Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter 1.7 Version 1.7 ...€¦ · Management Plug-in. Make sure to set your default browser to Internet Explorer. ... be set to the right IE version

Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter

Version 1.7

Release Notes

Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter version 1.7 Release Notes

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This document 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. Dell and its affiliates cannot be responsible for errors or omissions

in typography or photography. Dell, the Dell logo, and PowerEdge are trademarks of Dell Inc. Intel and

Xeon are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft,

Windows, and Windows Server are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation

in the United States and/or other countries. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this

document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell disclaims

proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.

June 2013| Rev 1.0


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Contents

Introduction ........................................................................................................... 5

BIOS/iDRAC Co-requirement for Lifecycle Controllers .......................................................... 5

Hardware and software requirements ............................................................................. 7

Supported browsers .................................................................................................. 8

Space required for provisioned storage ........................................................................... 9

PowerEdge 12th generation servers .............................................................................. 9

PowerEdge 11th generation servers ............................................................................. 10

PowerEdge 10TH generation servers ............................................................................ 11

PowerEdge 9TH generation servers .............................................................................. 11

Port information ..................................................................................................... 12

Upgrade Repository Path information ............................................................................ 13

User notes ............................................................................................................ 13

Open issues and resolutions ........................................................................................ 16

Corrected Problems ................................................................................................. 27

Tables

Table 1. BIOS for Dell PowerEdge 11TH generation servers ................................................... 5

Table 2. BIOS for Dell PowerEdge 12TH generation servers ................................................... 6

Table 3. For deployment ........................................................................................... 6

Table 4. For management ......................................................................................... 6

Table 5. Management support .................................................................................... 7

Table 6. Hypervisor deployment versions ....................................................................... 8

Table 7. VMware Version Support ................................................................................ 9

Table 8. Feature Support .......................................................................................... 9

Table 9. VMware version support ................................................................................ 10

Table 10. Feature support ......................................................................................... 11


Table 12. Feature support ......................................................................................... 11



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Table 14. Feature Support ......................................................................................... 11

Table 15. Virtual appliance ........................................................................................ 12

Table 16. Managed nodes .......................................................................................... 12

Table 17. Upgrade Repository Path information. .............................................................. 13


5

Introduction

This file contains updated information for your Dell™ Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter and any

other technical documentation included with Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter software.

NOTE: Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter is available from

http://www.dell.com/vcenterplugin.

The Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter documentation includes:

Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter Version 1.7. Quick Install

Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter Version 1.7. User’s Guide

Context-sensitive help pages display by the user interface

This Release Notes file

BIOS/iDRAC Co-requirement for Lifecycle Controllers

The following BIOS, iDRAC, and Lifecycle Controller versions are required to enable Management Plug-

in features. These versions must match in order for the Management Plug-in to function properly.

Note: We recommend that you use Server Update Utility (SUU), Repository Manager, or Lifecycle

Controller's Platform update functionality to update your servers to one of these baselines before using

The Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter. Upgrade these in the order listed below.

BIOS for Dell PowerEdge 11TH generation servers Table 1.

Server Version

PowerEdge R210 1.8.2

PowerEdge R210II 1.3.1













PowerEdge M610 6.1.0

PowerEdge M610x 6.1.0

PowerEdge M710HD 5.0.1



PowerEdge T110 1.8.2


http://www.dell.com/vcenterplugin


6

Server Version




BIOS for Dell PowerEdge 12TH generation servers Table 2.

System BIOS version

T320 1.0.1

T420 1.0.1

T620 1.2.6

M420 1.2.4

M520 1.2.6

M620 1.2.6

M820 1.2.6

R320 1.2.4

R420 1.2.4

R520 1.2.4

R620 1.2.6

R720 1.2.6

R720xd 1.2.6

R820 1.1.5

For deployment Table 3.

Version Version number/Release date

iDRAC version for Dell PowerEdge 11th generation servers

3.35 for Modular, 1.85 for Rack or Tower

Lifecycle Controller for Dell PowerEdge 11th generation servers

1.5.2 or later


1.0.0.3017 or later


1.00.0 or later

For management Table 4.



3.35 for Modular, 1.85 for Rack or Tower


1.5.2 or later


1.0.0.3017 or later


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1.00.0 or later

Hardware and software requirements

The following support matrix tables detail the VMware version and Management Plug-in functional

support for Dell PowerEdge 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th generation Dell servers.

OpenManage 6.4 agent or greater - SNMP alerts, Hardware Inventory, Blink Server LED,

View/Clear SEL logs

Lifecycle Controller 1.5.2 or later - BIOS/Firmware Updates, Bare metal Deployment,

Hardware Configuration, Change Configuration Settings

iDRAC Express/Enterprise - Power On a Server, Link and Launch iDRAC

OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) Agent — Required for all Dell servers prior to

Dell PowerEdge 12th generation servers

The manual installation of the OMSA agent on Dell PowerEdge 11th Generation hosts is

no longer required on all ESX/ESXi hosts prior to the Dell Management Plug-in

installation. The OMSA agent is installed automatically during deployment. In addition,

the Dell Management Plug-in provides options to install OMSA as part of acquiring host

compliance.

For the management, we support the following:

Management support Table 5.

Hypervisor version OMSA version

ESX 4.1 OMSA 6.5

ESXi 4.1 OMSA 6.5 VIB

ESX 4.1 U1 OMSA 6.5

ESXi 4.1 U1 OMSA 6.5 VIB

ESX 4.1 U2 OMSA 7.0



ESX 4.1 U3 OMSA 7.2







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For Hypervisor deployment, we support the following:

Hypervisor deployment versions Table 6.

Hypervisor version OMSA version Notes

ESX 4.1 OMSA 6.5 Limited to servers with native drivers included in VMware ESX ISO

ESXi 4.1 OMSA 6.5 VIB Use the Dell Custom ISO for driver inclusion

ESX 4.1 U1 OMSA 6.5 Limited to servers with native drivers included in VMware ESX ISO

ESXi 4.1 U1 OMSA 6.5 VIB Use the Dell Custom ISO for driver inclusion

ESX 4.1 U2 OMSA/ 7.0 Limited to servers with native drivers included in VMware ESX ISO


ESX 4.1 U3 OMSA/ 7.2 Limited to servers with native drivers included in VMware ESX ISO


ESXi 5.0 OMSA 7.0 VIB Use the Dell Custom ISO for driver inclusion

ESXi 5.0 U1 OMSA 7.1 VIB Use the Dell Custom ISO for driver inclusions

ESXi 5.0 U2 OMSA 7.3 Use the Dell Custom ISO for driver inclusions

ESXi 5.1 OMSA 7.1 VIB Use the Dell Custom ISO for driver inclusions

ESXi 5.1 U1 OMSA 7.3 Use the Dell Custom ISO for driver inclusions

Supported browsers

Access the Administration Portal and the Dell Management Plug-in using the following browsers:

Internet Explorer 7.0.x, 8.0.x, and 9.0.x set to not use a proxy when communicating with the Dell

Management Plug-in. Make sure to set your default browser to Internet Explorer.

Note: Document Mode and Bowser Mode must be set to the right IE version. Press F12 to set them.


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Space required for provisioned storage

The Dell Management Plug-in virtual appliance requires 36.083 GB of disk space for provisioned

storage.

PowerEdge 12th generation servers

VMware Version Support Table 7.

Model VMware versions

R220 R320 R420 R520 R620 R720 R720XD R820 R920 M420 M520 M620 M820 T320 T620

ESX Classic, ESXi Installable

Feature Support Table 8.


R220 R320 R420 R520 R620 R720 R720XD R820 R920 M420 M520 M620 T320 T620

SNMP alerts, BIOS/Firmware Updates, Hardware Inventory, Power on server, Bare Metal Deployment, Hardware Configuration, Blink Server LED, View/Clear SEL logs, Link and Launch iDRAC, Change Configuration Settings, Warranty Information


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PowerEdge 11th generation servers

VMware version support Table 9.


R210, R310, T410 ESX Classic

R210 II R410 R415 R510 R515 R610 R710 R715 R810 R815 R905 R910 M1000e M610 M710 M710D M910 M915 T610 T710

ESX Classic, ESXi Embedded


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Feature support Table 10.

Model Features

R210, R210II, R310, T410, R410, R415, R510, R515, T610, R610, M1000e, M610, T710, R710, M710, M710HD, R810, R905, R910, M910, M915, R715, R815

SNMP alerts, BIOS/Firmware Updates, Hardware Inventory, Power on server, Bare Metal Deployment, Hardware Configuration, Blink Server LED, View/Clear SEL logs, Link and Launch iDRAC, Change Configuration Settings, Warranty Information

PowerEdge 10TH generation servers



R200, T300, R300, M600 ESX Classic

M605, T605, M805, R805, R900, R905, M905 ESX Classic, ESXi Embedded

Feature support Table 12.

Model Features

R200, T300, R300, M600, M605, T605, M805, R805, R900, M905

SNMP alerts, Hardware Inventory, Power on server, Blink Server LED, View/Clear SEL logs, Link and Launch iDRAC, Warranty Information

PowerEdge 9TH generation servers



PE1950 I/II ESX Classic

PE1950 III ESX Classic, ESXi Embedded

PE1955 ESX Classic





PE2970 ESX Classic, ESXi Embedded

PE6950 ESX Classic

Feature Support Table 14.

Model Features

All supported PowerEdge 9th generation servers SNMP alerts, Hardware Inventory, Power on server, Blink Server LED, View/Clear SEL logs, Link and Launch iDRAC, Warranty Information


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Port information

NOTE: When deploying the OMSA agent using the Fix non-compliant vSphere hosts link available from

the Compliance window in the Dell Management Center, the Dell Management Plug-in starts the http

Client service and enables port 8080 on and releases after ESXi 5.0 to download OMSA VIB and install it.

Once the OMSA installation is completed, the service automatically stops and the port is closed.

Virtual appliance Table 15.

Port Number

Protocols Port Type Maximum Encryption

Level

Direction Usage Configurable

21 FTP TCP None Out FTP command client

No

53 DNS TCP None Out DNS client No

80 HTTP TCP None Out Dell Online Data Access

No

80 HTTP TCP None In Administration Console

No

162 SNMP Agent

UDP None In SNMP Agent (server)

No

443 HTTPS TCP 128-bit In HTTPS server No

443 WSMAN TCP 128-bit In/Out iDRAC/OMSA communication

No

4433 HTTPS TCP 128-bit In Auto Discovery No

2049 NFS UDP/TCP None All Public Share No

4001-4004 NFS UDP/TCP None All Public Share No

5432 Postgres TCP 128-bit All PostgreSQL No

11620 SNMP Agent

UDP None In SNMP Agent (server)

No

Managed nodes Table 16.

Port Number


Level


162, 11620 SNMP UDP None Out Hardware Events No

443 WSMAN TCP 128-bit In iDRAC/OMSA communication

No

4433 HTTPS TCP 128-bit Out Auto Discovery No

2049 NFS UDP None All Public Share No

4001-4004 NFS UDP None All Public Share No

443 HTTPS TCP 128-bit In HTTPS server No

8080 HTTP TCP In HTTP server; downloads the OMSA VIB and fixes non-compliant vSphere hosts

No

50 RMCP UDP/TCP 128-bit Out Remote Mail Check Protocol

No


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Port Number


Level


51 IMP UDP/TCP None N/A IMP Logical Address Maintenance

No

5353 mDNS UDP/TCP All Multicast DNS No

631 IPP UDP/TCP None Out Internet Printing Protocol (IPP)

No

69 TFTP UDP 128-bit All Trivial File Transfer

No

111 NFS UDP/TCP 128-bit In SUN Remote Procedure Call (Portmap)

No

68 BOOTP UDP None Out Bootstrap Protocol Client

No

Upgrade Repository Path information

When you upgrade, you may need to update the path for the location of the RPMs. Make sure you point

to the folder location according to the chart below:

Upgrade Repository Path information. Table 17.

Upgrade from Upgrade folder

Latest Latest --greatest Latest—greatest--greatest

1.0.1 x

1.5.0 x

1.5.1 x

1.6.0 x

1.7.0 x

User notes

Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter only supports BIOS mode to auto-deploy

hypervisor on the target server. Make sure that you have BIOS mode selected in the

reference hardware profile prior to applying the Hypervisor profile. If there is no

hardware profile selected, then make sure to manually configure the boot mode as

BIOS and reboot the server prior to applying the hypervisor profile.

After the deployment of ESXi finishes, the server shows a purple screen as shown below

with the error “Two file systems with the same UUID have been detected. Make sure

you do not have two ESXi installations.”


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This is a known issue from VMware and the resolution is in the VMware knowledge base

article found here:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displa

yKC&externalId=2000476

or here:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displa

yKC&externalId=1035107

Incorrect warning is displayed on the vCenter Summary tab when the hypervisor was

deployed and root password set to non-default as shown in the screen below.

This is a known issue from VMware and the resolution is to remove the host from the

VMware tree and re-add it back with the correct root password.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2000476





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Incorrect warning is displayed. Figure 1.

Time stamps are converted to the user’s local time zone and the Dell Management Plug-

in displays Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) time offsets.

If you run a security scanner tool (such as Nessus) against the Server Administrator Web

server, certain security warnings against port 1311 running the Server Administrator

Web server may be displayed. These warnings have been investigated by Dell

engineering and are determined to be false positives.

If the proxy settings are provided in the configuration, then the proxy settings are used

to access the Repository URL provided in the Administration Portal. However, if the URL

to the Update Repository is an internal URL, then disable the proxy setting. If you do not

disable the internal proxy setting, then the appliance attempts to connect to the URL

with the proxy.

A hardware profile created using a reference server with a certain BIOS version could

cause deployment to fail. Some BIOS versions do not give accurate information for

certain BIOS settings, such as the Embedded NIC1 and NIC2 settings. When a server

with BIOS version is used as a reference server in a hardware profile, the fields are

ignored both by the UI and by deployment. A problem could arise, however, if the

settings in question are required to have a certain value for deployment to complete

successfully.


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The solution to this issue is to use a server with an up to date BIOS as a reference

server for a hardware profile.

Note: Servers being used for deployment should also have updated BIOS. If deployment

tries to apply settings to a server with problematic BIOS, deployment fails. Currently

the BIOS version is not checked for compliance, but it is displayed on the server

compliance page. Warnings are displayed on the hardware profile reference server and

BIOS settings pages, as well as when they select a deployment template with an

affected hardware profile during deployment.

To resolve this issue, use one of the BIOS versions in Tables 1 and 2 on pages 4 and 5.

Open issues and resolutions

The following section lists the open issues and resolutions with the Dell Management Plug-in for

VMware vCenter 1.7:

Issue 1: Using Dell Management Plug-in to update an Intel Network card with the firmware version of

13.5.2 is not supported.

Description: There is a known issue with Dell PowerEdge 12th generation servers and some Intel

Network cards with the firmware version of 13.5.2. Updating some models of Intel network cards at

this version of firmware fails when the firmware update is applied using the Lifecycle Controller.

Resolution/Workaround: Customers with this version of firmware must update the network driver

software using an operating system. If the Intel Network card has a version of firmware other than

13.5.2, you can update using Dell Management Plug-in. For more information, see

http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/b/techcenter/archive/2013/03/20/intel-network-

controller-card-with-v13-5-2-firmware-cannot-be-upgraded-using-lifecycle-controller-to-v13-5-6.aspx

Note: When using the one-to-many firmware update, avoid selecting Intel network adapters that are at

version 13.5.2, as this will fail and stop the update task from updating remaining servers.

Version Affected: All

Issue 2: Using the Dell Management Plug-in to upgrade a Broadcom NetXtreme II 10Gigabit Ethernet

adapter (BCM57712) from firmware version of 6.2.x or less, or downgrade to a firmware version of

6.2.x or less is not supported.

Resolution/Workaround: There is a known issue with the Broadcom NetXtreme II 10Gigabit Ethernet

adapter (BCM57712) where updating the adapter from firmware version of 6.2.x or less, or downgrade

to a firmware version of 6.2.x or less fails when the update is applied using the Lifecycle Controller.

When attempting to perform this update using the Dell Management Plug-in, the update may

incorrectly show that it completed successfully; however, the firmware update will have failed and

remain at the previous level. One way to successfully update the adapter software for the Broadcom

NetXtreme II 10Gigabit Ethernet adapter (BCM57712) is for customers to update the adapter firmware

from an operating system.


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Issue 3: While running the Firmware Update wizard, at the datacenter or cluster level, an error

message “The firmware repository file does not exist or is invalid.” may display. This may be due to

a daily background process that was unable to download and cache the catalog file from the

repository. This occurs if the catalog file is not reachable at the time the background process runs. .

Resolution/Workaround: After resolving any catalog connectivity issues that may exist, you can re-

initiate the background process by changing the firmware repository location and then setting it back

to the original location. Allow about 5 minutes for the background process to complete.


Issue 4: After completing the firmware updates using the Dell Management Plug-in, an inventory may

not be automatically initiated on the updated servers. The firmware versions displayed may show

previous values until a new inventory has completed. .

Resolution/Workaround: Verify inventory has completed successfully following a firmware update

and prior to viewing firmware versions or scheduling any new firmware update jobs.


Issue 5: Sometimes no hosts are listed after running the Connection Profile Wizard, even when there

are hosts managed on the vCenter.

Description: Sometimes no hosts are listed in the “Associated Hosts” page of create or update of

Connection Profile Wizard and the text “No Dell Hosts were found” is displayed even if there are hosts

managed on the vCenter. This issue is intermittant and the issue is due the caching on the browser.

Resolution/Workaround: The issue is resolved by clearing the browser cache. Press the F12 key on the

IE browser and then select the Cache->Clear Browser Cache


Issue 6: When Installing the Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter I see the following error and

cannot proceed.

“Network card 'VirtualE1000' has a DVPort backing, which is not supported. This could be because the

host does not support VDS or because the host has not joined a VDS.”

Resolution/Workaround: Set the network interface to the VM Network during the OVF installation.

Then once the virtual machine is created remap the networking to the VDS port group.


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Issue 7: Run inventory job prior to initiating firmware updates.

Description: When conducting firmware updates on Dell PowerEdge 12th generation servers, update

jobs may have been scheduled for components that were not updatable using the Lifecycle Controller,

and thus are not updatable from within the Dell Management Plug-in.

Resolution/Workaround: Dell recommends that you run an inventory job after upgrading to this

version, and prior to initiating firmware updates.


Issue 8: The PCI Slots overview may show a total of zero slots for Dell PowerEdge 12th

generation blade servers deployed to a VRTX chassis.

Description: Under the Dell Server Management Tab, Hardware Inventory Information, PCI

Slots section, the PCI Slots Total may incorrectly display a value of zero on Dell PowerEdge

12th generation servers inside a VRTX chassis. This is due to a defect, which is in recent

versions of the BIOS. This BIOS defect will be addressed in a future BIOS release.

Resolution/Workaround: None.


Issue 9: The NIC connection status is not reflected correctly on Dell PowerEdge 12th

generation servers.

Description: Under the Dell Server Management Tab, Hardware Inventory

Information, NICs section, the Network Interface Cards may incorrectly display a

connected status of NO on Dell PowerEdge 12th generation servers. This is due to a

defect, which is in recent versions of the Lifecycle Controller firmware. This Lifecycle

Controller defect will be addressed in a future Lifecycle Controller firmware release.

Resolution/Workaround: None.


Issue 10: Navigating away from a firmware update by selecting another host in the

datacenter tree causes the update to fail.

Description: Navigating away from the firmware update page by selecting another host in the

datacenter tree causes the update to fail. The update fails by not entering Maintenance mode and the


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reboot tasks will fail to initiate.

Resolution/Workaround: You must not navigate away from the wizard until it closed before selecting any

another host in the inventory.


Issue 11: The Service Tag is not displaying during a firmware update.

Description: In the firmware inventory and on the Select Update Bundles tab, the Service Tag

information is not displaying for Dell PowerEdge 11th generation servers. This information is not

displayed if vCenter does not provide the Service Tag

Resolution/Workaround: You can view the Service Tag information on the Host Overview page where

you launched the firmware update.


Issue 12: ESX / ESXi deployment fails on servers having a PERC S300 boot controller.

Description: Deployments of Dell Management Plug-in using different ESX/ESXi versions on Dell

PowerEdge servers with the PERC S300 boot controller failed. The Dell Customized ESX/ESXi operating

systems do not carry the driver for the PERC S300 boot controller, which causes the boot

controller/HDD not to be recognized during operating system installation.

Resolution/Workaround: Servers with PERC S300 boot controllers are not supported for Dell

Management Plug-in deployments.

Version Affected: All.

Issue 13: NPE is thrown when trying to register the Dell Management Plug-in.

Description: The registration of Dell Management Plug-in fails after upgrade to version 1.5.1 even if there is no earlier Dell Management Plug-in registered and the vCenter locale is one of the supported locales. The issue happens since some SQL scripts failed to execute during RPM update. Resolution/Workaround: It is recommended that you take backup before performing any RPM upgrade. Install the previous version of plugin prior to the upgrade and restore the DB. Now repeat the process of upgrade using RPM upgrade. Version Affected: All

Issue 14: The RAID topology does not support a dedicated hotspare in the reference topology and


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also does not support a dedicated hotspare while applying a hardware profile.

Description: Raid Topology does not support a dedicated hotspare in the reference topology and also

does not support dedicated hotspare while applying hardware profile.

Resolution/Workaround: If you need a dedicated hotspare in reference topology, set up the RAID

outside of the Dell Management Plug-in.


Issue 15: Firmware download fails when trying to downgrade firmware from Q4 block release.

Description: The firmware downgrade will fail sometimes if the user is trying to downgrade LC,

IDRAC and other firmware at the same time.

Resolution/Workaround: downgrade LC first and then downgrade the rest of the firmware once LC

firmware downgrade is completed.

Issue 16: Connection profile association not shown in host compliance page when inventory is not able

to get iDRAC IP for the host.

Description: If while running inventory, the iDRAC is non-responsive and it is not able to get iDRAC IP,

the inventory will fail and on the host compliance page the host is shown as not associated with the

connection profile.

Resolution/Workaround: Reset the iDRAC to fix the issue of iDRAC not being responsive and then

rerun the inventory. If the inventory is able to get the iDRAC IP, then the host will be associated with

the correct connection profile.

Version Affected: 1.6 and later

Issue 17: A Communication Error Message is displayed after clicking the Firmware link from vSphere Client. Description: If you have a slow network speed (9600BPS), you may get a Communication Error

Message as shown below after clicking on the Firmware link in vSphere Client for the Dell

Management Plug-in. The Communication Error Message is caused when the connection times out

(which was initiated by the Microsoft Internet Explorer) while trying to obtain the Software Inventory

list. For Microsoft Internet Explorer 8/9/10, the default “Receive Time out” value is set to 10

seconds.

Resolution/Workaround: Use the follow steps to fix the issue:

1. Open RegEdit. 2. Navigate to the following location:


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KHEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings. 3. Add a new DWORD value for ReceiveTimeout.

4. Set the value to 30 seconds (30000) [This may need to try higher value in your environment]. 5. Exit RegEdit. 6. Restart Internet Explorer.

Note: Just opening a new Internet Explorer window is not enough. You must restart the Internet Explorer browser.

7.

The error that displays when the value is set too low is:

Version Affected: 1.5 and later.


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Issue 18: After deploying ESX 4.1u3(800380), OMSA is not configured. Description: ESX 4.1 base, U1, U2, and U3 all require SSH to be enabled on Dell PowerEdge 11th

generation servers at the time when inventory is run to determine if the OMSA is configured correctly.

If Dell Management Plug-in was used to deploy ESX 4.1 base, u1, u2, u3, it installs and configures

OMSA correctly. However, since SSH is not enabled, it shows the host as Not configured on the host

compliance page. In addition, if ESX 4.1 was installed outside and OMSA was installed and configured

using Dell Management Plug-in, and then the user turned off SSH later, the host shows as “Not

configured.” The system must have SSH enabled to show the correct status.

Resolution/Workaround: Either the user has to ignore the wrong status or keep SSH enabled at all

times.

Version Affected: 1.5 and later.

Issue 19: Deployment with IPV6 enabled may add host to vCenter with IPV6 address. Description: If an IPV6 address was used to add the host to the vCenter, then the inventory will fail

on that host.

Resolution/Workaround: The workaround is to remove the host from the connection profile, remove

the host from the vCenter tree, then add the host back to the vCenter tree using the hostname, and

then add the newly added host to the connection profile.


Issue 20: Using localhost for hostname causes problems identifying the source of SNMP alerts.

Description: Starting with ESXi 5.1, a value of localhost for the hostname causes problems in

identifying the source of SNMP alerts. The use of localhost is not supported and a Fully Qualified

Domain Name FQDN should be used instead.

Resolution/Workaround: When deploying an ESXi 5.1 server using DHCP, it is strongly recommended

that a combination of a DHCP reservation based on the selected NIC MAC addresses, and a DNS host

entry using the reservation’s IP address be configured. The MAC address is visible from the

Deployment Wizard’s Server Identification screen, Network Interface drop-down, and provided to help

identify the network interfaces. The DHCP reservation and DNS entry should be created for the

server prior to scheduling the deployment, and if properly configured should set the hostname to the

value from DNS.



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Issue 21: Balloon driver or vMotion is not functioning as expected.

Description: VMware tools are out of date causing potential issues like the balloon driver or vMotion

not to functioning as expected.

Resolution/Workaround: Tools can be updated by powering the virtual machine down and changing

the virtual machine type to Linux/Centos 32 bit. Once the virtual machine comes back online do an

automatic upgrade of the tools. Detailed steps are located at our tech center site:

http://www.DellTechCenter.com/DMPVV


Issue 22: Deployments failure error message seen on R210 II machines.

Description: Timeout issue on R210 II systems produces a hypervisor deployments failure error due to

failure of BIOS to boot from attached ISO.

Resolution/Workaround: Manually install hypervisor on the machine.

Version Affected: 1.5.1, 1.6

Issue 23: Dell Management Plug-in gets a security error message.

Description: Although the SSL Certificate is valid on a vCenter and user credentials are correct,

a user encounters an error message saying , “There are either too many Virtual Management

Console connections or an incorrect user name or password or session ID, or an incorrect SSL

certificate. Please verify these items and try again.”

Resolution/Workaround: This happens due to an invalid session in vCenter. Simply closing and

re-opening the vSphere client resolves seeing this error message. You can check your session by

clicking “Sessions” under Administration in the vSphere Client for advanced troubleshooting.

Version Affected: 1.5.1, 1.6 and later


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Issue 24: Unable to boot to service partition while deploying OS ISO.

Description: Hypervisor deployments are failing on Dell 11th and 12th generation servers with this

error displayed on the screen during POST: “Warning: Unable to boot to Service Partition.”

There is a BIOS issue to identify the network ISO when there is a local USB CD-ROM installed on

the system and that USB CD-ROM is the only USB mass storage device plugged into the system.”

Resolution/Workaround: Remove the local USB CD-ROM (note that not all local CD-ROM would

expose this issue), or plug in additional USB floppy or USB key on the system, or attach the

virtual media (virtual floppy and virtual CD) from the iDRAC.

Version Affected: 1.5.1, 1.6

Issue 25: A firmware update fails with an error message saying that USC is in use and it should

be retried after 30 seconds.

Description: During a firmware update if the update fails with error message “If USC is in use,

wait until USC has exited and retry the action. Otherwise retry after 30 seconds to check if

network connectivity caused this error.”

Resolution/Workaround: To fix this issue, reset iDRAC and wait until iDRAC boots back up

properly and try the firmware update again.


Issue 26: Events from different vCenter posted to another vCenter from a shared Dell

Management Plug-in Appliance.

Description: This situation can occur when a bare-metal server that was deployed in one

vCenter is rediscovered again as bare-metal server but then selected for a hypervisor deployed

in another vCenter.

This situation occurs if the host that was already on one of the registered vCenters was added to

another registered vCenter. In this case the host on first vCenter appears as disconnected.

Resolution/Workaround: Remove the host from the first vCenter where it is now showing as

disconnected.


Issue 27: The inventory ran and failed after servers were removed from the connection profile.

Description: The Inventory attempted to run after servers were removed from the connection


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profile and failed.

Resolution/Workaround: If an inventory job is started, and hosts are removed from the

connection profile, then this issue appears. The system needs to make sure the inventory job is

finished or that no Inventory job is running when hosts are removed from Connection Profile.


Issue 28: The NIC selected as the management NIC during the deployment process is not the

active management NIC after deployment.

Description: During the ESXi 5 deployment using any NIC other than NIC 0 may show up in

vCenter after deployment as the standby NIC with NIC 0 as the primary management network

NIC.

Resolution/Workaround: Manually reconfigure management NICs in vCenter after deployment.


Issue 29: Rarely, an ESXi 4.1 U1 deployment fails on a PowerEdge server.

Description: The ESXi deployment log shows failure installing OMSA.

Resolution: This is a known VMware issue and VMware has provided a workaround to resolve the

issue as seen here:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&exte

rnalId=1037190

Use these steps for a workaround:

- Logon to ESXi 4.1 U1.

- Manually create a directory /tmp.

- Logoff from the ESXi host.

- Manually add the host to vCenter.

- Go to Host Compliance page of Dell Management Center.

- Run the Compliance Check wizard.


Issue 30: On an R515, R815, or other AMD based Dell hardware, inventory is running

continuously.

Description: OMSA may malfunction on certain AMD chipsets when not upgraded to the latest

version.

Resolution: To resolve this issue, upgrade to the latest version of ESX or ESXi and install the




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latest version of OMSA available.


Issue 31: A non-compliant server shows a CSIOR status as Unknown.

Resolution: An unknown CSIOR state indicates a non-responsive iDRAC on the host. A manual

iDRAC reset on the host fixes this problem.

Version Affected: 1.5, 1.5.1, 1.6 and later

Issue 32: The Launch OMSA link does not work in the vSphere Client Dell Tab when using Dell

PowerEdge 12th generation servers.

Resolution: Install OMSA manually onto Dell PowerEdge 12th generation servers, then the

Launch OMSA link will work.


Issue 33: Hypervisor installation fails.

Description: Hypervisor installation fails with the error The Job check status with ID of

DCIM_OSConcreteJob:1 failed with the following error message: Mount network share failed –

incorrect IP address or share name.

Resolution: Restart the appliance.


Issue 34: NFS mount remains mounted after deploy is completed using ESXi5.

Description: : After the hypervisor deployment is completed and the host is added to the

vCenter tree, there is an entry in the Summary page under the data sources called remote-

install-location (inactive) (unmounted) for the new host added.

Resolution: None.


Issue 35: The Memory reported is in a different format between Dell PowerEdge 11th generation

servers and Dell PowerEdge 12th generation servers.

Description: When memory is displayed in a table, they amounts display differently between


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Dell PowerEdge 11th generation servers and Dell PowerEdge 12th generation servers.

Resolution: None.


Issue 36: Details for tasks are not recorded in the task history.

Description: Details for tasks are not recorded in the task history.

Resolution: This is a known VMware issue; go to the Dell Management Center Plug-in logs to

view the details.


Issue 37: When using the user interface and pressing <ENTER> while on a highlighted button does not

always activate the action.

Description: Using keyboard navigation and selecting highlighted buttons and pressing <ENTER>

sometimes does not activate the button. Keyboard navigation is not supported at this time.

Resolution: Use the mouse.


Issue 38: The ESXI install leaves behind a file after installation.

Description: The ESXi install leaves behind a temporary file in the /store/resolv.conf (static IP only).

Resolution: None, there is no impact to the functionality of the software.


Corrected Problems

The following problems were reported in earlier releases of the Dell Management Plug-In and have

been corrected in this release:

Issue Description

Issue 1 Could not access vCenter using the fqdn or dns short name

Issue 2 NullPointerException is thrown during the Deploymnent Minimal ISO if eth0 is missing

Issue 3 Perc H700 RAID controller is not listed for FW update using repository method

Issue 4 Dell Management Plug-in for vCenter Product Page for Chinese is not functional


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Issue 5 R810, Broadcom NetXtreme II FW missing from ftp.dell.com

Issue 6 R810, PERC H700 FW update not listed with local report.

Issue 7 A user saw a message saying that there was a missing or expired 11th

generation server license.

Issue 8 Custom Raid Configuration from UI is misleading.

Issue 9 Hardware Profile for iDRAC/network settings has incorrect modifiable parameters.

Issue 10 The Connection Profile of vCenter selected in Hypervisor Profile is not used for Deployment.

Issue 11 When clicking on the Dell Server Management Tab or the Dell Management Center icon, the Dell Management Plug-in throws an error saying the given vCenter <xyz> is not registered to the Dell Management appliance.

Documents

Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter 1.7 Version 1.7 ...€¦ · Management Plug-in. Make sure to set your default browser to Internet Explorer. ... be set to the right IE version