1. DOMSA01.exe Driver
2. readme.txt File Contents

readme.txt Driver File Contents (DOMSA01.exe)

======================================================================
Dell OpenManage(TM) IT Assistant Version 6.2 Documentation Update
======================================================================

This document contains the latest update information for Dell
OpenManage IT Assistant version 6.2. You can obtain the latest version
of this document from the Dell support website at support.dell.com.

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.

The following are important general issues regarding installation and
configuration of IT Assistant:

* Dell does not recommend or support the installation of the IT 
  Assistant Services on a portable computer.


* CIM-only management is not supported for systems running Dell 
  OpenManage Server Agent 4.4 or earlier.

* You must log in to IT Assistant with read-write privileges to
  effect changes to IT Assistant in the following areas:

  - Under "Configuration" on the left-panel menu: "Event Categories,"
    "Event Filters," "Event Actions," and "Event Logging"

  - Under "Management" on the left-panel menu: "Remove Discovered
    System"

  - Under "Preferences" on the left-panel menu: "Custom Groups,"
    "Default Discovery," "Subnet Discovery," and "Change IT Assistant
    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
        nodes. Read-only users can authenticate themselves to a
        managed node and perform management actions.


Minimum Recommended Hardware Requirements
======================================================================


IT Assistant User Interface
---------------------------
* A system with an Intel(R) Pentium(R) processor running at a
  minimum of 200 megahertz (MHz)
* A minimum of 64 megabytes (MB) of random-access memory (RAM)
* A minimum of 200 MB of free hard drive space
* A mouse
* A monitor with a minimum resolution of 800 x 600


IT Assistant Services
---------------------
* A system with an Intel Pentium processor running at a minimum of
  350 MHz
* A minimum of 128 MB of RAM
* A minimum of 500 MB of free hard-disk space


Operating System Requirements
======================================================================
The following subsections list the operating systems compatible with
the IT Assistant Web-based user interface and the IT Assistant
services.


IT Assistant Web-Based User Interface
-------------------------------------

* Microsoft(R) Windows(R) 95 operating system release (OSR) 2 or later
* Microsoft Windows 98 OSR 1 or later
* Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition (SE)
* Microsoft Windows NT(R) 4.0 Service Pack (SP) 5 or later (server or
  workstation version)
* Microsoft Windows 2000 SP1 or SP2 (professional and advanced server
  versions)
* Windows XP

NOTE: Windows.NET is not supported.


IT Assistant Services
---------------------
* Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 SP5 or later (server or workstation
  version)
* Microsoft Windows 2000 SP1 or SP2 (professional and advanced server 
  editions)

NOTE: Windows XP and Windows.NET are not supported.


Browser Requirements
======================================================================
IT Assistant 6.2 supports Internet Explorer version 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0.


Security Within Dell OpenManage IT Assistant
======================================================================
IT Assistant employs user-level security to prevent unauthorized
modification of system settings. The security implementation is
derived from the RSA Data Security, Inc. MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm.


Known Issues 
======================================================================
* The gauges on the Status page may show a complete green circle if
  the minimum warning threshold and the maximum warning threshold are
  both set to the exact center point of the gauge's range. To correct
  this display problem, change one of the threshold values so that the
  minimum and maximum threshold values are not the same.

* After installing IT Assistant on a system with Microsoft Outlook,
  an error message may appear upon starting Outlook that states that a
  recently installed program may cause Outlook to function improperly,
  and do you want Outlook to resolve this problem?

  If you click "Yes", another message appears saying that Outlook
  couldn't resolve the problem and suggests that you restart Windows.
  (Clicking "No" does not affect the operation of Outlook.) This
  behavior can occur because of a Mapi32.dll file conflict. This issue
  is documented in the Microsoft Knowledge Base, Article number
  Q199823. You can either restart Windows as suggested or follow the
  workaround described in this article.

* Clicking the "X" on the upper right corner of the window created by
  an in-context Dell OpenManage Remote Service Card (DRSC) interface
  launch does not close the session or log the DRSC user out.
  IT Assistant caches the current session. To clear the cache, you
  must log out of the DRSC Web-based interface by clicking
  "File->Log Out" or by clicking "Secure Sessions" on the IT Assistant
  left-panel menu.

* BIOS flashing of clients running OMCI 6.0 or greater using
  Microsoft Distributed Common Object Model (DCOM) is not supported
  on systems running Win9x or Millennium Edition (Me) because of the
  differences in DCOM security between Windows NT/Windows 2000 systems
  and Windows 9x/Me systems. Remote BIOS flashing of these systems
  using DCOM is not tested and therefore not supported. The Microsoft
  Knowledge Base article "Q165101 - HOWTO Use a Windows 95,
  Windows 98, or Windows Me Computer as a DCOM Server" may provide a
  workaround for this. Contact Microsoft for more information.

* Discovery and management of Dell(TM) PowerEdge(TM) 7150 servers
  running a 64-bit Windows operating system are not supported through
  CIM.

* The following information is only for customers who are upgrading
  to version 6.2 from version 6.0:
  
  Improvements have been made over the prepopulated events that came
  with IT Assistant 6.0, such as removing duplicate events and 
  updating severity values that better reflect the severity of 
  events. If you are upgrading your installation of IT Assistant to
  version 6.2 and choose to upgrade without preserving the database,
  you will get these improvements. If you decide to preserve the
  database, you will not get these improvements.

  If you choose to preserve the database, you can still get the
  improvements by running the database management utility
  (dcdbmng.exe) and selecting
  "File"->"Restore Database"->"Event Management System" to restore a
  complete event management system equal to that of a fresh
  IT Assistant 6.2 installation.

  NOTE: Any user customizations or added configurations will likely be
        lost if you restore the database. Before restoring the
        database, Dell recommends that you back up the current
	  database by selecting the "Action"->"Export Database" menu
        item in the database management utility .

  In addition to improvements, new events for new and updated agents
  have been added to IT Assistant 6.2's event database. You will get
  these events, regardless of whether you choose to preserve the
  database.

* If you discover a large number of nodes, you might get 
  performance improvements by upgrading the Microsoft Data Engine
  (MSDE) to the Microsoft SQL Server 7.0/2000 database.

* When you create a Dell OpenManage Remote Assistant Card (DRAC) II
  user in IT Assistant, ensure that the user name and password are
  lower case. You cannot log on to the DRAC II console if the user
  name or password contain upper case letters.

* If you Install IT Assistant 6.2 on a system with Windows NT 4.0 and
  SQL Server 2000, notice that upon system reboot, the IT Assistant
  network monitoring service is pending, and then the IT Assistant
  connection service fails to start up. The system displays a 
  message stating that there is at least one service that failed to
  start up. This is an issue with Microsoft Data Access Components
  (MDAC) 2.60, which is installed with SQL Server 2000. To resolve
  the problem, stop and start IT Assistant services within the
  Service Control Manager (SCM).

* Setting the Power Button feature to "Enabled" or "Disabled" in
  IT Assistant on a PowerEdge 2500 system might fail if the Power
  Button Override feature is changed manually in the BIOS. To resolve
  this issue, perform the following steps:

  1. Manually set the Power Button Override feature to "Disabled"
     through the system's BIOS. 

  2. Using IT Assistant, set the Power Button feature to "Enabled,"
     even if it is already set to "Enabled."

  3. Set the Power Button feature to the configuration you want.  
	
* After issuing a "Remote Shutdown" command to a PowerEdge 6400
  system that runs Windows 2000, the system might restart instead of
  shutting down.  

* Client systems running Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition cannot
  be discovered as Dell systems through CIM because it is not
  currently possible to remotely connect to the Windows Management
  Interface (WMI) services on Windows XP Home Edition.

* Client systems running Windows XP Professional can be discovered 
  only if the IT Assistant services host is running Windows 
  2000 Service Pack (SP) 2.

* If you attempt to configure a managed node's system properties in
  the system configuration window, you might be prompted to enter user
  authentication for that managed node. If the managed node is the
  local system (the system running IT Assistant) and is communicating
  through CIM, leave the "User Name" and "Password" fields blank; DO 
  NOT provide any authentication and click "OK." See "Hardware 
  Features and System Properties" in the "Configuration Management" 
  section of your IT Assistant user's guide for more information on 
  the authentication required for different types of managed nodes.

* The discovery process requires much more time when using CIM than 
  it does when using SNMP or DMI.

* When viewing embedded devices on the "Status" tab, some devices
  might appear twice, although only one device exists.

* If you do a BIOS update on a managed node, you must perform a forced
  discovery cycle to get the latest information from that managed
  node.

* PowerVault(TM) 20xS and 21xS storage systems attached to managed
  nodes running the Red Hat Linux operating system cannot be 
  managed by IT Assistant using the following RAID
  controllers:

  - PERC 2/QC
  - PERC 2/Di
  - PERC 2/Si
  - PERC 3/Di
  - PERC 3/Si 

* If you have a shortcut on the Windows desktop or on the "Start"
  button menu that links to a Web page or any other .htm file, using
  that shortcut may replace the IT Assistant interface in the Internet
  Explorer browser window with the content of the Web page or file to
  which the shortcut is linked. If you observe this behavior and want
  to prevent it, perform the following steps:
  
  1. Start Internet Explorer.

  2. On the menu bar, click "Tools," then click "Internet Options." 

  3. In the "Internet Options" dialog box, click the "Advanced" tab.

  4. In the "Settings" list box, locate the "Reuse windows for
     launching shortcuts" option and clear (uncheck) the check box 
     beside it.
   
  5. Click "OK" and then close Internet Explorer. If other Internet
     Explorer windows are running, close them as well.

  Now when you use Web page or .htm file shortcuts, the content of the
  Web page or file will display in a separate Internet Explorer window
  and will not replace the IT Assistant interface.

*  Entering years greater than 2035 while setting information on the
   "Asset Info" tab is not supported.

*  If you do not accept the security certificate when you first launch
   IT Assistant, the browser does not allow IT Assistant to load
   normally, which in turn causes the browser to generate an
   application error. Refusing the certificate is equivalent to
   instructing the browser to not allow the application to load.

*  If your system is running Windows 2000 SP2 with Microsoft Office XP,
   Internet Exploer 5.5 SP2, Norton Antivirus 2000, Winzip,
   Adobe Acrobat Reader, and Windows latest updates from Microsoft Web
   site, your browser might not load IT Assistant the very first
   time. To resolve this issue, close the browser and restart
   IT Assistant. 

* The in-band configuration, which you access in IT Assistant by
  selecting "Configuration->Remote Access Hardware", is not supported for 
  DRAC 2.4 management on Linux systems.


Advanced Configuration for Discovery
======================================================================


Protocol Recommendations
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Limit DMI Discovery to systems running a Microsoft Windows operating
system. As mentioned in the IT Assistant User's Guide, it has been
found that some UNIX(R) systems (Sun Solaris systems for example) have
non-DMI v2.0 compliant DMI service providers running on them that can
cause the IT Assistant network monitoring service to crash
unexpectedly because of nonstandard data returned by the provider.
Two potential solutions to this problem, as mentioned in the
User's Guide, are to either disable DMI discovery in IT Assistant, or
to not attempt to discover these UNIX systems by omitting them when
configuring subnet discovery. These solutions may not be desirable,
however, if any of the following are true:

- If many UNIX systems are scattered throughout the network

- If many Dell servers are running Dell HIP v3.x (relies on DMI as 
  its primary means of communication)

- If Dell client systems are running Dell OpenManage Client
  Instrumentation (also relies on DMI as its primary means of
  communication).

Another alternative is to not use certain DMI transport methods. UNIX
and Novell(R) NetWare(R) systems support the DMI-ONC transport
method; Microsoft systems support the DMI-DCE method. IT Assistant
tries both methods if one should fail. To stop IT Assistant from
trying the DMI-ONC method (this assumes DMI-DCE is the first choice to
try, which is the default choice in the Subnet Discovery dialog box
when configuring subnet discovery), perform the following steps:

1. In the IT Assistant configuration directory, open the dconfig.ini
   file using a text editor.

2. Locate the [DISCOVERY_PARAM] section.

3. Set TryMultipleDMIRPCs=0.

4. Save the dconfig.ini file and restart the IT Assistant services.

NOTE: If you have Netware systems running Dell HIP 3.x, this causes
      them to switch from the DMI protocol to the SNMP protocol for
      management. For these systems, you may need to do the
      following:

      1. Ensure that the appropriate community name is set to
         Read/Write (for instrumentation login and SNMP sets).

      2. Ensure that IT Assistant is configured with the correct
         community name for these systems.

      3. Ensure that traps are configured such that they are
         directed to the system running the IT Assistant services.

Although DMI is the preferred method of communication for HIP 3.x
agents, if the above steps are performed, no management functions
should be lost when using SNMP.


Configuring Ping Timeout
----------------------------------------------------------------------
For slow networks, IT Assistant may show systems as down when they are
actually up. This can be caused by a slow ping response. To compensate
for this problem, perform the following steps:

1. From the command prompt, execute the "ping" command on one of the
   affected systems.

   Make note of the roundtrip time, which the "ping" command reports
   in milliseconds (ms).

2. Add 1 - 2 secs (1000 - 2000 ms) to this number.

3. In the IT Assistant configuration directory, open the dconfig.ini
   file using a text editor.

4. Locate the [DISCOVERY_PARAM] section.

5. Set PING_TIMEOUT to the value calculated in step 2 (in ms).

6. Save the dconfig.ini file and restart the IT Assistant services.


Advanced Configuration for Remote Flash BIOS Using DCOM 
======================================================================


Configuring ftp Protocol Instead of http Protocol for DCOM Flashing
----------------------------------------------------------------------
IT Assistant 6.2 provides a feature to remotely update the BIOS
on client systems running Dell OpenManage Client Instrumentation 6.0
or greater using Microsoft's DCOM technology. This feature can use
either the http protocol or the ftp protocol to send the BIOS update
file to the client system.

If you perform the following tasks during installation, the http
protocol is configured for DCOM flash by default:

* You choose to install the IT Assistant services on a system that
  has a Web server installed.

* You also choose to configure DCOM security during the installation.

If the system on which you are installing the services does not have
a Web server, you can configure an ftp server to be used during
DCOM flash.

To use an ftp server, perform the following steps (the ftp server
must be running on the system running the IT Assistant services when
performing this procedure):

1. In the IT Assistant configuration directory, open the dconfig.ini
   file using a text editor.

2. Locate the [DCOM_BIOS_FLASH] section.

3. Set USE_FTP=1

4. Set FTP_VIRT_ROOT to the root published by the ftp server (for
   Microsoft's ftp server, this can be done under the Computer
   Management application). Example:

   /BIOSFlashCabs

5. Set FTP_DIRECTORY to the actual directory where ITA can store the
   packaged cab file containing the BIOS image for the client.
   Example:

   C:\mycabfiles

6. Save the dconfig.ini file and restart the IT Assistant services.


Forcing DCOM Use for BIOS Flash (Requires Client Support for DCOM)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
If DCOM is configured and you not want others to use the legacy method
of flash BIOS, IT Assistant allows you to force DCOM to always be
selected and to be used for those systems that support it. This
prevents the legacy method from being used for those systems. However,
for systems that do not support flash BIOS using DCOM, the legacy
method is still available.

To force DCOM to be used for those clients that support it, perform
the following steps:

1. In the IT Assistant configuration directory, open the dconfig.ini
   file using a text editor.

2. Locate the [DCOM_BIOS_FLASH] section.

3. Set ALWAYS_USE_DCOM=1.

4. Save the dconfig.ini file and restart the IT Assistant services.

5. The "Use DCOM when possible" checkbox in the user interface should
   now be grayed-out and selected. 


Advanced Configuration for Paging
======================================================================


Maximum Page Message Length
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Some service providers put a limit on the maximum length of the page
message; the page may not go through if the message is beyond this
length. If your users' pages are not being received, this may be the
cause. Dell recommends that you consult your service provider and
obtain the maximum page length supported. The length of the message
allowed to go through can be configured in the WinBEEP application. It
can also be configured through IT Assistant by performing the
following steps:

1. In the IT Assistant configuration directory, open the dconfig.ini
   file using a text editor.

2. Locate the [EVENT_MANAGEMENT_CONFIG] section.

3. Set the MaxPageMssgLength parameter to the maximum length desired.
   All message strings longer than this will be shortened to fit this
   value.

4. Save the dconfig.ini file and restart the IT Assistant services.


--------------------------------------------------------------------
(C) 2001 Dell Computer Corporation. All rights reserved.
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.


Trademarks used in this text: "Dell," "Dell OpenManage," 
"PowerVault," and "PowerEdge" are trademarks of Dell Computer 
Corporation; "Microsoft," "Windows," and "Windows NT" are 
registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation; "NetWare" is a 
registered trademark of Novell, Inc.; "Intel" and "Pentium" are 
registered trademarks of Intel Corporation; "UNIX" is a registered 
trademark of the OpenGroup in the United States and 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 Computer Corporation disclaims any proprietary
interest in trademarks and trade names other than its own.

October 2001 Rev. A00