Users Guide

Management Consoles
The management consoles are used to launch external system management consoles, such as:
• Click Remote Access Console to launch the Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) Web user
interface.
• Click OMSA Console to launch the OpenManage Server Administrator (OMSA) user interface if it has been
configured. See, Enabling The OMSA Link
• Click Blade Chassis Console to launch the Chassis Management Controller (CMC) Web user interface.
Dell Online Services
The Dell Online Services provide access to renew a host system's warranty.
• Click Renew Warranty to launch a portal used to renew a host system's warranty. Review the Warranty Days
Left status under Server Information to check if the warranty requires renewal; a warning or critical icon is
displayed if the warranty is getting close to the expiration date. See, Renewing Host Warranty.
Resetting iDRAC
Sometimes iDRAC may become nonresponsive to requests and this results in unexpected behavior within the Dell
Management Plug-in. The only way to recover from this state is to reset iDRAC. An iDRAC reset performs a normal
reboot of the iDRAC. This reboot does not reboot the host. After you perform a reset, it takes 1 or 2 minutes for iDRAC to
return to a usable state.
While iDRAC is rebooting, you may see:
• Some delay or a communication error while the Dell Management Plug-in obtains its health status.
• All open sessions with iDRAC close.
• DHCP address for iDRAC may change. If iDRAC uses DHCP for its IP address, then there is a chance that the IP
address will change. If this happens, rerun the host inventory job to capture the new iDRAC IP in the inventory
data
NOTE: A soft reset of iDRAC may not always work to get iDRAC back to reusable state. You may need a hard reset.
To do a hard reset, on the server, press and hold the LED button for 15 seconds. For more information on resetting
iDRAC, refer to your version of iDRAC User’s Guide.
NOTE: Dell recommends that you place the host in maintenance mode before resetting iDRAC.
1. In vSphere Client, under the Inventory heading, select Hosts and Clusters.
2. From Hosts and Clusters, select the host system in the tree view and select the Dell Server Management tab.
3. Under Host Actions, select iDRAC Reset.
4. On the iDRAC Rest dialog box, select the Continue iDRAC Reset, and click OK.
About Inventory Schedule
The inventory schedule sets the time/day for running inventory jobs, such as:
• Weekly at a specific time and on selected days
• At a set time interval
Most of the Dell Management Plug-In features require that an inventory is completed first to gather required data. An
inventory of all host systems must be collected to display this information. To perform an inventory on host systems,
create a connection profile that provides communication and authentication information. Once the inventory is
complete, you can view the inventory results for the entire datacenter or for an individual host system.
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