Integrated deploy and update an Azure Stack HCI cluster using OpenManage Integration snap-in
The Integrated cluster deploy and update feature in OpenManage Integration enables you to update target nodes while creating an Azure Stack HCI cluster using Windows Admin Center. This feature also helps you to comply hardware configurations of selected nodes with Dell EMC recommended hardware configurations.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, verify the followings:
Ensure that you have installed the Windows Admin Center 2103.2 GA.
Ensure that you have installed the Microsoft Cluster Creation Extension version 1.556.0.nupkg release available in the Microsoft's public Windows Admin Center NuGet feed.
Ensure to access the Windows Admin Center remotely using domain administrator credentials. Otherwise, use local administrator credentials to access the WAC locally. For more information, see
Windows Admin Center Installation Types.
Ensure that all the selected nodes are of AX nodes running Azure Stack HCI version 20H2 operating system. For more information about the supported hardware, see
Compatibility matrix in OMIMSWAC Installation Guide.
To create a cluster, connect to the nodes by specifying appropriate node administrator credentials. And ensure that the user is part of the local user group of gateway administrators. For more information about selecting "Manage as", see the "Get Started with Windows Admin Center" section in the Microsoft documentation.
Ensure that nodes are not part of any existing cluster.
For Hardware symmetry checks, ensure OMIWAC Premium License for MSFT HCI Solutions is available on each node.
To use online catalogs, ensure that OMIMSWAC is connected to the Internet. You may also use proxy settings to download catalog, DSU, and IC utilities from the Internet to generate compliance reports only. For more information about proxy settings, see
Configure proxy settings.
If any of the above prerequisites are not met, ensure to review and resolve as needed. You can also skip the OpenManage Integration snap-in flow and continue with the cluster creation workflow of Microsoft. However, skipping the Install hardware updates workflow may impact the cluster performance. Therefore, it is recommended to install hardware updates while creating clusters.
Dell EMC OpenManage Integration with Windows Admin Center does not support the creation of a Stretched Cluster.
Steps
When deploying an Azure Stack HCI cluster, to maintain symmetrical hardware configuration and update firmware/drivers for Azure Stack HCI cluster nodes, do the following:
When deploying an Azure Stack HCI cluster in Windows Admin Center, using
Get started wizard, complete the operations on the
1.1 Check the prerequisites,
1.2 Add servers,
1.3 Join a domain,
1.4 Install features, and
1.5 Install updates tabs as required.
NOTE Renaming nodes in
1.3 Join a domain tab is not supported and may cause prerequisites failure when installing hardware updates. To rename the servers (if required), it is recommended to do it outside of cluster deployment workflow. For example, use Azure Stack HCI OS Server Configuration tool (Sconfig) or Windows Admin Center to rename a node. Before launching the cluster create wizard, ensure the new node name is effective.
On
Install hardware updates tab, click
Install to install OpenManage Integration snap-in. If you have already installed the OpenManage Integration extension version 2.0, click
Check for updates to move to the install hardware updates page.
NOTE If the snap-in prompts to specify the "Manage as" credentials, ensure that you select Manage as and provide appropriate cluster administrator credentials to authenticate to the managed node, and then select "use these credentials for all connections" check box. Ensure that the user is part of the local user group of gateway administrators. For more information about selecting "Manage as", see the
Get Started with Windows Admin Center section in the Microsoft documentation.
When the OpenManage Integration snap-in is installed, the OpenManage Integration standalone extension appears under the
Tools menu in the Windows Admin Center. You will be able to use all the features of OpenManage Integration extension along with the snap-in specific features.
Review the prerequisites listed in the page to ensure that all nodes are ready to perform Hardware symmetry checks and update.
If any of the nodes is not a valid model, you cannot proceed to the next step. For more information about supported models, refer to
AS HCI support matrix.
If any of the nodes do not contain OMIWAC Premium License, you can continue to update nodes; however, you cannot run Hardware symmetry checks.
Click
Re-Run to run the prerequisites again.
When finished, click
Next: Hardware symmetry check.
For
Hardware symmetry check, review the configurations listed under each category to ensure all nodes configurations are as per Dell EMC recommended configurations. For more information about hardware configurations required for Hardware symmetry, see
Hardware symmetry configurations.
(optional) If internet connection is not available, perform the below steps to run hardware symmetry checks in offline mode:
Place these files in
C:\Users\Dell\SymmetryCheck folder in the gateway system where Windows Admin Center is installed.
Run the hardware symmetry check.
NOTE Hardware symmetry will fail if any of the required configurations fail with a "Critical" error. Review the recommendations and details to resolve any issues to achieve Hardware symmetry and proceed to the next step.
When the configuration fails with a "Warning", this means the configuration can be supported for cluster deployment, but could result in sub-optimal cluster performance. Therefore, it should be reviewed.
click
Re-Run to run the hardware symmetry check again.
When finished, click
Next: Update source.
To generate compliance report against the validated Azure Stack HCI catalog, on the
Update source page, do the following:
Select one of the methods to download catalog files:
Online (HTTPs) - Update Catalog for Microsoft HCI Solutions catalog to download the catalog automatically from dell.com. Online catalog is selected by default.
Online catalog support requires direct internet connectivity from the Windows Admin Center gateway. The overall download time of a catalog depends on the network bandwidth and number of components being updated.
NOTE Accessing to the Internet using proxy settings are not supported.
Offline - Dell EMC Repository Manager Catalog to use the DRM catalog configured in a CIFS location.
OMIMSWAC with or without Internet access allows you to select the Offline - Dell EMC Repository Manager Catalog to generate compliance report. You may use this option when the Internet is not available or to use a customized DRM catalog.
To use offline catalog, select
DRM Settings to ensure the CIFS share path is configured with the DRM catalog. To create a DRM catalog, see the
Technical article.
To use the Dell EMC System Update (DSU) and Inventory Collector (IC) tools, select
Advance setting, and then select one of the following:
Automatically downloads and configures the Dell EMC System Update (DSU) and Inventory Collector (IC). when OMIMSWAC is connected to the Internet.
Manually configure DSU and IC and then select
Settings to manually download and configure DSU and IC tools in a share location. We recommend using this option when OMIMSWAC is not connected to the Internet.
DSU and IC settings, configured using
Update Tool settings in OpenManage Integration extension will also be available under
Advance setting in OpenManage Integration snap-in.
When finished, click
Next: Compliance report.
OMIMSWAC downloads the catalog, collects the DSU and IC tools that are configured in the
Settings tab, and generates a Compliance Report. If DSU and IC tools are not configured in the
Settings, then OMIMSWAC downloads them from
https://downloads.dell.com to generate the compliance report.
On the
Compliance report tab, view the compliance report. For more information about the compliance report, see
view compliance report.
The 'upgradable' components that are 'non-compliant' are selected by default for update.
You may deselect the selected components or select the 'non-compliant' 'downgradable' components. However, if you want to change any of the default selections, ensure that the dependencies between the corresponding component firmware and drivers are met.
When finished, click
Next: Summary.
On the
Summary tab, review the components to be updated, and then click
Next: Update to update the cluster nodes.
A message is prompted to enable CredSSP.
Click
Yes to enable the CredSSP to continue updating the selected components. You will be directed to the
Update page. To improve security, disable the CredSSP after the update operation is complete.
NOTE While the update is in progress on the
Update page, it is recommended not to exit or close the browser. If you close or exit the browser, node updates may fail and the update status may not be shown.
The update job continues in the background regardless of whether the UI session is alive or not. If the UI session is alive, node level progress status is displayed. OMIMSWAC notifies once the update job is finished.
If the update operation fails, check the log files that are stored at the following path for troubleshooting purposes.
Windows 10 gateway system:
<Windows installed drive>\Users\<user_name>\AppData\Local\Temp\generated\logs
To run the compliance report again, click
Re-run Compliance and provide the compliance settings details if required.
Results
After hardware updates are complete, you may continue to follow the instructions shown on the Windows Admin Center to create the Azure Stack HCI cluster.
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