OpenManage Essentials Hardware Monitoring and KACE K1000 Service Desk Integration

This Dell Technical White Paper provides step-by-step instructions to configure OpenManage Essentials and KACE Service desk for system monitoring and fault resolution.

Rajaneesh Shresta, Sean Kim Dell Enterprise Product Group

7/22/12
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.

Executive summary
Customers already using KACE K1000 appliance to manage their client (Workstations, Desktops, laptops etc.) environment can leverage OpenManage Essentials (OME), a free Dell application to manage their server environment. By integrating KACE and OME, customers can leverage their existing investment in KACE to extend KACE service desk for server fault management without any additional investment. As part of OME and KACE K1000 Service Desk integration, Users will need to: Configure E-mail Alert action in OME that gets triggered when an Alert is received (Based on the filters set such as Alert Severity, Alert Category, Device/Device group etc.) Configure Service Desk in KACE K1000 appliance to parse the Email received from OME and create a trouble ticket. Validate the configuration by sending a Test Email from OME.

Contents
Introduction 3 Why OME Hardware Monitoring and KACE Service Desk Integration ? 3 Interaction between OME and KACE 4 Configuration 4 Create an E-mail Alert Action in OME 5 Configure KACE K1000 Service Desk 14 Sample Workflow of Alert received in OME and KACE Service Desk Ticket created.. 16 Conclusion or Summary 18

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Introduction
In any I/T environment, to have data accessibility 24/7 and reduce disruptions to the data center, it is essential to proactively monitor system health, identify faults and automatically notify I/T administrators for immediate resolution of these faults. Dell OpenManage Essentials (OME) allows I/T organizations to actively monitor Dell servers and non-Dell Servers1and other devices via industry standard SNMP and IPMI protocols. By configuring devices to send SNMP traps/alerts and IPMI Platform Event Traps(PET) to an OME management station, OME acts as a centralized monitoring application. Once an alert is received by OME, users can apply filters to determine if it requires administrative intervention. Many I/T organizations have implemented a centralized mechanism for tracking and handling these server faults such as hard drive failure, loss of network connection etc. These server faults are typically managed through a Service Desk or a Help Desk. KACE 1000 Service Desk can receive alerts information from OME, open a trouble ticket and assign it to an IT administrator for remediation. Information contained within the alert is assigned into the appropriate fields within the email that will generate the ticket so that the necessary reference information is available to the assigned administrator. In this fashion, complete control can be maintained for those faults that require intervention and remediation.
1

Supported only if the corresponding MIB is imported into OME.

Why OME Hardware Monitoring and KACE Service Desk Integration ?

Ever increasing demands in computing infrastructure is presenting new challenges to I/T administrators. Efficient, high-quality support and proactively monitoring computing infrastructure is critical for the achievement of I/T organizations worldwide. When a server, storage or a network device has a problem, I/T administrators want to be notified immediately and more importantly want their problem solved. Imagine a situation when a problem occurs in a datacenter while the I/T admin is out for lunch or on holiday or it is just after 9 p.m. No matter how severe the problem is, I/T administrator should be notified so that they can take immediate action and reduce the risk of significant disruption to I/T services.

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In this whitepaper, we will address some of these challenges with Dell new systems management solution. Dell OpenManage Essentials combined with Dell | KACE K1000 Appliance, provides a simple and comprehensive approach to proactively monitor your datacenter and track the resolution of a component failure and record what we have learned.

Interaction between OME and KACE

The following diagram illustrates how these two products interact to provide a monitoring and service desk solution.

Figure 1. Interaction between OME Monitoring solution and KACE K1000 appliance Service Desk

Configuration
This section provides step-by-step instructions to configure OME console and KACE appliance for system monitoring and fault resolution. Create an E-mail Alert Action in OME Configure KACE K1000 Service Desk

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Create an E-mail Alert Action in OME

Follow the numbered steps to create an E-mail alert action in OME. Step 1: Launch the OME console and select Manage -> Alerts 1a: In the left pane, select Alert Actions-> Email click on Email and select New Email Alert Action OR right 1b: Right clickof the sample pre-canned alert action and select Edit. one on

Figure 2. Launching E-mail Alert Action wizard

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Step 2: In Name and Description, provide e-mail alert action name and description. Check Enabled checkbox and Click Next.

Figure 3. Name and Description in E-mail Alert Action wizard

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Step 3: In E-mail Configuration screen, 3a: provide the recipients of this e-mail and sender in To: and From: address fields . NOTE 1: Make sure the To e-mail address in OME matches Email Address in KACE Service Desk Configuration (as OME will be sending an e-mail to KBOX). Refer to Figure 10. NOTE 2: Verify that the e-mail address in From field in OME (user sending the ticket into the KBOX service queue) matches exactly the e-mail address defined for that user in the KACE appliance. NOTE 3: Separate each recipient or distribution list with a semi-colon. 3b: Provide a Subject. 3c: In the Message field, create a map of KACE service desk and OME predefined alert substitution parameters. For each of the supported parameters the Email alert action fetches alert data and assigns it to the corresponding parameters on the KACE Service Desk trouble ticket. Refer to KACE K1000 Service Desk Administrator Guide for more information on Customizing Service Desk Tickets. Ex: @machine=$n @custom_1=$st @create_date=$d $t @priority=$sev @category=$cn

NOTE 1: Parameters prefixed with @ are defined in the KACE Service Desk. NOTE 2: Parameters prefixed with @ must be defined first in the message section of the Alert Email Action wizard and each parameter has to be in a new line. NOTE 3: Parameters prefixed with $ are defined in OME and are substituted
with actual value when E-mail alert action is triggered. 3d: Click

Email Settings

and provide SMTP server name or IP Address.

NOTE 4: Make sure KBOX and OME is using the same SMTP server
name/address.

Test Action sample e-mail to the all the recipients. Click Next.
3e: Validate the configuration using the

button. This should send a

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Figure 4. E-mail Configuration in E-mail Alert Action wizard

Note: Address in the To: field will be the E-mail address of the service queue in KBOX where the service desk tickets will be logged.

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Step 4: In Severity Association, assign the alert severity to which you want to associate this e-mail alert and then click Next.

Figure 5. Select Severity Association in E-mail Alert Action wizard

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Step 5: In Categories and Sources Association, assign the alert categories source to which you want to associate this e-mail alert and then click Next.

Figure 6. Select Alert Categories in E-mail Alert Action wizard

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Step 6: In Device Association, assign the device or device groups to which you want to associate this e-mail alert and then click Next.

Figure 7. Select Devices in E-mail Alert Action wizard

NOTE: By default the E-mail Alert action created is active at all times.

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Step 7: In Date Time Association, enter the date or time range on when this Email alert action is active and then click Next.

Figure 8. Date Time Association in E-mail Alert Action wizard

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Step 8: In Summary, review inputs and click Finish.

Figure 9. Review configuration in E-mail Alert Action wizard

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Configure KACE K1000 Service Desk

Follow the numbered steps to configure Service Desk in KACE K1000 appliance. Step 1: In the KACE K1000 appliance, select Service Desk tab and chose the service queue. 1a: Select Configuration -> Queues and select the Queue. the Email 1b: Enter

Address.

NOTE 1: Make sure the Email Address in KBOX matches To: email address in OME
Email Alert Action.

Figure 10. KACE K1000 Service Desk Configuration

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Step 2: From the Ticket Layout section of the Service Desk Customization page you can customize the way tickets are displayed in the Tickets tab for each queue. Examples: You can create different ticket views and set read/write access for users, ticket owners, and administrators. Refer to KACE K1000 Service Desk Administrator Guide for more information on Customizing Service Desk Tickets. To customize Service Desk ticket related parameters. 2a: Select Service Desk -> Configuration -> Queues -> <Queue name> -> Customize Fields and Layout link. Name you like to customize and set the label and 2b: Select the permissions from the dropdown list. Example: Name: CUSTOM_2 Label: Service Tag Required: Not Required Permissions: User Create 2c: You can also define the Name type, assign default value to a Name etc. under Custom Fields section. Example:

Name: CUSTOM_2 Type: Text Default: Unknown

Figure 11. Define custom fields/parameters in KACE K1000 Service Desk Configuration

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Step 3: You can configure new Alert Category in KBOX to match alert categories supported by OME. Alert category identifies the type of device/component/application that generated the alert. Example: Temperature related alerts will be under Environmental alert category. To add new alert category: 3a: To configure Alert Category, select Service Desk -> Configuration -> name> -> Ticket Defaults: [Customize These Queues -> <Queue Values] link. alert category, select + icon on the top right under 3b: To add a new Category Values section. 3c: Provide the Name, Label and set Default Owner, User Settable properties. Example : Name: Environmental

Label: Environmental Default Owner: OMEAdmin User Settable: True

Sample Workflow of Alert received in OME and KACE Service Desk Ticket created.
OME receives a critical alert from a monitored server and triggers E-mail alert action which in turn collects alert data and sends an e-mail to KACE service desk.

Figure 12. OME Dashboard showing Alerts received

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The E-mail received is parsed by KACE Service Desk. It then creates a Service Desk ticket under OME service queue based on the criteria set.

Figure 13. List of Service Desk Tickets in K1000 appliance

Click on the Service Desk Ticket to view the details.

Figure 14. Service Desk Ticket in K1000 appliance

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Conclusion or Summary
Users can have both OME and KACE K1000 appliance running on the same physical machine. This can be achieved by having multiple virtual machines (VM) on the same physical machine, where one of the VM will have OME installed and the other VM for K1000 virtual appliance. By adding OME, a simple free solution to your environment, you can get hardware monitoring in your KACE environment.

Learn more
Visit www.dell.com/ome or www.delltechcenter.com/ome for more information on Dell OpenManage Essentials.

About the author Rajaneesh Shresta works for Dell Systems Management Consoles Group as one of the Lead Engineers. Author has over12+ years of industry experience in developing software and solutions. He has an M.S. in Software Systems from Birla Institute of Science & Technology, India. Sean Kim is a Test Associate Engineer working in Enterprise Platform & Software Validation with over 10 years of experience with network and desktop support. He is a Microsoft Certified Professional with an associates degree in microelectronic engineering.

2011 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Dell and its affiliates cannot be responsible for errors or omissions in typography or photography. Dell and the Dell logo are trademarks of Dell Inc. Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Intel and Xeon are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. 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. November 2011 | Rev 1.0

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