UNSOLVED
Issue with OpenManage Enterprise deployment
Current installation:
Dell OpenManage Enterprise
Dell Repository manager
Both installed on linux servers on the same subnet as the nodes.
Issues:
Firstly on OpenManage Enterprise there is a quite annoying bug whereby the prioritise server hostname fails and in the list of devices the name field changes to iDRAC-*servicetag*. This can be resolved by going to application settings > discovery settings and toggling the setting between iDrac and hostname. I have found this to be a persistent bug over 13G and 14G hardware.
I have created a custom DRM repository by discovering the devices on my OME instance by selecting the 'console' option in discovery method. This worked well and picked up the hardware, which I then made repositories for. The issue comes when I want to mount these custom repositories on a local nfs mount. I export them as a 'share' which gives you an xml file and a bunch of subfolder with the firmware in. I place this on the nfs mount. I added this to OME as a catalog in catalog management. This queries the hardware and discovers the latest versions. Then when I click installl firmware it fails due to the idracs not being able to access the files. I thought this may be an issue with the drac not being able to mount the nfs (which it may be), but I also noticed that the xml files created by OME seem to references the web server rather than the nfs files. Am I exporting it wrong or is there a better method of doing this? Also does the OME instance mount the nfs share on the idrac when it attempts the update? If required I am happy to try a different method so long as it is a local mirror, as I don't want to expose our dracs to the web.
Cheers,
Joe
DELL-Pupul M
2 Intern
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1004 Posts
3812
1
Posted September 26th, 2018 05:00
Hi,
When you are at the "Configuration >> Firmware >> Catalog Management" and click "Add Catalog", you need to provide the path of the local nfs share that you have created to import the catalog to OME. Once catalog is imported, you will need to create baseline using the imported catalog.
The created baseline will be used to generate a report for compliance of your servers. Based on that report, you can perform firmware update. The nfs share that you have created is not mounted on iDRAC. OME presents its own share for pushing the update packages to iDRAC. Make sure to follow the port numbers that are required to be open using the Port numbers page in online help of your appliance. Hope this helps.
Thanks very much for your help. the issue turned out to be firewall port rules. I have resolved this now. Thanks also for giving the explanation that the DRACs don't talk to anything but OME in this process, so OME is essentially running a local mirror of the firmware. I would say that it would be great if there was a clear explanation of this in OME, as there is nothing to say whether the updates are going through OME or straight to the node after the catalog file has been read. Also possibly some more detailed logs which detail blocked port errors, as the failure message provided not very much information. Thanks.
DELL-Pupul M
2 Intern
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1004 Posts
3758
0
Posted September 26th, 2018 22:00
Thanks for your suggestion regarding port error messages. Please have them coming.
We are in the process of releasing whitepapers for various features and you should be seeing one for firmware update soon.
DELL-Pupul M
2 Intern
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1004 Posts
3743
0
Posted September 27th, 2018 00:00
Hi,
Here is the link to all the whitepapers: https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/dell-openmanage-enterprise-v3.0/manuals
The one you are looking for is "Creating firmware baselines and catalogs by using Dell EMC OpenManage Enterprise"
Cool thanks for the links. The only thing I would say is I can't find anything which explains what OME is doing when you 'get the latest firmware versions from dell.com'.
As in, I had assumed that OME grabs the catalog.xml queries it against the node and then the node goes out to dell.com to get the update.
Obviously this isn't how it works, and OME is acting as a local mirror for the devices - it would be good if there was an explanation of exactly what its doing?
This also makes me question why anyone would want to use DRM in conjunction with OME, as if OME is creating a local mirror of the firmware already, and you can create custom catalogs with it based on your hardware, DRM seems irrelevant.Also were you able to re-create the issue I had with hostnames changing to idrac name and having to be toggled?
Cheers,
Joe
vSwizz
1 Rookie
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24 Posts
3868
0
Posted September 25th, 2018 06:00
sorry that should read 'xml files created by DRM seem'