This topic is an open discussion around tools/tips/techniques/tricks you have found around switching to the Dell OpenManage platform from another vendor. We'll talk about the tools to use for deployment of Operating Systems and hardware updates.

Background Research

Start Smart with Dell OpenManage

Chat Transcript

DELL-ToddM	Hidey Ho
DELL-ScottH	hey
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DELL-ScottH	hello
slbrown	hello Scott
DELL-ToddM	What's Up slbrown
slbrown	not much Todd
slbrown	and yourself
DELL-ToddM	I'm working on getting a whole bunch of Vms running on an r900
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DELL-ScottH	the one you don't want me to reboot, right ?
DELL-ScottH	hey roger
DELL-ToddM	I even installed Omsa earlier today to monitor the power on the r900
DELL-ToddM	(See Scott I'm not trying to hijack the Om discussion
Dell-RogerF	Afternoon. Looks like the regulars are here!
DELL-ScottH	you get your turn in the barrel next week todd !
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slbrown	how did the Omsa install go on R900
DELL-ScottH	hey greg
DELL-ToddM	Very easy to install Omsa on Esx these days
ramseyg	Hi Scott
slbrown	which version of Om?
DELL-ToddM	Download the tar from support.dell.com
DELL-ScottH	5.4
DELL-ToddM	5.4
DELL-ScottH	is there an echo in here ?
DELL-ToddM	unzip, run setup.sh, select the things you want
DELL-ToddM	then start the services
DELL-ScottH	hey greg, great work on getting the System Center pages up, some good stuff and screenshots too
DELL-ScottH	appreciate you buys building that community
ramseyg	thanks - we're making progress. .
DELL-ScottH	alright, I guess everyone else can catch up ...
DELL-ScottH	this is the final chat of our topic based around Switching systems management ... I've been updating areas around this topic on this page ..
DELL-ScottH	http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/switching+to+dell+systems+management
DELL-ScottH	keep a "watch" on that page for some more items to be completed
DELL-ScottH	Today we are going to discuss "starting Smart with Dell Openmanage" ... :-) .. thanks to roger for the title and play on words with Hp Smartstart :-)
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DELL-ScottH	I've created a page on the subject -- http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/starting+smart+with+dell+openmanage -- this page explains how Sbuu is similar to Hp Smartstart and shows some demos of it in action
DELL-ScottH	haha caught another one in the "don't click here
DELL-ScottH	" filter !
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DELL-ScottH	hey greg, don't click those links :-)
ramseyg	oops. . I clicked on the link. . . :(
DELL-ScottH	haha, you can right click and it will open a new winodw .... I always like to see how many we catch :-)
ramseyg	yea. . I guess luckily, now that I've logged back in, I can't even see the link. . keeps me out of trouble. . :)
DELL-ScottH	anyways .... Dell Openmanage Systems Build and Update Utlity .... aka Sbuu (so much less to type) is the equivalent to Hp's smartstart Cd ...
ramseyg	Question - does Sbuu = Suu ?
DELL-ScottH	you boot the machine from the Cd and it will allow you to update your system firmware/bios and install the Os
DELL-ScottH	no suu = server update utility
ramseyg	ok - thanks
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DELL-ScottH	which I will cover in a sec
DELL-ToddM	Welcome jhuser
DELL-ScottH	welcome jhuser ... you can catch up through "actions" .. recent room history
jhuser	Thanks
DELL-ScottH	Suu is used to update your system using the Dell Update Packages .. aka Dups ... so many Tla's !
DELL-ScottH	To get an idea of using Dups and Suu see this page -- http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/patching+dell+poweredge+servers
slbrown	Scott won't it also allow you to create some scripts for unattended installs?
DELL-ScottH	yes, the other part of Sbuu that is great is that it allows you to capture the steps for a single system install and then recreate those steps for mass roll out of many machines ... I've got a demo of that .. hold for link ..
DELL-ScottH	on this page -- http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/systems+build+and+update+utility+-+sbuu
DELL-ScottH	so not only will it build the unattended.txt file, it will also bundle the bios/firmware updates in a script that can be deplyed with the Dtk --
slbrown	another nice thing about the Sbuu is it's ability to validate the media burned.
DELL-ScottH	Dtk = deployment toolkit -- http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/dell+openmanage+deployment+toolkit
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DELL-ScottH	another one bites the dust !
DELL-ScottH	I have to see if that is a setting we can change in the chat software
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DELL-ScottH	although it's good to know people are following along
ramseyg	I agree - I'm an easy target on that click-link-get-ejected thing. .
DELL-ScottH	hey jh, you can right click on the links :-) .. should mentioned that before , its bitten us all
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DELL-ScottH	hi bb, use "action" -- "recent room history" to catch up
DELL-ScottH	ok, I've also blogged a little about these new pages on my Systemsedge blog -- http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/systems+edge
DELL-ScottH	be sure to subscribe, that way you'll see all the new stuff we're working on
DELL-ScottH	yes, back to the validation of the media, it's a nice thing, except for the one guy that wanted to use some Iso image he downloaded from the web and wondered why it told him invalid media :-)
DELL-ScottH	I want to extend the invite to anyone here, or reading the transcript to add their experiences and scripts to our community. I know there are many ways to skin a cat (I love cats, with bbq sauce) and we created a place to put them -- http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/openmanage+scripts+and+tools
DELL-ScottH	And since this is our week to talk about competitors tools, especially moving from Hp Sim to Dell Om, I know many Hp customers also use Ms System Center .... we've got some great resources in the form of Dell It, who are building out the resources here -- http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/microsoft+system+center
DELL-ScottH	Greg (ramseyg) is one of the resources and a Ms Mvp ... greg care to talk about some of the things you've added to the Techcenter, and any upcoming things ?
DELL-ScottH	ok, cat has his tounge
ramseyg	we're working on a few things in the System Center Space
ramseyg	my Colleague Dennis just posted some new information about using the Dell Client configuration utility to configure bios settings on desktops and notebooks - http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/configuring+the+bios+using+the+dell+client+configuration+utility+%28dccu%29
ramseyg	(sorry - it's patch Tuesday - multi-tasking)
ramseyg	Dccu is very convenient. .
DELL-ScottH	don't reboot mine yet :-)
ramseyg	If you don't have the luxury to install Omci on your workstations, and you need to make a change to the Bios, take a look at Dccu.
ramseyg	basically, it allows you to create a custom package to make a specific Bios setting - a great example is to flip the Wake-on-lan bit in the bios, so that you can wake your systems
ramseyg	now if you have Omci installed, you can use a fairly simple Vbscript . . or Powershell. . .or anything else you choose
ramseyg	we'll post some more info on Omci in the near future, with some cool scripts too. .
DELL-ScottH	yes, scripts, love their power
ramseyg	here's the main page for Configmgr: http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/sccm+-+system+center+configuration+manager
ramseyg	You'll find a little information in there about the Dell Server Updates catalog, which you can import into Sccm - we're working with the product team to get the "official documentation" posted as soon as possible.
ramseyg	after importing the server updates catalog, you can detect and deploy device patches to your Dell servers, just like you can deploy Ms security patches
DELL-ScottH	well we've definitely come a long way from when I first started in this field and had to do everything with floppys !
ramseyg	no kidding. . . we're making some great progress
DELL-ScottH	yeah, just look at Rogers profile pic, he's got a computer made out of plywood !
Dell-RogerF	Wire wrapped the chips myself. 1024 bytes of Ram
DELL-ScottH	that covers all the pages and topics I wanted to bring up, if you review them you'll find lots of information of Startingsmart with Dell and will point you in the right direction for deployment of servers and applying patches ... if you are a Ms System Center shop, be sure to review what Greg has produced ...
DELL-ScottH	alright, time for open discussion ... the floor is everyones
ramseyg	(shameless plug) - Anyone attending Tech-ed? I'll be presenting on using Powershell with Configmgr. . .
DELL-ScottH	is it in vegas ?
ramseyg	No - Orlando. .
ramseyg	I've never attended Tech-ed before - it should be interesting. .
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DELL-ScottH	you have the topic event # ... in case anyone is looking in the transcript
DELL-ScottH	Tech-ed is fun, went to one about 6-8 years ago .. man I'm getting old
ramseyg	I'll see if I can find it quick. .
DELL-ScottH	Todd, how about you tell us a little of what we can expect for the next topic ?
ramseyg	Mgt365 - Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007: Scripting and Console Extensions
DELL-ScottH	cool, that's an easy number to remember
ramseyg	it will be a pretty decent deep dive into using Powershell with Wmi..
DELL-ScottH	I keep wanting to learn powershell, I've done a few simple things with it, I love scripting ... but too much stuff, too little time, like everything .... I also want to learn spanish, take up woodworking, welding, etc etc .. .I need to invent a time machine, that's the ticket !
ramseyg	yep me too. .
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DELL-ScottH	you want to go halfsies on a Delorean ? that's all we need, right ?
DELL-ScottH	hey Eric, fixed the browser problem I take it
ramseyg	yes - sounds good.
Eric_Reed	saw one of those up here in Nashville the other day
Eric_Reed	yeah, it finally worked
DELL-ScottH	use "action" - "recent room history" and you can catch up
DELL-ScottH	how many gigawatts ?
Eric_Reed	I had to hard-code the proxy settings into the java control panel
DELL-ScottH	you just have to clean them with Windex, right ?
Eric_Reed	[catching up...]
DELL-ScottH	Todd are finished eating Bbq cat ?
DELL-ToddM	Hey - Sorry Had to walk around the corner for a sec
DELL-ToddM	Next Week!
DELL-ToddM	Yes - We are going to be discussing How to select the right server for virtualization
DELL-ToddM	The key options are 2 socket, 4 socket, or blades
Eric_Reed	...and zesty, lo-cal cat recipes?
DELL-ToddM	Oh - and Amd or Intel
DELL-ToddM	I'm more into high cal stuff - Chuys!
DELL-ScottH	you guys better be careful or these are going to make the "quote of the wee" report !
DELL-ScottH	week
Eric_Reed	Mmm...chuy's. For those outside of Austin who might be on this chat, if you ever travel to Austin, please avail yourself of some good Chuy's food. Okay, back to the technical stuff...
DELL-ScottH	Elvis plate for me - very low cal
DELL-ToddM	I've setup a landing page for next week';s topic - http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/selecting+a+server+for+virtualization
DELL-ToddM	There are lots of conversations going on between people about what is the best server - and we are going to try to organize the conversation and come up with some basic recommendations
DELL-ScottH	do you also plan on covering storage as a side topic, or sticking just to the server side of the discussion ?
DELL-ToddM	Storage would be part of the conversation as well - iscsi or Fibre
DELL-ToddM	Sata or Sas
Eric_Reed	I have a customer who's just going to be getting up on plane with Poweredge servers and Openmanage architecture...i'll show them the Sbuu, Omsa, Ita, Omci and the Dccu...what else do you think a newb customer would like to chew on?
DELL-ScottH	I think all new customers should explore the site, hard to tell what they need, but we are here to point them in the right direction, encourage them to join here and discuss
Eric_Reed	Certainly will...yeah.
DELL-ScottH	jhuser, anything you need covered ?
jhuser	No I was just checking this out.
DELL-ScottH	cool, we like lurkers !
DELL-ScottH	well, we appreciate everyone spending the time, review the links I sent out, and start threads anywhere you like and we'll pick up the discussion from there .... invite your collegues to the Techcenter and we'll keep plugging away ... talk to you all next week, with Todd leading the discussion
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jhuser	Thanks guys
DELL-ScottH	thank you !
DELL-ToddM	Thanks Scott
DELL-ToddM	Later
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DELL-ScottH	l8r
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Eric_Reed	thankya...thankyaverymuch!