White Papers

Reinitiate Auto-discovery
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Introduction
The auto-discovery feature of Lifecycle Controller allows newly installed servers to automatically
discover the remote management console that hosts the provisioning server. This also has the effect of
notifying the management console there is a new server in the network that needs to be provisioned.
The easiest way to implement this feature is to request that auto-discovery be enabled when you order
your servers from Dell. Then, provided your console supports Lifecycle Controller auto-discovery
(plugins are available for vCenter, SCCM, and others), the discovered server will automatically be
added to the management console when the server is powered on. However, what if a server was not
ordered from the factory with auto-discovery enabled, or you need to repurpose a machine to a
different network or put it under the control of a different management station? This paper shows you
how to remotely return a server to factory auto-discovery default settings, and discusses in detail the
options which are available to you when reinitializing auto-discovery:
 Setting, updating or deleting custom auto discovery certificates
 Reinitializing now or when the system is plugged in
 Specifying the provisioning server
Environment requirements
For information on the requirements needed to support Auto-discovery, see Lifecycle Controller Auto
Discovery Network Setup Specification on the Dell Enterprise Technology Center at
www.delltechcenter.com/page/Lifecycle+Controller
Auto-discovery reinitialize workflow
Reinitializing auto-discovery involves resetting the iDRAC configuration to factory default settings for
auto-discovery. Once the server is in this mode it will perform the exact same auto-discovery
operation as would a factory-ordered server that had been set up with auto-discovery enabled.
Reinitializing auto-discovery is a two-step process. First the user must configure any custom
certificates on the iDRAC or if the default certificate will be used, delete any custom certificates that
might already be on the iDRAC. Then the user must send the reinitialize request, optionally specifying
the new provisioning server and setting the run time either to “time now” or to the next boot of the
iDRAC (remove and reapply power). The figure below shows the high level sequence.