Updating Server BIOS, Firmware, Drivers, and Applications. Dell V1.2, OpenManage Essentials v1.2

Updating Server BIOS, Firmware, Drivers, and

Applications

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With the System Update feature in OpenManage Essentials, you can:

• Upgrade and downgrade firmware, drivers, BIOS, application, and OpenManage Server Administrator.

• Compare the drivers and firmware on the inventoried servers and modular blade enclosures with a source catalog and update them if needed.

NOTE: System updates are only supported on a LAN and not over a WAN. To apply system updates to devices outside the datacenter, install another instance of OpenManage Essentials that is local to that area. Inventory automatically starts after the updates are applied to a target server.

NOTE: OpenManage Essentials supports system updates on 11th generation and 12th generation of

PowerEdge servers using iDRAC with Lifecycle Controller.

• Filter devices by clicking the Filtered by option. You can either select a query or select the devices/groups from the device tree.

Check for these prerequisites before you update systems:

• Internet is accessible and you can access dell.com (port 80) and ftp.dell.com (port 21) if you are using online catalog source.

• DNS is resolved.

NOTE: When providing system credentials, if the username has spaces or periods, the username must be provided within quotation marks. For example, "localhost\johnny marr" or "us-domain\tim verlaine". Spaces and periods can be used in usernames for OpenMange System Administrator Tasks, Generic Command Line Tasks (local system),

OpenManage Systems Administrator Deployment Tasks. System Updates (In Band, through OpenManage System

Administrator) also support spaces and periods. Out of Band patching (through RAC device) or commands such as

RACADM do not support space or period in the username.

Viewing the System Update Page

To view the System Update page, click Manage → System Update.

By default, the system update page displays all the discovered servers. You can filter the devices by clicking the Filter by: link to display select devices or device groups.

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Figure 5. System Update Page

1. Compliance report. See Compliance Report

2. Tabbed systems information. See

Compliant Systems ,

Non Compliant Systems ,

Non Inventoried Systems , and

Issues and Resolutions

.

3. System update tasks. See All System Update Tasks

Understanding Server BIOS Firmware and Drivers Sources

There are multiple sources for obtaining firmware and drivers for the servers.

• Online source—Default option which obtains latest driver and firmware versions from ftp.dell.com.

NOTE: OpenManage Essentials automatically checks for updates and displays a message if a newer version is available.

• File system source—Drivers and firmware from the Dell OpenManage Server Update Utility (SUU) media.

• Repository Manager file—Customized selection of specific drivers and firmware generated from the Dell

Repository Manager tool.

Choosing the Right Source for Updates

• Recommended Option—Use the online source to ensure that you consistently have the latest drivers and firmware available from Dell or use the Dell Server Update Utility (SUU) option for a qualified set of drivers and firmware.

• Create Custom Catalog—Using this option gives you maximum control over driver and firmware revisions in your environment because you select them individually from either the SUU media or online source using the Dell

Repository Manager. You can install Repository Manager, a separate tool, from the OpenManage Essentials installation package.

Selecting an Update Catalog Source

1.

From OpenManage Essentials, click Manage → System Update → Select a Catalog Source.

2.

In Select a Catalog Source, select an option, and click Import now.

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Viewing Comparison Results

Viewing Compliant Servers

To view compliant servers:

1.

Click Manage → System Update.

2.

In System Update, select the Compliant Systems tab.

Viewing Non-Compliant Servers

To view non-compliant servers:

1.

Click Manage → System Update.

2.

In System Update, select the Non-Compliant Systems tab.

The servers with drivers and firmware versions that are different from the catalog are displayed.

Viewing Non-Inventoried Servers

To view non-inventoried servers:

1.

Click Manage → System Update.

2.

In System Update, select the Non-Inventoried Systems tab.

The servers that are not inventoried are displayed.

NOTE: CMC firmware updates (CMC active controller only) are also displayed in these results.

Viewing Servers With Issues and Resolutions

To view servers with issues and resolutions:

1.

Click Manage → System Update.

2.

In System Update, select the Issues and Resolutions For Updates tab.

The servers with issues and the resolutions are displayed. For more information, see

Issues and Resolutions Use

Case Scenarios .

System Update Use Case Scenarios

The table below provides use case scenarios about how system updates occur based on different protocols and the update modes.

Protocol Used for

Server IP

Discovery and

Inventory

SNMP

SNMP

Protocol Used for iDRAC IP

Discovery and

Inventory

SNMP

SNMP

Preferred System

Update Mode Selected in Advanced Settings

OpenManage Server

Administrator iDRAC

Credentials for

System Update

Server

Server

Actual Update Mode

All components are updated using OpenManage Server

Administrator.

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Protocol Used for

Server IP

Discovery and

Inventory

Protocol Used for iDRAC IP

Discovery and

Inventory

Preferred System

Update Mode Selected in Advanced Settings

Credentials for

System Update

Actual Update Mode

WMI

WMI

SNMP

SNMP

WMI

WMI

SNMP

SNMP

WS-MAN

WS-MAN

WS-MAN

WS-MAN

OpenManage Server

Administrator iDRAC

OpenManage Server

Administrator iDRAC

OpenManage Server

Administrator iDRAC

Server

Server

Server iDRAC

Server iDRAC

NOTE: When an iDRAC IP is discovered using SNMP, iDRAC software inventory is not retrieved and all components are updated are using Server

Administrator irrespective of the preferred system update mode selected.

All components are updated using OpenManage Server

Administrator.

All components are updated using Server Administrator because the protocol used for iDRAC discovery and inventory was SNMP.

All components are updated using OpenManage Server

Administrator.

BIOS, firmware, and applications are updated using iDRAC.

NOTE: When an iDRAC IP is discovered using WS-

MAN, the iDRAC software inventory is retrieved and the components are updated using iDRAC.

However, if drivers are present in addition to BIOS, firmware, and applications, then all the components are updated using

Server Administrator and not iDRAC.

All components are updated using OpenManage Server

Administrator.

BIOS, firmware, and applications are updated using iDRAC.

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Protocol Used for

Server IP

Discovery and

Inventory

Protocol Used for iDRAC IP

Discovery and

Inventory

Preferred System

Update Mode Selected in Advanced Settings

Credentials for

System Update

Actual Update Mode

WS-MAN (ESXibased server)

WS-MAN (ESXibased server)

WS-MAN (ESXibased server)

WS-MAN (ESXibased server)

OpenManage Server

Administrator iDRAC iDRAC iDRAC

NOTE: When an iDRAC IP is discovered using WS-

MAN, the iDRAC software inventory is retrieved and the components are updated using iDRAC.

However, if drivers are present in addition to BIOS, firmware, and applications, then all the components are updated using

Server Administrator and not iDRAC.

All components are updated using iDRAC. For ESXi-based servers, all components are updated using iDRAC , irrespective of preferred system update mode selected.

All components are updated using iDRAC.

Not applicable.

The server IP is not discovered.

Not applicable.

The server IP is not discovered.

WS-MAN

WS-MAN

OpenManage Server

Administrator iDRAC iDRAC iDRAC

Applying System Updates

NOTE: You can only update systems using iDRAC6 and above if they are discovered using the WS-Man protocol.

NOTE: Applying system updates out-of-band (iDRAC) is supported only for 32-bit Dell Update Packages (DUPs). If you select a catalog that has no 32-bit DUPs for applying an out-of-band system update, OpenManage Essentials does not display any updates under Select Updates to Apply.

NOTE: Applying system updates (in-band) requires that the Windows Management Instrumentation service is running on the selected targets.

NOTE: Applying system updates requires the availability of the default Temp folder (C:\Users\<username>\AppData

\Local\Temp). Ensure that the Temp folder is not deleted or moved.

To apply system updates:

1.

Click Manage → System Update.

2.

In System Update, select the Non-Compliant Systems tab.

NOTE: You can also filter systems either based on the groups or the devices by clicking the Filtered by:link.

Select the devices in the Select System Update Target Devices and Device Groups window and click Apply.

3.

In Non-Compliant systems, select the systems you want to update.

NOTE: You can update multiple systems at the same time.

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4.

Click Apply Selected Updates.

A window is displayed to schedule updates

NOTE: Chassis and blades are not associated for updates. They are treated as individual components and you must manually select them.

NOTE: Chassis, blade server BIOS, and iDRAC version interdependency management is not available.

5.

Provide a task name.

6.

Review the selected updates.

7.

Set the task schedule to Run Now or set a specific date and time.

8.

If you do not want to apply the changes immediately, clear After update, if required, reboot the device. Changes are not activated until the next time you reboot.

9.

If you want to skip the signature and hash check on the system update package, select Skip Signature and Hash

Check.

10. Enter the operating system administrative or iDRAC credentials for the managed server.

Examples: In a Windows domain environment, enter <Domain\Administrator> and password. In a Windows workgroup environment, enter <LocalHost\Administrator> and the password

In a Linux environment, enter root and password. If you want to apply system updates using sudo, select Enable

Sudo and update the SSH port number.

NOTE: Before you apply system updates using sudo, create a new user account, edit the sudoers file using the visudo command, and add the following:

– For target systems running a 32-bit operating systems: Cmnd_Alias OMEUPDATE = /bin/ tar, /opt/dell/srvadmin/bin/omexec,/tmp/LinuxPreInstallPackage/ runbada,/tmp/LinuxPreInstallPackage/omexec <sudo_username>

ALL=OMEUPDATE, NOPASSWD:OMEUPDATE .

– For target systems running a 64-bit operating systems: Cmnd_Alias OMEUPDATE = /bin/ tar, /opt/dell/srvadmin/bin/omexec,/tmp/LinuxPreInstallPackage64/ runbada,/tmp/LinuxPreInstallPackage64/omexec <sudo_username>

ALL=OMEUPDATE, NOPASSWD:OMEUPDATE .

NOTE: Applying system updates using sudo is not supported for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server targets.

11. Click Finish.

NOTE: You cannot schedule Windows and Linux updates to occur using the same task. Create a separate task for each.

Viewing Updated Status

To view and confirm that updates were applied successfully, click Manage → System Update → Summary. The Task

Execution History pane displays if the updates were applied successfully.

View Active Catalog

Select to view the catalog file that is currently in use for doing software updates.

Field

Source

Source Type

Description

Displays the source. The source is either Server Update

Utility, FTP, or Repository Manager.

The type for source from which the catalog file is taken.

For example Dell ftp site.

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Field

Release ID

Release Date

Newer version available

Description

The unique identification number assigned to the released catalog file.

The date on which the catalog file was released.

Displays if a newer version is available.

Issues and Resolutions Use Case Scenarios

The following table provides information about the issues that are displayed in the Issues and Resolutions for Updates tab.

Issue

PowerEdge VRTX was inventoried using either SNMP or

IPMI.

Resolution

Perform discovery and inventory of PowerEdge VRTX using WS-Man.

iDRAC was inventoried using either SNMP or IPMI.

Perform discovery and inventory of iDRAC using WS-Man.

iDRAC does not meet the minimum version requirements.

Minimum supported iDRAC version for modular servers is

2.20 and for monolithic servers is 1.4. Manually install the required iDRAC versions to proceed.

iDRAC does not have the required license.

The server does not have Server Administrator installed on it or is discovered using SSH. This issue occurs if:

• A Windows-based server without Server

Administrator is discovered using WMI.

• A Linux-based server with or without Server

Administrator is discovered using SSH.

iDRAC requires license to perform system updates which can be obtained using Dell License Manager.

Deploy Server Administrator on this server. Discover and run inventory using either SNMP or WMI protocol.

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