Dell EMC OpenManage Integration with Microsoft Windows Admin Center v2.0 Technical Walkthrough
Wed, 16 Jun 2021 13:35:49 -0000
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Introduction
Dell EMC Integrated System for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI is a fully integrated HCI system for hybrid cloud environments that delivers a modern, cloud-like operational experience on-premises from a mature market leader.
The integrated system is based on our flexible AX nodes family as the laying foundation, and combines Dell Technologies full stack life cycle management with the Microsoft Azure Stack HCI operating system.
This blog focuses on one of the most important and critical parts of Azure Stack HCI: the management layer. Check this blog for additional background.
We will show how at Dell Technologies we make the good - Microsoft Windows Admin Center (WAC) - even better, through our OpenManage Integration with Microsoft Windows Admin Center v2.0 (OMIMSWAC).
The following diagram illustrates a typical Dell Technologies Azure Stack HCI setup:
To learn more about Microsoft HCI Solutions from Dell Technologies and get details on each of the different components, check out this video where our Dell Technologies experts examine the solution thoroughly from the bottom up.
Windows Admin Center Extensions from Microsoft
WAC provides the option to leverage easy-to-use workflows to perform many tasks, including automatic deployments (coming soon) and updates.
Dell Technologies has developed specialized snap-ins that integrate OpenManage with WAC to further extend the capabilities of Microsoft’s WAC extensions.
The following table describes the three key elements highlighted in the previous diagram as (1), (2), and (3). We examine each in detail in the next three sections.
Item | Type | Integrates with | Developed by | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Microsoft Cluster Aware Updating extension Microsoft Failover Cluster Tool Extension 1.250.0.nupkg release* * Min version validated | Extension | WAC | Microsoft | WAC workflow to apply cluster aware OS updates |
Dell EMC Integrated Full Stack Cluster Aware Updating | Integration | Microsoft CAU extension | Dell Technologies | Integration snap-in to main CAU workflow to provide BIOS, firmware and driver updates while performing OS updates |
OMIMSWAC v2.0 Standalone extension | Extension | WAC | Dell Technologies | OpenManage WAC extension for Infrastructure Life cycle management, plus cluster monitoring, inventory and troubleshooting |
Cluster Creation extension Microsoft Cluster Creation Extension 1.529.0.nupkg release* * Min version validated | Extension | WAC | Microsoft | WAC workflow to create Azure Stack HCI Clusters |
Integrated Deployment and Update (coming soon) | Integration | Microsoft IDU extension | Dell Technologies | Integration snap-in to main Cluster Creation workflow to provide BIOS, firmware and driver updates during the cluster creation process |
Windows Admin Center extensions and integrations
You can install Microsoft Cluster Aware Updating extension within WAC by selecting the “Gear” icon on the top right corner, then under “Gateway”, navigate to “Extensions”. Under “Available extensions”, find the desired extension and select “Install”. For details, see the install guide. Please refer to the extensions product documentation for the latest updates.
Microsoft Cluster Aware Updating extension
To get to Microsoft WAC Azure Stack HCI Cluster Aware Updating extension, login to WAC and follow these steps:
- Click on the cluster you want to connect to. This takes us to the cluster Dashboard.
- On the left pane, under “Tools”, select “Update”.
- In the “Updates” window, click on “Check for updates”, which will pop up the “Install updates” window.
- Here we are presented with a three-step process where we select, in order:
- Operating system updates
- Hardware updates
- Proceed with the installation
It is important to note that you can select either to run only one operation at a time by skipping the other or run both in one single process and reboot.
You may select, if available, any Operating system update and click “Next: Hardware updates”.
This takes us to the second step of the sequence - Hardware updates - a key phase for the automated end-to-end cluster aware update process.
This is where the Dell Technologies snap-in integrates with Microsoft’s original workflow, allowing us to seamlessly provide automated BIOS, firmware, and driver updates (and OS updates if also selected) to all the nodes in the cluster with a single reboot. Let’s look at this process in detail in the next section.
Dell EMC Integrated Full Stack Cluster Aware Updating
Once you click “Next: Hardware updates” on the original Microsoft’s Azure Stack HCI Cluster Aware Updating workflow, you are taken to Dell EMC Cluster Aware Updating integration.
If the integration is not installed, there is an option to install it from inside the workflow.
Click “Get updates”.
Our snap-in for Cluster Aware Updating (CAU) takes us through the following sequence of five steps.
1. Prerequisites (screenshot above)
A validation process occurs, checking that all AX nodes are:
- Supported in the HCL
- Same model
- OpenManage Premium License for MSFT HCI Solutions compliant (included in AX node base solution)
- Compatible with cluster creation
Click “Next: Update source”.
2. Update source
Here we can select the source for our BIOS, firmware, and driver repository, whether online [Update Catalog for Microsoft HCI Solutions] or offline (edge or disconnected) [Dell EMC Repository Manager Catalog]. Dell Technologies has created and keeps these solution catalogs updated.
Click “Next: Compliance report”.
3. Compliance report
Now we can check how compliant our nodes are and select for BIOS, firmware, and/or driver remediation. All the recommended components are selected by default.
The compliance operation runs in parallel for all nodes, and the report is shown consolidated across nodes.
Click “Next: Summary”.
4. Summary
All selections from all nodes are shown in Summary for review before we click “Next: Download updates”.
5. Download updates
This window provides the statistics regarding the download process (start time, download status).
When all downloads are completed, we can click “Next: Install”, which takes us back again to Step 3 of the main workflow (“Install”), to begin the installation process of OS and hardware updates (if both were selected) on the target nodes.
If any of the updates requires a restart, servers will be rebooted one at a time, moving cluster roles such as VMs between servers to prevent downtime and guaranteeing business continuity.
Once the process is finished for all the nodes, we can go back to “Updates” to check for the latest update status and/or Update history for previous updates.
It is important to note that the Cluster Aware Updating extension is supported only for Dell EMC Integrated System for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI.
OMIMSWAC v2.0 Standalone extension
The standalone extension applies to Windows Server HCI and Azure Stack HCI, and continues to provide monitoring, inventory, troubleshooting, and hardware updates with CAU.
New to OMIMSWAC 2.0 is the option to schedule updates during a programmed maintenance window for greater flexibility and control during the update process.
It is important to note that OMIMSWAC Standalone version provides the Cluster Aware Updating feature for the hardware (BIOS, firmware, drivers) in a single reboot, although this process is not integrated with operating system updates. It provides full lifecycle management just for the hardware, not the OS layer.
Another key takeaway is that OMIMSWAC Standalone version fully supports Dell EMC HCI Solutions from Microsoft Windows Server and even certain qualified previous solutions (Dell EMC Storage Spaces Direct Ready Nodes).
Conclusion
Dell Technologies has developed OMIMSWAC to make integrated systems’ lifecycle management a seamless and easy process. It can fully guarantee controlled end-to-end cluster hardware and software update processes during the lifespan of the service.
The Dell EMC OMIMSWAC automated and programmatic approach provides obvious benefits, like mitigating risk caused by human intervention, significantly fewer steps to update clusters, and significantly less focused attention time for IT administrators. In small 4-node cluster deployments, this can mean up to 80% fewer steps and up to 90% less focused attention from an IT operator.
Full details on the benefits of performing these operations automatically through OMIMSWAC versus doing it manually are explained in this white paper.
Thank you for reading this far and stay tuned for more blog updates in this space!