Dell Command | PowerShell Provider Version 1.
Notes, cautions, and warnings NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your product. CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem. WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death. Copyright © 2015 - 2017 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Dell, EMC, and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries.
Contents 1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................5 Document scope and intended audience............................................................................................................................ 5 Other documents you may need........................................................................................................................................ 5 What’s new in this release..............
Primary components of Desired State Configuration................................................................................................. 25 Sample scripts............................................................................................................................................................26 5 Setting up Dell Command | PowerShell Provider in a Windows PreInstallation Environment....................................................................................................
1 Introduction Dell Command | PowerShell Provider is a PowerShell module that provides BIOS configuration capability to Dell client platforms using the Windows PowerShell Interface. Dell Command | PowerShell Provider can be installed as plug-in software registered within a Windows PowerShell environment. This document describes the supported attributes, and error reporting in Dell Command | PowerShell Provider.
• Support for the following new BIOS attributes: – In AdvancedBootOptions category * AttemptLegacyBoot * UefiBootPathSecurity – In BIOSSetupAdvancedMode category * AdvancedMode – In Maintenance category * AllowBIOSDowngrade * BiosAutoRcvr * BiosIntegrityCheck * BiosRcvrFrmHdd – In Manageability category * UsbProvision – In MiscellaneousDevices category * MiniCardSSDDevice * OnboardModem * PCMCIA * SdCard * SdCardBoot * SdCardReadOnly – In Performance category * CpuSnoopMode * IntelRapidStartInstantOnDispla
– In PreEnabled category NOTE: This category describes the miscellaneous BIOS settings.
* Touchscreen * UnobtrusiveMode – In SystemLogs category * PowerLogClear * ThermalLogClear – In USBConfiguration category * AlwaysAllowDellDocks * FrontUSB3.0Ports * RearUSB3.
2 System requirements and prerequisites This chapter describes the supported software and prerequisites for using Dell Command | PowerShell Provider. Supported Dell platforms For information on supported Dell platforms refer Dell Command | PowerShell Provider Release Notes available at dell.com/ dellclientcommandsuitemanuals. Prerequisites Before installing Dell Command | PowerShell Provider, ensure that you have the following system configuration: Table 1.
NOTE: – If there are more restrictive security requirements, set the ExecutionPolicy to AllSigned. Run the following command within the PowerShell console: Set-ExecutionPolicy AllSigned -Force – If using an ExecutionPolicy based process, run Set-ExecutionPolicy each time a Windows PowerShell console is opened. • 10 To run Dell Command | PowerShell Provider remotely, you must enable PS remoting on the remote system.
3 Download and installation This chapter describes how to download, install, uninstall, and upgrade Dell Command | PowerShell Provider. Downloading Dell Command | PowerShell Provider The Dell Command | PowerShell Provider module is available at the Dell support site and at Microsoft Gallery.
Installing Dell Command | PowerShell Provider To install Dell Command | PowerShell Provider, perform the following steps: Prerequisite: Delete any previously installed version of Dell Command | PowerShell Provider before installing the Dell Command | PowerShell Provider 1.2. See, Uninstalling Dell Command | PowerShell Provider. 1. Unblock the downloaded DellCommandPowerShellProvider1.2_.zip file. See, Unblocking the DellCommandPowerShellProvider1.2_.zip. 2.
• For 64-bit systems; update-Module -name DellBIOSProvider NOTE: The above command only installs the latest version of Dell Command | PowerShell Provider available at Microsoft Gallery, and does not remove the existing version. You need to manually uninstall the existing version from your system. To uninstall the previous version, see Uninstalling Dell Command | PowerShell Provider.
4 Getting started with Dell Command | PowerShell Provider This chapter describes importing the module, general navigation, supported cmdlets, and custom functions of Dell Command | PowerShell Provider. Importing Dell Command | PowerShell Provider Import Dell Command | PowerShell Provider before you start using its functions. To Import the module, 1. Open the Windows PowerShell console with administrator privileges. 2.
Navigating using the Windows PowerShell console After importing the module, navigate to DellSMBIOS drive. Run Get-ChildItem cmdlet to view the list of available categories. Figure 2. Accessing categories and attributes To access the attributes in each category, set location to the desired category and then run Get-Childitem cmdlet.
Cmdlet Alias Description Import-Module ipmo Adds or imports the module to the current session. Remove-Module rmo Removes the imported module from the PowerShell console. Remove-PSDrive rdr Removes the Windows PowerShell drive. Custom functions in Dell Command | PowerShell Provider Dell Command | PowerShell Provider offers the following custom functions: Table 3. Custom functions Cmdlets Description Clear-DellAdminPassword Erases the Admin password in BIOS.
Parameters Description ATAMaximumSecurity Specifies the ATA Maximum Security Mode. Mode Applicable For HDDPassword Configuring attributes using Dell Command | PowerShell Provider To configure system BIOS settings using Dell Command PowerShell Provider attributes: 1. Set-location to DellSMBIOS: drive. See Dell Command | PowerShell Provider drive. 2. Verify the current state of the attribute by running the following command: Get-Item -Path . See Format of the path.
Features supported in Dell Command | PowerShell Provider This section describes the usage of various attributes/features in Dell Command | PowerShell Provider. Using the AutoOn feature This feature allows you to configure the days when the system has to turn on automatically from hibernate or power off state at the time specified in AutoOnHr and AutoOnMn. NOTE: AutoOn capabilities work only for a system running on AC power. This feature does not work if the system is running on battery power.
• Enabled — Enables AdvBatteryChargeCfg. • Disabled — Disables AdvBatteryChargeCfg. If disabled, battery charging mode is based on Primary Battery Charge Configuration, Battery Slice Charge Configuration, Primary Battery Custom Charge Start, and Primary Battery Custom Charge End. To configure the AdvanceBatteryCharge time period, provide the following values: • BeginningOfDay — Configures the AdvanceBatteryCharge start time in 24 hours format.
– Charging starts based on the battery percent defined in CustomChargeStart. – Charging ends based on the battery percent defined in CustomChargeStop. • Set-Item -Path DellSmbios:\PowerManagement\CustomChargeStart “65” command can be used to start battery charging at 65%. • Set-Item -Path DellSmbios:\PowerManagement\CustomChargeStop “95” command can be used to stop battery charging at 95%.
Displays or enables the supported colors for the keyboard backlight in the rugged systems. Multiple colors out of the six colors can be set as enabled colors. After enabling colors, you can switch among the enabled colors by pressing Fn+C keys. Enabled color can be set as NoColor which means no color is selected. NOTE: • If value “NoColor” is provided, keyboard backlight color switching by pressing Fn+C keys is not possible. • The value “NoColor” cannot be combined with any other color.
NOTE: Legacy boot mode is not allowed when secure boot is enabled or legacy option ROM is disabled. BootSequence — Specifies the order in which a system searches for devices when trying to find an operating system to boot. The Boot Sequence option allows users to customize the boot order and boot ability of boot devices. The UEFI BIOS allows the selection of UEFI boot paths or Legacy boot devices.
Example: To change the Admin password: Set-Item -Path DellSmbios:\Security\AdminPassword -Password Example: To change the System password: Set-Item -Path DellSmbios:\Security\SystemPassword -Password NOTE: If both Admin and System passwords exist, then to change the system password, provide either Admin or System password.
Setting the HDD password To set the password, run the command in the following format: Example: To set the HDD password in maximum security mode. Set-Item -Path DellSmbios:\Security\HDDPassword -ATAMaximumSecurityMode "1" Changing the HDD password To change the existing password, run the command in the following format: Example: To change the HDD password: Set-Item -Path DellSmbios:\Security\HDDPassword -Password Example: To change the HDD password
NOTE: Admin password must be provided and TpmSecurity should have been enabled to enable the TpmActivation. Desired State Configuration (DSC) for Dell Command | PowerShell Provider Desired State Configuration (DSC) is a management framework provided by Windows PowerShell that allows administrators to monitor configuration drift, manage registry settings, groups, user accounts, and environment variables, through a seamless way of scripting.
only a medium to author and enact the configuration onto nodes. The Local Configuration Manager (LCM) agent on the target nodes, ensures that systems are configured according to the configuration declaration. In Pull mode, the server is defined as a Pull Server. The Pull Server has web services running which initiates a handshake between the server and the client systems.
} } } PowerManagement PowerManagementSettingsSunday { Category = "PowerManagement" BlockDefinition="2" AdvancedBatteryChargeConfiguration = "Sunday" BeginningOfDay = "13:30" WorkPeriod = "15:45" } #resource name Configuring PeakShiftDayConfiguration in category Powermanagement Configuration PowerManagementConfigurationPeak { Import-DscResource -ModuleName DellBIOSProvider Node localhost { PowerManagement PowerManagementSettingsSaturday { Category = "PowerManagement" BlockDefinition="1" PeakShiftDayConf
5 Setting up Dell Command | PowerShell Provider in a Windows PreInstallation Environment Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) provides a standalone preinstallation environment that is used to prepare a system for Windows installation. For client systems that do not have an operating system installed, you can create a bootable image that contains Dell Command | PowerShell Provider to run the commands on WinPE. 1. From the Microsoft website, download and install Windows ADK on the client system.
6 Accessing help Dell Command | PowerShell offers cmdlet-based integrated help. This section describes various cmdlets you can use to access various help topics. Accessing integrated help within Windows PowerShell console Dell Command | PowerShell Provider provides integrated help for its custom features.
7 Frequently asked questions What is PowerShell Gallery? PowerShell Gallery is a public repository hosted by Microsoft. You can download and install Dell Command | PowerShell Provider from here.
Can I use Dell Command | PowerShell Provider in non-Windows Dell client systems? No, Dell Command | PowerShell Provider can be used only on systems running Windows PowerShell console, and therefore cannot be used on a non-Windows Dell client system.
8 Troubleshooting DellBIOSProvider cannot be loaded because running script is disabled on this system. By default Windows PowerShell has its ExecutionPolicy set to Restricted. To execute the Dell Command | PowerShell Provider cmdlets and functions, PowerShell execution policy must be changed to RemoteSigned at a minimum. To apply the ExecutionPolicy, run the Windows PowerShell with Administrator privileges, and run the following command within the PowerShell console: SetExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned –force.
9 Accessing documents from Dell support site You can access the required documents in one of the following ways: • Using the following links: – For all Enterprise Systems Management documents — Dell.com/SoftwareSecurityManuals – For OpenManage documents — Dell.com/OpenManageManuals – For Remote Enterprise Systems Management documents — Dell.com/esmmanuals – For iDRAC and Lifecycle Controller documents — Dell.com/idracmanuals – For OpenManage Connections Enterprise Systems Management documents — Dell.
