Download Migration and Deployment Strategies for IT Assistant on Microsoft

Migration and
Deployment Strategies
for IT Assistant on
Microsoft Windows
Server 2003
Dell OpenManage
Systems Management
Dell White Paper
By Krishna Mohan
[email protected]
April 2003
Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 3
Commonly Used Terms .................................................................................................... 4
Migrating to Windows Server 2003 ....................................................................................... 5
Discovery of Systems using the CIM Protocol: .......................................................... 12
Installing Dell OpenManage IT Assistant on Windows Server 2003........................... 16
Issues with IT Assistant Following a Migration to Windows Server 2003.................. 18
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 19
Figures
Figure 1: Representation of the Two Tiers in IT Assistant .................................................................... 4
Figure 2: Steps to Preserve the IT Assistant Database ............................................................................ 5
Figure 3: Example of Exporting IT Assistant Configuration and Management Data ........................ 6
Figure 4: Pop up dialog box on IT Assistant Database Export. ............................................................. 6
Figure 5: Example of Files in the ITA_DB_backup Folder. .................................................................... 7
Figure 6: Service Control Panel Verifying that IT Assistant Services have Started ............................ 8
Figure 7: Example of Clearing SNMPEventSeverityConfiguration Table in the IT Assistant
Database. ............................................................................................................................................... 8
Figure 8: Pop Up Dialog Box on Clearing SNMPEventSeverityConfiguration table from IT
Assistant Database. .............................................................................................................................. 9
Figure 9: Example of importing the IT Assistant database. ................................................................... 9
Figure 10: Pop up dialog box on IT Assistant Database import. ........................................................... 9
Figure 11: IT Assistant database management utility’s GUI interface. ...............................................10
Figure 12: User Information Table (Users) Vew from the IT Assistant Database Utility .................11
Figure 13: Internet Explorer’s dialog box on enhanced security configuration. ................................11
Figure 14: IT Assistant Logon screen .......................................................................................................12
Figure 15: Steps to discover systems through the CIM protocol..........................................................13
Figure 16: Discovery/Polling Cycle Configuration Dialog Box in IT Assistant .................................13
Figure 17: Discovery Range Dialog Box of IT Assistant ........................................................................14
Figure 18: Discovery Range Configuration dialog box of IT Assistant. ..............................................14
Figure 19: Force Discovery Dialog Box of IT Assistant .........................................................................15
Figure 20: Overview of Steps to Deploy IT Assistant on Windows Server 2003 ...............................16
Figure 21: Service Control Panel Verifying that IT Assistant Services have Started .........................17
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Section
1
Introduction
Dell OpenManage™ IT Assistant (ITA) is a centralized systems management
console that allows administrators to monitor and manage network devices. This
includes Dell PowerEdge™ servers, Dell OptiPlex™ desktops, Dell Precision™
workstations and Dell PowerConnect™ switches. ITA consists of two tiers that
can be installed on separate systems. The user interface tier (GUI) provides the
interface to monitor and manage the devices on the network. This tier can be
installed on multiple systems. The network monitoring and database tier is
installed on a single system. This tier provides the active monitoring of the
network devices and serves data to the systems installed with the user interface
tier. In many cases both tiers will be installed on the same system. Once
installed and configured, the ITA Network Monitoring component discovers
devices on the network. It also stores information about these devices in the ITA
database. This is depicted in Figure 1.
Dell OpenManage IT Assistant version 6.4.4 is the first version that supports
Windows® Server 2003. Previous versions of IT Assistant are not supported on
Windows Server 2003. This is due to changes in the encryption model that is
used by Windows Server 2003.
This paper is intended to help administrators migrate systems that have IT
Assistant installed to Windows Server 2003 without losing information stored in
the ITA database. It also addresses some ITA configuration settings that are
required when used on a Windows Server 2003 installation.
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Figure 1: Representation of the Two Tiers in IT Assistant
Commonly Used Terms
ITA Management Station: A system running both the IT Assistant user interface
tier (GUI) and network monitoring and database tier.
OpenManage Client Instrumentation: The agent located on Dell client systems
(OptiPlex, Latitude and Dell Precision) that provides reporting on the system
health and status.
OpenManage Server Administrator: The instrumentation located on Dell
PowerEdge servers.
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Section
2
Migrating to Windows Server 2003
Prior to migrating the Management Station’s operating system to Windows
Server 2003, the administrator will need to save the IT Assistant configuration
and management data as well as uninstall IT Assistant. The steps to do this are
summarized in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Steps to Preserve the IT Assistant Database
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The steps for preserving the ITA database during migration to Windows Server
2003 are as follows:

On the ITA Management Station, back up the local ITA database named
ITAssist. The local ITA database can be backed up through the ITA database
utility named dcdbmng. The ITA database utility must be executed from the
<IT Assistant installation>/bin directory. (The ITA database utility is
typically located in C:\Program Files\Dell\OpenManage\It Assistant\bin.)
Create a temporary folder such as “ITA_DB_backup” on the hard drive or on
a share. Export the IT Assistant database by executing the command:
dcdbmng /X c:\ITA_DB_backup
NOTE: Always make a backup of the exported ITA database in case any
failures occur during the upgrade to Windows Server 2003.
Figure 3: Example of Exporting IT Assistant Configuration and Management
Data
Once the IT Assistant database is successfully exported, the pop up in Figure
4 is displayed on the screen.
Figure 4: Pop up dialog box on IT Assistant Database Export.
A successful export can also be verified by viewing the files in the
ITA_DB_backup folder. There should be several files with a .txt extension.
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Figure 5: Example of Files in the ITA_DB_backup Folder.
Example of files exported from IT Assistant version 6.4.3 in the
ITA_DB_backup folder is depicted in Figure 5. For detailed information
about the ITA database, please refer to the Dell OpenManage white paper
“Getting to Know the OpenManage IT Assistant Database” by Haihong
Zhuo.

Uninstall IT Assistant from the ITA Management Station. (IT Assistant must
be uninstalled because previous versions of Dell OpenManage IT Assistant
are not supported on Windows Server 2003.) Once the un-installation is
completed, confirm deletion of all ITA components and reboot the system.

Upgrade ITA Management Station to Windows Server 2003.

Install IT Assistant version 6.4.4 or greater on the system. Verify that the IT
Assistant Network Monitoring and IT Assistant Connection Services are running
after a reboot. Confirmation that both programs are running can be obtained
by going to the Service Control panel and clicking on Start->Settings->Control
Panel->Administrative Tools->Services
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Figure 6: Service Control Panel Verifying that IT Assistant Services have
Started

Clear the SNMPEventSeverityConfiguration table prior to importing the
backed-up ITA database. Clearing the SNMPEventSeverityConfiguration table
is done through the ITA database utility named dcdbmng. The dcdbmng utility
must be executed from the <IT Assistant installation>/bin directory. The bin
directory is typically located in C:\Program Files\Dell\OpenManage\It
Assistant\bin.) Clear the table specified above by executing the following
command:
dcdbmng /Z SNMPEventSeverityConfiguration
Figure 7: Example of Clearing SNMPEventSeverityConfiguration Table in the
IT Assistant Database.
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Once the SNMPEventSeverityConfiguration table is successfully cleared, the
pop-up in Figure 8 is displayed on the screen.
Figure 8: Pop-Up Dialog Box on Clearing SNMPEventSeverityConfiguration
table from IT Assistant Database.

On the ITA Management Station, import the backed-up ITA database located
in the ITA_DB_backup. Importing the backed-up ITA database is done
through the ITA database utility named dcdbmng. The ITA database utility
must be executed from the <IT_Assistant_installation>/bin directory. (The
ITA database utility is typically located in C:\Program
Files\Dell\OpenManage\It Assistant\bin.) Import the database by
executing the following command:
dcdbmng /M c:\ITA_DB_backup
Figure 9: Example of importing the IT Assistant database.
Once the IT Assistant database is successfully imported, the pop-up in Figure
10 is displayed on the screen.
Figure 10: Pop-Up Dialog Box on IT Assistant Database Import
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
Clear the User’s information table from the ITA database. Clearing the user’s
information table is done through the ITA database utility named dcdbmng.
The ITA database utility must be executed from the <IT Assistant
installation>/bin directory. (The dcdbmng utility is typically located in
C:\Program Files\Dell\OpenManage\IT Assistant\bin.) Launch the IT
Assistant database utility dcdbmng graphical interface on the ITA
Management Station as shown in Figure 11 by executing the following
command (without arguments):
dcdbmng
NOTE: The users table stores authentication information for logging into the
ITA User Interface. When logging into the ITA User Interface the first time
on a new install, the table is empty. The IT Assistant’s authentication
function checks for entries in the user’s table. If none are present, then it will
add two entries, one for the user “itadmin” and the other for “anonymous”.
Empty passwords for both users are created using the Windows encryption
API. The password for the “itadmin” user can be modified later through IT
Assistant’s User Interface. This can be found on blue navigation bar under
Options-> Change IT Assistant Password . Clearing the users table will clear
the modified password for “itadmin” and set this to empty. The “itadmin”
user has “Read/Write” access to IT Assistant configuration options while the
“anonymous” user has “Read Only” access.
Figure 11: IT Assistant Database Management Utility’s GUI
Once the graphical interface has appeared, expand the ITAssist entry in the
left pane by clicking on the plus sign (+). Scroll down to the Users
Information Table (Users) and right click on this table. A pop-up menu will
display Import Table, Export Table and Clear Table selections. Select Clear Table
to clear the information stored in the Users Information table.
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Figure 12: Users Information Table (Users) View from the IT Assistant
Database Utility

Launch the IT Assistant User Interface. A Security Warning dialog box will
appear at this point. Proceed by accepting the Security certificate from Dell
Computer Corporation. Logon using the “Read/Write” access. (The password
should be empty at this point.)
Note: Due to the enhanced security settings on the browser for Windows
Server 2003, launching the IT Assistant User Interface may bring up an
Internet Explorer dialog box. The dialog box talks about Microsoft Internet
Explorer’s enhanced security configuration. To not show this message in the
future, check the box and click “OK” to close the Internet Explorer dialog
box.
Figure 13: Internet Explorer’s Dialog Box on Enhanced Security
Configuration.
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Figure 14: IT Assistant Logon screen
Discovery of Systems using the CIM Protocol:
The IT Assistant Network Monitoring and IT Assistant Connection Services are
configured to discover devices using various management protocols. The
supported protocols are SNMP, DMI, and CIM. CIM is typically used on client
systems (e.g., OptiPlex, Dell Precision, and Latitude) that are running
OpenManage Client Instrumentation (OMCI) 7.0 or higher. All versions of
OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) and OMCI 6.1 also support CIM. If
you are using the CIM protocol, then the additional steps depicted in Figure 15
are required.
If the steps are not performed, IT Assistant may not correctly discover systems
using the CIM protocol.
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Figure 15: Steps to Discover Systems through the CIM Protocol.
Detailed description of steps:

Launch the IT Assistant User Interface on the Management station and login
with read/write permissions. From the blue navigation bar, select Options->
Discovery Cycle go to the Discovery Cycle to display the Discovery/Polling
Cycle Configuration dialog box. The Discovery/Polling Cycle Configuration
dialog box is shown in Figure 16. Enter a password for the User (CIMUser)
under the CIM section in the dialog box and click OK.
Figure 16: Discovery/Polling Cycle Configuration Dialog Box in IT Assistant
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NOTE: The above changes to the Discovery/Polling Cycle Configuration
dialog box affects any discovery ranges added in the future. The following
step is required to update the currently configured discovery ranges.

From the blue navigation bar, select Options-> Set Discovery Range to
display the Discovery Range dialog box. The Discovery Range dialog box is
shown in Figure 17.
Figure 17: Discovery Range Dialog Box of IT Assistant

Click on the Edit button to bring up the Discovery Range Configuration
dialog box. Enter a password for the User under the CIM section in the
dialog box and click OK. Perform this step on all existing Discovery Ranges.
Figure 18: Discovery Range Configuration dialog box of IT Assistant.
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
To rediscover instrumented systems through CIM protocol restart the IT
Assistant Network Monitoring and IT Assistant Connection Services or perform a
forced discovery on all discovery ranges.
To restart the IT Assistant services go to the Service Control panel by clicking
on Start->Settings->Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services. In the Service
control panel, right click on the IT Assistant Network Monitoring service and
select Restart to restart both of the IT Assistant services.
To perform a forced discovery of all discovery ranges, from the blue
navigation bar, select Management -> Force Discovery. This selection will
bring up the Force Discovery dialog box. Select all the discovery ranges
listed in the Discovery Range and click “OK” to force discovery. The Force
Discovery dialog box is shown in Figure 19. A forced discovery will go
through the whole discovery cycle and rediscover systems using the CIM
protocol. The amount of time this process takes will vary depending on the
number of systems being discovered, network bandwidth, etc.
Figure 19: Force Discovery Dialog Box of IT Assistant
NOTE: Do not select All Systems in the Force Discovery dialog box because it
may not use the updated CIM user name and password for rediscovering the
systems.
The migration to Windows Server 2003 is now complete.
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Section
3
Installing Dell OpenManage IT Assistant on
Windows Server 2003
The sequence of steps required to install (not migrate) IT Assistant on a system
with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 is depicted in Figure 20. Each step is
explained in detail below.
Figure 20: Overview of Steps to Deploy IT Assistant on Windows Server 2003

Install Microsoft Windows Server 2003 on the Management station.

Install IT Assistant version 6.4.4 or greater on the system. Verify that the IT
Assistant Network Monitoring and IT Assistant Connection Services are running
after a reboot. Confirmation that both programs are running can be
confirmed by going to the Service Control panel by clicking on Start>Settings->Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services.
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Figure 21: Service Control Panel Verifying that IT Assistant Services have
Started

Launch the IT Assistant User Interface. A Security Warning dialog box will
appear. Proceed by accepting the Security certificate from Dell Computer
Corporation. Login using the “Read/Write” access.

A message box will be displayed asking the user if they would like to
configure discovery because it has not been configured. Click on “Yes” to
configure discovery.

Configure the Discovery/Polling Cycle configuration information and click
“OK”. By clicking “OK”, the Discovery Range dialog will launch which will
allow the user to configure the systems and subnets to be discovered. Once
this step is completed, IT Assistant will start discovering systems.
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Section
4
Issues with IT Assistant Following a
Migration to Windows Server 2003
If the migration to Microsoft Windows Server 2003 occurs without following the
recommended migration steps for IT Assistant, the following problems may
occur:

Issue: Logging into the IT Assistant User Interface fails.
Solution: Launch the IT Assistant database utility dcdbmng. The dcdbmng
utility must be executed from the <IT Assistant installation>/bin
directory. (The dcdbmng utility is typically located in C:\Program
Files\Dell\OpenManage\It Assistant\bin.) Clear the Users Information
table (Users) under the ITAssist root node. Restart the IT Assistant User
Interface. Note that clearing the Users Information table will clear the
authentication information for logging into the ITA user interface.
Clearing the authentication information will set the Users Information
table to its default value which is an empty string. Log on with
“Read/Write” privileges using the default password. Go into the Change
IT Assistant Password under Options to reset the password for
“Read/Write” to other than the default password. Refer to page 10 of
Section 2: Migrating to Windows Server 2003.

Issue: Some systems are not discovered.
Solution: Re-enter the CIM password from the Discovery Cycle and Set
Discovery Range dialogs. Refer to Discovery of Systems using the CIM
Protocol of Section 2: Migrating to Windows Server 2003.

Issue: SQL Server and IT Assistant services fail to start when system is
renamed after migration.
Solution: Renaming the system causes SQL Services to fail on restart.
This failure is a known issue with MSDE1.0 or SQL Server 7.0. In the case
of MSDE1.0, uninstall MSDE1.0 and IT Assistant and then reinstall IT
Assistant. In the case of SQL Server 7.0, reinstall SQL Server 7.0 which
will perform an upgrade and then uninstall and reinstall IT Assistant.
Refer to the “Operating Environment Issues“ section located in ITAssistant
6.4.4 Readme.
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Section
5
Conclusion
In conclusion, this white paper:

Helps ease the deployment of Windows Server 2003 on a server containing
IT Assistant without impacting or causing loss of crucial data.

Explains how to back up crucial data contained in the IT Assistant database
to prevent problems during migration to Windows Server 2003.

Provides necessary information regarding IT Assistant migration to Microsoft
Windows 2003 and potential problems faced by the user.
THIS WHITE PAPER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND MAY CONTAIN TYPOGRAPHICAL
ERRORS AND TECHNICAL INACCURACIES. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.
Dell cannot be responsible for errors in typography or photography.
Dell and PowerEdge are trademarks of Dell Computer Corporation. Microsoft is a registered trademark and SQL Server
is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to
either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell disclaims proprietary interest in the marks and
names of others.
©Copyright 2003 Dell Computer Corporation. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the
express written permission of Dell Computer Corporation is strictly forbidden. For more information, contact Dell.
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
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