Quick start manual

Getting Started With SupportAssist

Dell SupportAssist plugin for Dell OpenManage Essentials provides proactive support capabilities for

supported Dell server, storage, and networking solutions. OpenManage Essentials interacts with

supported devices that are to be monitored and receives SNMP traps. The SNMP traps are periodically

retrieved as alerts by the SupportAssist application. The alerts are filtered using various policies to decide

if the alerts qualify for creating a new support case or updating an existing support case.

All qualifying alerts are securely sent to the SupportAssist server hosted by Dell, for creating a new

support case or updating an existing support case. After the support case is created or updated, the

SupportAssist application, runs the appropriate collection tools on the devices that generated the alerts,

and uploads the log collection to Dell. The information in the log collection is used by Dell technical

support to troubleshoot the issue and provide an appropriate solution.

This document provides information required to ensure that SupportAssist works as expected in your

environment. To quickly get started with SupportAssist, follow the instructions in Setting Up OpenManage

Essentials For SupportAssist and Setting Up SupportAssist.

Setting Up OpenManage Essentials For SupportAssist

For SupportAssist to remotely monitor supported devices and automatically generate support cases if

there is a hardware issue in your environment, you must set up OpenManage Essentials as follows:

1. Ensure that OpenManage Essentials version 1.3 is installed on the management server. For

information on installing OpenManage Essentials, see the Dell OpenManage Essentials Version 1.3

User’s Guide

at dell.com/OpenManageManuals.

2. Configure SNMP services on all managed nodes. See Configuring SNMP Services On Windows and

Configuring SNMP Services On Linux.

NOTE: On managed nodes running Microsoft Windows Server 2012 or later, before configuring

SNMP services, you must install SNMP tools. See Installing SNMP Tools.

3. On all managed nodes, ensure that Dell OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) is installed. For

information on installing OMSA, see the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator User's Guide at

dell.com/OpenManageManuals.

NOTE: Dell PowerEdge 12G servers can provide statusing, alerts, and limited inventory through

iDRAC even if OMSA is not installed.

4. On all managed nodes running Windows Server 2008, ensure that network discovery is enabled. See

Enabling Network Discovery (Windows Server 2008 Only).

5. Configure the supported Dell devices in your environment so that they can be discovered and

managed by OpenManage Essentials. For instructions to configure the supported Dell devices, see

the Making My Environment Manageable for Dell OpenManage Essentials technical white paper at

DellTechCenter.com/OME.

6. Verify the firewall configuration and ensure that the following ports are open:

– On the management server, port 162 for SNMP; port 443 for SSL communication and for getting

SupportAssist update information.

– On the managed node, port 161 for SNMP and port 1311 for OMSA.

7. Discover and inventory the supported devices in your environment in OpenManage Essentials using

the recommended protocols. For information on discovery and inventory of devices, see the Dell

OpenManage Essentials Version 1.3 User’s Guide at dell.com/OpenManageManuals.