Dell Unity™ Family Configuring SupportAssist

How to enable and configure SupportAssist

In Unisphere, you can enable and configure SupportAssist for a storage system by using any of the following means:

• Initial Configuration wizard—Wizard for configuring global storage system settings which runs when you first access the system with Unisphere.
• Overview—Service page for the storage system that you can access from Unisphere (System > Service > Overview).
• SupportAssist—A SupportAssist settings page that you can access from Unisphere (Settings > Support Configuration).
• UEMCLI—Command line interface that includes commands you can run on a system through a prompt from a Microsoft Windows or UNIX/Linux host to configure SupportAssist settings. For information about SupportAssist related CLI commands, see the Unisphere Command Line Interface User Guide.
• Unisphere Management REST API server—Application interface that can receive REST API requests to configure SupportAssist settings. For information related to the Unisphere Management REST API, see the Unisphere Management REST API Programmers Guide.

To determine the status of the SupportAssist feature in Unisphere, go to System > Service > Overview. SupportAssist is enabled when a check mark appears within a green circle under SupportAssist.

Typical use cases for enabling SupportAssist are:

• A new Unity system with SupportAssist already initialized during the manufacturing process.
  NOTE:If enabling SupportAssist through the Initial Configuration wizard is skipped, it can be enabled later through any of the other previously described means.
• Unity software upgrade from a version that is earlier than 5.3 to version 5.3 or later and either Centralized or Integrated ESRS is configured before upgrade.
• Unity software upgrade from a version that is earlier than 5.3 to version 5.3 or later and ESRS is not configured before upgrade.
• Unity software upgrade from version 5.3.x to version 5.4 or later and either Connect directly or Connect through a gateway server is configured for SupportAssist before upgrade.
• Unity software upgrade from version 5.3.x to version 5.4 or later and SupportAssist is not configured before upgrade.

If either Centralized or Integrated ESRS is enabled before the upgrade of a Unity system to version 5.3 or 5.4, SupportAssist is automatically enabled, and the remote connectivity is reestablished following a successful upgrade. The connection type (outbound only traffic or inbound and outbound traffic) is the same as the type before the upgrade. However, if Unity software is upgraded from a version that is earlier than 5.3, Remote Secure Credentials (RSC) is not enabled automatically and, if used, must be enabled manually. If ESRS is not enabled before the upgrade, SupportAssist is not enabled as part of the upgrade.

If either Centralized or Integrated ESRS is enabled before the upgrade of a Unity system to version 5.5, SupportAssist is automatically enabled, and the remote connectivity is reestablished following a successful upgrade. The connection type (outbound only traffic or inbound and outbound traffic) is the same as the type before the upgrade. If Unity software is upgraded to version 5.5, and inbound and outbound traffic was enabled, Remote Secure Credentials (RSC) is enabled automatically. If ESRS is not enabled before the upgrade, SupportAssist is not enabled as part of the upgrade.

If either Direct connect or Connect through a gateway server is enabled before the upgrade of a Unity system from version 5.3.x to version 5.4 or later, SupportAssist is automatically enabled, and the remote connectivity is reestablished following a successful upgrade. The connection type (outbound only traffic or inbound and outbound traffic) is the same as the type before the upgrade. If Remote Secure Credentials (RSC) is enabled before Unity software is upgraded from version 5.3.x to version 5.4 or later, Remote Secure Credentials (RSC) is enabled automatically as part of the upgrade. Also, the RSC option no longer appears as a selection in the SupportAssist Configuration wizard in Unisphere after the upgrade. If Remote Secure Credentials (RSC) is not enabled before Unity software is upgraded from version 5.3.x to version 5.4, Remote Secure Credentials (RSC) is not enabled automatically and, if used, must be enabled manually. If SupportAssist is not enabled before the upgrade, SupportAssist is not enabled as part of the upgrade.

When enabling the SupportAssist feature on a storage system, configure the following settings:

• License Agreement—The SupportAssist End User License Agreement (EULA) must be accepted in order to configure and use SupportAssist.
• Connection Type—Type of SupportAssist, Connect Directly or Connect through a gateway server, that the storage system will use (outbound only, outbound and inbound, or outbound and inbound with Remote Secure Credentials (RSC)). Although you can disable SupportAssist, it is not recommended.
  NOTE:In Unity OE version 5.5 or later, the RSC option does not appear in Unisphere. If Inbound connectivity for remote access is selected, RSC is enabled automatically.
• Network check—Validates network readiness for SupportAssist configuration and shows the current proxy server settings, if configured and the Use Global Proxy Settings checkbox is selected.
  NOTE:In Unity OE version 5.5 or later, the Use Global Proxy Settings checkbox is only applicable to the Connect directly option for SupportAssist.
  • Proxy Enabled: Indicates whether the Global Proxy server is enabled or disabled.
  • Protocol: Protocol used to communicate with a proxy server used for the communication channel. The available option is HTTP (the default protocol) on port 3128 (default port).
  • Proxy server IP address: Network address associated with the global proxy server traffic.
  • Credentials: User name and password of an account that is used to access the proxy server system.
• (Only for storage systems that are not initialized) Initialize—User must provide an access key, which is obtained from the Dell Key Portal site, and a 4-digit PIN.
• Verify Contact Information—This information enables your service provider to contact you and respond quickly to critical issues.
• Review Configuration—Lists SupportAssist user selections and configuration operation results.
• Results—Indicates whether SupportAssist has been successfully enabled.
  NOTE:When SupportAssist is enabled, APEX AIOps Observability is selected to be enabled by default. APEX AIOps Observability is a software-as-a-service cloud-native application that is used to provide intelligent analytics about performance, capacity, and configuration for health-based reporting and remediation.