Owner's Manual

Ensuring a Secure Dell OpenManage IT Assistant Installation 215
In summary, to successfully and securely manage desktops, laptops, and
workstations per the security measures introduced in the paragraphs above,
system administrators should adhere to the following best practices:
• Ensure that the operating system is up-to-date with the most recent
operating system security patches.
• For ASF-capable desktops, either disable ASF or implement SNMP
community names that cannot be easily guessed.
Securing Managed Server Systems
Securing the Managed System’s Operating System
As with desktops and workstations, the first step in securing a server is to
ensure that it is running with the most current service pack and appropriate
critical hot fixes installed. Microsoft Software Update Services, mentioned in
the previous section, also applies to Microsoft Windows 2000 and
Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 servers. Similar services
should be checked for Red Hat Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.
Choosing the Most Secure Managed System Server Protocol
Dell OpenManage Server Administrator, the current Dell server
instrumentation software, uses the SNMP and CIM protocols, which can be
configured during a custom install.
CIM Monitoring, DCOM, and Windows Authentication
The CIM protocol, which uses DCOM security, leverages Windows
challenge/response (user name/password) authentication. In addition,
communication with the managed system is established through the
domain/user name/password accounts specified in each of the configured
IT Assistant discovery ranges. The format for these accounts is
<domain name>\<user name> or localhost\<user name>.