Administrator Guide

For more information, see https://www.dell.com/support/article/sln310654.
Dell EMC OpenManage Ansible Modules
Dell EMC OpenManage Ansible Modules enable data center and IT administrators to use Red Hat Ansible to automate and
orchestrate the provisioning, configuration, deployment, and update of PowerEdge Servers. It uses the management automation
capabilities in-built into the iDRAC, OpenManage Enterprise, and OpenManage Enterprise Modular. Ansible is an automation tool
that can configure systems, deploy software, and perform more advanced IT tasks such as continuous deployments or zero
downtime rolling updates. With OpenManage Ansible Modules for PowerEdge servers, data center and IT administrators can
rapidly deploy their infrastructure, change server configurations, and manage configuration drift against a known baseline.
For more information, see https://www.dell.com/support/article/sln310720.
iDRAC Restful APIs (Redfish Standards based)
iDRAC provides a range of standards-based applications programming interfaces (APIs) that enable scalable and automated
management of the PowerEdge servers. Standard systems management APIs have been developed by organizations such as the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF). These APIs are widely
used by commercial systems management products and by custom programs and scripts developed by IT staff to automate
management functions such as discovery, inventory, health status checking, configuration, update, and power management. The
APIs supported by iDRAC include:
● iDRAC RESTful API: It provides a RESTful interface that expands upon the DMTF Redfish standard with the Dell EMC
operations. It includes the RESTful server configuration, modular server feature support, and detailed OS networking
inventory and status.
● iDRAC RESTful API—with Redfish support: In 2015, the DMTF Scalable platforms Management Forum published iDRAC
RESTful API—with Redfish support. It is an open industry-standard specification and schema designed to meet the needs of
IT administrators for simple, modern, and secure management of scalable platform hardware. Dell EMC is a key contributor
to the iDRAC RESTful API standard, acting as cochair of the SPMF, promoting the benefits of iDRAC RESTful API, and
working to deliver those benefits within industry-leading systems management solutions. iDRAC RESTful API is a next
generation management standard using a data model representation inside a hypermedia RESTful interface. The data model
is defined in terms of a standard, machine-readable schema, with the payload of the messages expressed in JSON and the
OData v4 protocol.
Other Embedded Management Automation Interfaces
● WSMan: The Web Services For Management (WSMan) API, first published by the DMTF in 2008, is the most mature
and robust API provided by iDRAC. WSMan uses a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) with data modeled using the
Common Information Model. WSMan provides interoperability between management applications and managed resources,
and identifies a core set of web service specifications and usage requirements that expose a common set of operations
central to all systems management.
NOTE: WSMan has been deprecated and no longer supported.
● IPMI: The Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) is a message-based, hardware-level interface specification
that can operate over both LAN and serial interfaces. IPMI is supported broadly by server vendors, systems management
solutions, and open source software.
● SNMP: The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) helps in standardizing the management of network devices.
SNMP allows commercial management consoles created for monitoring network switches and routers to also monitor X86
severs. SNMP is primarily used to deliver event messages to alert administrators of problems on their systems but can also
be used to discover, inventory, and configure servers.
Dell Remote Access Controller Administration CLI
The Remote Access Controller Administration (RACADM) command-line utility provides a scriptable interface to perform
inventory, configuration, update, and health status check of the PowerEdge servers. RACADM operates in multiple modes:
● Local—supports running RACADM commands from the managed server’s operating system.
● SSH or Telnet—known as firmware RACADM; is accessible by logging in to iDRAC using SSH or TELNET
● Remote—supports running RACADM commands from a remote management station such as a laptop or desktop.
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Systems Management Product Overview