Concept Guide

NOTE: Immediate updates such as diagnostics, driver pack, and iDRAC with Lifecycle Controller are

not required to be scheduled. These update processes move from downloading state to completed

state. Updating iDRAC resets the iDRAC when the job is marked completed.

For more information about automatic update, see Automatic Updates in Dell PowerEdge 12G Servers

white paper available at www.delltechcenter.com/systemsmanagement.

Part replacement

The Part Replacement feature allows you to automatically update firmware and configure newly replaced

components, and match the settings with the original part. This is a licensed feature which is enabled by

default.

When a component is replaced and the part replacement feature is enabled, the actions performed by

Lifecycle Controller are locally displayed on the system monitor during POST. You can remotely

configure part replacement related properties through the web services interface using the WS-MAN

protocol.

Server profile — export or import

Lifecycle Controller-Remote Services can export (backup) or import (restore) the server profile of the

host system. These operations are commonly used during system board replacement.

The export feature gathers system information, firmware images, hardware configuration, Lifecycle

Controller configuration, iDRAC firmware and configuration, and stores the information to a single file on

the local vFlash SD card or a remote network share. The import feature applies the saved configurations

to a system from the local vFlash SD card, or from a network share. It also provides the ability to

automatically back up to the vFlash SD card or a network share.

For more information about automatic backup, see Automatic Backup Server Profile in Dell PowerEdge

Generation Servers white paper available at www.delltechcenter.com/systemsmanagement.

Server license — import

Lifecycle Controller-Remote Services can import (restore) the server license of a host system. These

operations are commonly used during motherboard replacement. You can import the license from a USB

drive or a network share such as CIFS or NFS.

Provisioning Server

The Provisioning Server feature in iDRAC allows newly installed servers to automatically discover the

remote management console that hosts the Provisioning Server. The Provisioning Server provides custom

administrative user credentials to iDRAC so that the management console can discover and manage the

newly installed managed system.

If you order a Dell system with the Provisioning Server feature enabled (factory default setting is disabled),

then iDRAC is delivered with DHCP enabled and user accounts disabled. If the Provisioning Server feature

is disabled, you can manually enable this feature and disable the default administrative account using the

iDRAC Settings utility. For more information about the iDRAC Settings utility, see iDRAC User’s Guide.