Getting SNMP Alerts in SCOM for Dell Servers

There are 2 ways to get SNMP Alerts in OpsMgr for Dell Servers.  The way you choose depends on whether you are using Agent-Based Monitoring or Agent-Free Monitoring with the Dell Server Management Pack Suite.

Agent-Based means that your target server is a Windows server, has OMSA installed, and has the SCOM agent installed.  The way this works is that OMSA DSM Event Manager service will write the event to the System Event log (Syslog).  Then the SCOM agent will groom the Syslog and will report back to the SCOM server.  Unfortunately, the SNMP Test trap button in OMSA will not work to test these traps because it only generates an SNMP trap, but in no way writes to the Syslog.  But there is another way to test.

I'm not going to cover setting up Agent-Based or Agent-Free Monitoring in this.  Those are in other posts.

Agent-Based SNMP instructions: (steps 1, 3-7 are done on the target machine)

1. Install OMSA on the Windows target.
2. Setup Agent-Based monitoring for that Windows target (done on the SCOM server).
3. Make sure the DSM SA Event Manager service is running in Services.msc.

4. The SNMP Service and SNMP Trap services are not needed for this.  I tested this by disabling these services.  The SNMP Service is not installed by default.  I had installed it for testing various situations.

5. Open OMSA on the target server and go to System\Main System Chassis\Temperatures.  Click on System Board Ambient Temp.

6. Click on Set to Values and change the Minimum value to something over the current temp, which is Reading temp, and under the Maximum Failure Threshold.  I choose 35.  Then click on Apply.

7. That will create a warning event in the Syslog from Server Administrator, category will be Instrumentation Service.

8.  Now go check SCOM.  Under Monitoring either in Active Alerts or under Dell\Alert Views\Server and Rack Workstation Alerts, you should see the Dell OMSA Temperature sensor detected a warning value.

Agent-Free Monitoring means that either your server is not Windows or that it is Windows but you do not want OMSA and/or the SCOM agent installed on it.  The way this works is that the iDrac is discovered as a Network Device in SCOM using SNMP.  Then all alerts will come directly into SCOM from the iDrac.  No other agents are required.

For Agent-Free instructions please view sections 1.1, 1.2, 1.7, and 1.9 on my other post "Dell Server Management Pack with Agent-Free and SNMP Monitoring".

And if you need to set this up for multiple iDracs, "How to setup all of your iDracs for SNMP alerting".