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E2E Deployment and Operations Guide - Cluster Creation Using Windows Admin Center (WAC)
Introduction Solution Overview Solution deployment References Day 1 operations Managing and monitoring clusters with Windows Admin Center Dell OpenManage Integration with Windows Admin Center
Dell OpenManage Integration with Windows Admin Center
Overview
Prerequisites for managing AX nodes
Installing the OMIMSWAC license
Managing Microsoft HCI-based clusters
Full Stack Cluster-Aware Offline Updating
Full Stack Cluster-Aware Updating for Azure Stack HCI clusters using the OpenManage Integration snap-in
Updating a standalone node before adding it to the cluster
Secure cluster with Secured-core
Enabling operating system features
Protect your infrastructure with infrastructure lock
Manage CPU cores in Azure Stack HCI clusters
Validate and remediate Azure Stack HCI clusters
View recommendations for storage expansion
Known issues
Updates and maintenance References

Managing Microsoft HCI-based clusters

Managing Microsoft HCI-based clusters

    1. In the upper left of Windows Admin Center, select Cluster Manager from the menu.
    2. In the Cluster Connections window, click the cluster name.
    3. In the left pane of Windows Admin Center, under EXTENSIONS, click OpenManage Integration.
    4. Review the Dell Software License Agreement and Customer Notice, and select the check box to accept the terms of the license agreement.

    Overview

    Select View > Overview. The Overview page displays the following:

    Cluster level information that includes:

    • Number of cluster nodes
    • Health of cluster that includes total number of components with health as critical across nodes or Health Ok if all components are healthy.
      • Green: Healthy
      • Yellow: Warning
      • Red: Critical
      • Grey: Unknown
    • Secure core status:
      • Green: Enabled as all BIOS features are enabled on all nodes.
      • Yellow: Partially enabled as one or more nodes do not have all BIOS features enabled.
      • Red: Disabled as no node has all BIOS features enabled.
    • Compliance status:
      • Green: Compliant as all cluster nodes are compliant with all Dell policies.
      • Yellow: Warning as one or more cluster nodes is not compliant with any optional policy.
      • Red: Error as cluster node is not compliant with Dell Hardware Symmetry Policy.
      • Grey: Unknown as any cluster node is not reachable.

    HCP and Firmware Compliance:

    When extension loads for the first time, this section remains empty. This section is populated once you generate the reports from the Action menu.

    • HCP Compliance: Displays the compliance status of HCI cluster with number of components for each status.
      • Green: Components are compliant with Dell policies.
      • Yellow: Warning as components are not compliant with any optional policy.
      • Red: Error as components are not compliant with Dell Hardware Symmetry Policy.
    • Firmware update: Firmware compliance status of cluster.
      • Green: Compliant as cluster nodes have same version of BIOS, firmware, and driver as of imported catalog.
      • Yellow: Warning as one or more cluster nodes is not compliant with any optional policy.
      • Red: Non-compliant as BIOS, firmware, and drivers need updates.

    Security:

    • Secure core status:
      • Green: Enabled as all BIOS features are enabled on all nodes.
      • Yellow: Partially enabled as one or more nodes do not have all BIOS features enabled.
      • Red: Disabled as no node has all BIOS features enabled.
    • Infrastructure lock status:
      • Green: Enabled as all nodes of the cluster are locked.
      • Yellow: Partially enabled as one or more nodes of the cluster are unlocked.
      • Grey: Unknown as unable to connect the cluster nodes.

    Resources:

    • Current storage details such as used storage and available storage.
    • Current CPU core details such as current cores and available cores.

    Quick Task:

    Provides direct links to perform different actions using OpenManage Integration extension. Some actions may be disabled if it has dependency on another action.


    Prerequisite checks

    Use stand-alone prerequisite checks to verify if the connection meets the requirements for monitoring and management operations.

    When you perform any operation using OpenManage Integration extension, the extension automatically runs the prerequisite checks to verify the hardware and software requirements. If any prerequisite checks fail, the View Details button appears on the respective pages. Click View Details to see how to resolve the issues before performing the operation.

    In addition, OpenManage Integration extension also provides an option for stand-alone prerequisite checks. Before you run any operation using the extension, use the stand-alone Prerequisite Checks to verify the server or cluster readiness. Use this check to identify and fix any problems for all operations together for seamless monitoring and management experience.

    If any of the prerequisite checks fail, it can be resolved manually or automatically based on the nature of the check. For Auto Fix, the extension allows you to resolve the issues by clicking Resolve. For Manual fix, the extension displays recommendations on how to resolve issues manually. Once prerequisite checks are all compliant, you can use the extension to seamlessly perform server or cluster management operations.

    1. Click View > Prerequisite Checks.
    2. Click Select Operation to choose the operation you want to run the prerequisite checks. By default, all the operations are selected.
    3. Click Check to run the prerequisite checks for the selected operations.
    4. After the prerequisite checks are done, View Details appears next to the Select Operation button. Click View Details to see the prerequisite check report.
    5. To fix the prerequisite issues with Auto Fix category, ensure that the prerequisites are selected, and then click Resolve.
    6. To fix the prerequisite issues with Manual Fix category, see the recommendations on how to resolve the issue.
    7. After the issues are resolved, click Rerun to see the updated prerequisite checks status report. For more information, see list of prerequisite checks in the OMIWAC user guide.

    Health status

    1. To view the overall cluster health status, health status of each node and its components, click View : Health. The Health page appears and checks the inventory prerequisites. If all the prerequisites are compliant, the page displays the health status of all hardware components. If one or more checks are not compliant, an error message appears.
      Figure 10. Health page


    2. Click View Details to see the prerequisites that have failed.

    3. Click Resolve to fix the issues that belong to the Auto Fix category. For issues that belong to Manual Fix, see the recommendations on how to resolve them. See Prerequisites check details for more information about inventory prerequisites checks.

    4. To view the latest health information, click Refresh.

    Overall Health Status

    A doughnut chart displays the overall health status of a cluster using a color code. Green color indicates the cluster is healthy. Yellow indicates the cluster is not in recommended state. Red indicates the cluster is in critical state. And unknown indicates that the cluster nodes are not reachable. The number of nodes in the doughnut chart indicates the number of cluster nodes that have the same health status as in the cluster. In addition, different color codes show the respective health status of number of nodes. To filter the health status of nodes and its components, click the respective color code in the doughnut chart. For example, click red color to see the nodes and its components that are in critical health status.


    Inventory

    The Inventory tab lists the servers that are part of the cluster.

    1. Select View > Inventory. The Inventory page appears and checks the inventory prerequisites. If all the prerequisites are compliant, the page displays the hardware and firmware information for cluster nodes. If one or more checks are not compliant, an error message appears.
    2. Click View Details to see the prerequisites that have failed.
    3. Click Resolve to fix the issues that belong to the Auto Fix category.
    4. For issues that belong to Manual Fix, see the recommendations on how to resolve them. See Prerequisites check for details about inventory prerequisites checks.
    5. To view the latest hardware or firmware information, click Refresh.

    Clicking a server name on the inventory list provides details about the following components:

    • System
    • Firmware
    • CPUs
    • Memory
    • Storage controllers
    • Storage enclosures
    • Network devices
    • Physical disks
    • Power supplies
    • Fans

    Locating physical disks and viewing their status

    The Blink and Unblink feature of Windows Admin Center enables you to locate physical disks or view disk status.

    1. Under theInventory tab, from the Components list, select Physical Disks.
    2. For each physical disk, select Blink or Unblink to control the disk's LED.

    Viewing update compliance and updating the cluster

    To view and update the hardware compliance, select View > Compliance. Another menu button with drop-down appears next to the Node button. Select Hardware updates to go to the compliance page.

    Use the Update tab of the OpenManage Integration with Microsoft Windows Admin Center UI to view update compliance and update the cluster.

    To view the latest update compliance report and update the cluster using an offline catalog, OpenManage Integration with Windows Admin Center requires that you configure the update compliance tools.

    1. At Check Compliance, select the online catalog or offline catalog to configure update tools.
      If you select the online catalog, OpenManage Integration downloads the Azure Stack HCI catalog, system tools, and the required Dell Update Packages from the Internet.
      To use an offline catalog, configure the update tools under Hardware updates and select the Configure DSU and IC option. The catalog file must be exported using the Dell Repository Manager and placed in a shared folder. See Obtaining the firmware catalog for AX nodes or Ready Nodes using Dell EMC Repository Manager.
    2. Click Check Compliance to generate the update compliance report.
      By default, all the upgrades are selected, but you can make alternate selections as needed.
      Figure 11. Compliance details
      Image of Compliance details
    3. Click Fix compliance to view the selected component details.
      Note: Cluster Aware Update is a license feature. Ensure that the Azure Stack HCI license is installed before proceeding.

    4. To schedule the update for a later time, click Schedule later, select Date/time and click Next cluster aware update to download the required updates.
      To use the schedule later feature, download the required downloads and keep them ready to update at the specified time.
    5. Click Update to begin the update process and click Yes at the prompt to enable Credential Security Service Provider (CredSSP) to update the selected components.

      When the update job is completed, the compliance job is triggered automatically.