Unattended Installation Enhancements of Server ...



Unattended Installation Enhancements of Server Administrator for Windows® Platforms

Enterprise Systems Group (ESG)

Dell OpenManage™

Systems Management

Dell White Paper

By Mohammad Dhedhi, Kit Lou, and David Wang

Contents

Executive Summary 3

Overview 4

Optional Settings 6

password= 6

reboot=yes|no 6

icon=yes|no 6

web=yes|no 6

cim=yes|no 7

amconsole=yes|no 7

showstatus=yes|no 7

sil= 7

logfile= 7

Examples 8

Customization File 9

Examples 10

Return Code 11

Log File 12

Unattended Dependency Check 14

sil= 14

logfile= 14

showstatus=yes|no 14

Example 15

Conclusions 16

Authors 16

Figures

Figure 1: The Difference between an Unattended Installation (on the left) and an Interactive Installation (on the right) 5

Tables

Table 1: Optional Settings 8

Table 2: Component Specification 9

Table 3: Return Code 11

Table 4: Summary of Enhancements 16

Section 1

Executive Summary

On the Systems Management CD version 3.2 that come with Dell OpenManage™ Server Administrator version 1.2, Dell has enhanced the unattended installation for Windows platforms. These enhancements include:

• Addition of command line argument options to support various customizations and settings

• Capability to return a status

• Ability to run a dependency check without an actual installation

Dell is now writing an install log file to record the status of the installation for all the applicable components. With these enhancements, users will be able to write scripts to query the status of an unattended installation and take remedy actions as needed in an automatic way. This paper describes all the new enhancements in detail.

Section 2

Overview

How are you installing OpenManage Server Administrator today? What if there was a way to install Server Administrator without having to physically walk up to each server to do an interactive installation? How do you check the installation results? How do you get all the settings available in the interactive installation? Would you like to know how to find out all the software dependencies without doing an actual installation?

Users may be spending a lot of time on installations when there are mechanisms available to help reduce time on these tasks and spend it on other activities. This paper discusses new features in Dell OpenManage Server Administrator that answers all these questions to ease installation efforts.

Unattended installation allows administrators to remotely install Server Administrator and other managed system components on Dell PowerEdge™ servers via a single command line without physically accessing each computer. It is a time-saving process compared to visiting each individual computer and performing an interactive installation. Figure 1 illustrates the difference between an unattended installation and an interactive installation. The interactive installation requires users to go through a minimum of eight screens (as shown), whereas the unattended installation requires the user to key in a single set of commands on one screen. Please refer to the article “Unattended Installation of Server Administrator on Windows Platforms” in the May 2002 issue of Dell Power Solutions at for additional details.

Dell has enhanced the Windows unattended installation capabilities on the Systems Management CD version 3.2. Knowing the details of these capabilities will allow users to:

• Perform unattended installations of Server Administrator and other managed system components with the various settings that could be configured via the interactive GUI installation program.

• Customize the distribution of components; for example, install Server Administrator with storage management on one set of computers and Server Administrator without storage management on another set of computers based on the same installation package.

• Check for installation results of various components through the installation log files and write scripts to query the results. In a mass installation deployment of multiple servers, the log file details could help pinpoint on which specific server the installation has encountered problems.

• Check the dependency information of software components without performing an actual installation; this function can be used to ensure dependencies are met before launching an actual installation.

[pic]

Figure 1: The Difference between an Unattended Installation (on the left) and an Interactive Installation (on the right)

In the following sections, the new enhancements are discussed in detail:

• Optional Settings

• Customization File

• Return Code

• Log File

• Unattended Dependency Check

The Optional Settings section describes the new command line options available to customize an unattended installation. The Customization File section describes how to customize the software components to be installed. The Return Code and Log File sections describe how the installation status of various components is captured; this information can be used to write automatic script files to query the installation status and take remedy actions as needed. The Unattended Dependency Check section describes the new function to find software dependency information without performing an actual installation.

Section 3

Optional Settings

The new options available for unattended installation are described in this section. When using these options, type them on the command line after “setup /i” with a space between each option.

password=

Use this option to set the password for SNMP Set operations. This password is the same as the one you would have entered on the Server Administrator settings page during a regular installation. This password is necessary to log into Server Administrator after installation. Spaces are not allowed in the password.

If no password is entered or the password option is not used, the password is set to “calvin” by default.

reboot=yes|no

Use this option to automatically reboot the system after installation is complete.

If the reboot option is set to “no” or the reboot option is not used, the system will not reboot.

icon=yes|no

Use this option if you do not want to place the “Server Administrator” icon on the desktop and in the Start Menu after installation is complete.

If the icon option is set to “yes” or if the icon option is not used, the icon will be placed on the desktop and in the Start Menu. If the icon option is set to “no” then the icon will not be placed anywhere.

web=yes|no

Use this option if you do not want to automatically start the Server Administrator web server after every system reboot.

If the web option is set to “yes” or the web option is not used, the system will automatically start the “Server Administrator” web server after every reboot. If the web option is set to “no” then the “Server Administrator” web server will not be automatically started on reboot.

cim=yes|no

Use this option if you do not want to install Common Information Model (CIM) as part of the Server Administrator installation.

If the cim option is set to “yes” or the cim option is not used, the system will automatically install CIM. If the cim option is set to “no” then CIM will not be installed.

amconsole=yes|no

Use this option if you do not want to install the Array Manager Console as part of the Array Manager (Storage Management) installation.

If the amconsole option is set to “yes” or the amconsole option is not used, the system will automatically install the Array Manager Console. If the amconsole option is set to “no” then Array Manager Console will not be installed.

showstatus=yes|no

Use this option to see the installation status while System Management Installation program is installing OpenManage applications.

If the showstatus option is set to “no” or the showstatus option is not used, the status will not be displayed during installation. If the showstatus option is set to “yes” then the installation status will be displayed in a small console on the desktop.

sil=

Use this option to specify a customization file. For more information about the customization file please refer to the next section. The full path including the name of the file must be specified in this option. If the path or the filename contains any spaces then the location must be enclosed in double quotes. The location cannot contain any of the reserved words described in this section such as icon, web, reboot etc.

logfile=

Use this option to specify a non-default filename for the short format log file. Please refer to the Log File section for details. The full path including the name of the file must be specified in this option. If the path or the filename contains any spaces then the location must be enclosed in double quotes. The location cannot contain any of the reserved words described in this section such as icon, web, reboot etc.

Table 1 summarizes the optional settings with the format and the default behavior. Unattended installation will not run when a valid option with an incorrect value is given (see the Return Code section) whereas invalid options will be ignored.

|Setting |Format |Default Behavior |

|amconsole |yes | no |yes (Array Manager console is installed) |

|cim |yes | no |yes (CIM is installed) |

|icon |yes | no |yes (Icon is created on the desktop and an entry is |

| | |placed in the start menu) |

|logfile |string |omstatus.log file is generated in temp folder |

|password |string |password is set to “calvin” |

|reboot |yes | no |no (system is not rebooted after installation) |

|showstatus |yes | no |no (no progress is displayed on the screen) |

|sil |string |all applicable components will be installed if |

| | |dependency met |

|web |yes | no |yes (Server Administrator web server is automatically |

| | |started upon reboot) |

Table 1: Optional Settings

Examples

Here are some examples on how to call unattended installation using the command line arguments:

Setup.exe /i web=no amconsole=no

Run unattended installation,

• Do not start web server for Server Administrator.

• Do not install Array Manager Console.

Setup.exe /i password=ABC reboot=yes icon=no

Run unattended install,

• Use “ABC” as password for Server Administrator.

• Reboot the system after installation is complete.

• Server Administrator icon will not be placed on the desktop and the Start menu.

Section 4

Customization File

The customization file provides a way to customize the exact software components to install. With the customization file, users can selectively install software components for different systems based on the same unattended installation package. For example, one can choose to install Server Administrator, but not remote access on a specific group of servers, and choose to install Server Administrator, but not storage management on another group of servers. The format of the customization file is a simple text file as follows:

component1=yes|no

component2=yes|no

…

componentN=yes|no

There is one line per software component, yes means to install the component and no means to not install the component. The component specification is a 2 to 5 character ID described in Table 2.

|Specification |Component |

|sa |Server Administrator |

|old |Diagnostic Service |

|rac |Remote Access Service |

|am |Storage Management |

|drac2 |DRAC II |

|ibm |IBM NIC Agent |

|intc |Intel NIC Agent |

|brcm |Broadcom NIC Agent |

|cio |Adaptec CI/O Management Agent |

|sym |Symbios Agent |

|ria |Remote Install Agent (reserved for future versions) |

Table 2: Component Specification

Examples

This is an example of a customization file:

C:\temp\unattend\dellom.sil – A sample customization file

sa=yes

old=yes

rac=no

am=yes

drac2=no

ibm=no

intc=yes

brcm=no

cio=no

sym=no

This is an example of running unattended installation using the above customization file in the command line:

Setup.exe /i sil=C:\temp\unattend\dellom.sil

Run unattended install

• Using C:\temp\unattend\dellom.sil as the customization file.

Section 5

Return Code

Setup.exe /i now returns a status code to indicate success or failure. The return code is described in Table 3.

|Return Code | Status |

| O |Success |

|-1 |Failure |

|-2 |Setup did not run because one or more of the |

| |options were not input correctly. |

Table 3: Return Code

With the return code mechanism, users can check the status of an unattended installation and, in conjunction with the short format log file (see details in the Log File section), take appropriate actions in the unattended installation scripts.

Section 6

Log File

Dell has added log files to capture the installation status of each software component and the result of unattended dependency check. For exact information about log files generated by unattended dependency check, see the next section: Unattended Dependency Check. There are two log files being generated in the temp folder during unattended installation, ominstal.log and omstatus.log. The temp folder is typically “c:\temp” under Windows. The ominstal.log uses a user-friendly format to provide the installation information in plain English. The omstatus.log uses a short format to provide the installation information – it is intended for script files to check. The information is given in the following format:

component1=[ 0 | 1 | -1 ]

component2=[ 0 | 1 | -1 ]

…

componentN=[ 0 | 1 | -1 ]

There is one line per software component, 0 means installation of the component succeeded, -1 means installation of the component failed, and 1 means the component did not install because dependency was not met. The component specification is a 2 to 5 character ID described in the Customization File section. In addition to providing the installation status of each component, we also capture the host computer name and the start and end time of the installation. On a large scale unattended installation deployment of hundreds or thousands of servers, users can save the unattended installation log file for each server and easily isolate an installation problem on one or more servers with the host information in the log file.

This is an example of the short omstatus.log file:

C:\temp\omstatus.log – A sample log file

HOST = Server_xyz

START = Fri Jul 12 10:18:37 PDT 2002

sa = 0

old = 0

rac = 1

am = 0

drac2 = 1

ibm = 1

intc = 0

brcm = 0

cio = 1

sym = 0

END = Fri Jul 12 10:18:37 PDT 2002

This is an example of the long ominstal.log file:

C:\temp\ominstal.log – A sample log file

Applications with WARNING or DEPENDENCY cannot be installed using unattended mode.

Host Name: Server_xyz

---------START Fri Jul 12 10:10:30 PDT 2002 ---------------------------

OK: Server Administrator is all set to install

DEPENDENCY: Remote Access : Remote Access Controller was not detected on the system.

OK: Storage Management is all set to install

OK: Diagnostic Service is all set to install

DEPENDENCY: Remote Assistant Card (DRAC II) : Remote Assistant Card (DRAC II) was not detected on this system.

WARNING: Adaptec CIO Management : Warning! Current version is already installed on the system.

WARNING: Intel Agent : Warning! Current version is already installed on the system.

DEPENDENCY: Broadcom Agent : Broadcom NIC was not detected on this system.

DEPENDENCY: IBM Agent : IBM Agent card was not detected on this system.

DEPENDENCY: Symbios Agent : LSI CI card not detected on the system.

Finished Installing OMSA.

Finished Installing Server Administrator.

Finished Installing OLD.

Finished Installing Array Manager.

Finished Installing Uninstall.

Installation Finished.

---------END Fri Jul 12 10:14:37 PDT 2002 -----------------------------

Section 7

Unattended Dependency Check

Use setup /c to run an unattended dependency check. It generates two log files in the temp folder: ominstal_chk.log and omstatus_chk.log. ominstal_chk.log is the user-friendly format that provides the information in plain English. Omstatus_chk.log is the short format for script files to check, the information is given in the following format:

Component = 0 | 1 | 2

where “0” means OK to install, “1” means warning and “2” means dependency error.

The format is very similar to the silfile format and the component names are identical.

The following are the three options available with this feature.

sil=

Use this option to run dependency check only on the components specified in the silfile. For more information about the format of the silfile, refer to the earlier section on Customization File.

logfile=

Use this option to specify a non-default filename for the short format dependency log file. The full path including the name of the file must be specified in this option. If the path or the filename contains any spaces then the location must be enclosed in double quotes.

showstatus=yes|no

Use this option to see the status while System Management Installation program is running the dependency check.

If the showstatus option is set to “no” or the showstatus option is not used, the status will not be displayed during the dependency check. If the showstatus option is set to “yes” then the dependency check status will be displayed in a small console on the desktop.

The return code of setup.exe /c is as follows:

If (one or more of the command line options are incorrect)

Return –2;

If (one or more components has dependency error)

Return 2;

Else if (one or more components has dependency warning)

Return 1;

Else

Return 0

Example

Here is an example of using the unattended dependency check:

Setup.exe /c sil=C:\temp\dep.sil showstatus=yes

• Run unattended dependency check,

• Use C:\temp\dep.sil as customization file.

• Result will be saved under “temp” folder in

➢ ominstal_chk.log (user-friendly format)

➢ omstatus_chk.log (short format for script files to check)

• Status will be displayed during dependency check.

Section 8

Conclusions

Table 4 summarizes the new unattended installation enhancements Dell has added to Server Administrator version 1.2 on the Systems Management CD version 3.2.

|Enhancement |Details |

|Optional Settings |Optional arguments for setup.exe /i to customize various settings |

|Customization File |An optional file to customize the different software components for |

| |installation |

|Return Code |Setup.exe /i returns 0 for success and –1 for failure |

|Log File |Two log files (long and short format) are created with every installation |

| |to record the installation details of each component |

|Unattended Dependency Check |Setup.exe /c provides the capability to examine the dependency status of |

| |software components without launching the actual installation. |

Table 4: Summary of Enhancements

Authors

Mohammad Dhedhi (Mohammad_Dhedhi@ ) is a Software Engineer in the OpenManage Software Installation Group at Dell. Mohammad has a B.S. degree in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin and is working on a M.S. degree.

Kit Lou (Kit_Lou@) is a Lead Software Engineer in the OpenManage Software Installation Group at Dell. Kit has a M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.S. in Computer Science from Loyola University, New Orleans – Louisiana.

David Wang (David_Wang@ ) is a Senior Software Engineer in the OpenManage Software Installation Group at Dell. David has a M.S. degree in Computer Science from Oklahoma State University.

THIS WHITE PAPER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND MAY CONTAIN TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND TECHNICAL INACCURACIES. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.

Dell, Dell OpenManage, and PowerEdge are trademarks of Dell Computer Corporation. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell disclaims proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.

©Copyright 2002 Dell Computer Corporation. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of Dell Computer Corporation is strictly forbidden. For more information, contact Dell.

Information in this document is subject to change without notice.

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For More Information

Lou, Kit and Wang, David. “Unattended Installation of Server Administrator on Windows Platforms”, Dell Power Solutions, May 2002 at

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