Using Dell Repository Manager with Dell OpenManage Essentials Dell, Inc. Dell Repository Manager Team AVS Sashi Kiran December 2013 A Dell Technical White Paper
Revisions Date December 2013 Description Initial release THIS WHITE PAPER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND MAY CONTAIN TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND TECHNICAL INACCURACIES. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. 2013 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this material in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden. For more information, contact Dell. PRODUCT WARRANTIES APPLICABLE TO THE DELL PRODUCTS DESCRIBED IN THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE FOUND AT: http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/19/terms- of- sale- commercial- and- public- sector Performance of network reference architectures discussed in this document may vary with differing deployment conditions, network loads, and the like. Third party products may be included in reference architectures for the convenience of the reader. Inclusion of such third party products does not necessarily constitute Dell s recommendation of those products. Please consult your Dell representative for additional information. Trademarks used in this text: Dell, the Dell logo, Dell Boomi, Dell Precision,OptiPlex, Latitude, PowerEdge, PowerVault, PowerConnect, OpenManage, EqualLogic, Compellent, KACE, FlexAddress, Force10 and Vostro are trademarks of Dell Inc. Other Dell trademarks may be used in this document. Cisco Nexus, Cisco MDS, Cisco NX- 0S, and other Cisco Catalyst are registered trademarks of Cisco System Inc. EMC VNX, and EMC Unisphere are registered trademarks of EMC Corporation. Intel, Pentium, Xeon, Core and Celeron are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. AMD is a registered trademark and AMD Opteron, AMD Phenom and AMD Sempron are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Server, Internet Explorer, MS- DOS, Windows Vista and Active Directory are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Red Hat and Red Hat Enterprise Linux are registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Novell and SUSE are 2 Document Classification (for non- Titus systems) Using Dell Repository Manager with Dell OpenManage
registered trademarks of Novell Inc. in the United States and other countries. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Citrix, Xen, XenServer and XenMotion are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. VMware, Virtual SMP, vmotion, vcenter and vsphere are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States or other countries. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Broadcom and NetXtreme are registered trademarks of Broadcom Corporation. Qlogic is a registered trademark of QLogic Corporation. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and/or names or their products and are the property of their respective owners. Dell disclaims proprietary interest in the marks and names of others. 3 Document Classification (for non- Titus systems) Using Dell Repository Manager with Dell OpenManage
Table of contents Revisions... 2 1 Introduction... 5 2 Building repositories using inventory from Dell OpenManage Essentials... 6 2.1 Viewing and refreshing repositories created from inventory... 12 2.1.1 Loading the repository and selecting the Refresh function... 12 2.1.2 Viewing inventory information... 12 2.2 Using the repository created from inventory... 13 2.2.1 Using saved repository with OpenManage Essentials (OME)... 14 Summary... 16 4 Document Classification (for non- Titus systems) Using Dell Repository Manager with Dell OpenManage
1 Introduction Dell Repository Manager is an application that helps manage system updates easily and effectively. The Dell OpenManage Essentials is a Systems Management console that provides simple, basic Dell hardware management and replaces OpenManage IT Assistant (ITA). This white paper provides the information on how Dell Repository Manager integrates with OpenManage Essentials to build local customized repositories available only in Server mode. With Dell Repository Manager, you can build a custom repository based on the managed system configurations that are obtained from Dell OpenManage Essentials. The advantages of Dell Repository Manager and System Management console integration are: A"quick"and"easy"way"to"build"a"custom"repository"for"managed"systems"that"you"own."There"is"no" need"to"remember"the"system"models"and"configuration"of"each"individual"system"to"build"a" custom"repository"from"dell"online"catalog,"which"is"at"ftp.dell.com."dell"repository"manager" leverages"the"system"inventory"data"from"dell"openmanage. Dell"Repository"Manager"assists"to"create"a"fully"customized"repository"that"only"includes"the" update"packages"for"a"user"system"configuration."the"redundant"updates"are"filtered"which" significantly"reduces"the"size"of"a"custom"repository,"saves"the"resources"and"efforts"on"managing" the"repository. You"can"build"a"repository"that"only"contains"the"updates"for"only"out- of- date"devices;"or"build"a" baseline"repository"that"contains"updates"for"all"the"devices"including"updates"for"out- of- date" devices"as"well"as"any"other"updates"from"newer"files." Fulfills"the"repository"management"functionality"for"Dell "OpenManage "Essentials. 5 Document Classification (for non- Titus systems) Using Dell Repository Manager with Dell OpenManage
2 Building repositories using inventory from Dell OpenManage Essentials Follow these steps to build a repository using the inventory available from Dell OpenManage Essentials: 1. Install Dell Repository Manager and Dell OpenManage Essentials which can be on different systems or optionally both on the same system. Dell Repository Manager, can be run on a Microsoft Windows based client or a Microsoft Windows based server systems. 2. The Dell Repository Manager is found on http://www.dell.com/support/manuals/us/en/555/product/dell- repository- mangr- v1.8 It is strongly recommended to update Dell Repository Manager to the latest version. Dell Repository Manager can check for the latest version and assists you in the downloading and installation process. 3. Run the system discovery and inventory in Dell OpenManage Essentials, if you have not run this feature when OME was initially deployed. From Dell OpenManage Essentials, discover Dell servers in the network and then inventory related to these servers. Figure: 1 shows the Discovery portal under Dell OpenManage Essentials with servers that have completed discovery and inventory. Figure 1 Servers under Dell OpenManage Essentials with discovery and inventory complete The discovered servers under Dell OpenManage Essentials shows the Software Inventory information under the Device information screen, as shown in Figure 2. 6 Document Classification (for non- Titus systems) Using Dell Repository Manager with Dell OpenManage
Figure 2 Software inventory information of Servers in Dell OpenManage Essentials 4. Create a new Dell OpenManage Essentials repository in Dell Repository Manager from the Repository menu by clicking Dell OpenManage Essentials (OME) inventory (shown in Figure 3). Figure 3 My Repositories screen with Dell OpenManage Essentials selected 5. Provide a name and description for the repository as shown in Figure 4. 7 Document Classification (for non- Titus systems) Using Dell Repository Manager with Dell OpenManage
Figure 4 Repository Name and Description 5. Select a source repository that contains the updates from which the new repository needs to be built. This is either the online Dell FTP repository or a Local Source Repository (if you have stored a copy of the Dell Online Catalog locally) or a Custom repository stored on the local disk or network location (Figure 5). Figure 5 Source Repository Selection 8 Document Classification (for non- Titus systems) Using Dell Repository Manager with Dell OpenManage
6. Provide details of the Dell OpenManage Essentials installation of the system in the Connect to OME Server wizard like Host Name or IP Address, Port Number, User Name and Password (if required). If Dell Repository Manager is residing on the same server where Dell OpenManage Essentials installation is present then Dell Repository Manager Will automatically fill the Host Name or IP Address. By default, the port number on Connect to OME Server wizard will be always be 2607(Figure 6). Port number can be changed as per requirement. Figure 6 Connect to OME Server Wizard 7. Once the required details are filled, on clicking Connect, Dell Repository Manager tries to gather the list of servers discovered by Dell OpenManage Essentials (Figure 7). 9 Document Classification (for non- Titus systems) Using Dell Repository Manager with Dell OpenManage
Figure 7 Wizard showing list of servers discovered by Dell OpenManage Essentials 8. The Reset option is useful for resetting/clearing off the fields on the wizard and allows you to enter new server details. 9. Select the new repository options to build the repository. Dell Repository Manager provides two options to select the matching updates in the repository. One option is for choosing updates that match the device regardless of its version and the next option is for choosing updates for only out- of- date devices. 10. Select the Repository Creation options. This allows you to create the repository with the type of bundles/components (Linux/Windows x32 and x64) selected. By default Dell Repository Manager will create bundles for each operating system if identifies from the inventory file, including Microsoft Windows Server and Linux. Microsoft Windows Server updates are available in both 32bit and 64bit versions. If you only want one to show up, you can deselect the one you do not want created. It is recommended that you select the 32bit Bundles as they contain all the updates available, and can be deployed on 64bit versions of Microsoft Windows server. The exception is if you are using Microsoft Windows 2012 Core Eddition, which can only use 64bit update files. By default, x32 and Linux are selected as shown in Summary step (Figure 8). After making the selections, it may take several minutes to create the repository based on the number of servers and the size of the source repository. 10 Document Classification (for non- Titus systems) Using Dell Repository Manager with Dell OpenManage
Figure 8 Summary of repository creation steps Once the repository is created as shown in Figure 9, it contains bundles for each server discovered under Dell OpenManage Essentials. Updates for the same server models are grouped under the same bundle. Figure 9 Repository created from Dell OpenManage Essentials inventory 11 Document Classification (for non- Titus systems) Using Dell Repository Manager with Dell OpenManage
2.1 Viewing and refreshing repositories created from inventory After creating a repository from inventory available in Dell OpenManage there can be changes to inventory data. Dell Repository Manager provides an easy method to refresh an existing repository based on the new inventory. 2.1.1 Loading the repository and selecting the Refresh function 1. After loading the repository created using inventory, select the Inventory menu and click Refresh Inventory ( ). This performs a refresh operation that triggers an inventory collection from Dell OpenManage Essentials. The repository is updated with new bundles and components based on the new device updates. 2. The previous selections made during repository creation are saved, thereby reducing the effort to go through the wizard again. 2.1.2 Viewing inventory information You can view the inventory information collected from these servers that are grouped under each server model (Figure 10). Select the Inventory menu in Dell Repository Manager and click Information to bring up a window showing device inventory information. The information presented is what is currently installed on your systems. Figure 10 Inventory view from Dell Repository Manager 12 Document Classification (for non- Titus systems) Using Dell Repository Manager with Dell OpenManage
2.2 Using the repository created from inventory The repository created from the Dell OpenManage Essentials (OME) inventory can be saved as a Full Repository using the save option available on Dell Repository Manager on to a desired location as shown in Figure 11. Later, the saved repository can be used to update the firmware from OME. Alternaively a customized Server Update Utility (SUU) can be created by selecting the Export option and following the tool creation wizard. Note Best Practice is to save the file and contents to a network location that OpenManage Essentials has access to. Figure 11 Saving the repository to a desired location On selecting Ok from the the dialog box, a job gets scheduled as shown in the Figure 12 and the progress can be tracked from the jobs queue accordingly. 13 Document Classification (for non- Titus systems) Using Dell Repository Manager with Dell OpenManage
Figure 12 Jobs Queue scheduling of a task 2.2.1 Using saved repository with OpenManage Essentials (OME) Open the Dell OpenManage Essentials (OME) console on a supported web browser (please refer to OME documentation for supported browser information). Go to Manage and then System Update on the OME console and then click on Select a Catalog Source. A dialog box appears and then select Use repository manager file as shown in Figure 13. Browse for the catalog.xml or catalog.cab from the repository saved at the location. Figure 13 Select a Catalog Source from OME console Once the catalog is imported by Dell OpenManage Essentials (OME), navigate to the respective tabs which can be either Compliant Systems or Non- Compliant Systems etc and select the system(s) name which needs to be updated as shown in the Figure 14 below. 14 Document Classification (for non- Titus systems) Using Dell Repository Manager with Dell OpenManage
Figure 14 System Update Page on Dell OpenManage Essentials (OME) console Once the system(s) is selected, the updates gets listed under Select Updates to Apply. Select the desired one s or all and click Apply Selected Updates. System Update Task dialog opens as shown in Figure 15 and click Finish to deploy the updates from the repository created from Dell Repository Manager (DRM). The updates can also be scheduled for a later time as per convenience. Figure 15 System Update Task on Dell OpenManage Essentials (OME) console The system update task status can be viewed from System Update- >Summary- >Task Execution History: OR System Update- >All System Update Tasks- >Task Execution History: 15 Document Classification (for non- Titus systems) Using Dell Repository Manager with Dell OpenManage
Figure 16 System Update Task Execution Status Summary On completion of system update task the Task State set to Completed, an auto inventory task is run to fetch updated inventory data. Note: Figure 16 is only a specific case. The actual results may vary. Dell Repository Manager integrates with Dell system management consoles like Dell OpenManage Essentials to provide an easy method for creating and maintaining repositories based on the inventory available in these consoles. Learn More: Visit http://www.dell.com/support/manuals/us/en/555/product/dell- repository- mangr- v1.8 for more information about usage on Dell Repository Manager tool. Visit www.delltechcenter.com/ome for more information about usage on Dell OpenManage Essentials. 16 Document Classification (for non- Titus systems) Using Dell Repository Manager with Dell OpenManage