Install Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Agents on any ESXi 4.1 white box Server (to manage PERC cards)

1. Download the Dell-Customized ISO of VMWare ESXi 4.1.

2. Donwload the Dell OpenManage Offline Bundle and VIB for ESXi.

3. Download Dell OpenManage Server Administrator Managed Node 6.3.0.

4. Download the VSphere CLI application.

5. Install ESXi.

6. Set a password for the root account.

7. Enter into Maintenance Mode.

8. Install VSphere CLI on another PC on the same network as the ESXi host (tested with XP SP3 for this tutorial).

9. Unzip the Offline bundle and then unzip the metadata.zip file inside of that. Edit the “vmware.xml” file and delete the 3 lines containing vendor=”Dell…” in the <systemReqs> section. Repackage the metadata.zip with the modified vmware.xml then repackage the original zip file.

10. Install the [modified] Offline bundle using VSphere CLI as per the instructions on Dell’s download page.

11. Restart the ESXi host using the VSphere Client.

12. Extract and install the Dell OpenManage Server Node Administrator on any PC on the same network as the ESXi host, including any VM residing on the ESXi host itself. You will only be able to install the Web Component in most instances, which is fine.

13. Launch the Server Administrator application and enter the IP of your ESXi host, username root and the root password. Choose to ignore certificate warnings.

14. Select “Storage” in the left navigation pane to view and edit all storage related settings to your Dell PERC card(s)!

15.  Look at the time stamp on this post. You read this solution here FIRST!

Enjoy 🙂