Users Guide

Deploying the Operating System

The operating system deployment capabilities enable deployment of an operating system remotely using WS-

Management web services protocols and CIFS and NFS network file sharing protocols. Detailed interface specifications

and class definition (.mof) files at the Lifecycle Controller section on the Dell Enterprise Technology Center at

delltechcenter.com. The following features are available in the form of extrinsic methods that can be used in various

combinations depending on use cases to perform end-to-end OS deployment on the server:

• Remotely activate the local exposure of embedded drivers for the selected operating system as an emulated

USB device to the server that is automatically installed during installation.

• Remotely acquire embedded drivers per selected operating system to a CIFS or NFS network share that can be

used later for operating system deployment.

• Boot to an ISO image located on a network share to initiate an operating system installation.

• Download ISO to vFlash SD card and boot from the card to initiate an operating system installation.

• Connecting an ISO from network, attaching it as virtual USB CD-ROM device to the server and boot the server to

the ISO every time the server reboots.

• One time boot to PXE.

• One time boot to hard disk.

For more information, see Operating System Deployment Profile

Deploying Operating System

To successfully perform remote operations on the server, make sure that the following prerequisites are met:

• Common Prerequisites Before Using Remote Services

• Boot disk is available on the server to install operating system.

• It is recommended that the latest driver pack is installed so that drivers for newer operating systems and newer

devices are available.

• Provisioning console, application or appropriate scripts that are capable of sending WS-Management Web

services requests and method invocations.

Install an operating system using the drivers that are attached locally on the server through Lifecycle Controller.

To perform remote operating system deployment:

NOTE: To use a custom operating system, create the custom operating system image (.iso format) and share it on

the network or create ISO image on a DVD.

1. Invoke the GetDriverPackInfo() method to list the supported operating systems supported on the server and the

driver pack version installed on Lifecycle Controller.

2. Invoke the UnpackAndAttach() method to copy the drivers for the selected operating system from Lifecycle

Controller to an internal USB-based drive labeled OEMDRV that is attached to the server.

By default this OEMDRV drive is exposed to the server for approximately 18 hours, and after that it is detached

automatically. However, use the optional parameter ExposeDuration while invoking the method to specify the

duration (between 1 minute and 18 hours) for which the drive must be present on the server.