Dell Command | Monitor - FAQ

Dell Command | Monitor is the new name of Dell OpenManage™ Client Instrumentation. This is the monitoring tool of the Dell Command Suite. With it, system administrators can remotely manage assets, monitor system health, and inventory deployed systems in the enterprise.

Dell Command | Monitor is the new name for Dell OpenManage™ Client Instrumentation and the latest version is Dell Command | Monitor version 9.0

Dell Command | Monitor is available on Dell Venue 11 Pro, Dell OptiPlex™, Dell Precision Workstation™, and Dell Latitude™ client systems.

The following are the prerequisites for Dell Command | Monitor:

• Dell Command | Monitor supported platforms
• The target system has a System Management Basic Input Output System (SMBIOS) version 2.3 or later. Otherwise, the Command | Monitor version 9.0 installer exits without installing
• The system is running a supported Microsoft Windows operating system
• The .NET Framework 4.0 or later is installed
• Administrative privileges on the client system. This means, that you must be authenticated on the client system as a user who is a member of the Administrators group; typically the Administrator

Dell Command | Monitor is available separately for both 32 bit and 64-bit architecture. Cross installation is not supported.

Dell Command | Monitor uses "root/dcim/sysman" namespace

This happens as the namespace "root/dellomci" is removed from Dell Command | Monitor v 9.0.

Windows XP is not supported since Microsoft has ended all support for it.

Yes, Dell Command | Monitor can be used for configuration of Client BIOS attributes. You can refer to the sample script for more information

BIOS Attributes can be changed using the DCIM_BootService.SetBIOSAttributes() method. The SetBIOSAttributes()method sets the value of the instance defined in the DCIM_BIOSEnumeration class. The method has seven input parameters.

The first two parameters can be empty or null.
The third parameter AttributeName needs to take the input mapping to the value of attribute name instance of DCIM_BIOSEnumeration class.
The fourth parameter or AttributeValue can be any of the possible values of the Attribute Name as defined in the DCIM_BIOSEnumerationclass.
If the BIOS Password is set on the system, then you have to provide the same in the fifth argument.
The sixth and seventh argument can again be empty or null. You can refer to Powershell or VBS scripts located here to configure BIOS attributes

Yes, Dell Command | Monitor supports both Storage and Sensor monitoring.

• In storage monitoring, we support monitoring and alerting of:
  • Intel Integrated Controller (compliant with CSMI v0.81 or later)
  • LSI we support Integrated and 9217, 9271, 9341 and 9361 card Controllers and associated drives (Physical and Logical)
• In Sensor monitoring, we support monitoring and alerting of Voltage, Temperature, Amperage, Cooling Devices(Fan) and Chassis sensors

The Dell Command | Monitor user guide has more information on the class and alerting information.

The following is a list of commonly used classes:

• DCIM_Chassis – This class will provide chassis information of any system
• DCIM_Battery – This class will give information on the inventory and monitoring information of the battery on any system
• DCIM_Memory – This class will provide inventory information on the Processor memory
• DCIM_Processor – This class will provide the inventory information on Processor
• DCIM_PhysicalMemory – This class will provide the inventory information on Physical Slot memory
• DCIM_NumericSensor – This class will provide the inventory and monitoring information on all numeric sensors like Voltage, Current, Temperature and Cooling devices(Fans)
• DCIM_Slot – This class provides information on slot information on a system
• DCIM_Card – This class provides inventory information on the cards installed on specific slots on the system
• DCIM_Chip – This class provides inventory information of all the Chips on the system
• DCIM_ControllerView – This class provides inventory and monitoring information of the raid controller
• DCIM_PhysicaldiskView - This class provides inventory and monitoring information of Physical Disks connected to the raid controllers
• DCIM_VirtualDiskView - This class provides inventory and monitoring information of Logical Disks connected to the raid controllers
• DCIM_BiosElement - This class provides inventory information of BIOS
• DCIM_BiosEnumeration - This class provides information on all the supported BIOS attributes on the system

For more classes, one can refer to the Dell Command | Monitor reference guide.

When a DCIM_BootConfigSetting instance (Legacy or UEFI) has multiple DCIM_BootSourceSetting instances (boot devices) associated with it through instances of the DCIM_OrderedComponent association, the value of the DCIM_OrderedComponent.AssignedSequence property is used to determine the sequence in which the associated DCIM_BootSourceSetting instances (boot devices) are used during the boot process. A DCIM_BootSourceSetting, whose associated CIM_OrderedComponent.AssignedSequence property is equal to 0 is ignored and not considered part of the boot order.

The boot order can be changed using the DCIM_BootConfigSetting.ChangeBootOrder() method. TheChangeBootOrder() method sets the order in which the instances of DCIM_BootSourceSetting are associated with a DCIM_BootConfigSetting instance. The method has one input parameter - Source. The Source parameter is an ordered array of PartComponent property from DCIM_OrderedComponent class that represents the association between DCIM_BootSourceSetting instances (boot devices) and DCIM_BootConfigSetting instance (boot list type-Legacy or UEFI)

On changing the boot order, the value of the AssignedSequence property on each instance of DCIM_OrderedComponent, that associates the target DCIM_BootConfigSetting instance with a DCIM_BootSourceSetting instance that is not present in the input array of Source parameter, is set to 0, which indicates that the device is disabled.

Launch wbemtest with Administrator privilege level to overcome any login message. Go to the Internet Explorer from the All Programs list, right-click and Run as administrator to start the wbemtest and avoid any namespace oriented error.

The following are the prerequisites while executing the VBS scripts provided in Command | Monitor Techcenter link:

• Please configure winrm on the system using the command winrm quickconfig.
• Check if the token support exists on the system by referring to:
• The F2 Screen in BIOS Setup.
• Using a tool like wbemtest to check the key-value defined in the script to be existing on the system.

Note: Dell recommends using the latest BIOS available at the Dell Support Site

Yes, Dell Command | Monitor Support SNMP inventory, monitoring, and traps. However, the default install of Dell Command | Monitor will not have SNMP enabled. Please refer to the Dell Command | Monitor Install guide and SNMP reference guide for more information.

Since Dell Command | Monitor v9.0, 10892 mib has been replaced with 10909 mib. Since Dell Command | Monitor ver 9.0, MIB 10892 will no longer be supported

Yes, SNMP traps are supported with 10909.mib and Dell Command | Monitor v9.0.

10909.mib after installation can be found at folder %ProgramFiles%\Dell\Command Monitor\omsa\config. However, the default install of Dell Command | Monitor will not have SNMP enabled

Yes, one can import the individual MOFs or the OMCI_SMS_DEF.mof files in SCCM console for inventory.

The OMCI_SMS_DEF.mof file is located in folder %ProgramFiles%\Dell\Command Monitor\ssa\omacim\

Dell Command | Monitor will display hardware failures in the following ways:

1. Event log alerts

2. WMI Alerts

3. SNMP traps

4. Logging of events in class DCIM_RecordLog

One can log issues in Dell Command | Monitor techcenter forum. If a quick solution is required then one could also raise a support ticket.