Dell SupportAssist Version 1.2 for Servers User’s Guide

Basic setup

The basic setup enables SupportAssist to monitor the local system (the server on which SupportAssist is installed). If you only have a single device that you want to monitor, only the basic setup is required. For monitoring more than one device, you must complete the basic and advanced setup.

To complete the basic setup:

1. Download the SupportAssist installation package. See Downloading the SupportAssist installation package .
2. Review the requirements for installing SupportAssist. See Minimum requirements for installing and using SupportAssist.
3. Install SupportAssist. See Installing SupportAssist.
4. Complete the registration of SupportAssist. See Registering SupportAssist .
5. (Optional) Update the contact information to include a secondary SupportAssist contact and a parts dispatch address. See Viewing and updating the contact information .

Advanced setup

The advanced setup enables SupportAssist to monitor multiple devices, and includes adding each device that you want to monitor in SupportAssist.

To complete the advanced setup:

1. Ensure that you have completed the steps listed in the “Basic setup” section.
2. Add each device that you want to monitor in SupportAssist. See Adding devices for monitoring.
3. (Optional) If your company utilizes an SMTP server (email server), configure the SMTP server settings in SupportAssist. See Configuring the SMTP server settings.
4. (Optional) If you want to manage a set of devices as a group, create one or more device groups based on your preference. See Device grouping.

Evaluating SupportAssist

By default, SupportAssist automatically collects system information from monitored devices at periodic intervals, and also when a support case is created. The collected system information is then sent securely to Dell. For information on the data collected by SupportAssist from monitored devices, see Data collected by SupportAssist . If you have concerns about the security and data collected by SupportAssist, you can disable certain configuration options and evaluate SupportAssist.

You can also view the data that is collected by SupportAssist. For information on viewing the collected data, see Viewing the collected system information .

In most cases, part or all of the data collected by SupportAssist is required by Dell Technical Support to properly diagnose issues and provide an appropriate solution. To receive the full benefits of SupportAssist, you must enable all the data collection options.