II address book server (installed on the management station) into its remote access address book. IT Assistant considers the data in the DRAC II address book more up-to-date and overwrites any existing information in its remote access address book. If there is no DRAC II address book server running on the management station, then no entries are imported.

Connecting to RACs

	NOTE: Communication with DRAC II, ERA, and ERA/O is supported through SNMP only.
	NOTE: You can connect to only one RAC at a time.

The following are the prerequisites for connecting to RACs using IT Assistant:

For DRAC III modem connections, the Remote Access Service (RAS) must be installed on the management station, and the management station must have a working modem. See your Dell Remote Access Controller (RAC) Installation and Setup Guide for information on installing RAS and configuring the modem.

You must also install the DRAC III management station components on the management station. These components comprise the DellRasDll libraries required for IT Assistant to launch the remote access interfaces using a modem connection. You can install Dell RAC management station components from the Dell OpenManage Systems Management CD.
For a DRAC II, the DRAC II address book server must be installed on the management station.
For the managed system, a DRAC II or DRAC III must be installed.

The following subsections describe three methods that you can use to connect to a RAC through IT Assistant.

Using the Remote Access Hardware Command

NOTE: This method only works if you are connecting to a DRAC II or DRAC III.

On the IT Assistant navigation tree, expand the Configuration branch and click Remote Access Hardware.
In the remote access hardware window, click a system in the system list.
Click Remote Connect.

A new window opens and loads the management interface for the RAC installed on the currently selected system. If the RAC is a DRAC II, you must have Dell OpenManage Remote Assistant installed at the location specified in the Remote Access application definition.

Using the Status Tab

In the IT Assistant navigation tree, expand the Views branch and click Systems.
In the systems window, click a system in the system tree, and then click the Status tab.
In the status tree, click the remote access hardware entry.

If the currently selected system is equipped with RAC, DRAC II, DRAC III, or ERA appears in the status tree. If none of these entries appear, the currently selected system is not equipped with a RAC to which IT Assistant can connect.
Click Remote Connect.

A new window opens and loads the remote access interface for the RAC installed on the currently selected system. If the RAC is a DRAC II, you must have Dell OpenManage Remote Assistant installed at the location specified in the Remote Access application definition.

Using the Remote Access Address Book.

In the IT Assistant navigation tree, expand the Management branch and click Remote Access Address Book.
In the remote access address book window, click a system in the system list.
Click Connect.

A new window opens and loads the remote access interface for the RAC installed on the currently selected system. If the RAC is a DRAC II, you must have Dell OpenManage Remote Assistant installed at the location specified in the Remote Access application definition.

Known Issues

Clicking the "X" on the upper right corner of the window created by a DRAC III interface launch using the modem connection does not close the session or log the DRAC III user out. IT Assistant caches the current session. To clear the cache, log out of the DRAC III browser-based interface by clicking File® Log Out.
When you create a DRAC II user in IT Assistant, ensure that the user name and password are lowercase. You cannot log in to the DRAC II Web console if the user name or password contain uppercase letters.

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