Users Guide

Frequently asked questions
1. Question: Can you provide information on Licensing of Dell EMC OpenManage Plug-in for Nagios Core?
Answer: You can install and use this plug-in for free.
2. Question: What are the Dell EMC hardware models supported by the plug-in?
Answer: For the list of supported Dell EMC 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 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 EMC 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 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.
12
Frequently asked questions 53