OMSA: How to Make Initial BOSS Controller Alerts Appear After Controller Replacement

Missing Initial Alerts:

After replacing a BOSS controller and booting the operating system using an imported foreign VD, the OMSA alert log does not contain the first events generated by the new controller.

Observed Behavior:

No entries for the newly installed BOSS controller appear in the OMSA Alert Logs.

Subsequent alerts are recorded normally, indicating that only the initial events are omitted.

NOTE: For example, if 500 was the final value written to "SequenceNumber" field when the old BOSS controller was in use, OMSA will not log the first 500 events for the new BOSS controller.

The previous controller writes the last event sequence number to the SequenceNumber field in the alert‑mapping INI file (MarvelAlertMapping.ini for S1/S2 or libBossNvmeAlertMapping.ini for N1).

(as event sequence number is written to the INI file every time any event is logged, and not just during controller replacement)

OMSA Event Filtering Logic:

OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) only records events whose sequence number is greater than the value stored in the SequenceNumber field. Consequently, the first events generated by the newly installed controller have sequence numbers that are not greater than the stored value and are therefore ignored.

Effect of SequenceNumber Values:

For S1/S2 controllers, the stored value is typically a non‑negative integer.

For N1 controllers, the stored value may be a negative integer.

Because OMSA compares new events against this persisted value, the initial alerts from the replacement controller never reach the OMSA alert log.

Prerequisites:

Administrative access to the operating system where the BOSS controller is installed.

Knowledge of the BOSS controller model being replaced (S1/S2 or N1).

Steps:

1. Boot the server to the operating system using the imported foreign virtual disk (VD).
2. Locate the appropriate alert‑mapping INI file:

• For BOSS S1 or S2 controllers, open C:\Program Files\Dell\SysMgt\sm\MarvelAlertMapping.ini.
• For BOSS N1 controllers, open C:\Program Files\Dell\SysMgmt\sm\libBossNvmeAlertMapping.ini.

3.  Edit the SequenceNumber field:

• Set the value to 0 for S1/S2 controllers.
• Set the value to -1 for N1 controllers.

4. Save the INI file and ensure the changes persisted.
5. Reboot the server or restart the OpenManage services so OMSA reads the updated file.
6. Verification:

• Open OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) and view the Alert Logs.
• Confirm that the initial BOSS controller events are now recorded.