Users Guide

Frequently Asked Questions
1. Question: Can you provide information on Licensing of Dell OpenManage Plug-in for Nagios Core?
Answer: You can install and use this plug-in for free.
2. Question: What are the Dell hardware models supported by the plug-in?
Answer: For the list of supported Dell platforms, see Support Matrix.
3. Question: I have earlier generation of servers (9th Generation – 11th Generation) in my data center. Can I still monitor them
using the plug-in?
Answer: No, you cannot monitor earlier generations of servers (9th Generation through 11th Generation) using this plug-in.
You can only monitor Dell servers through iDRAC with LC, supported for 12th and later generations of Dell PowerEdge
servers using this Plug-in. There are other plug-ins available on Nagios Exchange using which you can monitor earlier
generation of servers.
4. Question: What is the difference between in-band versus out-of-band (OOB) method of monitoring Dell servers?
Answer: There are two ways to monitor Dell servers, one is by using in-band method through software called OpenManage
Server Administrator (OMSA) installed on a server operating system and the other is out-of-band method through iDRAC
with LC.
iDRAC with LC, a hardware, is on the server motherboard and iDRAC with LC enables systems administrators to monitor
and manage dell servers regardless of whether the machine is powered on, or if an operating system is installed or
functional. The technology works from any location and without the use of software agents like OMSA. By contrast, in-band
management, that is, OMSA must be installed on the server being managed and only works after the machine is booted and
the operating system is running and functional. The OMSA software has its limitations such as it does not allow access to
BIOS settings, or the reinstallation of the operating system and cannot be used to fix problems that prevent the system from
booting.
5. Question: Can I monitor Dell servers using OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) agent instead of iDRAC with LC
using this plug-in?
Answer: No, using this plug-in you cannot monitor Dell servers using OMSA agent. However, there are other plug-ins
available on Nagios Exchange using which you can achieve the same. For more information, regarding the list of available Dell
Plug-ins, visit URL: exchange.nagios.org/directory/Plugins/Hardware/Server-Hardware/Dell
6. Question: How is this plug-in different from other plug-ins available on the Nagios Exchange site?
Answer: The primary functionality of this Plug-in is to monitor Dell servers’ hardware through an agent-free, out-of-band
method using iDRAC with LC. With this plug-in, you can get a comprehensive hardware-level information on Dell PowerEdge
servers including overall and component-level health monitoring through SNMP and WS-MAN protocols. The plug-in enables
you to monitor SNMP alerts generated from Dell servers and supports one-to-one iDRAC web console launch to perform
further troubleshooting, configuration, and management activities. Some of the capabilities provided here are not available in
other plug-ins present on Nagios Exchange.
7. Question: What are the languages supported by the plug-in?
Answer: The plug-in currently supports only English language.
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24 Frequently Asked Questions