Starting the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CDDell™ PowerEdge™ 2550 Systems User's Guide
Starting the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD
The Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD contains utilities, diagnostics, drivers, and other items that can help you configure a PowerEdge™ 2550 system to best meet your needs. Some of the functions available on the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD are also available on a bootable utility partition that is installed on your hard-disk drive. This section describes how to use the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD. It also describes the utility partition and its options and provides instructions for reinstalling the partition (if necessary).
The Dell OpenManage™ Server Assistant application program has two modes of operation: a setup mode for setting up and configuring the PowerEdge 2550 system, creating diskettes, and viewing information and documents, and a service mode for creating diskettes and viewing information and documents.
In both setup mode and service mode, the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant main page gives you the option to choose one of the supported languages as the language for the screen text and online documentation. You can choose a language at any time from the main screen.
To set up your system, as well as access the utilities, drivers, and other items available on the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD, insert the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD into your CD-ROM drive, and turn on or reboot the system. The Dell OpenManage Server Assistant main page appears.
If the CD does not boot, verify that the Boot Device Priority is set to CD-ROM Drive in the System Setup program. See "Using the System Setup Program" for more information.
You can access the online system documents, System Setup program instructions, frequently asked questions, and server product information on any desktop or server system that has Microsoft® Internet Explorer 4.0 (or later). When you insert the CD in a system that uses the Windows NT® or Windows® 2000 operating system, the system automatically starts the browser software and displays the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant main page.
The Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD utilizes a standard Web browser interface. To navigate the CD, click the various icons and text hyperlinks.
Click the Back icon to return to the previous page. Click the Exit icon to exit the program. Exiting the program causes the system to reboot to the standard operating-system boot partition.
If you purchase a system that does not have an operating system preinstalled by Dell or if you reinstall an operating system at a later date, you should use either the Express Setup or Custom Setup option to configure your system.
Dell recommends the express setup for most situations. The Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD guides you through the operating system setup and configuration process. If a Dell PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller (PERC) is installed, the Dell redundant array of independent disks (RAID) utility configures the drives. If the drive does not have a utility partition, one is created. The program prompts you to select the operating system used on the drive and leads you through a step-by-step process to install the operating system.
To start the express setup, perform the following steps:
The express setup allows you to perform the following tasks:
Use the custom setup if your system has special configuration requirements.
To start the custom setup, perform the following steps:
The utility partition is a bootable partition on the hard-disk drive that provides some of the functions available on the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD. Most of the application programs found on the CD are contained in the utility partition. When implemented, the partition boots and provides an executable environment for the partition's utilities. When the utility partition is not booted, it is designated as a non–MS-DOS® partition.
 |
NOTE: The utility partition provides only limited MS-DOS functionality and cannot be used as a general-purpose MS-DOS partition. |
To start the utility partition, turn on or reboot the system. During the power-on self-test (POST), the following message appears:
Press <F10> to enter Utility Mode
The utility partition provides a text-based interface from which you invoke the partition's utilities. Menu options and the associated help are displayed in the currently selected language (specified via a menu option). To select a menu option, you can either use the arrow keys to highlight the option and press <Enter> or type the number of the menu option. To return to the previous menu, press <Esc> or select the Back menu option. To exit the utility partition, press <Esc> from the Main Menu. Exiting the utility from setup mode causes the system to reboot to the standard operating-system boot partition.
Table 2-1 provides a sample list and explanation of the options that appear on the utility partition menu even when the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD is not in the CD-ROM drive. The options displayed on your system may vary depending on the configuration.
|
NOTE: Although most options are available from both the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD and the utility partition, some options or features, such as those for accessing online documentation, are available only from the CD. |
|
Option |
Description |
|---|---|
Choose a language: | |
German, English, Spanish, French | Allows you to select the language in which menus and messages are displayed. |
Run system and configuration utilities: | |
Run Dell system diagnostics | Runs the system hardware diagnostics. |
Run RAID configuration utility | Runs the RAID controller configuration utility if a RAID controller card is present on your system. |
Create diskettes: | |
Create blank, formatted diskette | Creates a blank, formatted diskette. |
Create utility and diagnostics diskettes: | |
Create PERC 2 configuration utility diskette | Creates a bootable diskette for running the RAID controller configuration utility for the specified Dell RAID host adapter card. The RAID configuration utility provides an alternative method for configuring the card. |
Create diagnostics diskettes | Creates a set of diskettes from which the hardware diagnostics can be run. The first diskette in the set is bootable. |
Create Asset Tag diskette with CD-ROM | Creates a bootable diskette with CD-ROM support from which utilities, such as the Asset Tag utility, can be run. |
NOTE: The options displayed on your system are dependent on your system configuration and may not include all of those listed here. | |
NOTE: For the full name of an abbreviation or acronym used in this table, see the " | |
You can run the system diagnostics from the utility partition or from a diskette, but not from the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD. To run the diagnostics from a diskette, create diagnostic diskettes from the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD.
The system hardware diagnostics are described in "Running the Dell Diagnostics" in your Installation and Troubleshooting Guide.
|
NOTE: The video display for the Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 operating system must be set up with a resolution of 640 x 480 at installation. |
|
NOTE: Windows NT Service Pack 4 must be installed before you can use the updated video driver for the ATI RAGE video controller. |
You must install the operating system video driver, unless it was installed by Dell.
|
NOTE: Video drivers must be reinstalled after every installation of Windows NT Service Pack 3 (or later versions). Use this procedure only if you do not use the express setup to install your operating system. |
First create a video driver diskette by performing the following steps:
Then install the video driver by performing the following steps:
For information on system administration, see the reference documentation for Windows NT.
The Display Settings window appears.
A list of available video drivers is displayed.
The Installing Drivers dialog box appears.
After the files are copied from the diskette, Windows NT prompts you to restart your system.
The Display Settings window appears.
The Asset Tag utility allows you to enter an asset tag number for your system.
|
NOTE: The Asset Tag utility works only on systems running MS-DOS. |
To create the Asset Tag utility diskette and boot the system, perform the following steps:
|
NOTE: The Asset Tag utility diskette contains CD-ROM drivers that provide access to the CD-ROM drive when you boot from the diskette. |
After you boot the system with the Asset Tag utility diskette, you can use the Asset Tag utility to enter an asset tag number that you or your organization assigns to the system.
An asset tag number can have up to 10 alphanumeric characters; any combination of characters, excluding spaces, is valid.
To assign or change an asset tag number, perform the following steps:
For example, type the following command line and press <Enter>:
asset 1234567890
The system then displays the new or modified asset tag number and the service tag number.
To delete the asset tag number without assigning a new one, type asset /d and press <Enter>.
Table 2-2 lists the command-line options you can use with the Asset Tag utility. To use one of these options, type asset and a space followed by the option.
|
Asset Tag Option |
Description |
|---|---|
/d | Deletes the asset tag number |
/? | Displays the Asset Tag utility help screen |