###################################################################### DELL OPENMANAGE(TM) IT ASSISTANT, VERSION 6.5 README ###################################################################### ====================================================================== Criticality ====================================================================== Recommended ====================================================================== Title and Description ====================================================================== IT Assistant is the premier Dell OpenManage systems management application for managing and monitoring Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Desktop Management Interface (DMI), and Common Information Model (CIM)-instrumented systems. IT Assistant is designed for system administrators to remotely manage networked Dell systems equipped with SNMP, CIM, and DMI instrumentation. This document contains the latest update information for Dell OpenManage IT Assistant, version 6.5. For the latest version of this readme, see the Dell(TM) Support website at "support.dell.com." The online IT Assistant documentation includes the "Reference Guide" and context-sensitive help. You can access the context-sensitive help from the "Help" button in the user interface. You can also access the "Reference Guide" from the product documentation CD or from the Dell Support website at "support.dell.com". The new IT Assistant "User's Guide," for IT Assistant version 6.5 is available at "support.dell.com." The "User's Guide" provides user scenarios, best practices information, and task-oriented instructions for using IT Assistant in your small, medium, or large enterprise network. See the Dell Support website at "support.dell.com" for the most current information. NOTE: Some procedures described in this document require you to specify file locations (paths) according to an example. All example paths specified in this document refer to the default file location. If you specify paths other than the defaults during installation, use those paths instead of the examples specified in this document. ###################################################################### README TABLE OF CONTENTS ###################################################################### Compatibility/Minimum Requirements What is New in This Release? What is Fixed in This Release? Installing IT Assistant Version 6.5 Known Limitations IT Assistant User Notes ###################################################################### COMPATIBILITY/RECOMMENDED REQUIREMENTS ###################################################################### Enterprise Size (Number of Managed Systems) Small (200) Large (500-5000) User Interface Only Processor and Memory One processor, 256 MB One processor, 512 MB 800 MHz 800 MHz Operating System Windows(R) XP SP1, Windows 2000 SP3, SP4 and Windows Windows 2000 SP3, SP4 Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 Disk Space 200 MB 200 MB User Interface And Services Processor and Memory One processor, 512 MB Two to four processors, 1 to 2 GB 1.8 GHz 800 MHz Database Microsoft(R) Database MS SQL Server Engine(MSDE) 7.0 or higher Operating System Windows XP SP1, Windows 2000 SP3, Windows 2000 SP3, Windows Server 2003 Windows Server 2003 Disk Space 500 MB 500 MB Note on performance: IT Assistant has a discovery speed slider bar in the "Discovery Cycle Options" dialog box that you can use to balance discovery speed with system performance. Use this slide bar to adjust IT Assistant for your network management station and network environment. For a new installation of IT Assistant, the slider bar by default is set to 40% to minimize the impact on other applications. If you are upgrading from a previous version of IT Assistant, the slider bar remains at its previous setting. ====================================================================== Operating System Requirements ====================================================================== The following subsections list operating systems that are compatible with the IT Assistant interface and the IT Assistant services. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- IT Assistant User Interface ----------------------------------------------------------------------- * Microsoft Windows 2000 SP3 or SP4 (Professional and Server Editions) * Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP1 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- IT Assistant Services ----------------------------------------------------------------------- * Microsoft Windows 2000 SP3 or SP4 (Professional and Server Editions) * Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP1 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003 See the "Known Issues" section that follows for issues concerning Microsoft Windows 2000 SP3. ###################################################################### WHAT IS NEW IN THIS RELEASE? ###################################################################### IT Assistant version 6.5 has made changes in the user interface, discovery process, Dell OpenManage lifecycle strategy, has added more support for Dell PowerConnect(TM) switches, has added support for new devices, and has removed support for the IPX network protocol. User Interface * Now based on Microsoft(R) .NET framework that requires local installation or terminal services for remote access. * Added a new RAC system group to the Home View window that displays Remote Access Cards with embedded SNMP agents. * Added a device count for each system group on the "Home" view window. * Added alert categories and types on the "Alerts" view window and enhanced speed for displaying alert information. * Added an offline summary feature that allows you to view the last summary screen even if IT Assistant cannot communicate with the system. Discovery * Enhanced the discovery speed. * Added the system name correlation based on MAC address. * Added discovery and status poll feedback. * Added the ability to exclude systems from discovery. * Added support for discovering and grouping systems that are a part of Microsoft high availability clusters. * Added the ability to schedule discovery by the time of day and the day of the week. * Added the ability to enable protocols per discovery range. * Added the ability to specify wider discovery ranges. * Added support for multiple SNMP community names on one discovery range. * Changed the default behavior for desktop management interface (DMI) discovery for managed systems running Novell(R) NetWare(R). See the "IT Assistant Reference Guide" for additional information. Dell OpenManage Lifecycle Strategy * Implemented the Dell OpenManage Lifecycle strategy, which allows an upgrade from IT Assistant, version 6.2 and later only. Under the Dell OpenManage Lifecycle strategy, IT Assistant version 6.5 is the last major release to support DMI-based management. Support for New Devices * Support added for discovery of Digital Keyboard-Video-Mouse (KVM) switches, display of switches as part of the system tree or status tree, and classification of the switches. * Added support for additional Dell PowerConnect Switches. See the "IT Assistant Reference Guide" for the detailed list of supported agents and devices. * Added two new command line utilities: "importnodelist.exe" and "configuregroups.exe". * Enhanced IT Assistant Installation Logs -During installation of ITA version 6.5, the "ITALogFile.log" file is created in the 'temp' folder located in the operating system drive. -If MSDE 2000 SP3A causes an error during installation, see the MSDE "MSDE_setup.log" file located in the \temp folder of the operating system drive. -Microsoft .NET framework version 1.1: see the log file "dotNetFx.log" created in the operating system \temp folder located under "Documents and Settings" during installation. Make sure to set the folder options to "Show hidden files and folders". -Microsoft .NET Framework version 1.1 language pack on a non-English operating system: See the log file "langpackSetup.log" created in the operating system \temp folder located under "Documents and Settings" during installation. Make sure to set the folder options to "Show hidden files and folders." - Microsoft J# Framework version 1.1 and the language pack: See the log file "jsredistSetup.log" created in the operating system \temp folder located under "Documents and Settings" during installation. Make sure to set the folder options to "Show hidden files and folders." Removed Feature * Removed support for the Internet Packet eXchange (IPX) protocol. Dell recommends that you remove any IPX discovery ranges before or after upgrading to IT Assistant, version 6.5. For IT Assistant to continue to discover and manage these systems, TCP/IP must be installed on them. ###################################################################### WHAT IS FIXED IN THIS RELEASE? ###################################################################### The following issues are corrected in IT Assistant, version 6.5: * The Microsoft JVM interface support has been replaced by using the Microsoft .NET framework Redistributable Package. * Several memory leaks in the IT Assistant Services have been corrected in this release. * Significant modifications to the IT Assistant Network Monitoring service have increased the overall robustness and stability of this service. * Several issues related to duplicate system entries have been resolved. * Decreased start-up time for IT Assistant User Interface. * Terminal Services installation in 'Administration Mode' is now supported. ###################################################################### INSTALLING IT ASSISTANT VERSION 6.5 ###################################################################### To install IT Assistant version 6.5 using the "Systems Management" CD or using Dell preinstalled software, see the "IT Assistant Reference Guide." To install IT Assistant, perform the following steps: 1. Insert the "Systems Management" CD into your CD drive. The CD auto-starts and displays the "Welcome" screen. 2. Click "Info." The screen displays installation instructions for all of the systems management products. 3. Select and follow the installation instructions for the management station. NOTE: The IT Assistant installation program offers two options: express and custom. Express installation does not enable CIM discovery. If you later require CIM, you can enable CIM discovery manually. Custom installation provides the option of enabling CIM discovery during installation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Coexistence with Dell OpenManage Network Manager ----------------------------------------------------------------------- A full installation of IT Assistant version 6.5 on a system that has Network Manager installed on it will be blocked due to a conflict with the SNMP trap port. In this case, only the user interface for IT Assistant version 6.5 will be available. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Un-installation Issues ----------------------------------------------------------------------- During an IT Assistant un-installation, you may see the following error message: "The log file 'C:\location of where the ITA is installed\uninst.isu' is not valid or the data has been corrupted. The inability to create the un-installation file may be due to a slow network. To address this issue, delete the "uninst.isu" file in the IT Assistant installation directory and reinstall IT Assistant. ###################################################################### KNOWN LIMITATIONS ###################################################################### This section provides information about open issues for IT Assistant version 6.5. NOTE: This section describes only the latest known issues for IT Assistant version 6.5. You can find information on older issues in the "Known Issues" sections at the end of many of the main topics in the IT Assistant "Reference Guide." If you require help in resolving an issue, see these sections. Also see the "Frequently Asked Questions" section of the IT Assistant "Reference Guide." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Security Within IT Assistant ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The encryption model for Windows 2000 is different from that found in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Because of this difference, CIM passwords and the IT Assistant password must be reset when upgrading from Windows 2000 to Windows XP or Windows Server 2003. In addition, migrating an IT Assistant database across operating systems that have different encryption types is not supported. NOTE: If these (CIM) passwords are not re-entered, the IT Assistant Network Monitoring Service may exhibit instability. Because of Microsoft's change in authentication from Windows 2000 to either Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, you must either uninstall and then reinstall IT Assistant or see the IT Assistant migration white paper titled "Migration and Deployment Strategies for IT Assistant on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 ". This paper can be found at "support.dell.com." * When IT Assistant communicates with a managed system, it uses user-level security to prevent unauthorized changes to system settings. The security implementation is derived from the RSA Data Security, Inc. MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Concurrent Database Connections Events in Windows NT(R) Application Event Log ------------------------------------------------------------------------ During a discovery cycle, IT Assistant makes several concurrent connections to the Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) database. The MSDE database can support a maximum of eight concurrent connections. More than eight concurrent connections causes MSDE to log events to the "Application Log." The issue results in extraneous events in the "Application Log" but does not impact IT Assistant. To avoid the extraneous events, you can upgrade to MS SQL Server. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Switch Ports Status Graphic Display Issue -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When launching the PowerConnect Console from IT Assistant, the graphic display that represents the current status of the switch ports may not load properly. To correct this problem, enable the Java console in Internet Explorer. By opening the "Internet Options" Control Panel located under "Tools" in the top menu bar of Internet Explorer, you can click the "Advanced" tab and scroll to the "Microsoft VM" section. Click the check box next to "Java console enabled (requires restart)", and then click "OK". Restart Internet Explorer. The graphic display now loads correctly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Supported PowerConnect Trap Version -------------------------------------------------------------------------- When managing PowerConnect switches (supporting SNMP V1 and V2) with IT Assistant, it is necessary to set the SNMP trap version to V1 when setting-up trap destinations on the switch. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Installation Issues -------------------------------------------------------------------------- * If MS SQL Server 7.0, MS SQL Server 2000, MSDE 1.0, or MSDE 2000 is not installed before you install IT Assistant, IT Assistant installs MSDE 2000 SP3a with Windows authentication mode only. * If SQL Server 7.0, SQL Server 2000, MSDE 1.0, or MSDE 2000 is installed before you install IT Assistant, IT Assistant leaves the password for the "sa" account unchanged. You can use the OSQL utility "osql.exe" that comes with MS SQL Server and MSDE to change the password. See the Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q322336, "HOW TO: Verify and Change the MSDE System Administrator Password" at "support.microsoft.com." * During the IT Assistant installation, an MSDE installer may replace a protected file in the base Microsoft operating system resulting in a Microsoft File Sharing Violation in the Windows NT(R) Event Log. This behavior is normal. * IT Assistant installation through a terminal session on a Windows 2000 system with Terminal Services 'Application Mode' enabled is not supported. Perform the installation locally. See the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article SQL KB # 830629: "MSDE 2000 SP3 Install fails on Windows 2000 Terminal Server in 'Application Mode'." * IT Assistant expects (and will install, if not already present) a database that supports the English locale. If you already have a database installed that is localized to a non-English locale, perform the following steps: 1. Edit IT Assistant's "dconfig.ini" configuration file in the IT Assistant configuration directory. Add the following key under the "dconfig.ini" [DATABASE] section: [DATABASE] DATEFORMAT=LOCAL_LOCALE 2. Save the "dconfig.ini" file and restart the IT Assistant services. NOTE: Mismatches in localization may cause failures in the IT Assistant Discovery Feedback View to not update automatically. If you have a non-English database and this occurs, either perform the changes above or press 'Refresh' to update the discovery feedback information. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Discovery Issues -------------------------------------------------------------------------- * IT Assistant services may exhibit instability on Windows 2000 SP3. See the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 813648: "Random Access Violations When Multithreaded Applications Call the 'setlocale' Function." * During a discovery, a managed system with an unresponsive agent may cause the IT Assistant user interface to hang. If you believe this has occurred, move that system to a discovery exclude range and then restart IT Assistant services. * Delays of Discovery Feedback Appearing in the "Discovery Feedback" Window If a discovery task is already running and another discovery range is entered, the new range may not immediately show in the "Discovery Feedback Window". This behavior is also dependent on the number of systems which are being discovered. * If IT Assistant has CIM enabled and is discovering managed systems with Server Agent version 4.4 or earlier that are configured for CIM, discovery may hang. Instrumentation for these systems should be upgraded. * If IT Assistant times out while discovering a managed system (running the Red Hat(R) Linux 7.x operating system) and it is equipped with an embedded or add-in Broadcom network adapter, perform one of the following: - On the managed system, run the "ifup" command on the Broadcom network adaptors that are down. Do not assign IP addresses if you do not want to use them. - If you do not want to perform the previous option, reboot the managed system. You should then be able to launch the IT Assistant "Summary" and "Status" pages for that system and perform normal monitoring and management operations. * If IT Assistant is installed on a system that is running Windows 2000 SP4, a known issue with the Microsoft WMI API (Microsoft Knowledge Base Article KB827711) results in a memory leak in the IT Assistant Network Monitoring Service when using the CIM protocol. The leak occurs when the remote system is passed incorrect authentication credentials during a Discovery or Status Poll. * IT Assistant has an improved threading model that results in increased discovery and status performance. Because the threading model has changed since version 6.4.4, you may notice a significant consumption in system resources. This behavior may be more prevalent in systems that are below the recommended configurations for IT Assistant. If resource consumption seems excessive, use the IT Assistant Discovery and Status Poll slider bar to decrease the IT Assistant load on the system. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dell Array Manager Issue -------------------------------------------------------------------------- If Array Manager is not installed on your network management station, an attempt to launch Array Manager by clicking the Status Page 'Manage Disk Storage' button may result in a browser page with the following address format: 'http://<webserver>/ArrayManager/loadarm.htm.'. If you see this URL, use the Dell OpenManage Application CD to install Array Manager on your system. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BIOS Flashing Issue -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Flashing the BIOS of a managed system from a management station that has dual network adaptors and that is running the IT Assistant services may not work. If you run the "ipconfig" command from a command prompt on a management station and the first IP address returned is not on the same subnet as that of the managed system, the BIOS update fails. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Status and Alerting Issues -------------------------------------------------------------------------- * When viewing embedded devices on the "Status" page, some devices might appear twice, although only one device exists. * If IT Assistant is installed on Microsoft XP and is receiving several alerts per second, the SMTP outgoing mail queue may eventually develop a backlog. Symptoms of this condition may include "cscript.exe" application error messages. To resolve this problem, upgrade to an enterprise class operating system such as Microsoft Windows 2000 or 2003 Server. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interface Issues -------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Resetting the memory error counter resets the "ECC Usage Count" and the "Multibit Error Count" to zero. * If you click "Cancel" on the log-on prompt of the system configuration window, you must select another system before the log-on prompt appears again. * Due to the implementation of MIB2 on Red Hat(R) Linux, the "Network" section of the IT Assistant Summary page does not have a detailed description of the network adapter manufacturer. For example, "eth0" or a similar string appears under "Product Name". * Leaving the IT Assistant user interface open for an extended time with the "Alert View" window's continuous updates checkbox 'On' may result in excessive consumption of system memory. To prevent this, deselect this option and allow Event Management system actions to provide continuous alert notification through email and/or paging. * Changing the IT Assistant desktop shortcut to open as maximized results in a blank screen. To resolve this, set the shortcut attribute back to default on startup. * If you are viewing a managed system in IT Assistant and the managed node configuration changes, click on another system and then back to the original system to refresh the user interface with the most current system information. This also applies to password and SNMP community string changes while the system is being viewed in IT Assistant. * IT Assistant may exhibit a mismatch between the number of nodes discovered and the number of nodes being displayed in the user interface. This may occur if the user interface is launching while a discovery cycle is in progress. To correct this, click the System view Refresh button. ###################################################################### IT ASSISTANT USER NOTES ###################################################################### This section provides information to help you use IT Assistant: ====================================================================== General Issues for Installing and Configuring IT Assistant Version 6.5 ====================================================================== * Dell does not recommend or support the installation of the IT Assistant services on a portable computer. * You must log in to IT Assistant with read-write privileges to make changes to IT Assistant in the following areas: - Under "Configuration" in the navigation tree: "Event Categories," "Event Filters," "Event Actions," and "Event Logging." - Under "Management" in the navigation tree: "Remove Discovered System." - Under "Options" on the left-panel menu: "Custom Groups," "Discovery Cycle," "Set Discovery Range," and "Change Read-Write Password." NOTE: If a user has read-only privileges in IT Assistant, it does not mean that the user has read-only privileges for managed systems. Read-only users can authenticate themselves to a managed system and perform management actions. ###################################################################### Information in this document is subject to change without notice. (C) 2002-2003 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden. Trademarks used in this text: "Dell", "PowerEdge", and "Dell OpenManage" are trademarks of Dell Inc.; "Microsoft," "Windows," and "Windows NT" are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation; "Novell" and "Netware" are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc.; "Red Hat" is a registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc. 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 Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and trade names other than its own. November 2003Download Driver Pack
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Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.
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