Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 8 (iDRAC8) Version 2.05.05.05 User's Guide

Operating System Information

The OpenManage Server Administrator currently shares operating system information and host name with iDRAC. The iDRAC Service Module provides similar information such as OS name, OS version, and Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) with iDRAC. By default, this monitoring feature is enabled. It is not disabled if OpenManage Server Administrator is installed on the host OS.

iDRAC Service Module 2.0 has amended the operating system information feature with the OS network interface Monitoring. When iDRAC Service Module version 2.0 is used with iDRAC 2.00.00.00, it starts monitoring the operating system network interfaces. You can view this information using iDRAC Web interface, RACADM, or WSMAN. For more information, see Viewing Network Interfaces Available On Host OS.

When iDRAC Service Module version 2.0 is used with iDRAC version lower than 2.00.00.00, the OS information feature does not provide OS network interface monitoring.

Replicate Lifecycle Logs to OS Log

You can replicate the Lifecycle Controller Logs to the OS logs from the time when the feature is enabled in iDRAC. This is similar to the System Event Log (SEL) replication performed by OpenManage Server Administrator. All events that have the OS Log option selected as the target (in the Alerts page, or in the equivalent RACADM or WSMAN interfaces) are replicated in the OS log using the iDRAC Service Module. The default set of logs to be included in the OS logs is the same as configured for SNMP alerts or traps.

iDRAC Service Module also logs the events that have occurred when the operating system is not functioning. The OS logging performed by iDRAC Service Module follows the IETF syslog standards for Linux based operating systems.

If OpenManage Server Administrator is installed, this monitoring feature is disabled to avoid duplicate SEL entries in the OS log.

Automatic System Recovery Options

The ASR feature is a hardware-based timer. If a hardware failure occurs, the Health Monitor may not be called, but the server is reset as if the power switch was activated. ASR is implemented using a "heartbeat" timer that continuously counts down. The Health Monitor frequently reloads the counter to prevent it from counting down to zero. If the ASR counts down to zero, it is assumed that the operating system has locked up and the system automatically attempts to reboot.

You can perform automatic system recovery operations such as reboot, power cycle, or power off the server after a specified time interval. This feature is enabled only if the operating system watchdog timer is disabled. If OpenManage Server Administrator is installed, this monitoring feature is disabled to avoid duplicate watchdog timers.

Windows Management Instrumentation Providers

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.

You can enable or disable the WMI option in iDRAC. iDRAC exposes the WMI classes through the iDRAC Service Module providing the server’s health information. By default, WMI information feature is enabled. The iDRAC Service Module exposes the WSMAN monitored classes in iDRAC through WMI. The classes are exposed in the root/cimv2/dcim namespace.

The classes can be accessed using any of the standard WMI client interfaces. For more information, see the profile documents.

winrm e wmi/root/cimv2/dcim/dcim_account

wmic /namespace:\\root\cimv2\dcim PATH dcim_account

Get-WmiObject dcim_account -namespace root/cimv2/dcim

winrm g wmi/root/cimv2/dcim/DCIM_Account?CreationClassName=DCIM_Account+Name=iDRAC.Embedded.1#Users.2+SystemCreationClassName=DCIM_SPComputerSystem+SystemName=systemmc

wmic /namespace:\\root\cimv2\dcim PATH dcim_account where Name="iDRAC.Embedded.1#Users.16"

Get-WmiObject -Namespace root\cimv2\dcim -Class dcim_account -filter "Name='iDRAC.Embedded.1#Users.16'"

winrm e wmi/root/cimv2/dcim/*  -dialect:association -filter:{object=DCIM_Account?CreationClassName=DCIM_Account+Name=iDRAC.Embedded.1#Users.1+SystemCreationClassName=DCIM_SPComputerSystem+SystemName=systemmc}

wmic /namespace:\\root\cimv2\dcim PATH dcim_account where
 Name='iDRAC.Embedded.1#Users.2' ASSOC

Get-Wmiobject -Query "ASSOCIATORS OF {DCIM_Account.CreationClassName='DCIM_Account',Name='iDRAC.Embedded.1#Users.2',SystemCreationClassName='DCIM_SPComputerSystem',SystemName='systemmc'}" -namespace root/cimv2/dcim

winrm e wmi/root/cimv2/dcim/*  -dialect:association –associations -filter:{object=DCIM_Account?CreationClassName=DCIM_Account+Name=iDRAC.Embedded.1#Users.1+SystemCreationClassName=DCIM_SPComputerSystem+SystemName=systemmc}

Get-Wmiobject -Query  "REFERENCES OF {DCIM_Account.CreationClassName='DCIM_Account',Name='iDRAC.Embedded.1#Users.2',SystemCreationClassName='DCIM_SPComputerSystem',SystemName='systemmc'}" -namespace root/cimv2/dcim

Co-existence of OpenManage Server Administrator and iDRAC Service Module

In a system, both OpenManage Server Administrator and the iDRAC Service Module can co-exist and continue to function correctly and independently.

If you have enabled the monitoring features during the iDRAC Service Module installation, then after the installation is complete if the iDRAC Service Module detects the presence of OpenManage Server Administrator, it disables the set of monitoring features that overlap. If OpenManage Server Administrator is running, the iDRAC Service Module disables the overlapping monitoring features after logging to the OS and iDRAC.

When you re-enable these monitoring features through the iDRAC interfaces at a later time, the same checks are performed and the features are enabled depending on whether OpenManage Server Administrator is running or not.