Quick Reference Guide

Quick Start Installation

Installation Introduction

The following sections provide installation and quick start information, including step-by-step instructions for Dell

Management Plug-in installation and initial configuration on Dell servers. Once the installation is complete, refer to the

Dell Management Plug-in User's Guide

for configuration and deployment information.

NOTE: With this release, and with installations on hosts that are version 12G and above, OMSA agent installation is

not required. For installations on 11G hosts, OMSA agent is now automatically installed during the deployment

process. For more information about OMSA, please see the section “Understanding OMSA For 11G Hosts” in the

Dell Management Plug-in User's Guide

. To more clearly understand 12G version hosts and hosts prior to 12G, see

Product Hardware Requirements.

Prerequisites

The following information is needed prior to the start of Dell Management Plug-in installation.

• TCP/IP address information to assign to the Dell Management Plug-in virtual appliance; a DHCP server is

required.

• A user name and password for the Dell Management Plug-in to access the vCenter server. This should be an

administrator role that has all needed permissions. For additional information on the available Dell Management

Plug-in roles within vCenter, see the Dell Management Plug-in Configuration chapter of the

User’s Guide

• Root password for ESX/ESXi host systems.

• User name and password associated with iDRAC Express or Enterprise (only for host systems that include an

iDRAC).

• Make sure the vCenter and vSphere clients are currently running.

• Know the OVF plug-in file location after installation completes.

• Install the Dell Management Plug-in (virtual appliance) on any ESX/ESXi host managed by a vCenter instance

that will be registered with the virtual appliance.

NOTE: The virtual appliance functions as a regular virtual machine; any interruptions or shut downs impacts overall

functionality of the virtual appliance.

Product Hardware Requirements

The Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter provides full support for 11th and 12th generation Dell servers with

iDRAC and limited support for 9th and 10th generation Dell servers. To determine what generation of Dell Servers you

have, refer to the tables in the Release Notes. See the

Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter Version 1.5

Release Notes

for specific hardware support information.