OpenManage 6.5 Update on ESX 4.1, Poor Equallogic Local Support!
Today I’ve finally got time to update some of the major components such as OSMA, EQL MEM, EQL FW, Dell Bios, etc.
The first thing I have done is to upgrade OpenManage to latest version 6.5 on ESX 4.1 hosts.
The whole thing is actually very easy, simply download OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-LX-6.5.0-2247_A01.15.tar (762MB). Yeah, I know Dell site is confusing, but this is the right one to download, then install the package according to the Short Installation Guide on the download page.
The setup script will actually perform an automatic upgrade process. Oh…there are some warnings, saying something is not found such as symbolic links, etc. But don’t worry, just remember to start the OMSA (wsman) service again manually, not even need to reboot the host or put it into maintenance mode, everything was performed live without any problem.
Next, it’s time for me to upgrade MEM to v1.1.0 first and then EQL FW to v5.2.2, well I’ve waited almost a full year since my last update of EQL components.
Strange enough local Dell EQL technical support told me to shut down all VM before performing the EQL firmware update, luckily I didn’t listen to their advice as I vaguely remember that EQL FW update can be done in real time without shutting down the host or VM.
Later I confirmed this with Danny, Thanks again! This is where Equallogic local support (HK and China region) starts to worry me a lot recently as Open Case is no longer handled by US EQL staff since the mid of last year, the technical knowledge and quality is just not there at all, worst, at times, they tend to ask their customers to do things ridiculously or suggest their customer to try it (without performed the step themselves). I’ve told them what if I have thousands of VMs and do I need to shut down all of them just to perform the firmware upgrade? The answer is Yes! HUH???? BS!!!
Yes I am complaining about local Equallogic support service is getting poorer and please correct this issue ASAP!
Update: April 6, 2012
OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-LX-7.0.0-4614_A00.tar.gz is out today!
I was told from Tommy (a Dell HK Engineer) last year that if you have 2 controllers, the firmware update process will not stop the PS machine.
Danny
For the new MEM, is it necessary for ESX 4.1? Any performance improve after the upgrade?
My 2 ESXi hosts still running MEM 1.0
Not necessary for ESX 4.1, but I’m going to upgrade to EQL FW v5.2.2, and MEM v1.1.0 is required, see my new post.
Oh…this is where I got worried, local Dell Pro-Support told me even I have two controller (active-passive), I still need to shutdown all my VMs prior to EQL FW upgrade.
They seemed forgetting live updating the firmware is ONE OF Equallogic’s biggest selling point and they actually suggest their customer to go ahead with their unverified method, this is incompetent and unprofessional, to me, it’s not acceptable at this kind of high end enterprise level support.
I see, then I also need MEM 1.1 for my ESX 4.1