Users Guide
NOTE: When you allow or use SupportAssist to install or upgrade OMSA, the downloaded packages of OMSA are
retained in the SupportAssist installation folder. If a compatible version of OMSA was already downloaded during an
earlier operation, SupportAssist does not download OMSA again. In this scenario, SupportAssist only installs or upgrades
OMSA on the device using the already downloaded version of OMSA.
NOTE: The time taken to download OMSA is dependent on the internet download speed and network bandwidth.
If the recommended version of OMSA is installed and running on the device, the status of the device is displayed as OK.
NOTE: Automatic installation of OMSA through SupportAssist is not supported on devices running Citrix XenServer,
VMware ESXi, or ESX. To allow SupportAssist to detect hardware issues on these devices, you must manually download
and install OMSA.
Related links
Installing or upgrading OMSA by using SupportAssist
Support for automatically conguring SNMP settings
To enable SupportAssist to monitor a device, the device must be congured to forward alerts (SNMP traps) to the server on which
SupportAssist is installed. Conguring the SNMP settings sets the alert destination of a device, and ensures that alerts from the
device are forwarded to the server running SupportAssist. SupportAssist has the capability to automatically congure the SNMP
settings of a device, such that the device forwards alerts to the server on which SupportAssist is installed. By default, when you add
a device, SupportAssist prompts for your conrmation to automatically congure the SNMP settings of the device. The status of the
SNMP conguration is displayed in the Status column on the Device Inventory page. While SupportAssist congures the SNMP
settings of a device, the device displays a Conguring SNMP status. You can also use the More Tasks → Congure SNMP
option on the Device Inventory page to automatically congure the SNMP settings of a device at any time.
NOTE: When you allow or use SupportAssist to automatically congure the SNMP settings of a device, the alert
destination of the device is set to the IP address of the server running SupportAssist.
Related links
Conguring SNMP settings by using SupportAssist
Device correlation
You can add (discover) a single device in SupportAssist by using both the host operating system IP address and iDRAC IP address of
the device. In such a scenario, the Device Inventory page displays two separate listings for the same device. SupportAssist receives
alerts from the device through both the operating system and the iDRAC. However, for operational purposes, SupportAssist
correlates the operating system IP address and iDRAC IP address of the device and considers the device as a single device. The
following are the expected behaviors when a device is correlated:
• Alerts originating from the operating system and the iDRAC are correlated and a support case is created for the Service Tag of
the device.
• When system information is collected, both the Device Inventory listings display the same status.
• For manual collection of system information — System information is gathered through the selected device listing in the Device
Inventory page. For example, if the operating system listing is selected, system information is gathered through the operating
system. However, if SupportAssist is unable to connect to the device by using the operating system IP address, system
information is gathered through the iDRAC.
• For periodic collections and on case creation — System information is typically gathered through the operating system. However,
if SupportAssist is unable to connect to the device by using the operating system IP address, system information is gathered
through the iDRAC.
Detection of hardware issues in attached storage devices
In addition to monitoring PowerEdge servers, SupportAssist can also process alerts received from Dell PowerVault MD series storage
arrays that may be attached to a server. Alert generation from an attached storage device occurs through the Dell OpenManage
78