Reference Guide
Table Of Contents
- Microsoft HCI Solutions from Dell Technologies: Managing and Monitoring the Solution Infrastructure Life Cycle Operations Guide
- Contents
- Introduction
- Day 0 Operations
- Azure onboarding for Azure Stack HCI OS
- Licensing for Azure Stack HCI for Windows Server 2016 and 2019
- Creating virtual disks
- Managing and Monitoring Azure Stack HCI Cluster using Windows Admin Center
- Installing Windows Admin Center
- Adding the HCI cluster connection
- Accessing the HCI cluster
- Viewing server details
- Viewing drive details
- Managing and monitoring volumes
- Enabling data deduplication on Storage Spaces Direct
- Monitoring and managing VMs
- Managing virtual switches
- Dell EMC OpenManage Integration with Windows Admin Center
- Prerequisites for managing AX nodes
- Installing the Azure Stack HCI license (Ready Nodes only)
- Managing Azure Stack HCI clusters
- Full Stack Cluster-Aware Updating prerequisites for AX-7525 and AX-6515 nodes (offline update)
- Full Stack Cluster-Aware Updating for Azure Stack HCI clusters using the OpenManage Integration snap-in
- Updating a stand-alone node before adding it to the cluster
- Known issues
- Firmware updates using Dell EMC OpenManage Integration for Microsoft System Center for System Center Virtual Machine Manager
- Firmware and driver updates using the manual method
- Restarting a cluster node or taking a cluster node offline
- Expanding the Azure Stack HCI cluster
- Extending volumes
- Performing AX node recovery
- Operating system recovery
Factory operating system recovery
For the factory-installed OEM license of the operating system, Dell Technologies recommends that you use the operating
system recovery media that shipped with the PowerEdge server. Using this media for operating system recovery ensures
that the operating system stays activated after the recovery. Using any other operating system media triggers the need for
activation after operating system deployment. Operating system deployment using the recovery media is the same as either
retail or other operating system media-based installation.
After completing the operating system deployment using the recovery media, perform the following steps to bring the node into
an existing Azure Stack HCI cluster:
1. Update CPU chipset, network, and storage drivers.
2. Configure host networking.
3. Change the hostname.
4. Perform AD Domain Join.
5. Configure the QoS policy (for RoCE for RDMA only).
6. Configure RDMA.
7. Configure the firewall.
8. Perform Day 0 operating system updates.
9. Add server nodes to the cluster.
For instructions on steps 1 through 7, see the Dell EMC HCI Solutions for Microsoft Windows Server Deployment Guide.
SupportAssist Enterprise
Dell SupportAssist Enterprise (SAE) version (2.0.70.62) automates support by proactively identifying hardware and software
issues. When an issue is detected, SupportAssist notifies you about the issue and automatically creates a Support Request with
Dell EMC. It will also attach server hardware logs required for troubleshooting and efficient issue resolution.
For more information, see Dell EMC SupportAssist Enterprise 2.x – Guide and Download.
iDRAC Service Module (iSM) for AX nodes and Storage Spaces Direct Ready
Nodes
The iDRAC Service Module (iSM) is a lightweight software module that you can install on AX nodes to complement the
iDRAC interfaces—the user interface (UI), RACADM CLI, Redfish, and Web Services-Management (WS-Man)—with additional
monitoring data.
About this task
Follow these steps to install iSM on the operating system.
NOTE: The ISM application package will be installed as part of firmware and driver updates using the ASHCI catalog.
Steps
1. Log in to iDRAC-->iDRAC Settings-->Settings-->iDRAC Service Module Setup
2. Start the virtual console.
3. Log in to the host operating system as an administrator.
4. From the device list, select the mounted volume that is identified as SMINST and then click the ISM_Win.bat script to
start the installation.
Results
After the installation is completed, iDRAC indicates that the iSM is installed and specifies the latest installation date.
Day 0 Operations
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