Dell Unity: How to enable and configure SupportAssist (User Correctable)

In Unisphere, enable and configure SupportAssist for a storage system by using any of the following means:

● Initial Configuration wizard— Wizard for configuring global storage system settings which runs when you first access the system with Unisphere.
● Overview— Service page for the storage system that you can access from Unisphere (System > Service > Overview).
● SupportAssist— A SupportAssist settings page that you can access from Unisphere (Settings > Support Configuration).
● UEMCLI— Command-line interface that includes commands you can run on a system through a prompt from a Microsoft Windows or UNIX/Linux host to configure SupportAssist settings. For information about SupportAssist related CLI
commands, see the Unisphere Command Line Interface User Guide.
● Unisphere Management REST API server—Application interface that can receive REST API requests to configure SupportAssist settings. For information related to the Unisphere Management REST API, see the Unisphere Management
REST API Programmers Guide.

 

To determine the status of the SupportAssist feature in Unisphere, go to System > Service > Overview.
SupportAssist is enabled when a check mark appears within a green circle under SupportAssist.

Three typical use cases for enabling SupportAssist are:

● New Unity system with SupportAssist already initialized during the manufacturing process.
NOTE: If enabling SupportAssist through the Initial Configuration wizard is skipped, it can be enabled later through any of the other previously described means.
● Unity software upgrade to version 5.3 and either Centralized or Integrated Secure Remote Services is configured prior to upgrade.
● Unity software upgrade to version 5.3 and Secure Remote Services is not configured prior to upgrade.

If either Centralized or Integrated Secure Remote Services is enabled prior to the upgrade of a Unity system, SupportAssist is automatically enabled, and the remote connectivity is reestablished following a successful upgrade. The connection type (outbound only traffic or inbound and outbound traffic) is the same as that prior to the upgrade to SupportAssist. Remote Secure Credentials (RSC) is not enabled automatically and, if used, must be enabled manually.

NOTE 1:
Preupgrade health checks related to SupportAssist can block upgrade to OE version 5.3 or later.

NOTE 2:
If a global proxy server is configured and integrated Secure Remote Services is enabled with the SOCKS type proxy, a preupgrade health check will block the upgrade. SupportAssist does not support a SOCKS proxy server. Before proceeding with the upgrade, either switch the proxy server type to HTTP instead or do not use the proxy server.


When enabling the SupportAssist feature on a storage system, configure the following settings:

● License Agreement—The SupportAssist End User License Agreement (EULA) must be accepted in order to configure and use SupportAssist.
● Connection Type—Type of SupportAssist, Connect Directly or Connect through a Gateway Server, that the storage system will use (outbound only, outbound/Inbound, or outbound/Inbound with Remote Secure Credentials (RSC)). Although you can disable SupportAssist, it is not recommended.
● Network check—Validates network readiness for SupportAssist configuration and shows the current proxy server settings, if configured and the Use Global Proxy Settings checkbox is selected.
○ Proxy Enabled: Indicates whether the Global Proxy server is enabled or disabled.
○ Protocol: Protocol used to communicate with a proxy server used for the communication channel. The available option is HTTP (the protocol default) on port 3128 (default port).
○ Proxy server IP address: Network address associated with the global proxy server traffic.
○ Credentials: User name and password of an account used to access the proxy server system.
● (Only for storage systems that are not initialized) Initialize—User must provide an access key, which is obtained from the
Dell Key Portal site, and a 4-digit PIN.
● Review Configuration—Lists SupportAssist user selections and configuration operation results.
● Results—Indicates whether SupportAssist has been successfully enabled.

NOTE:
When SupportAssist is enabled, CloudIQ is selected to be enabled by default. CloudIQ is a software-as-a-service cloud management dashboard used to provide intelligent analytics about performance, capacity, and configuration for health-based reporting and remediation