Unified Server Configurator and Unified Server Configurator - Lifecycle Controller Enabled. Dell Lifecycle Controller 1.3

LC1_3.book Page 13 Monday, December 7, 2009 3:14 PM

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Unified Server Configurator and

Unified Server Configurator - Lifecycle

Controller Enabled

Unified Server Configurator (USC) and Unified Server

Configurator-Lifecycle Controller Enabled (USC-LCE) reside on an embedded flash memory card and are embedded configuration utilities that enable systems and storage management tasks from an embedded environment throughout your system’s life cycle. USC and USC - LCE are similar to a BIOS utility in that they can be started during the boot sequence

and can function in a pre-operating system environment. "Table 1-1"

details the Dell™ system series, remote system management device options, USC or

USC-LCE, and available features.

Using USC, you can download drivers for operating system installation from the

Dell FTP website at ftp.dell.com or using local devices such as a USB device or the Dell Systems Management Tools and Documentation or the Dell Server

Updates DVD. You can also deploy an operating system, or run Hardware

Diagnostics to validate the system and attached hardware. Depending on your system, you can upgrade from a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) to an iDRAC6 Express or an iDRAC6 Enterprise card; this hardware upgrade will also

upgrade USC to USC - LCE. See "How to Upgrade to an iDRAC6 Express Card"

and the Hardware Owner’s Manual for your system for more information on how to upgrade. Using USC - LCE, you can quickly identify, download, and apply system updates without searching the Dell Support site at support.dell.com.

You can also configure BIOS and system devices (such as NIC, RAID, and iDRAC), deploy an operating system, and run Hardware Diagnostics to validate the system and attached hardware.

What’s new in USC/USC-LCE 1.3

These are the new features introduced in USC/USC-LCE 1.3:

USC and USC - LCE 13


USC-LCE

• Support for part replacement

• Support for configuring Provisioning Server and Auto-Discovery from iDRAC configuration utility

• Report vFlash health status and presence

• Support for BIOS boot order

• Version compatibility check for BIOS, iDRAC and USC

USC and USC-LCE Support for:

• Series 7 controllers

• SED (Self-encryption disk) drive

• Dell Repository Update Manager with option to specify sub-directory

• FTP authentication

Common Features

This section contains the features that are common to both USC and

USC - LCE. Any additional steps or information required for USC - LCE tasks are noted and provided.

Launching the Product

To launch either USC or USC - LCE, boot the system and press the <F10> key within 10 seconds of the Dell logo being displayed during the system boot process to enter System Services.

If the system is in one of the following states, pressing <F10> will not allow you to enter System Services:

• System Services disabled — If you power on or restart your system while iDRAC is initializing, the message System Services disabled will display during the system boot process. This situation happens if you power on your system immediately after AC is applied to the system, or if you restart the system immediately after resetting iDRAC. To avoid this issue, wait about a minute after resetting iDRAC to restart your system, thus allowing enough time for iDRAC to complete initialization.

14 USC and USC - LCE


If the message System Services disabled still displays, then the

product may have been manually disabled. See "Disabling USC or USC-

LCE" for information on how to enable USC or USC - LCE.

• System Services update required — If the message System Services update required appears when you boot your system, the embedded device that stores the product may contain corrupted data.

To resolve the issue, update the product by executing USC or USC - LCE

Dell Update Package (DUP). See the Dell Update Packages User’s Guide at

support.dell.com/manuals for more information.

If an operating system is not installed on the system or if executing the

DUP does not fix the problem, run USC or USC - LCE repair package.

See "Repairing USC" or "Repairing USC - LCE" for more information.

• System Services not available — Another process is currently using iDRAC. It is recommended that you wait for 30 minutes for the current process to complete; then, reboot your system and try to enter USC or

USC - LCE again.

If you believe the system is in an error condition or if you cannot wait the

recommended 30-minute time period, see "Canceling a Request to Enter

System Services." After rebooting, try to enter USC or USC - LCE again. The

first time you launch USC or USC - LCE, it displays USC Settings wizard that allows you to configure your preferred language and network settings. See

"Using USC Settings Wizard" for more information.

Using the Wizards

Wizard Description

USC and USC - LCE provide the following wizards based on your system’s configuration:

• OS Deployment — Enables you to install an operating system. See

"Deploying the Operating System Using the OS Deployment Wizard" for

more information.

• Hardware Diagnostics — Enables you to perform diagnostics to validate the memory, I/O devices, CPU, physical disks, and other peripherals.

See "Hardware Diagnostics" for more information.



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• USC Settings — Enables you to specify the language, keyboard layout,

and network settings to be used with USC or USC-LCE. See "Using USC

Settings Wizard" for more information.

Along with the above mentioned wizards, USC and USC-LCE provide the following options:

• Home — Enables you to navigate back to Home screen.

• About — Enables you to view the version information of USC-LCE and

UEFI. Click View Readme in the About wizard to view USC-LCE readme.

USC - LCE provides the following additional wizards based on your system’s configuration:

• Platform Update — Enables you to download and apply updates for your system. You can access the updates from ftp.dell.com or a

USB device attached to your system. See "Updating the Platform using the

Platform Update Wizard" and "Configuring a Local USB Device" for

more information.

• Hardware Configuration — Enables you to configure system devices.

See "Hardware Configuration" for more information.

Launching a Wizard

USC and USC - LCE display the available wizards in the left pane. Click the wizard you want to launch, and then follow the instructions displayed in the right pane.

Wizard Task Flow USC

When using USC for the first time, It is recommended that you run the wizards in the order listed below:

• USC Settings — You do not need to run this wizard again unless you want to change the language, keyboard, or network settings.

• OS Deployment — Run this wizard to install operating system.

• Hardware Diagnostics — Ensure that you maintain your system by running diagnostics on a regular basis.

Wizard Task Flow USC - LCE

When using USC - LCE for the first time, it is recommended that you run the following wizards listed in order:

USC and USC - LCE


• USC Settings — You do not need to run this wizard again unless you want to change the language, keyboard, or network settings.

• Platform Update — Download and apply any updates. Ensure that you run the Platform Update wizard regularly so that your system is up to date.

• Hardware Configuration — Run this wizard to configure your system devices.

• OS Deployment — Run this wizard to install operating system.

• Hardware Diagnostics — Ensure that you maintain your system by running diagnostics on a regular basis.

Accessing Help

Each USC or USC - LCE screen has a Help button in the upper-right corner.

Click Help to display help for the current screen.

Viewing Readme

Click About→ View Readme to display the Readme file.

Disabling USC or USC-LCE

You can disable USC or USC - LCE to prevent your system from entering it on start-up:

1 Press <Ctrl><e> within 5 seconds when prompted during system start-up.

The iDRAC6 Configuration Utility page displays.

2 Navigate to System Services.

3 Select Disable System Services.

4 Save your changes and exit the iDRAC6 Configuration Utility page menu. The system reboots automatically.

To enable USC or USC-LCE, repeat "step 1" and "step 2", and then select

Enable System Services.

Canceling a Request to Enter System Services

If USC or USC - LCE causes the system to repeatedly reboot, you can cancel a request to enter System Services.



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CAUTION: This action cancels all tasks USC or USC - LCE is in the process of executing. Dell strongly recommends that you cancel the request to enter System

Services only when absolutely necessary.

1 Press <Ctrl><e> within 5 seconds when prompted during system start-up.

The iDRAC6 Configuration Utility page displays.

2 Navigate to System Services.

3 Select Cancel System Services.

Save your changes and exit the iDRAC6 Configuration Utility page.

The system reboots automatically.

Using USC Settings Wizard

USC Settings wizard enables you to specify the language, keyboard layout, and network settings for USC or USC - LCE. USC settings apply only to USC or USC - LCE and do not apply to the system or any other application running on the system.

1 Launch USC Settings Wizard: a Boot your system and press the <F10> key within 10 seconds of the

Dell logo being displayed.

b Wait until USC Home screen is displayed, then click USC Settings in the left pane.

2 Click Language and Keyboard in the right pane. Use the up-arrow and down-arrow keys to access all options on the Language and Keyboard Type drop-down menus. a b

Select the language from the Language drop-down menu.

Select the type of keyboard you are using from the Keyboard Type drop-down menu.

c Click Finish.

3 Click Network Settings in the right pane.

a b

Use the NIC Card drop-down menu to select the NIC card you want to configure on your system.

Use the IP Address Source drop-down menu to select either No

Configuration, DHCP, or Static IP. The IP Address Source function only supports IPv4.

USC and USC - LCE


• No Configuration - Select if you do not want to configure your

NIC.

• DHCP - Select to obtain an IP address from a DHCP server.

• Static IP - Select to use a static IP address. Specify the following

IP address properties. If you do not have this information, see your network administrator.

– IP Address

– Subnet Mask

– Default Gateway c

– DNS Address

Click Finish.

If USC settings are not configured correctly, an error message is displayed.

Deploying the Operating System Using the OS Deployment Wizard

The OS Deployment wizard assists you in installing an operating system on your system.

USC does not provide a local operating system drivers repository that may be required for operating system installation. You have to download the operating system drivers from the Dell FTP website at ftp.dell.com or use a local source that has drivers on it — for example, Dell Systems Management

Tools and Documentation DVD or a local USB device.

USC - LCE provides a local repository for drivers that may be required for operating system installation, depending on which operating system you are installing. The OS Deployment wizard extracts these drivers and copies them to a staging directory. For supported Microsoft ® ® Windows operating systems, these extracted drivers are installed during the operating system installation. For supported Linux operating systems, such as Red Hat ® Enterprise Linux ®

SUSE ®

versions 4.7, 4.8, 5.2, and 5.3 and

Linux Enterprise Server version 10 SP2, you must manually install the extracted drivers after the operating system installation is completed.

However, starting with Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 5.4, SUSE Linux

Enterprise Server version 10 SP3, 11 and later installs, the extracted drivers

are installed during the operating system installation. See "Deploy the

Operating System" for more information.



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Although USC - LCE comes with embedded drivers that are factory installed, there may be more current drivers available. You should run the Platform

Update wizard to ensure that you have the most current drivers before installing the operating system.

Before installing the operating system, the OS Deployment wizard detects if a boot device is available. A boot device is a physical disk, virtual disk, or other storage device on which the operating system can be installed.

If your system has a RAID controller, you can configure a virtual disk and choose to use the virtual disk as the boot device.

If your system does not have a RAID controller or if you choose to bypass the optional RAID configuration, the OS Deployment wizard installs the operating system to a default location, which is typically the disk identified as

Disk 0 in the BIOS utility.

Launch the Operating System Deployment Wizard

1 To launch USC, boot your system and press the <F10> key within 10 seconds of the Dell logo being displayed.

2 Click OS Deployment in the left pane.

3 Click Deploy OS in the right pane.

4 For USC, continue with the "Select the Operating System Driver Source

Location (for USC only)" procedure that follows.

5 For USC - LCE, if your system has a RAID controller, continue with

"Optional RAID Configuration." If your system does not have a RAID controller, continue with "Select an Operating System."

Select the Operating System Driver Source Location

(for USC only)

Use this screen to select the driver required for operating system installation.

You can download operating system drivers from an online repository or from a local drive.

1 Select either Online Repository or Local Drive.

FTP Repository

Select FTP Repository to download drivers from an FTP server. Enter the appropriate information according to the method you are using to access the FTP server.

USC and USC - LCE


If you use a firewall, you should configure it to allow outgoing FTP traffic on port 21. The firewall must also be configured to accept incoming FTP response traffic.

• To download drivers from the online repository (Dell FTP server), you must enter ftp.dell.com in the Address field. or

To download drivers from a locally-configured online repository, in the

Address field you must specify the server host name or the IP address of the server on which the drivers reside. For information on setting

up local FTP server, see "Configuring a Local FTP Server."

• To download drivers by using a proxy server to access an FTP server, you must specify:

• Address — The IP address of the local FTP server or ftp.dell.com.

• User Name — The user name to access the FTP location.

• Password — The password to access this FTP location.

• Proxy Server — The server host name or the IP address of the proxy server

• Proxy Port — The port number of the proxy server

• Proxy Type — The type of proxy server. HTTP and SOCKS 4 proxy types are supported by USC.

• Proxy User Name — The user name required for authentication on the proxy server

• Proxy Password — The password required for authentication on the proxy server

2 Select Save Locally to save the drivers locally from the online repository.

From the Save Locally drop-down menu, select the USB drive to save the system drivers.

Local Drive

Select Local Drive if the drivers are available from a USB device or

Dell Systems Management Tools and Documentation DVD. For

information on setting up a USB device for updates see "Configuring a

Local USB Device."



3 Click Next.

If your system has a RAID controller, continue with "Optional RAID

Configuration." If your system does not have a RAID controller, continue with "Select an Operating System."

Optional RAID Configuration

If your system has a RAID controller, you have the option of launching the

RAID Configuration wizard and configuring a virtual disk as the boot device.

To configure RAID:

• Select Configure RAID Now and click Next. This option launches the RAID Configuration wizard. After RAID configuration is complete, you will return to the

OS Deployment wizard. See "Configuring RAID."

To bypass RAID configuration:

• Select Go Directly to OS Deployment and click Next. This option launches the OS Deployment wizard. If you select this option, the operating system will be installed on the default boot device identified

in the BIOS utility. Continue with "Select an Operating System."

Deploy the Operating System

The drivers required by the operating system, or recommended for updating your system after installation, are extracted to a temporary location.

These files are deleted after an 18-hour period or when you press the <F10> key to either cancel operating system installation or re-enter

USC after rebooting.

NOTE: During the 18-hour period when drivers are extracted to a temporary location after the operating system is installed, you cannot update USC or USC-LCE, drivers, or hardware diagnostics using a DUP. If you attempt an update using a DUP during this time period, the DUP will display a message that another session is open.

Select an Operating System

Use the following steps to select an operating system:

1 Select the operating system you want to install and click Next.



2 USC or USC - LCE extracts the drivers required by the operating system you selected. The drivers are extracted to an internal USB drive named OEMDRV.

3 After the drivers are extracted, USC or USC - LCE prompts you to insert the operating system installation media.

Important

• For Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.

x

server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.

Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP2, the drivers are extracted under

x

, the drivers are extracted to OEMDRV under /oemdrv/*.rpm. For SUSE

/linux/suse/x86_64-sles10/install/*.rpm.

• When installing the Microsoft Windows operating system, the extracted drivers are automatically installed during the operating system installation.

When installing the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.x operating system, the operating system installation uses native drivers. After the Linux installation is complete, you need to manually install the drivers extracted

by USC or USC-LCE. See "Update Drivers for Linux Systems Only" for

more information.

Kickstart Installation for the Linux Operating System

If you are using a kickstart installation for the Linux operating system, provide the following information in the post-installation script:

• Command to mount the USB device containing the operating system drivers labeled OEMDRV. For example: mkdir OEMDRV mount /dev/sdc1 /mnt/OEMDRV

• Path to the operating system drivers on the OEMDRV drive:

For Red Hat Enterprise Linux: /oemdrv/*.rpm

For SUSE Linux Enterprise Server:

/linux/suse/x86_64-sles10/install/*.rpm

• Command to install the drivers: rpm -Uvh *.rpm



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Insert the Operating System Media

Insert the operating system installation media when prompted and click Next.

USC supports internal SATA optical drives and USB optical drives and

USC - LCE supports internal SATA optical drives, USB optical drives, and virtual media devices. If the installation media is corrupt or not readable, then USC and USC-LCE may be unable to detect the presence of a supported optical drive. In this case, you may receive an error message stating that no optical drive is available. If the media is not valid (if it is the incorrect

CD or DVD, for example), a message displays requesting that you insert the correct installation media.

For USC - LCE only: Virtual media is supported through iDRAC. See the

User Guide for your system’s iDRAC device for more information on setting up virtual media through iDRAC.

Reboot the System

Prerequisite

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 UEFI operating system installations are not currently supported.

Use the following step to reboot the system:

1 Click Finish to reboot the system and continue with the operating system installation. Upon reboot, the system boots to the operating system installation media.

CAUTION: During the beginning of Windows Server

®

2003 installation, the installer will automatically detect and possibly assign the default drive letter C to USC and USC-LCE temporary storage device OEMDRV. Creating a new

Windows-bootable system partition on the hard-disk will assign the partition to a drive letter other than C; this is standard Windows installer behavior. To assign

the new partition to C, see "Assign a Windows-Bootable System Partition to the C:

Drive" for more information.

Post-requisites

• When the system reboots after you click Finish, you may be prompted to press a key before booting to the operating system installation media. If you do not press a key, the system boots to the hard-disk and not the operating system installation media.

USC and USC - LCE


• In the event that the operating system installation is interrupted and the system reboots before installation completes, you may be prompted to press a key in order to boot from the operating system installation media.

• You can cancel the operating system installation by pressing the <F10> key. Pressing the <F10> key at any point during the installation process or while rebooting causes any drivers provided by the OS Deployment wizard to be removed.

• After the operating system is installed, you cannot update USC or USC-

LCE by running a DUP in the operating system environment for the next

18 hours.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 5.x Installation Warning

During Red Hat 5.x installation, you will receive a warning that a read-only file system was detected; Linux has detected the temporary storage area of

USC and USC-LCE that stores updates for your system. When you click OK, a second warning will appear indicating that the read-only file system has a loop partition layout and that it needs to be formatted. Click the Ignore drive button. You may see both warnings several times during the course of Red

Hat 5.x installation.

Update Drivers for Linux Systems Only

On the following operating systems, it is recommended that you update your system with the extracted drivers after installation. The drivers are extracted to a drive (or device) named OEMDRV.

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux server — The location of the drivers on the

OEMDRV drive after installation is:

/oemdrv/*.rpm

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux server — The location of the drivers on the

OEMDRV drive after installation is:

/oemdrv/*.rpm

• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 with Service Pack 2 — The location of the drivers on the OEMDRV drive after installation is:

/linux/suse/x86_64-sles10/install/*.rpm

Use the following command to install the drivers:


LC1_3.book Page 26 Monday, December 7, 2009 3:14 PM rpm -Uvh *.rpm

Assign a Windows-Bootable System Partition to the C: Drive

After you have completed USC or USC - LCE portion of Windows Server

2003 installation, your server will reboot and begin the text-mode portion of the installation. During this phase, you may need to perform the following steps to ensure Windows installs to your C: drive.

Following these instructions after Windows Server 2003 setup presents you with a list of existing drive partitions and/or unpartitioned space available on your computer.

1 Select the unpartitioned space, and then press <c> to create a hard-disk partition. Follow the on-screen instructions to create a partition.

NOTE: The partition may not be enumerated as a C: drive.

2 Select the newly-created partition, and then press <d> to delete the partition. Follow the on-screen instructions to delete the partition.

3 Select the unpartitioned space again, and then press <c> to create a primary hard-disk partition. The partition will now be enumerated as C: drive.

4 Follow the on-screen instructions to create a partition. Windows will now install on the C: drive.

See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896536 for more information on assigning the Windows-bootable system partition to the C: drive.

Installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.8 on a system with SAS7 (H200) controller

Perform the following steps to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.8 / Red Hat

Enterprise Linux 5.3:

1 Copy the driver image file(*.img or *.dd) into a USB key. Specify the driver image file location when prompted for a driver diskette.

2 Select Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.8/Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 on the

OS Deployment screen of USC.

3 After USC reboots to the OS installer CD/DVD, enter the following command: > linux dd



4 Insert the driver update disk (DUD) when prompted, and specify the location of the USB drive and press <Enter>.

5 Complete the installation as directed by the installation program.

Hardware Diagnostics

Utilizing the Hardware Diagnostics utility, it is recommended that you run diagnostics as part of a regular maintenance regimen to validate that the system and attached hardware are functioning properly. Because the diagnostics utility has a physical (as opposed to logical) view of attached hardware, this utility may be able to identify hardware problems that the operating system and other online tools cannot. You can use the hardware diagnostics utility to validate the memory, I/O devices, CPU, physical disks, and other peripherals.

Performing Hardware Diagnostics

To start the hardware diagnostics utility, click Hardware Diagnostics in the left pane and click Run Hardware Diagnostics in the right pane. When the diagnostics utility launches, follow the instructions on the screen.

You must reboot your system to exit the Hardware Diagnostics utility and press <F10> to re-enter USC or USC-LCE.

The results of the diagnostics tests are displayed on the screen when the tests complete. The test results describe the problems found. You can use this information to search the Dell Support website at support.dell.com for details on resolving the problem.

If you want to exit the Hardware Diagnostics utility, press the <Esc> key; this will cause the system to reboot.

Updating the Hardware Diagnostics Utility

For Systems Supporting USC

Download the required Dell Update Package (DUP) from Dell Support site at support.dell.com. Run the DUP as an executable in the installed operating system.

For Systems Supporting USC - LCE



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Use the Platform Update wizard to update the hardware diagnostics utility.

See "Updating the Platform using the Platform Update Wizard" for more

information. Alternatively, you can also download the required Dell Update

Package (DUP) from Dell Support site at support.dell.com and run the DUP as an executable in the installed operating system.

Repairing USC

If the message System Services update required appears when you boot up, the embedded device that stores USC may contain corrupted data. To resolve the issue, you must first attempt to update USC by executing

USC Dell Update Package (DUP). See the Dell Update Packages User’s Guide available at support.dell.com/manuals for more information.

Repairing USC - LCE

If the message System Services update required appears when you boot up, the embedded device that stores USC - LCE may contain corrupted data. To resolve the issue, you must first attempt to update

USC - LCE by executing USC - LCE Dell Update Package (DUP). See the

Dell Update Packages User’s Guide available at support.dell.com/manuals for more information. If running the DUP does not solve the problem, use USC - LCE repair package:

1 Go to ftp.dell.com → LifecycleController and download the file named

USC_1.3.0_Rep_Pack_A00.usc (or newer version) to a temporary location.

2 Connect to iDRAC on your system using the iDRAC Web interface.

For more information on iDRAC, see the Integrated Dell Remote Access

Controller 6 (iDRAC6) User’s Guide.

3 From the iDRAC Web interface, click Remote Access.

4 Select the Update tab, and then browse to USC - LCE Repair Package you downloaded from ftp.dell.com.

5 Click Next, and then click OK to confirm the upload. Allow the process to

complete before you continue to "step 6."

6 Reboot your system, and then press the <F10> key to enter USC - LCE.

7 Complete the installation of all recommended updates. See "Updating the

Platform using the Platform Update Wizard" for more information.

When updates are complete, your system automatically reboots.

USC and USC - LCE


8 While the system reboots, press the <F10> key again to enter

USC - LCE.

If a warning message appears on the initial USC - LCE screen, you must

repeat "step 7" until the server is in a fully-recovered state.

NOTE: Updates that are required for a complete system recovery are pre-selected by USC - LCE. Dell highly recommends running all selected updates on your system.

How to Upgrade to an iDRAC6 Express Card

This section provides information about installing an iDRAC6 Express card, transferring the iDRAC6 Express card from one system to another system, and Uninstalling iDRAC6 Express card. This hardware upgrade will also upgrade USC to USC-LCE.

NOTE: This is applicable only to Dell System Series 200-500.

Installing the iDRAC6 Express Card

1 Turn off the system, including any attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet.

NOTE: To discharge the residual power in the system, press the power button once.

2 Insert the iDRAC6 Express card into the iDRAC6 Express slot.

See the Hardware Owner’s Manual for your system for more information on Installing iDRAC6 Express Card.

3 Reconnect the system and peripherals to their power sources.

iDRAC automatically starts. Wait one minute, before switching on the system, to allow the iDRAC to fully start.

4 Switch on the system, and then press <F10> to enter USC.

USC automatically detects the iDRAC6 Express card installed on the system and completes the upgrade process.

If the installation is successful, you are able to boot to Unified Server

Configurator — Lifecycle Controller Enabled.

If the installation fails, you must upgrade iDRAC. See the Integrated

Dell Remote Access Controller User Guide for more information. After you have upgraded iDRAC, repeat the above instructions.



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Transferring an iDRAC6 Express Card

If the iDRAC6 Express card is transferred from one system to another:

• The rollback feature is unavailable on the new system. See "Rolling Back to

Previous BIOS and Firmware Versions" for more information.

• All pending USC-LCE tasks that are in the process of execution are deleted on the new system.

• Run Platform Update wizard to download the appropriate driver pack for the new system.

The driver pack is deleted if the iDRAC6 Express card is transferred to a different Dell system. For example, if you move the iDRAC6 Express card from Dell R410 system to Dell T410 system, the driver pack is deleted.

Removing the iDRAC6 Express Card

1 Turn off the system, including any attached peripherals, and disconnect the system from the electrical outlet. To discharge the residual power in the system, press the power button once.

2 Remove the iDRAC6 Express card from the iDRAC6 Express slot. See the

Hardware Owner’s Manual for your system for more information on

Installing iDRAC6 Express Card.

3 Reconnect the system and peripherals to their power sources.

4 Switch on the system, and then press <F10> to enter USC.

Unified Server Configurator - Lifecycle Controller

Enabled Unique Features

This section contains the features that are only available in USC - LCE.

For information on features common to USC and USC - LCE

see "Common Features."

Updating USC - LCE

You can update to the latest version of USC - LCE using the Platform

Update wizard. It is recommended that you run the Platform Update wizard

on a regular basis to access updates as they become available. See "Updating the Platform using the Platform Update Wizard" for more information.

USC and USC - LCE


Updating the Platform using the Platform Update Wizard

Use the Platform Update wizard to view the current versions of the installed applications and firmware information. You can use the Platform Update

Wizard to display a list of available updates for your system. After you select the updates you want to apply, USC - LCE downloads and applies the updates.

To ensure optimal system performance and avoid system problems,

Dell recommends that you download and apply updates on a regular basis.

To run the Platform Update wizard, you need access to the Dell File Transfer

Protocol (FTP) server at ftp.dell.com. Alternatively, your system administrator may provide the updates on a local USB device or on a

Dell Server Update Utility DVD. Contact your system administrator to find out the preferred method for accessing updates in your organization.

See "Configuring a Local FTP Server" for more information.

If you are using FTP as your update method, you must configure the network card using USC - LCE USC Settings wizard before accessing the updates. See

"Using USC Settings Wizard" for more information.

Version Compatibility

The version compatibility features ensures that only the Lifecycle Controller,

BIOS and iDRAC versions that are compatible with system components are installed. The console will display upgrade or downgrade error messages to warn you about compatibility issues for various components; these messages will be displayed for ten seconds only.

View Current Version Information

1 Boot your system and press the <F10> key within 10 seconds of the Dell logo being displayed.

2 Click Platform Update in the left pane.

3 Click View Current Versions in the right pane.

Launch the Platform Update Wizard

1 Boot your system and press the <F10> key within 10 seconds of the

Dell logo being displayed.


3 Click Launch Platform Update in the right pane.



Select Download Method

You can download updates from Dell’s FTP server at ftp.dell.com using the

Platform Update wizard or from a local FTP server or from a local USB device or Dell Server Updates DVD.

To enable the text boxes and drop-down menus under local FTP server or

Dell FTP Server and USB Device, select the corresponding FTP Server or

Local Drive check box.

1 Select either FTP Server or Local Drive.

FTP Server

Select FTP Server to download updates from the configured FTP server using the Platform Update wizard. Enter the appropriate information according to the method you are using to access the FTP server.

FTP Authentication

USC supports anonymous login by authenticating the blank username, a password of your choice, and the FTP server address with the FTP servers in order to download the catalog information. If you use a firewall, you should configure it to allow outgoing FTP traffic on port 21. The firewall must also be configured to accept incoming FTP response traffic.

To download updates by using a proxy server to access the FTP server, you must specify:

• Address — The IP address of the local FTP server or ftp.dell.com.

• User Name — The user name to access the FTP location.

• Password — The password to access this FTP location.

• Catalog Location — The specific location/sub-directory where the catalog resides.

• Proxy Server — The server host name of the proxy server.

• Proxy Port — The port number of the proxy server.

• Proxy Type — The type of proxy server. HTTP and SOCKS 4 proxy types are supported by USC - LCE.

• Proxy User Name — The user name required for authentication on the proxy server.



• Proxy Password — The password required for authentication on the proxy server.

Local Drive

Select Local Drive if you are accessing the updates from a local USB device or Dell Server Updates DVD. Select the appropriate volume label from the Local Drive drop-down menu.

See "Configuring a Local USB Device" for more information.

2 Click Next.

Select and Apply Updates

The Select Updates screen displays a list of available updates.

1 Select the check box for each update that you want to apply to your system. The components for which a more current update is available are selected by default.

If you want to compare the version of the update with the version currently installed on the system, compare the versions in the

Current and Available fields.

• Component — Displays the available updates. Select the check box for each update you want to apply.

• Current — Displays the component version currently installed on the system.

• Available — Displays the version of the available update.

2 Click Apply.

Post-requisites

• The system reboots after the update process is complete. When applying more than one update, the system may need to reboot between updates. In this case, the system boots directly into USC - LCE and continues the update process. No action on your part is required when the system reboots to complete the update process.

• If the iDRAC firmware update is interrupted for any reason, you may need to wait for up to 30 minutes before attempting another firmware update.



34

Important

• USC-LCE does not support the update or rollback of PERC 5/E Adapter for external storage, SAS 5i/R Adapter for tape, PERC S100 and PERC

S300 Adapters, and Intel™ NIC Adapters.

• A NIC wrapper.efi error may be displayed if you try updating the NIC using platform update in USC without the latest versions of iDRAC and

BIOS. Upgrade to the latest BIOS and iDRAC versions to ensure this error does not occur.

CAUTION: While using USC to update the power supply unit firmware, the system will shut down after the first task. It will take a couple of minutes to update the

PSU firmware and then automatically power on.

Rolling Back to Previous BIOS and Firmware Versions

USC - LCE enables you to roll back to a previously-installed version of

BIOS or firmware. It is recommended that you use this feature if you have a problem with the currently-installed version and want to revert to the previously-installed version.

Only BIOS and firmware can be rolled back. USC - LCE, the hardware diagnostics application, and drivers needed for operating system (OS) installation cannot be rolled back to earlier versions.

This feature is available only if you have used the USC - LCE update feature to update BIOS and firmware, or if you have updated the system BIOS or firmware using a post-operating system Dell Update Package. If you have used other update methods, this feature is not available.

Important

If you have updated your system’s BIOS or firmware only once, the rollback feature offers the option of reverting to the factory-installed BIOS or firmware images. If you have updated your BIOS or firmware more than once, the factory-installed images are overwritten and you cannot revert to them.

Launch the Rollback Wizard

1 Boot your system to launch USC - LCE. When the Dell logo displays, press the <F10> key within 10 seconds.


3 Click Launch Platform Rollback in the right pane.

USC and USC - LCE


Select and Apply Rollbacks

The Platform Rollback screen displays a list of available rollback components.

1 Select the check box of each rollback image that you want to apply to the system.

To compare the version of the rollback image with the version currently installed on the system, compare the versions in the Current and

Previous fields.

• Component — Displays the available updates; select the check box of each update you want to apply.

• Current — Displays the component version currently installed on the system.

• Previous — Displays the version of the rollback image.

2 Click Apply.

Post-requisite

The system reboots after the update process is complete. When applying more than one update, the system may need to reboot between updates. In this case, the system boots directly into USC - LCE and continues the update process. This is an unattended update process.

Updating Devices That Affect Trusted Platform Module Settings

If BitLocker protection is enabled on your system, updating certain components requires you to enter a recovery password or insert a USB flash drive containing a recovery key during the next system boot. This situation occurs only if the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) security setting is set to

On with Pre-boot Measurements. For information on how to set TPM settings, see the BIOS User Guide available at support.dell.com/manuals.

When USC - LCE detects that TPM security is set to On with Pre-boot

Measurements, a warning message displays indicating that certain updates require the recovery password or USB flash drive with the recovery key.

The warning message also indicates which components affect the BitLocker.

You can choose either not to update or to roll back those components by navigating to the Select Updates screen and deselecting the check boxes for the components.



36

Hardware Configuration

USC - LCE provides two different methods for configuring your hardware, both of which are available from the main Hardware Configuration screen:

• Configuration Wizards guide you through setting up system devices.

The Configuration Wizards include: Physical Security Configuration,

System Date/Time Configuration, iDRAC Configuration, and RAID Configuration.

• Advanced Configuration allows you to configure certain devices, such as

Network Interface Controllers (NICs) and the BIOS, using Human

Interface Infrastructure (HII).

• Part Replacement Configuration allows you to automatically update a new part to the previous part’s firmware level.

Important

• If your system does not have a RAID controller, the OS Deployment

wizard bypasses the RAID configuration option and goes directly to "Select an Operating System."

• Using USC-LCE, you can navigate to the RAID configuration page from the Hardware Configuration Tab-> Configuration Wizards->RAID

Configuration.

• For S100 /S300 controllers, virtual disks cannot be created using the

RAID Configuration Wizard in USC - LCE. To create RAID, use the controller utilities by pressing <Ctrl><R> when prompted during system start-up.

• ESX 3.5 and Citrix operating systems do not support series 7 controllers.

• USC has the capacity to display only three storage controllers for RAID configuration on the console.

• If there are any internal storage controller cards on the system, all other external cards cannot be configured. If there are no internal cards present, then external cards can be configured.

Configuring RAID

To configure RAID, follow these steps:

1 Click OS Deployment on the left pane.

USC and USC - LCE


2 Select Configure RAID Now. The system will display all the storage controllers available for configuration, including the series 6 and 7 controllers.

3 Select a storage controller.

The RAID Configuration options are displayed.

4 Complete RAID settings and click Finish.

The RAID configuration is applied on the disks.

Viewing Secure Capability Status and Virtual Disks of the Series 7 Controller

You can create, change or delete the security key on security-capable controllers. Setting a security key allows you to create secured virtual disks using Self Encryption Disks (SED).

To view the secure capability status and virtual disks of the series 7 controller, follow these steps:

1 Click OS Deployment on the left pane. The Configure RAID wizard and

Install operating system options are displayed.

2 Select Configure RAID Now. The number of virtual disks present on every controller is displayed, along with information on whether the virtual disk is secure. The controllers with security capability are displayed suffixed with the phrase Security Capable.

Creating a Secure Virtual Disk on Series 7 Controller

To create a secure virtual disk on series 7 controller, follow these steps:

1 Click OS Deployment on the left pane.

The Configure RAID Now and Go Directly to OS deployment options are displayed.

2 Select Configure RAID Now. The number of virtual disks present on every controller is displayed, along with information on whether the virtual disk is secure.

3 Select Secure Capable Controllers and click Next. Two options are displayed:

• Configure Security Key Now

• Continue Virtual Disk Configuration



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4 Select Configure Security Key Now and click Next. The security key configuration screen is displayed.

5 The following options are displayed:

• Create Security Key

• Change Security Key

• Delete Security Key

6 Choose Create Security Key, if it is not configured and enter the details in the relevant fields on this page.

7 Click Finish. The security key will be created on the controller and the

Configuration Options page is displayed with two options - Express

Wizard and Advanced wizard.

8 Select Advanced Wizard and click Next.

9 Select the required RAID level and click Next. The user interface displays three filters. Here a new filter is displayed for encryption capability.

10 Select Self-encryption from the Encryption Capability dropdown. The self-encryption disks (SEDs) are displayed.

11 Select the required physical disks and click Next.

12 In the Additional Settings page, check the Secure Virtual Disk box and click Next.

13 The Summary Page is displayed with details of the virtual disk attributes.

14 Click Finish.

Updating RAID Controller Firmware

To update RAID controller firmware, follow these steps:

1 Click Platform update on the left pane.

The platform update options are displayed.

2 Select the repository option and click Next.

The components are displayed with current and available firmware updates.

3 Select the storage card and click Apply.

The update process is initiated and the firmware update is completed.

USC and USC - LCE


Physical Security Configuration

Use the Physical Security Configuration Wizard to control access to the system control panel.

To launch the Physical Security Configuration Wizard:

1 Click Hardware Configuration in the left pane.

2 Click Configuration Wizards in the right pane.

3 Click Physical Security Configuration to launch the wizard.

4 Set System Control Panel Access to one of the following options:

• Disabled — You do not have access to information or control, other than the information displayed by the management controller, and you cannot specify actions.

• View Only — You can move through the data screens to obtain information using the system control panel interface.

• View and Modify — You can obtain information and make changes using the system control panel interface.

5 Click Finish to apply the changes.

To return to the Configuration Wizards screen, click Back. To exit the wizard, click Cancel.

System Date/Time Configuration

Use the System Date/Time Configuration Wizard to set the date and time for the system.

To launch the System Date/Time Configuration Wizard:



3 Click System Date/Time Configuration to launch the wizard.

The default system date and system time shown in USC - LCE is the date and time reported by the system BIOS.

4 Modify the System Date and Time (HH:MM:SS AM/PM) values, as required.

5 Click Finish to apply the changes.



40

To return to the Configuration Wizards screen, click Back. To exit the wizard, click Cancel. iDRAC Configuration

Use the iDRAC Configuration Wizard to configure and manage iDRAC parameters.

This wizard is similar to the iDRAC Configuration Utility in the legacy

BIOS operation. You can use the wizard to configure iDRAC parameters applicable to the system, such as LAN, common IP settings, IPv4, IPv6, virtual media, and LAN user configuration.

To launch the iDRAC Configuration Wizard:



3 Click iDRAC Configuration to launch the wizard.

The following steps will walk you through the iDRAC Configuration Wizard: a b

"LAN Configuration"

"Advanced LAN Configuration"

f c d e g h

"Common IP Configuration"

"IPv4 Configuration"

"IPv6 Configuration"

"Virtual Media Configuration"

"LAN User Configuration"

"Confirmation"

LAN Configuration

View or configure iDRAC LAN, IPMI over LAN, MAC address, and NIC selection.

• iDRAC LAN — Enables or disables the iDRAC NIC. Disabling iDRAC LAN deactivates the remaining controls.

• IPMI Over LAN — Enables or disables Intelligent Platform

Management Interface (IPMI) commands on the iDRAC

Local Area Network (LAN) channel.

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• MAC Address — Enables you to view the Media Access Control (MAC) address that uniquely identifies each node in a network (read-only).

• NIC Selection — Enables you to view or edit the NIC mode using the following mode options:

– Dedicated — This option enables remote access to utilize the dedicated network interface available on the Dell Remote Access

Controller (DRAC). Because the DRAC interface is not shared with the host operating system and routes management traffic to a separate physical network, it can be separated from the application traffic.

NOTE: This option is available only if an iDRAC6 Enterprise controller is present in the system.

– Shared with failover — Select this option to share the network interface with the host operating system. The remote access device network interface is fully functional when the host operating system is configured for NIC teaming. The remote access device receives data through the LAN on motherboard LOM 1 and LOM 2, but it transmits data only through LOM 1. If LOM 1 fails, the remote access device fails over to LOM 2 for all data transmission. The remote access device continues to use LOM 2 for data transmission.

If LOM 2 fails, the remote access device fails over all data transmission back to LOM 1.

– Shared with failover - LOM 2 — Select this option to share the network interface with the host operating system. The remote access device network interface is fully functional when the host operating system is configured for NIC teaming. The remote access device receives data through the LAN on Motherboard LOM 1 and LOM 2, but transmits data only through LOM 2. If LOM 2 fails, the remote access device fails over to LOM 1 for all data transmission.

The remote access device continues to use LOM 1 for data transmission. If LOM 1 fails, the remote access device fails over all data transmission back to LOM 2. If one LOM fails but is later restored, you can manually revert back to the original LOM settings by editing the NIC selection through the iDRAC Hardware

Configuration wizard.

– Shared with failover - All LOMS — Select this option to share the network interface with the host operating system. The remote access device network interface is fully functional when the host operating



42 system is configured for NIC teaming. The remote access device receives data through NIC 1, NIC 2, NIC 3, and NIC 4; but it transmits data only through NIC 1. If NIC 1 fails, the remote access device will transmit data on NIC 2. If NIC 2 fails, the remote access device will transmit data on NIC 3. If NIC 3 fails, the remote access device will transmit data on NIC 4. If NIC 4 fails the remote access device fails over all data transmission back to NIC 1, but only if the original NIC 1 failure has been corrected.

NOTE: Shared with failover - All LOMS option may not be available on iDRAC6 Enterprise controller.

Advanced LAN Configuration

1 Set additional attributes for VLAN, VLAN ID, VLAN priority,

Auto Negotiate, LAN speed, and LAN duplex.

• VLAN — Enables or disables the VLAN mode of operation and parameters. When VLAN is enabled, only matched VLAN ID traffic is accepted. When disabled, VLAN ID and VLAN Priority are not available, and any values present for those parameters are ignored.

• VLAN ID — Sets the VLAN ID value. Legal values fall in the range of

1 to 4094, as defined by IEEE 801.1g specification.

• VLAN Priority — Sets the VLAN ID priority value. Legal values fall in the range of 0 to 7, as defined by IEEE 801.11g specification.

• Auto Negotiate — Turns the auto-negotiate feature on or off. When auto-negotiate is on, it determines whether iDRAC automatically sets the Duplex Mode and Network Speed values by communicating with the nearest router or hub. When auto-negotiate is off, you must set the Duplex Mode and Network Speed values manually.

• LAN Speed — Configures the network speed to 100 Mb or 10 Mb to match the user's network environment. This option is not available if

Auto-Negotiate is set to On.

• LAN Duplex — Configures the duplex mode to Full or Half to match the user's network environment. This option is not available if Auto-

Negotiate is set to On.

2 Click OK to save your settings and return to the LAN Configuration menu.

3 Click Next to proceed to "Common IP Configuration."

USC and USC - LCE


Common IP Configuration

Register the iDRAC name, set the domain name from DHCP, and specify the domain name and host name string.

• Register iDRAC Name — If set to Yes, the iDRAC name is registered with the Domain Name System (DNS). If set to No, no registration takes place.

• iDRAC Name — Enables you to view or edit the iDRAC name to be used when registering with DNS. The iDRAC Name string can contain up to 63 printable ASCII characters. You can edit the iDRAC Name string when Register iDRAC Name is No. The information in this field is erased after updating the iDRAC firmware.

• Domain Name from DHCP — If set to Yes, iDRAC acquires the domain name from the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server.

If set to No, you must enter the domain name manually.

• Domain Name — Enables you to view or edit the iDRAC domain name to be used if it is not acquired from DHCP. You can specify a domain name when Domain Name from DHCP is set to No. The information in this field is erased after updating the iDRAC firmware.

• Host Name String — Enables you to specify or edit the host name associated with iDRAC. The information in this field is erased if iDRAC is reset to the original defaults or if the iDRAC firmware is updated.

The Host Name string can contain up to 62 ASCII printable characters.

Click Next to proceed to "IPv4 Configuration."

IPv4 Configuration

Enable or disable IPv4, and set the RMCP+ encryption key, IP address source, subnet mask, default gateway, and DNS server values.

• IPv4 — Enables or disables iDRAC NIC IPv4 protocol support.

Disabling IPv4 deactivates the remaining controls.

• RMCP+Encryption Key — Configures the RMCP+ encryption key using 0 to 40 hexadecimal digits (no blanks allowed). The default setting is all zeros (0).

• IP Address Source — Enables or disables the ability of the iDRAC NIC to acquire an IPv4 address from the DHCP server; deactivate or activate the Ethernet IP Address, Subnet Mask, and Default Gateway controls.



44

• Ethernet IP Address — Enables you to specify or edit a static IPv4 address for the iDRAC NIC. The IP address you enter in the Ethernet IP Address field is reserved, and used only when DHCP fails to resolve and assign an available IP address. The Ethernet IP Address field is limited to a maximum value of 255.255.255.255.

• Subnet Mask — Enables you to specify or edit the static subnet mask for the iDRAC NIC. The subnet mask defines the significant bit positions in the IPv4 address. The Subnet Mask string should be in the form of a netmask, where the more significant bits are all ones (1) with a single transition to all zeros (0) in the lower-order bits. For example:

255.255.255.0. The Subnet Mask field is limited to a maximum value of

255.255.255.255.

• Default Gateway — Enables you to specify or edit the static IPv4 default gateway for the iDRAC NIC. Requests that cannot be resolved locally are routed to this address. The Default Gateway field is limited to a maximum value of 255.255.255.255.

• Get DNS Servers from DHCP — If set to Yes, the iDRAC NIC acquires the Domain Name System (DNS) server information from the DHCP server, and deactivates the DNS Server 1 and DNS Server 2 controls. If set to No, the iDRAC NIC does not acquire the DNS Server information from the DHCP server, and you must manually define the DNS Server 1 and

DNS Server 2 fields.

• DNS Server 1 — Enables you to specify or edit the static IPv4 address for a primary DNS server. This IPv4 address is that of a DNS server utilized for name-to-IPv4 address resolution. The DNS Server 1 field is limited to a maximum value of 255.255.255.255.

• DNS Server 2 — Enables you to specify or edit the static IPv4 address for a secondary DNS server. In the event that DNS Server 1 does not produce results, the DNS Server 2 IPv4 address serves as a backup utilized for name-to-IPv4 address resolution. This field is limited to a maximum value of 255.255.255.255.

Click Next to proceed to "IPv6 Configuration."

IPv6 Configuration

Set IPv6, IP address source, ethernet IP address, IPv6 address, prefix length, default gateway, and DNS server values.

USC and USC - LCE


• IPv6 — Enables or disables the iDRAC NIC IPv6 protocol support.

Disabling IPv6 deactivates the remaining controls.

• IP Address Source — Enables or disables the ability of the iDRAC NIC to acquire an IPv6 address from the DHCP server. Disabling IP Address

Source deactivates the Ethernet IP Address, Prefix Length, and Default

Gateway controls.

• Ethernet IP Address — Enables you to specify or edit the static

IPv6 address for the iDRAC NIC when not provided by DHCP.

This field is limited to a maximum value of

FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF. The multi-cast (ff00:/8) and loopback (::1/128) values are not valid addresses for the Ethernet

IP address and/or the other address related fields described in this section.

IPv6 Address forms supported:

– X:X:X:X:X:X:X:X — In this preferred form, X represents the hexadecimal values of the eight 16-bit pieces of the address. You can omit leading zeros in individual fields, but you must include at least one numeral in every field.

– :: (two colons) — Using this form, you can represent a string of contiguous zero fields in the preferred form. The :: can only appear once in the address. You can also use this form to represent unspecified addresses (0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0).

– x:x:x:x:x:x:d.d.d.d — This form is sometimes more convenient when dealing with a mixed environment of IPv4 and IPv6 nodes. In this form, x represents the hexadecimal values of the six high-order 16-bit pieces of the address, and d represents the decimal values of the four low-order 8-bit pieces of the address (standard IPv4 representation).

• Prefix Length — Enables you to specify or edit the number of significant bits in the IPv6 address to be used as a prefix, up to a maximum of 128.

The prefix length number of bits in the Ethernet IP address is the netmask for the IPv6 network to which the iDRAC NIC belongs. The more significant bits that are defined, the fewer IPv6 addresses will be available on the network with the specified prefix.



46

• Default Gateway — Enables you to specify or edit the static IPv6 default gateway for the iDRAC NIC when not provided by DHCP. This is the address that will be used to route requests when they cannot be resolved locally. The Default Gateway field is limited to a maximum value of

FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF.

• Get DNS Servers from DHCP — If set to Yes, the iDRAC NIC acquires the Domain Name System (DNS) server information from the

DHCP server and deactivates the DNS Server 1 and DNS Server 2 controls. If set to No, the iDRAC NIC does not acquire the DNS server information from the DHCP server, and you must manually specify the

DNS Server 1 and DNS Server 2 fields.

• DNS Server 1 — Enables you to specify or edit the static IPv6 address for a primary DNS server when not provided by DHCP. The DNS Server 1 field is limited to a maximum value of

FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF. The iPv6 address is that of a DNS server utilized for name-to-IPv6 address resolution.

• DNS Server 2 — Enables you to specify or edit the static IPv6 address for a secondary DNS server when not provided by DHCP. In the event that

DNS Server 1 does not produce results, the DNS Server 2 iPv6 address serves as a backup DNS server utilized for name-to-IPv6 address resolution. The DNS Server 2 field is limited to a maximum value of

FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF:FFFF.

Click

Next to proceed to "Virtual Media Configuration."

Virtual Media Configuration

Set Virtual Media and Virtual Flash parameters.

The Virtual Media and Virtual Flash features are available only if the system includes iDRAC 6 Enterprise. The Virtual Flash feature is only available if an

SD card is installed and enabled in the iDRAC.

• Virtual Media — Select attached, auto-attached, or detached mode. If set to Attach, the virtual media devices are available for use in the current operating environment. Virtual Media enables a floppy image, floppy drive, or CD/DVD drive from your system to be available on the managed systems console, as if the floppy image or drive were present (attached or connected) on the local system. If set to Detach, you cannot access virtual

USC and USC - LCE

LC1_3.book Page 47 Monday, December 7, 2009 3:14 PM media devices. If set to Auto-Attach, the virtual media device is automatically mapped to the server every time the user physically connects a media.

• vFlash Status — Displays the status as either:

• Formatted

• Not formatted

• Not present

• Not licensed (the vFlash is not Dell-licensed)

For more information on supported virtual media devices, see the Integrated

Dell Remote Access Controller 6 (iDRAC6) User’s Guide available at

support.dell.com/manuals.

• vFlash — Enable or disable the use of flash memory that resides in the iDRAC file system. This memory can be used for persistent storage and accessed by the system. If set to Enabled, the virtual flash card is configured as a virtual drive; it appears in the boot order, allowing you to boot from the virtual flash card. If set to Disabled, virtual flash is not accessible.

Prerequisites to Enable or Disable vFlash

• To boot from the virtual flash, the virtual flash image must be bootable.

The virtual flash feature of iDRAC requires a formatted secure digital

(SD) card that is 256 MB or greater. This feature can be enabled only if a valid image is present on the SD card. See the system’s iDRAC device for more information.

User Guide

for your

• Dell-branded vFlash media is required for the virtual flash partition.

Click Next to proceed to "LAN User Configuration."

LAN User Configuration

Set account access, account-related attributes, and smart card authentication using one of the following methods:

• Auto-Discovery - Enables or disables auto-discovery.

• Provisioning Server Address - Enables you to enter the Provisioning Server address; valid address formats are IPv4, IPv6, or the provisioning server hostname.

Provisioning Server address criteria are:



48

• A list of IP addresses and/or hostnames and ports separated by comma.

• Hostname can be fully qualified.

• IPv4 address – starts with ‘(‘ and ends with ‘)’ when specified at the same time with a hostname.

• Each IP address or hostname can be optionally followed by a ‘:’ and a port number.

• Example of valid strings are - hostname, hostname.domain.com

• Account Access — Enables or disables account access. Disabling account access deactivates all other fields on the LAN User Configuration screen.

• Account Username — Enables the modification of an iDRAC username.

The Account Username field accepts a maximum of 16 printable

ASCII characters.

• Password — Enables an administrator to specify or edit the iDRAC user's password. The Password string is encrypted and cannot be seen or displayed after this property is set. The Password field accepts a maximum of 20 characters.

• Confirm Password — Re-enter the iDRAC user's password to confirm.

• Account Privilege — Assigns the user's maximum privilege on the IPMI

LAN channel to one of the following user groups: Admin, Operator, User, or No Access.

– Admin — Privileges: Login to iDRAC, Configure iDRAC, Configure

Users, Clear Logs, Execute Server Control Commands, Access

Console Redirection, Access Virtual Media, Test Alerts, Execute

Diagnostic Commands

– Operator — Privileges: Login to iDRAC, Configure iDRAC,

Configure Users, Execute Server Control Commands, Access Console

Redirection, Access Virtual Media, Test Alerts, Execute Diagnostic

Commands

– User — Privileges: Login to iDRAC

– No Access — No assigned privileges

• Smart Card Authentication — Enables or disables Smart Card

Authentication for iDRAC log in. If enabled, a Smart Card must be installed to access the iDRAC.

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– Enabled — Enabling Smart Card login disables all command-line out-of-band interfaces including SSM, Telnet, Serial, remote RACADM, and IPMI over LAN.

– Disabled — On subsequent logins from the graphical user interface

(GUI), the regular login page displays. All command-line out-of-band interfaces—including Secure Shell (SSH), Telnet, Serial, and

RACADM—are set to their default states.

– Enabled with RACADM — Enabling smart card login with

RACADM disables all command-line out-of-band interfaces— including SSM, Telnet, Serial, remote RACADM, and IPMI over

LAN—while still allowing RACADM access.

Click

Next to proceed to "Summary."

Summary

Displays the summary of the iDRAC configuration changes.

Click Apply to proceed to "Confirmation."

Confirmation

Confirm the changes you made by viewing the Summary screen. You can apply the changes, or cancel all changes and exit the iDRAC Configuration

Wizard. If you apply the changes, a Please Wait message displays while your changes are saved. When the operation is complete, a final

Confirmation screen displays indicating whether the changes were applied successfully, left unchanged, or failed.

Click Finish to save your settings and return to the main wizards screen.

RAID Configuration

If your system has one or more supported PERC RAID controller(s) with

PERC 6.1 firmware or greater or SAS RAID controller(s), you have the option of using the RAID Configuration wizard to configure a virtual disk as the boot device.

To launch the RAID Configuration Wizard:



3 Click RAID Configuration to launch the wizard.



The following steps will walk you through the RAID Configuration wizard: a

"View Current Configuration"

b c

"Select RAID Controller"

"Foreign Configuration Found"

f d e g

"Select the Express or Advanced Wizard"

"Select Basic Settings"

"Express Wizard Only - Assign a Hot Spare"

"Express Wizard Only - Review Summary"

j i h

"Advanced Wizard Only - Select Physical Disks"

"Advanced Wizard Only - Additional Settings"

"Advanced Wizard Only - Review Summary"

View Current Configuration

The View Current Configuration screen displays the attributes of any virtual disks already configured on the supported RAID controllers attached to the system. You have two options:

• Accept the existing virtual disks without making changes. To select this option, click Back. If you intend to install the operating system on an existing virtual disk, ensure that the virtual disk size and RAID level are appropriate.

• Delete all existing virtual disks and use the RAID configuration wizard to create a single, new virtual disk to be used as the new boot device.

To select this option, click Next.

NOTE: RAID 0 does not provide data redundancy. Other RAID levels provide data redundancy and may enable you to reconstruct data in the event of a disk failure.

Select RAID Controller

The Select RAID Controller screen displays all supported RAID controllers attached to the system. Select the RAID controller on which you want to create the virtual disk, and then click Next.



Foreign Configuration Found

The Foreign Configuration Found screen displays only if a foreign configuration resides on the selected RAID controller.

A foreign configuration is a set of physical disks containing a RAID configuration that has been introduced to the system but is not yet managed by the RAID controller to which it is attached. You may have a foreign configuration if physical disks have been moved from a RAID controller on another system to a RAID controller on the current system.

You have two options: Ignore Foreign Configuration and Clear Foreign

Configuration.

• If the foreign configuration contains data that you want to keep, select Ignore Foreign Configuration. If you select this option, the disk space containing the foreign configuration is not available for use in a new virtual disk.

• To delete all data on the physical disks containing the foreign configuration, select Clear Foreign Configuration. This option frees the disk space containing the foreign configuration and makes it available for use in a new virtual disk.

Click Next after making your selection.

Select the Express or Advanced Wizard

• Create a virtual disk using either the Express Wizard or the

Advanced Wizard.

• The Express Wizard enables you to select the RAID level only.

The Express Wizard then selects a virtual disk configuration for the user which implements the selected RAID level and optionally enables you to assign a hot spare. Select Express Wizard to quickly create a virtual disk using recommended settings. This wizard is not available on all controllers.

NOTE: If the available physical disks are using both Serial Attached

SCSI (SAS) and Serial ATA (SATA) protocols, it is recommended that you use the Advanced Wizard.

• The Advanced Wizard enables you to specify which protocol is used when creating the disk pool for the virtual disks. A disk pool is a logical grouping of disks attached to a RAID controller on which one or more virtual disks can be created. In addition to the RAID level, the Advanced Wizard allows



52 more flexibility with physical disk selection, span configuration, cache policy, and other virtual disk attributes. Select Advanced Wizard to specify all virtual disk settings.

NOTE: It is recommended that you have a good knowledge of RAID and your hardware configuration to use the Advanced Wizard.


Select Basic Settings

Select the RAID type for the virtual disk from the RAID Level drop-down menu:

• RAID 0 — Stripes data across the physical disks. RAID 0 does not maintain redundant data. When a physical disk fails in a RAID 0 virtual disk, there is no method for rebuilding the data. RAID 0 offers good read and write performance with 0 data redundancy.

• RAID 1 — Mirrors or duplicates data from one physical disk to another.

If a physical disk fails, data can be rebuilt using the data from the other side of the mirror. RAID 1 offers good read performance and average write performance with good data redundancy.

• RAID 5 — Stripes data across the physical disks, and uses parity information to maintain redundant data. If a physical disk fails, the data can be rebuilt using the parity information. RAID 5 offers good read performance and slower write performance with good data redundancy.

• RAID 6 — Stripes data across the physical disks, and uses two sets of parity information for additional data redundancy. If one or two physical disks fail, the data can be rebuilt using the parity information. RAID 6 offers better data redundancy and read performance but slower write performance with very good data redundancy.

• RAID 10 — Combines mirrored physical disks with data striping. If a physical disk fails, data can be rebuilt using the mirrored data. RAID 10 offers good read and write performance with good data redundancy.

• RAID 50 — A dual-level array that uses multiple RAID 5 sets in a single array. A single physical disk failure can occur in each of the RAID 5 without any loss of data on the entire array. Although the RAID 50 has increased write performance, when a physical disk fails and reconstruction takes place, performance decreases, data/program access is slower, and transfer speeds on the array are affected.

USC and USC - LCE


• RAID 60 — Combines the straight block level striping of RAID 0 with the distributed double parity of RAID 6. Your system must have at least eight physical disk to use RAID 60. Because RAID 60 is based on RAID 6, two physical disk from each of the RAID 6 sets could fail without loss of data. Failures while a single physical disk is rebuilding in one RAID 6 set do not lead to data loss. RAID 60 has improved fault tolerance because more than half the number of total physical disk must fail for data loss to occur.

NOTE: The virtual disk size is automatically calculated and displayed in the Size field.

You cannot change the virtual disk size. The disk size may be displayed inaccurately after you complete RAID configuration for a SAS 6/iR controller.

If you are using the Express Wizard, proceed to "Express Wizard Only -

Assign a Hot Spare."

If you are using the Advanced Wizard, click Next and proceed to "Advanced

Wizard Only - Select Physical Disks."

Express Wizard Only - Assign a Hot Spare

A hot spare is an unused backup physical disk that can be used to rebuild data from a redundant virtual disk. A hot spare can be used only with a redundant

RAID level. Hot spares also have requirements for physical disk size. The hot spare must be as big as or bigger than the smallest physical disk included in the virtual disk. If the RAID level and physical disk availability do not meet these requirements, a hot spare will not be assigned.

To assign a hot spare to the virtual disk:

1 Select the Assign a Hot Spare Disk check box or leave the check box clear.

2 Click Next to continue with "Express Wizard Only - Review Summary."

Express Wizard Only - Review Summary

Review the virtual disk attributes you selected before creating a virtual disk.

CAUTION: Clicking the Finish button deletes all existing virtual disks except for any foreign configurations that you specified should be kept. All data residing on the deleted virtual disks will be lost.

Click Finish to create a virtual disk with the displayed attributes.

OR



To return to a previous screen to review or change selections, click Back.

To exit the Wizard without making changes, click Cancel. For more control over the virtual disk attributes, click Cancel and use the Advanced Wizard to create the virtual disk.

Advanced Wizard Only - Select Physical Disks

Use the Select Physical Disks screen to select the physical disks to be used for the virtual disk. The number of physical disks required for the virtual disk varies depending on the RAID level. The minimum and maximum numbers of physical disks required for the RAID level are displayed on the screen.

• Select the protocol for the disk pool from the Protocol drop-down menu:

Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) or Serial ATA (SATA). SAS drives are used for high performance, and SATA drives provide a more cost-effective solution. A disk pool is a logical grouping of physical disks on which one or more virtual disks can be created. The protocol is the type of technology used to implement RAID.

• Select the media type for the disk pool from the Media Type drop-down menu: Hard Disk Drives (HDD) or Solid State Disks (SSD). HDDs use traditional rotational magnetic media for data storage, and SSDs implement flash memory for data storage.

• Select the span length from the Select Span Length drop-down menu.

The span length value refers to the number of physical disks included in each span. Span length applies only to RAID 10, RAID 50, and RAID 60.

The Select Span Length drop-down menu is active only if the user has selected RAID-10, RAID-50, or RAID 60.

• Select the physical disks using the check boxes at the bottom of the screen.

Your physical disk selection must meet the requirements of the RAID level and span length. To select all of the physical disks, click Select All.

Click Next after making your selections.

Advanced Wizard Only - Additional Settings

Use the Additional Settings screen to specify cache policies and stripe element size. You can also assign a hot spare to the virtual disk.



• Select the stripe element size from the Stripe Element Size drop-down menu. The stripe element size is the amount of disk space a stripe consumes on each physical disk in the stripe. The Stripe Element Size drop-down menu may contain more options than initially displayed on the screen. Use the up-arrow and down-arrow keys to display all options.

• Select the read policy from the Read Policy drop-down menu.

– Read Ahead — The controller reads sequential sectors of the virtual disk when seeking data. The Read Ahead policy may improve system performance if the data is written to sequential sectors of the virtual disk.

– No Read Ahead — The controller does not use the Read Ahead policy.

The No Read Ahead policy may improve system performance if the data is random and not written to sequential sectors.

– Adaptive Read Ahead — The controller initiates the Read Ahead policy only if the most recent read requests accessed sequential sectors of the disk. If the recent read requests accessed random sectors of the disk, then the controller uses the No Read Ahead policy.

• Select the write policy from the Write Policy drop-down menu.

– Write Through — The controller sends a write-request completion signal only after the data is written to the disk. The Write Through policy provides better data security than the Write Back policy since the system assumes the data is available only after it has been written to the disk.

– Write Back — The controller sends a write-request completion signal as soon as the data is in the controller cache but has not yet been written to disk. The Write Back policy may provide faster write performance, but it also provides less data security since a system failure could prevent the data from being written to disk.

– Force Write Back — The write cache is enabled regardless of whether the controller has an operational battery. If the controller does not have an operational battery, data loss may occur in the event of a power failure.

• To assign a hot spare to the virtual disk, select the Assign a Hot Spare Disk check box. A hot spare is an unused backup physical disk that can be used to rebuild data from a redundant virtual disk.



• Select the physical disk to be used as the hot spare from the Hot Spare

Disk drop-down menu.A hot spare can be used only with a redundant

RAID level. Hot spares also have requirements for physical disk size. The hot spare cannot be smaller than the smallest physical disk included in the virtual disk. If the RAID level and physical disk availability do not meet these requirements, the Assign a Hot Spare Disk check box is disabled.


Advanced Wizard Only - Review Summary

The Summary screen displays the virtual disk attributes based on your selections.

CAUTION: Clicking the Finish button deletes all existing virtual disks except for any foreign configurations that you specified should be kept. All data residing on the deleted virtual disks will be lost.

Click Finish to create a virtual disk with the displayed attributes.

OR

To return to a previous screen to review or change selections, click Back. To exit the Wizard without making changes, click Cancel.

Advanced Configuration

Use Advanced Configuration to modify advanced settings.

1 Select Hardware Configuration from the left menu

2 Click Advanced Configuration in the right panel.

3 Select the device you want to configure.

Depending on the configuration setting changes, the following message may be displayed: One or more of the settings requires a reboot to be saved and

activated. Do you want to reboot now?. You can select No and continue making additional configuration changes or perform other tasks such as operating system deployment. All changes will be applied during the next system boot.

USC - LCE Hardware Configuration allows you to configure other devices through Human Interface Infrastructure (HII). HII is a UEFI-standard method for viewing and setting a device's configuration. You can utilize a single utility to configure multiple devices that had different pre-boot


LC1_3.book Page 57 Monday, December 7, 2009 3:14 PM configuration utilities in the past. HII also provides localization, meaning that utilities that were previously English-only, such as the BIOS <F2> setup, may now have a localized HII equivalent.

As of the current release of USC - LCE, your server's default configuration contains setups for two device types that are supported in the Hardware

Configuration Advanced Configuration: the system BIOS and NIC.

• The BIOS setup is very similar to the current setup utility (press the <F2> key during system startup); however, HII can access only a subset of the utilities available in system startup.

• The NIC setup reflects various NIC attributes, some of which were visible in the controller option read-only memory (ROM). However, many of these attributes were previously only modifiable in Operating System utilities.

Depending on your system configuration, other device types may also appear in Advanced Configuration, if they support the HII configuration standard.

Advanced Configuration wizard allows you to configure the following:

• System BIOS Settings

• Intel Pro/1000 PT Server Adapter

• Intel Pro/1000 PT Dual Port Server Adapter

• Intel Gigabit VT Quad Port Server Adapter

• Intel 10 Gigabit AF DA Dual Port Server Adapter

• Intel 10 Gigabit AT Port Server Adapter

• Intel 10 Gigabit XF SR Port Server Adapter

• Broadcom (Dual Port) 10G KX4

• Broadcom (Quad Port) GBE

• Intel (Quad Port) GBE

• Intel (Dual Port) 10G KX4

• Broadcom (Dual Port) 10G SFP+

• Broadcom (Quad Port) 10/100/1000 BASET

• Intel (Quad Port) 10/100/1000 BASET

• Intel (Dual Port) 10/100/1000 BASET

• Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet

• Broadcom 5709C NetXtreme II GigE

• Broadcom 5709C NetXtreme II GigE



58

• Broadcom 57710 NetXtreme II 10GigE

Important

• You can configure only one NIC at a time.

• Integrated Broadcom NICs are controlled both by the BIOS and by settings stored on the device itself. As a result, the Boot Protocol field in the HII of integrated NICs has no effect; this setting is instead controlled by the BIOS on the Integrated Devices screen. To set integrated NICs to an iSCSI or PXE boot mode, select System BIOS Settings, then select

Integrated Devices. On this screen, you will see a list of each embedded

NIC—select the appropriate value: Enabled for no boot capability,

Enabled with PXE to use the NIC for PXE boot, or Enabled with iSCSI to use the NIC to boot from an iSCSI target.

Part Replacement

Part replacement configuration is an automatic update of the firmware for a new part to the level of the previous part if enabled; the update occurs automatically when you reboot your system after replacing the part. It is activated by a license, and can be disabled remotely, as well as through the

USC interface.

Prerequisites

• Part replacement configuration is a licensed feature. Your system should be equipped with a Dell-licensed vFlash card for this functionality.

• When Collect System Inventory On Restart is disabled, the cache of system inventory information may become stale if new components are added without manually entering USC after power on.

• The replaced card should belong to the same family as the previous component.

Supported Devices

The following devices can have part replacement firmware updates:

• NICs (Broadcom)

• PERC, SAS and CERC series 6 and 7

• Power Supply Units

USC and USC - LCE


Collect System Inventory on Restart

When you enable the Collect System Inventory On Restart property, hardware inventory and part configuration information is discovered and compared with previous system inventory information on every system restart.

1 Click Hardware Configuration on the left pane.

2 Click on Part Replacement Configuration.

3 Click either Enabled or Disabled from the Collect System Inventory on

Restart dropdown.

Part Firmware Update

This setting allows you to configure the action to be taken when part replacement is detected.

From the part firmware update drop down, select one of the following:

• Disabled - Firmware update on replaced parts will not be performed.

• Allow version upgrade only - Firmware update on replaced parts will only be performed if the firmware version of the new part is lower than the existing part.

• Match firmware of replaced part - Firmware on the new part will be updated to the version of the original part.

Configuring a Local FTP Server

If your organization’s users are on a private network that does not have access to external sites, specifically ftp.dell.com, you can provide platform updates from a locally-configured FTP server. The users in your organization can access updates or drivers for their Dell server from the local FTP server instead of ftp.dell.com. A local FTP server is not required for users who have access to ftp.dell.com through a proxy server. Check ftp.dell.com frequently to make sure your local FTP server has the most recent updates.

Requirements for a Local FTP Server

The following requirements apply when configuring a local FTP server.

• The local FTP server must use the default port (21).



60

• You must use USC Settings wizard to configure the network card on your

system before accessing updates from the local FTP server. See "Using

USC Settings Wizard" for more information.

Creating the Local FTP Server Using Dell Server Updates DVD

1 Download the Dell Server Updates ISO to your system from Dell Support site at support.dell.com, and burn it to a DVD.

2 Copy the repository folder of the DVD you just created to the root directory of the local FTP server.

3 Use this local FTP server for Platform Update.

Creating the Local FTP Server Using Dell Repository Update Manager

See the Dell Repository Manager User Guide on the Dell Support site at

support.dell.com/manuals for information on creating a local FTP server using

Dell Repository Update Manager.

Accessing Updates on a Local FTP Server

The users in your organization need to know the IP address of the local FTP server in order to specify the online repository when using the

OS Deployment wizard.

If your users are accessing the local FTP server through a proxy server, then they need to know the following information for the proxy server:

• The proxy server host name or IP address

• The port number of the proxy server

• The user name required for authentication on the proxy server

• The password required for authentication on the proxy server

• The type of proxy server

Configuring a Local USB Device

If your organization’s users are on a private network that does not have access to external sites like ftp.dell.com, you can provide updates from a locally-configured USB device.

The USB device you use as a repository must be able to hold at least 3 GB of content.

USC and USC - LCE


A USB device is not required for users that have access to ftp.dell.com through a proxy server.

For the latest updates, download the most recent Dell Server Updates ISO for your system from the Dell Support website at support.dell.com.

Creating the Local USB Repository Using Dell Server Updates DVD

To create a repository on a local USB device using Dell Server Updates DVD:

1 Download the Dell Server Updates ISO to your system from the Dell

Support site at support.dell.com, and burn it to a DVD.

2 Copy the repository folder of the DVD you just created to the root directory of the USB device.

3 Use this USB device for Platform Update with the catalog location as

\repository.

Creating the Local USB Repository Using Dell Repository Update

Manager

See the Dell Repository Manager User Guide on the Dell Support site at

support.dell.com/manuals for information on creating a local USB device using Dell Repository Update Manager.




Unified Server Configurator and Unified Server Configurator - Lifecycle Controller Enabled. Dell Lifecycle Controller 1.3

Unified Server Configurator and

Unified Server Configurator - Lifecycle

Controller Enabled

What’s new in USC/USC-LCE 1.3

USC-LCE

USC and USC-LCE Support for:

Common Features

Launching the Product

Using the Wizards

Disabling USC or USC-LCE

Canceling a Request to Enter System Services

Using USC Settings Wizard

Deploying the Operating System Using the OS Deployment Wizard

x

x

Hardware Diagnostics

Repairing USC

Repairing USC - LCE

How to Upgrade to an iDRAC6 Express Card

Installing the iDRAC6 Express Card

Transferring an iDRAC6 Express Card

Removing the iDRAC6 Express Card

Unified Server Configurator - Lifecycle Controller

Enabled Unique Features

Updating USC - LCE

Updating the Platform using the Platform Update Wizard

Rolling Back to Previous BIOS and Firmware Versions

Hardware Configuration

User Guide

Part Replacement

Configuring a Local FTP Server

Requirements for a Local FTP Server

Creating the Local FTP Server Using Dell Server Updates DVD

Creating the Local FTP Server Using Dell Repository Update Manager

Accessing Updates on a Local FTP Server

Configuring a Local USB Device

Creating the Local USB Repository Using Dell Server Updates DVD

Creating the Local USB Repository Using Dell Repository Update

Manager

Related manuals

Dell

Lifecycle Controller 1.5

Dell

Lifecycle Controller 1.6.5

Dell

Lifecycle Controller 1.5

Dell

Lifecycle Controller 1.5.5

Dell

Lifecycle Controller 1.4

Dell

IDRAC6

Dell

General Solution Resources

Dell

iDRAC6 for Blade Servers Version 2.1

Dell

iDRAC6 for Blade Servers Version 2.2

Dell

iDRAC6 for Monolithic Servers Version 1.2

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