Dell PowerProtect IDPA Initial Setup Guide

 In this post, I will show you how to setup the initial configuration for Dell PowerProtect IDPA appliance.

Configuring Dell PowerProtect Integrated Data Protection Appliance (IDPA) requires careful planning and execution. This guide will walk you through the essential steps to ensure a successful deployment.

Step 1: Prepare IP Addresses and DNS Records

In a single management network scenario, you need to prepare both out-of-range and in-range IP addresses as the following:

• Out of Range:
  

  Component	IP Address Example	DNS Record
  Hypervisor	10.10.10.9	idpa-esxi
  Appliance Configuration Manager	10.10.10.10	idpa-acm

• Inside Range:
  

  IP Range Allocation	Component	IP Address Example	DNS Record
  1	Hypervisor Manager	10.10.10.11	idpa-vcenter
  2	Protection Storage Management	10.10.10.12	idpa-datadomain
  3	Protection Storage Backup IP 1	10.10.10.13	Not required
  4	Protection Storage Backup IP 2	10.10.10.14	Not required
  5	Protection Software	10.10.10.15	idpa-avamar
  6	Protection Software Proxy VM IP	10.10.10.16	idpa-avamar-proxy
  7	Data Protection Central	10.10.10.17	idpa-dpc
  8	Analytics and Reporting Application	10.10.10.18	ipda-rna-app
  9	Analytics and Reporting Datastore (optional)	10.10.10.19	idpa-rna-dstore
  10	Search (optional)	10.10.10.20	idpa-search
  11	Cloud DR (optional)	10.10.10.21	idpa-cdra

Assign IPs in the DNS records in the same sequence as the table.{alertInfo}

Supported DNS record characters include only lowercase letters, numbers 0-9, and the hyphen (-).{alertInfo}

I have prepared a prerequisites Excel sheet for IPs and DNS records, it's available for download.

{getButton} $text={DOWNLOAD} $icon={download} $color={Hex Color} $info={Dell PowerProtect IDPA Prerequisites.xlsx}

Step 2: Upgrade and Configure TOR Switches

• Upgrade:
  Check out Dell SmartFabric OS10 Installation Guide for the upgrade process.
• Configuration:
  Ensure that switch ports connected to appliance ports 0, 1, 6, and 7 (as shown in the image below), are configured in access VLAN mode.
  
  

Ensure all switch ports are in Access mode or untagged. All ports must be active and not configured in LACP.{alertInfo}

Step 3: Configure iDRAC

1. Access iDRAC:
   
   • Connect to the system serial console or connect KVM to the system.
   • Reboot the system.
   • During the boot process, press "F2" to access the BIOS menu.
2. Configure Network Settings:
   
   • Select "iDRAC Settings".
   • Select "Network".
   • Under "IPv4 Settings", select "Static IP Address" and press "Enter" to specify a new static IP address.
   • Press "Esc" to return to the previous menu.
3. Enable Root User:
   
• Select "User Configuration".
• Enable the root user.
• Change the root user password. (The default password is the system's 14 alphanumeric characters serial number on the service tag at the front of the system).

Step 4: First Time Access to ACM WebUI

1. Power on the appliance and wait 5 minutes.
2. Connect a service computer to one of the appliance management ports (port 8 or 9) as shown in the image below.
   
   
3. Assign the static IP address "192.168.100.98" with subnet mask "255.255.255.224" to the Ethernet interface connected to the appliance.
4. Verify the ACM responds to a ping on "192.168.100.100".
5. Access the ACM interface on "https://192.168.100.100:8543/".
6. Log in with the default username "root", password "Idpa_1234" and change the password.

The new password will apply to all appliance components.{alertInfo}

Step 5: Configure Basic Networking Infrastructure

1. The Initial Network Configuration screen will show up, fill the settings to configure the initial network connectivity to the appliance then press Submit.
2. After you configure the basic networking infrastructure successfully, your web browser automatically redirects to the ACM IP address assigned during the network configuration, to be able to access ACCM from the new public IP address make sure you are connected to the same network as the public IP address.

Use the ACM IP address as the DNS server if no DNS server is available.{alertInfo}

Ensure the time difference between the NTP and Hypervisor server is no more than 10 minutes, as a larger difference may cause network configuration failures.{alertInfo}

Step 6: Configure the DP Appliance through ACM WebUI

1. Login to ACM using the public IP Address by the username "root" and the new assigned password.
2. The Dell EMC Secure Remote Services page appears, you can skip it by pressing Skip button.
3. The PowerProtect DP Series Appliance configuration page appears. On the PowerProtect DP Appliance configuration page, perform the following steps:
   
   • On the Welcome page, select the optional components that you want to install in the configuration and click Next.
   • On license page, click Browse to locate and upload license files for Protection Storage, Protection Software, and Reporting and Analytics point products, then click Next.
   • On the General settings page, Select the Time zone from the list, and enter the IP address in the IP address range field. The system automatically assigns IP addresses in a chronological order.
   • Click Validate button and the system validates the availability of the IP addresses and allocates them to the PowerProtect DP Appliance components, then click Next.
     

     If you do not select the IP address range checkbox, you must manually configure and specify the IP addresses for each component.{alertInfo}

   • On the Customer information settings page, enter information in the mandatory fields.
   • If you select the Email notification check box, the Email Configuration section is displayed, enter the SMTP settings then click Next.
   • In the Summary page, review the information that you entered and click Submit to start the configuration.
   • A confirmation message will display, click Yes.
4.  After configuration successfully finishes, you can finally access the appliance components.

IDPA Appliance Components Accounts Table:

Server Name	Username	Password
ESXI	root	New ACM Password
ACM	root	New ACM Password
vCenter	[email protected]	New ACM Password
DataDomain	sysadmin	New ACM Password
Avamar	root	New ACM Password
DPC	[email protected]	New ACM Password

Conclusion

With this step-by-step guide, your Dell PowerProtect IDPA should now be set up and ready for use. Ensure all configurations are double-checked, and refer to Dell’s official documentation for any additional details or troubleshooting.