Dell OpenManage Client Instrumentation Version 8.
Notes and Cautions NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your computer. CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates potential damage to hardware or loss of data if instructions are not followed. ____________________ Information in this document is subject to change without notice. © 2010 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of these materials in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden.
Contents 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OMCI Overview Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 What's New in this Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Data Sources Used for OMCI 9 . . . . . . . . 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Standards and Protocols Used in OMCI . 2 5 Other Documents You May Need . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Obtaining Technical Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . .
Silent or CLI Installation, Uninstallation, and Upgrading OMCI Using .msi File . . . . . . . . 3 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Unable to Remotely Connect to WMI Installation Failure . 4 Contents . . . . . 21 25 . . . . . . . . . . 25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1 Introduction The Dell OpenManage Client Instrumentation (OMCI) software enables remote management application programs to access the client’s system information, monitor the status, or change the state: shutting it down remotely. Through standard interfaces, OMCI exposes key system parameters allowing administrators to manage inventory, monitor system health, and gather information on deployed Dell client systems. This document provides an overview of OMCI and its various features.
OMCI is used to gather asset inventory from the system including BIOS settings through CIM implementation. It can be integrated into a console such as Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager by directly accessing the CIM information, through an integration with DCM, or through other console vendors who have implemented OMCI integration. Additionally, custom scripts can be created to target key areas of interest at the administrator’s discretion.
exist in this layer, and they provide information on system devices. The providers send management application requests from the CIMOM to the data router. • OMCI Data Manager — A service that loads data provider based on request from the upper layer. • Data Provider — Collects system information like hardware, drivers, and operating system data, and stores them in the proprietary XML format.
BIOS Configuration OMCI provides the ability to perform configuration of a system’s BIOS, including management of its boot order. WMI Security WMI provides for user authentication before granting access to CIM data and methods. Access privileges are enforced by Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) security and CIMOM. Access, whether full or limited, can be granted to users on per-namespace basis. There is no class implementation or property-level security.
Remote Wake-Up Configurability OMCI supports configuration of remote wake-up settings. Remote wake-up is a function of the client system and Network Interface Card (NIC). Remote Modification of System Settings OMCI allows IT administrators the ability to retrieve and set Dell business client BIOS settings such as USB port configuration, boot order, and NIC settings.
Standards and Protocols Used in OMCI OMCI uses WMI and enables WSMAN protocols. CIM and WMI Technology Overview The Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) is the industryrecognized standards body that leads the development, adoption, unification of management standards (including CIM, and ASF), and initiatives for desktop, enterprise, and Internet environments.
WMI Microsoft Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) is Microsoft's implementation of the Web-based Enterprise Management (WBEM) effort. It is implemented on the Microsoft Windows platforms. WMI supports CIM and Microsoft specific CIM extensions. WMI includes: • A powerful set of native services such as query-based information retrieval and event notification. • Extensive scripting capabilities via the Windows Scripting Host (WSH).
examples only. For the sample scripts, see the Dell OpenManage Client Instrumentation Reference Guide available on the Dell support web site at support.dell.com/manuals. NOTE: To connect remotely to WMI services, you must have administrative rights for both the local and remote systems. For more information about WMI, see the Microsoft website.
OMCI uses a variety of data sources that resides on the client system, and they are: • Microsoft Win32 WMI providers • SMBIOS • Operating system registry • Operating system Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) • WMI repository Supported Operating Systems OMCI is supported on the Microsoft Windows operating systems. For the list of operating systems, see the readme available on the Dell support site at support.dell.com/manuals.
Introduction
2 Installing, Upgrading, and Uninstalling OpenManage Client Instrumentation Dell OpenManage Client Instrumentation (OMCI) can be installed using Graphical User Interface (GUI) also known as the OMCI installation wizard, or remotely through a silent installation using the Command Line Interface (CLI). The OMCI installation file is available as a Dell Update Package (DUP) on the Dell support website at support.dell.com. NOTE: Separate installation programs exist for Windows 64-bit Edition operating systems.
OMCI installs a WMI provider, two services and a driver. WMI utilizes COM as the communication interfaces with providers. The services provide OMCI access to the system for events and data retrieval. OMCI also installs a driver. The driver is used for secure communication with BIOS and other low level system resources. OMCI does not itself support any type of remote access; therefore it does not require any specific network interfaces to be enabled.
NOTE: Since the user experience is configurable with the Security Policy Manager snap-in (secpol.msc) and with Group Policy, there are multiple UAC user experiences. The configuration choices made in your environment will affect the prompts and dialogs seen by standard users, administrators, or both. The specific behavior of the UAC elevation prompt is dependent upon the Security Policy setting.
The OMCI 7.x compatibility mode provides a subset of the classes available in the namespace, "root/DellOMCI." This namespace is in read-only mode. The Standards-based Instrumentation provides instrumentation available in the "root/DCIM/sysman." This namespace complies with the DMTF DASH standards. 6 Select the Typical option and click Next. The Ready to Install the Program window appears.
Uninstalling OMCI Using Control Panel 1 Go to Start Settings Control Panel. 2 Select Add/Remove Programs. The Add/Remove Programs window is displayed. 3 Select OMCI and click Remove. 4 Follow the instructions on the screen. NOTE: In Windows Vista, use the Programs and Features icon on the Control Panel for uninstalling OMCI. GUI Installation, Uninstallation, and Upgrading OMCI Using .msi File You can perform a local installation using the omci.msi file extracted from the OMCI DUP.
Upgrading OMCI Using .msi File 1 Double-click the omci.msi file. 2 Follow the instructions on the screen to upgrade the application. Uninstalling OMCI Using .msi File 1 Double-click the omci.msi file. The Welcome to the InstallShield Wizard for Dell OpenManage Client Instrumentation window appears. 2 Click Next. The Program Maintenance window appears. 3 Select the Remove option and click Next. The Remove the Program window appears. 4 Click Remove.
NOTE: Only typical OMCI installation or upgrading OMCI in silent mode from the DUP is supported. Silent or CLI Installation, Uninstallation, and Upgrading OMCI Using .msi File Installing the Client in Silent Mode In the silent mode (no dialog boxes appear), you can perform complete and custom installations. NOTE: When typing commands, enter spaces exactly as shown in the examples in this section.
installer selects the default operating system language, or to English if OMCI does not support the operating system language. For example, the following command line installs the French version in silent mode: For 32-bit Windows operating systems: msiexec /i omcix86.msi TRANSFORMS=1036.mst /qn For 64-bit Windows operating systems: msiexec /i omcix64.msi TRANSFORMS=1036.
A reboot might be required for the upgrade. To suppress it, modify the command line as follows: For 32-bit Windows installations: msiexec /i omcix86.msi REBOOT=REALLYSUPPRESS /qn For 64-bit Windows installations: msiexec /i omcix64.msi REBOOT=REALLYSUPPRESS /qn Uninstalling OMCI in Silent Mode You can uninstall OMCI in silent mode either using or without using the .msi file. To uninstall OMCI using the .msi file, run the following command: For 32-bit Windows operating systems: msiexec /x omcix86.
Installing, Upgrading, and Uninstalling OpenManage Client Instrumentation
3 Troubleshooting Unable to Remotely Connect to WMI If Common Information Model (CIM) information for a remote client computer system is not available to the management application or if remote BIOS update that uses Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM) fails, the following error messages may be displayed: • Access Denied • Win32:RPC server is unavailable If these error messages are displayed, perform the following: 1 To verify that the client system is connected to the network, at the command pro
3 If both the server and the client system are in a workgroup (not in a domain), perform the following steps: a If the client system is running the Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Professional x64 Edition operating system and the server is running Windows 2000, verify that Service Pack 2 or later is installed on the server. b If the client system is running a version of Windows XP and is not part of a domain, edit the registry to allow remote connection with administrative privileges.
6 Perform the following steps to modify user privilege levels for connecting remotely to a system’s WMI: a Click StartRun, type compmgmt.msc, and then click OK. b Navigate to WMI Control under Services and Applications. c Right-click WMI Control and click Properties. d Click the Security tab and select DellOMCI under the Root tree. e Click Security. f Select the specific group or user that you want to control access and use the Allow or Deny check box to configure the permissions.
Installation Failure If you are unable to complete OMCI installation, check the following: 28 • You must have administrative rights on the target system. • The target system must be a Dell system with SMBIOS version 2.3 or later. • The system must be running the supported Microsoft Windows operating system.
