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Support for Dell iDRAC Service Module

Summary: iDRAC Service Module (iSM) is a lightweight software service that better integrates operating system (OS) features with iDRAC and can be installed on Dell’s 12th generation and newer PowerEdge servers. iSM provides OS-related information to the iDRAC and adds capabilities such as Life Cycle (LC) log event replication into the OS log, WMI support (including storage), iDRAC SNMP alerts using OS, Remote iDRAC Hard Reset and Full Power Cycle. This guide provides an overview of features, how to download and install as well as additional resources. ...

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Article Content


Symptoms

Dell EMC iDRAC Service Module

Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller Service Module

  • Expands iDRAC management into supported host operating systems
  • Provides OS-related information to the iDRAC
  • Lightweight software service with minimal host footprint

The Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller(iDRAC) Service Module (iSM) is a lightweight optional software application that can be installed on PowerEdge servers. The iDRAC Service Module complements iDRAC interfaces: User Interface (UI), RACADM CLI, Redfish, and Web Service Management (WSMan) with additional monitoring data. The iDRAC Service Module architecture uses IP socket communication and provides additional systems management data (OS/device driver) to iDRAC and presents one-to-many consoles with access to systems management data through OS standard interfaces.

 
 

Features of iDRAC Service Module

Operating system information

Server Administrator shares operating system information and hostname with iDRAC. The iSM provides similar information such as host OS name, server host IP address information, OS version, Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) with iDRAC. The network interfaces on the host OS are also displayed. By default, this monitoring feature is enabled. This feature is available even if Server Administrator is installed on the host OS.

Lifecycle Controller log replication into operating system

Replicates the Lifecycle Controller (LC) logs to the OS logs. All events that have the OS Log option as the target (in the Alerts page or in the equivalent RACADM or WSMAN interfaces) are replicated in the OS log using iSM. This process is similar to the System Event Log (SEL) replication performed by Server Administrator.

The default set of logs to be included in the OS logs are the same as the logs configured for SNMP traps/alerts. Only the events logged in the LC log after iSM was installed are replicated to the OS Log. If Server Administrator is installed, the monitoring feature is disabled to avoid duplicate SEL entries in the OS log.

Automatic system recovery feature

The Automatic System Recovery feature is a hardware-based timer, which is used to reset the server in the event of a hardware failure. The feature can perform automatic system recovery operations such as reboot, power cycle, or power off after a specified time interval. This feature is enabled only when the operating system watchdog timer is disabled. If Server Administrator is installed, the monitoring feature is disabled to avoid duplicate watchdog timers.

Windows Management Instrumentation Providers

Windows Management Instrumentation Providers available with iSM exposes hardware data through Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). WMI is a set of extensions to the Windows Driver Model that provides an operating system interface through which instrumented components provide information and notification. WMI is Microsoft's implementation of the Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) and Common Information Model (CIM) standards from the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) to manage Server hardware, operating systems and applications. WMI Providers helps to integrate with Systems Management Consoles such as Microsoft System Center and enables scripting to manage Microsoft Windows Servers.

SupportAssist collection

The SupportAssist collection feature in iDRAC collects information about the hardware, OS, and relevant application data and compresses this information. Using iSM 2.0 or later versions, the OS Collector tool automatically collects relevant OS and hardware information, but you must do it manually. 

NVMe PCIe SSD device removal support

Removal of a Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIE) Solid-State Device (SSD) without shutting down or rebooting the system. When removing a device, all the activities associated with the device must be stopped to prevent data loss. To prevent loss of data use the Prepare to Remove option, which stops all the device-associated background activities, after which allows the removal of the NVMe PCIe SSD.

Remote iDRAC hard reset

Via iDRAC, monitor the supported servers for critical system hardware, firmware, or software issues. Very infrequently, an iDRAC may become unresponsive. Previously, a customer would have to turn off the server by unplugging the power from the server. Now, by using the Remote iDRAC hard reset feature, if an iDRAC becomes unresponsive, perform a remote iDRAC reset operation without the need to shut down the server. Administrative privileges on the host OS required to use this feature. By default, the remote iDRAC hard reset feature is enabled.

iDRAC access using Host OS

Using Dell’s PowerEdge Servers, manage the hardware or the firmware of a device through iDRAC by configuring an iDRAC dedicated network. Through the dedicated network port, access the iDRAC interfaces such as GUI, WSMAN, RACADM, and Redfish client.

The prerequisite to manage the hardware or the firmware is to have a dedicated connection between a device and the supported iDRAC interface. Using the iDRAC access via Host OS feature, connect to an iDRAC interface from an OS IP or host irrespective of the connection between a device and an iDRAC dedicated network. This feature monitors the hardware or firmware even if the iDRAC is not connected to the servers.

In-band support for iDRAC SNMP alerts

Using iDRAC, an out-of-band server management and monitoring tool, the SNMP traps/alerts can be recorded in the log. However, from a host OS systems management using in-band agent perspective, the preference is more on the SNMP alert received from the host OS than the traps received from iDRAC. When an SNMP alert is received from iDRAC, it would be challenging to determine the source of the alert as it is from an iDRAC IP and not the system IP.

Starting iSM 2.3, you can receive SNMP alerts from the host OS which is similar to the alerts that are generated by iDRAC.

Enable WSMAN remotely

Currently, with the WMI information feature, you can connect to the host Microsoft Windows WMI namespace to monitor the system hardware. The WMI interface on the host is enabled by default and you can access it remotely. However, if you want to access the WMI interfaces using WINRM’s WMI adapter, you have to enable it manually as it is not enabled by default. Using this feature, you can access the WINRM WMI namespaces remotely by enabling it during installation.

Note: System Management will not be adding any new features to WSMAN.

iDRAC Service Module factory install for Microsoft Windows (Customer opt-in)

iSM can now be factory installed for the Microsoft Windows operating system. By having iSM pre-installed, you can quickly access critical logs and support documents. When a Microsoft Windows operating system factory installation is selected, you can opt in to install iSM from the available options.

  • iSM – Enabled – Provides factory installation of iSM in the Windows OS
  • iSM – Disabled - Customers who do not want to have iSM installed in the OS should select this option

S.M.A.R.T Monitoring

S.M.A.R.T monitoring feature supports hard disk drives enabled with SATA in AHCI mode. It has integrated capability to monitor S.M.A.R.T alerts through iDRAC supported auditing methods for hard drives under SATA Chipset controller. Previously the alerts were monitored by any open-source utility to monitor the hard drives set in RAID Mode.

FullPowerCycle

FullPowerCycle feature provides a way to reset the server auxiliary power. An increasing amount of server hardware runs on server auxiliary power; and troubleshooting of some server issues requires you to physically unplug the server power cable to reset the hardware running on auxiliary power. This leads to someone having to physically unplug/plug the power cables, which lead to a significant cost and hassle for customers and support personnel. The FullPowerCycle feature enables the administrator to connect or disconnect the auxiliary power remotely without visiting the data center. This feature is supported on iDRAC9.

 

Correlation of software events to hardware failures for Microsoft S2D

The event logs for hardware storage pool alerts or events are monitored through iSM with Server Storage correlation feature. The server storage subsystem is monitored when Dell storage controllers are used in RAID mode. But in Storage Spaces(SS) or Storage Space Direct(S2D), the server storage subsystem is monitored in a pass-through mode or the SATA chipset is used to create the storage pool. With this feature, the hardware-defined alerts covered by Life Cycle log and software-defined alerts covered by OS logs are merged and the alerts are registered in the iDRAC Lifecycle logs. This feature is installed with the iDRAC Service Module package and is enabled by default. User can change the preferences in the iDRAC settings. As part of the monitoring, iSM audits the logs for potential failures and warnings. iSM embeds the SS correlation events on the Host to an equivalent LC event.

iSM SupportAssist Disk Auto Dispatch

As part of predictive alerting, if the server matches one of the following SNMP events: PDR16 and PDR63, a recommendation is sent from Dell support using email regarding the dispatch of the predictive failure or a bad disk block such as SSDs subject to the prevailing licensing terms and conditions. To dispatch parts, a service address to Dell support is required. This feature is available only on Windows and Linux operating systems.

iDRAC UI Launcher

Launch the iDRAC user interface from the local system by double-clicking the iDRAC user interface Launcher icon. The iDRAC UI login page opens in the default browser and iDRAC credentials can be used to log in to the iDRAC home page. This is supported only on the Microsoft Windows operating systems.

Single sign on (SSO) to iDRAC UI from Host OS administrators desktop

The single sign-on (SSO) feature enables an authenticated operating system administrator to directly access the iDRAC web interface without requiring login using separate iDRAC administrator credentials.

Enhanced security between iSM and iDRAC communication using TLS protocol

Starting iSM 3.4, the data communication between iSM and iDRAC happens through TLS protected USBNIC INET sockets. This ensures protection of all the data that transports from iDRAC to iSM over USBNIC. iSM and iDRAC use self-signed certificates to control Authentication. The self-signed certificates have 10 years of validity. Fresh self-signed certificates are generated while installing iSM every time.

 

iDRAC9 Dashboard

Enhancements to Dell iDRAC Service Module

Dell is constantly improving Dell iDRAC Service Module.


Platforms
iDRAC Service Module 5.3.0.0 supports the following PowerEdge 14G, 15G, and 16G servers on all supported operating systems.







New Features in Dell iDRAC Service Module 5.3.0.0

  • New OS support ASHCI 23H2, ESXi 8.0 U2, RHEL 8.9, RHEL 9.3, and its Real-Time Operating System (RTOS)
  • Telemetry metrics collection (Windows only - Physical Drive, Logical Drive)
  • SWRAID – Assigning /unassigning Designated Hot Spare (DHS). Global Hot Spare (GHS​)
  • Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) enablement


New and enhanced features

Functional area Feature description Summary of benefits
Containerization Containerization of iSM Enhancement to support In-Band SNMP Get and In-Band SNMP Traps features in the iSM container environment.
Software RAID Software RAID configuration iSM enables Software RAID configuration PERC S140, S150 and S160 software RAID controllers by CLI on Dell PowerEdge yx4x and newer servers.
Metric Injection Metric Injection (Host operating system Telemetry) Metric injection from the operating system to iDRAC telemetry.
Network Interface Card (NIC) connectivity to iDRAC Monitor NIC connectivity to the iDRAC and reconfigure the USB NIC interface On Dell PowerEdge servers with VMware ESXi 7.x operating systems, you can monitor the NIC connectivity to the iDRAC network and reconfigure the USB NIC interface even if the vusb0 uplink is not available.
USB NIC USB NIC enablement Enhancement to communicate the USB NIC enablement information during the installation of iSM and log the message in the iDRAC Lifecycle log.

Supported Enterprise 64–bit operating systems and Hypervisors
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2022
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2019
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.9
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.3
  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15SP5
  • VMware vSphere (ESXi) 8.0 U2 
  • VMware vSphere (ESXi) 7.0 U3
  • Ubuntu Server 22.04.2
  • Debian 11 Community support
     

Supported RTOS on PowerEdge R650, PowerEdge R750, PowerEdge XR11, and PowerEdge XR12 servers:
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.9
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.3

Supported Client operating systems on Precision R7920
  • Microsoft Windows 10 22H
  • Microsoft Windows 11 21H2/22H2
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.3
  • Ubuntu Desktop 20.04 LTS


Refer to the latest version of Dell EMC iDRAC Service Module Release Notes for the complete list of enhancements and limitations, fixed issues, and known issues.

See the Dell Technologies iDRAC Service Module for the complete list of all versions of iSM.
.

 
 

iDRAC9 Settings

Download and install of Dell iDRAC Service Module

Dell iDRAC Service Module is supported on most versions of Microsoft Windows, Linux, and ESXi operating systems for PowerEdge servers with iDRAC7, iDRAC8 and iDRAC9. See Supported Platforms for additional information about the supported platforms and operating systems.

The specific version of iSM for your system varies based on the server model and the installed operating system. To download the latest version of iSM:

  • Navigate to Dell.com/support and select the server model or enter the service tag.
  • Select Drivers & downloads
  • Select the Operating System for your system
  • Keyword iSM
  • Download the latest revision provided for Dell iDRAC Service Module

See the version specific Dell Technologies iDRAC Service Module User's Guide, then the Installing iDRAC Service Module topic for information about the software requirements, system requirements, and the steps to install, upgrade, and uninstall iSM.

 
 
 

Resources for Dell iDRAC Service Module

Community

Engage in the Systems Management community to find:

  • Boards to post questions and answers
  • Blogs to read and comment on articles
  • Idea exchanges to improve products and vote for ideas that other community members have posted
  • And more...

Documentation

Refer to Dell iDRAC Service Module Documentation for the latest documentation.

White Papers

Dell iDRAC Service Module Security Configuration Guide


January 2022
29 page security configuration guide
This document describes the security configurations related to Dell iDRAC Service Module (iSM), and its installation, configuration, and functionality on the host operating system.

Read the security configuration guide

iDRAC Service Module – OS-based capabilities for Out-of-band management with iDRAC9


May 2021
12 page white paper
Summary of the latest enhancements that iDRAC Service Module (iSM) provides to out-of-band management with iDRAC9 to the customers in the Dell 14th and 15th generation PowerEdge servers.

Read the white paper

iDRAC Service Module - iDRAC Access via Host Operating System


January 2017
17 page white paper
This White Paper provides information about the usage and troubleshooting of iDRAC Access using Host Operating System feature in iDRAC Service Module v2.3 or later.

Read the white paper

iDRAC Service Module - Enable In-Band iDRAC SNMP Alerts


January 2017
13 page white paper
This White Paper provides information about the usage, configuration and troubleshooting of In-Band iDRAC SNMP Alerts in iDRAC Service Module v2.3 or later.

Read the white paper

iDRAC Service Module-How to perform an iDRAC CPU Hard Reset


July 2016
8 page white paper
This White Paper provides information about the usage and troubleshooting of iDRAC CPU Hard Reset feature in iDRAC Service Module v2.3 or later.

Read the white paper

iDRAC Service Module 2.1 (min) on Ubuntu and Debian Linux Operating Systems


September 2015
19 page white paper
This White Paper provides information about the usage and troubleshooting of iDRAC Service Module v2.1 or later on Ubuntu and Debian Linux Operating systems.

Read the white paper

iDRAC Service Module – Windows Management Instrumentation


April 2015
17 page white paper
This White paper is about using iDRAC Service Module to monitor the various hardware profiles through the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) client interfaces such as Windows PowerShell, Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line, Windows Remote Management client (WINRM), WBEMTEST.

Read the white paper

Videos

How to install the iDRAC Service Module using iDRAC UI

 

Learn how to install the iDRAC Service Module from the iDRAC UI.

November 2017

How to perform a SupportAssist Collection in iDRAC Service Module 3.0.1

 

Learn how to do SupportAssist collection using iDRAC Service Module 3.0.1.

November 2017

Enabling iDRAC access using Host OS on Microsoft Windows in iSM 2.4

 

Learn how to enable and configure the iDRAC access using Host OS feature on Microsoft Windows.

July 2017

Install iDRAC Service Module on Microsoft Windows Nano OS

 

Learn how to install the iDRAC Service Module on Microsoft Windows Nano operating systems.

July 2017

Enabling iDRAC access using Host OS feature on Linux in iSM 2.4

 

Learn how to enable the Inband iDRAC Access for Linux systems.

July 2017

Viewing iDRAC SNMP Traps received from the host OS on Linux in iSM 2.4

 

Learn how to view the iDRAC SNMP Traps received from the host OS on Linux operating systems.

July 2017

Monitoring Dell servers through iDRAC Service Module using WMI

 

Covers the process of monitoring Dell servers through iDRAC Service Module (iSM) using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) for Dell Server Management Pack Suite version 6.3 in a Microsoft System Center Operations Manager or SCOM environment.

July 2017

Cause

Dell

Resolution

Dell Technologies 2023

Attachments


Run_iSM_as_Podman_Best_Practices_Guide_V4_pkb_en_US_1.pdf In_Band_SNMP_Alerts_v3_pkb_en_US_1.pdf

Article Properties


Affected Product

iDRAC Service Module

Product

iDRAC7, iDRAC8, iDRAC9, Lifecycle Controllers

Last Published Date

18 Mar 2024

Version

18

Article Type

Solution