Dell Lifecycle Controller Integration Version 1.
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Contents 1 About Dell Lifecycle Controller Integration for Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager.............................................................................................................. 7 What’s new in this release.................................................................................................................................................. 7 Existing features.....................................................................................................
Synchronizing appliance with SCVMM.............................................................................................................................22 Resolving synchronization errors......................................................................................................................................22 Launching iDRAC Console................................................................................................................................................
Manage jobs..................................................................................................................................................................... 37 Canceling firmware update jobs..................................................................................................................................37 9 Profiles and templates.................................................................................................. 38 About credential profile..................
Firmware update on a few components irrespective of the selection.............................................................................. 50 IG installation issue while running multiple instances of the installer on the same server ................................................ 50 Importing server profile job gets timed out after two hours............................................................................................. 50 Hypervisor deployment failure.....................................
1 About Dell Lifecycle Controller Integration for Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager Dell Lifecycle Controller Integration (DLCI) for Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) enables hardware configuration, provides a solution to simplify and improve the process of firmware updates, and hypervisor deployment on Dell servers.
• Allow Downgrade — if enabled, allows you to downgrade the firmware version to an earlier version. • Cluster-Aware Updating (CAU) — automates the software updating process by using the features of Microsoft on cluster update groups while maintaining the server’s availability. • Integration with Dell Repository Manager (DRM) — providing the server inventory information of the existing servers from the appliance to DRM.
* Applying specific updates — apply only specific component updates, or apply the latest update available on Dell FTP. * Applying updates before operating system deployment — before an operating system deployment, apply firmware updates using an appropriate update source.
2 Installing and setting up DLCI Console Add-in Installing and setting up DLCI Console Add-in for SCVMM includes the following: • Review and complete system requirements and then install DLCI Console Add-in for SCVMM. For more information, see Installing DLCI Console Add-in. • Import DLCI Console into the VMM Console. For more information, see Importing DLCI Console into VMM Console. • View DLCI Console in the VMM Console. For more information, see Viewing DLCI Console.
To import the DLCI Console into the VMM Console: 1. From SCVMM, click Settings. 2. In the Home ribbon, click Import Console Add-in. 3. Click Import Console Add-in Wizard → Select an add-in to import, browse to select the DLCI Console Add-in for SCVMM (DLCI_VMM_Console_Addin.zip), and then click Next. 4. In Confirm the settings, confirm that the settings are as required and then click Finish. The DLCI Console is imported into the VMM Console and is available under VMs and Services → All Hosts.
3 Getting Started Management systems are the systems on which DLCI for SCVMM, also known as the appliance and its components, are installed. The components of appliance are: • Dell Lifecycle Controller Integration (DLCI) Integration Gateway for Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM), also known as DLCI Integration Gateway for SCVMM.
2. • Logout — enables you to log out of the DLCI for SCVMM Admin Portal. • About — provides information about the DLCI for SCVMM version. • Help — launches the context sensitive online help. The navigation pane contains the following options. For more information about each option see the Online help: • Registration • Appliance Details • User Management • Downloads • License Center • Settings – Service Pack Updates – Logs • 3.
Figure 3. DLCI Console add-in for SCVMM 1. 2. The heading banner contains the product name and the following options: • \adminstrator — displays information about the user who is logged in to DLCI for SCVMM. • About — provides information about the DLCI for SCVMM version. • Help — launches the context-sensitive online help. The navigation pane contains the following options: • Home — displays the DLCI for SCVMM dashboard.
4 Workflows This section contains the following workflows: • Creating golden configurations • Creating and managing credential profiles • Creating and managing update sources • Creating and managing custom update groups • Applying updates on servers • Deploying hypervisors • Creating, managing and deleting protection vaults • Exporting server profiles • Importing server profiles • Deleting servers • Configuring replaced components • Collecting and viewing LC logs About golden configu
Creating, managing, and deleting update sources To create an update source, see Creating an update source. To manage an update source, see Modifying an update source. To delete an update source, see Deleting an update source. Creating, managing, and deleting custom update groups To create a custom update group, see Creating a custom update group. To manage a custom update group, see Modifying a custom update group. To delete a custom update group, see Deleting a custom update group.
2. Export server profile immediately, or schedule it for a later date. For more information, see Creating export jobs. Importing server profile To import a server profile: 1. Create a protection vault. For more information, see Creating protection vault. 2. Export a server profile. For more information, see Creating export jobs. 3. Import an exported server profile including, or excluding the RAID configuration. For more information, see Importing server profile.
5 Setting up the environment for deploying hypervisors To set up an environment for hypervisor deployment: 1. Prepare Golden configurations. 2. Create a physical computer profile in SCVMM. For more information, see SCVMM documentation. 3. Create a target host group in SCVMM. For more information, see SCVMM documentation. 4. Download the latest Dell Deployment ToolKit (DTK) and create a Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) boot ISO image. For more information, see WinPE update. 5.
6 Server discovery You can do out-of-band discovery of unassigned Dell servers and import information about Dell servers into the appliance. You can discover Hyper-V hosts and modular Hyper-V hosts along with unassigned servers. After discovery, the servers are added to respective predefined update groups. For more information on classification of server groups, see Server management .
• For successful hardware profile RAID cloning, for destination system disks, use same or greater size and number of disks as present in the source. • RAID sliced virtual disks are not supported. • iDRAC with shared LOM is not supported. • Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) boot mode is not supported. • RAID configured on external controller is not supported. • Enable Collect System Inventory on Restart (CSIOR) in managed systems.
• 5. If you selected Discover Using an IP Range, then provide the IP address range you want to include and if you must exclude an IP address range, select Enable Exclude Range and provide the range that you want to exclude. Provide an unique job name, and click Finish. 6. (Optional) Select Go to the Job List option, to track this job. The Jobs and Logs Center page is displayed. In Running tab expand the discovery job to view the progress of this job.
• Synchronization uses the servers' default iDRAC credential profile details. • If the host server’s Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) is not configured in SCVMM with the iDRAC IP address, then you cannot synchronize the host server with the appliance. Hence, configure BMC in SCVMM (for more information, see MSDN article at technet.microsoft.com), and then synchronize the appliance with SCVMM.
7 License for the appliance Agent-free configuration, operating system deployment, firmware update, part replacement, export and import server profile features in DLCI for SCVMM are licensed. Five licenses are available for evaluation purposes at no additional charge. To download the five licenses, see marketing.dell.com/software-download-DLCISCVMM. For more information on licensing, go to Dell TechCenter website and then OpenManage Integration Suite for Microsoft System Center wiki page.
8 Server management Using Maintenance Center, you can perform all the tasks related to managing Dell updates in the SCVMM environment. You can maintain up-to-date firmware versions of Dell server components as per Dell recommendations. You can view, create, and maintain protection vaults, update sources, custom groups, and view the predefined update groups. You can create, and schedule jobs for firmware updates, and schedule notifications to receive alerts when new catalogs are available at update source.
Integration with DRM DLCI for SCVMM is integrated with DRM version 2.2 onwards providing the server inventory information of the existing servers from the appliance to DRM. Using the inventory information you can create a custom repository in DRM and set it as an update source in the appliance for performing firmware update jobs on the servers, or group of servers. For more information on creating a repository in DRM, see Dell Repository Manager documents. NOTE: After upgrading to DLCI for SCVMM version 1.
• Dell certified operating system driver packs (for operating system deployment) Predefined and default update source DELL ONLINE CATALOG is a predefined update source of type FTP available in the appliance after a fresh installation or upgrade. You cannot delete, or change the name of a predefined update source. DELL ONLINE HTTP CATALOG is a default update source available in the appliance after a fresh installation or upgrade. You cannot delete or change the name of this default update source.
• If you are creating a DRM update source, then ensure that DRM is installed and the Administrator roles are configured. To create an update source: 1. In DLCI Console Add-in for SCVMM, click Maintenance Center and then click Maintenance Settings. 2. In Update Source click Create New and provide the required information. • If you are creating an FTP source, provide your FTP credentials along with proxy credentials if the FTP site is reachable by using proxy credentials.
• Generic update groups – All update groups – Default unassigned server update groups • Cluster update groups • Host update groups – Default host update groups • Chassis update groups Generic update groups — this group consists of hosts and unassigned servers that are updated in a single session. All update groups — this group consists of all the server groups. Any group present in the appliance is a member of the all update groups. This group is of the type generic update group.
time of restarting the server. Updates are performed in batches at the scheduled time by using iDRAC. The batch size is determined when the update is happening. Refresh the inventory to check if all the updates are applied. The entire update job fails if the operation fails on even one server. – Agent-free updates — is out of band update with immediate server restart.
• You cannot delete an update group if it has a job scheduled, in-progress, or waiting. • You can delete an update group even if servers are present in that update group. However, after deleting such an update group, the servers are moved to their respective predefined update groups. To delete a custom update group: 1. In DLCI for SCVMM, click Maintenance Center, and then click Maintenance Settings. 2.
• 4. Run Now — to apply the updates now. • Select the date and time to schedule a firmware update in future. Select the method for updating by using Agent-free Update, or Agent-free Staged Update, and then click Finish. NOTE: After submitting a firmware update job to iDRAC, the appliance interacts with iDRAC for status of the job and provides status updates in Jobs and Logs page in the Admin Console. Sometimes iDRAC does not provide any status updates on the jobs tracked by the appliance.
To modify a protection vault: 1. In DLCI for SCVMM, click Maintenance Center, and then click Maintenance Settings. 2. In Maintenance Center, click Protection Vault, and then click Edit to modify the vault. Deleting protection vault You cannot delete a protection vault in the following circumstances: • The protection vault is associated with a server or a group of servers. • There is a scheduled job associated with the protection vault.
Lifecycle Controller Logs collection LC logs provide records of past activities on a managed system. These log files are useful for the server administrators since they provide detailed information about recommended actions and some other technical information that is useful for troubleshooting purposes.
Viewing LC logs You can view all the active LC logs, search for detailed description, and download the logs in CSV format using View LC logs feature. 1. In DLCI Console Add-in for SCVMM, under Maintenance Center select a server or a group of servers, and then click View LC Logs. All the servers in the selected group and the servers for which LC logs are collected are listed with their LC log files. 2. Click on the file name to view all the log entries in the LC log file specific to that server. 3.
Viewing and refreshing firmware inventory You can view and refresh the firmware inventory of Dell-compliant servers after selecting a server or a specific group of servers. You can view comparison report of server or chassis inventory against a selected update source. You can change the update source, and view the comparison report of inventory information of the selected servers, server groups or chassis against the changed update source.
Creating export jobs To export the server configurations: Prerequisites: Disable the F1/F2 Prompt on Error option in BIOS Settings. 1. In DLCI Console Add-in for SCVMM, click Maintenance Center, and then click Export Server Profile. 2. In Export Profile, provide the job details, and then select a protection vault. In Export Server Profile select: • Run Now — to export the server configuration immediately of the selected servers, or group of servers.
Importing server profile To import inventory of discovered servers: 1. In DLCI for SCVMM, under Maintenance Center, select the servers’ whose profiles you want to import, and click Import Server Profile. 2. Provide the required details, select the Import Server Profile Type you want, and then click Finish. NOTE: Clear the Preserve Data option if you do not want to preserve the present RAID configurations of the server.
9 Profiles and templates About credential profile Credential profiles simplify the use and management of user credentials by authenticating the role-based capabilities of the user. Each credential profile contains a user name and password for a single user account. A credential profile authenticates a user’s rolebased capabilities. The appliance uses credential profiles to connect to the managed systems’ iDRAC.
2. • In the navigation pane, click Profiles and Templates → Credential Profile, and then click Create. In Credential Profile, select the credential profile type that you want to use and provide user credential details and then click Finish. NOTE: When creating Device Credential Profile select iDRAC to make it as default profile for iDRAC, or CMC to make it default for Chassis Management Controller (CMC). Select None if you chose to not set this profile as a default profile.
To create a hardware profile: 1. In the DLCI Console Add-in for SCVMM page, do any of the following: • In the dashboard, click Create Hardware Profile. 2. • In the navigation pane, click Profiles and Templates → Hardware Profile, and then click Create. In the Hardware Profile welcome screen, click Next. 3. In Profile, provide the profile name and description, and the iDRAC IP of the reference server, and then click Next.
• The required WinPE ISO is created and the ISO is available in the share folder of DLCI Integration gateway for SCVMM. To update WinPE image, see WinPE image update. • In SCVMM, a Host group, a Host profile, or physical computer profile is created. To create a hypervisor profile: 1. In DLCI Console Add-in for SCVMM, do any of the following: • In dashboard, click Create Hypervisor Profiles. 2.
DTK is a self-extracting executable file. To work with DTK: 1. Double click the DTK executable file. 2. Select the folder to extract the DTK drivers, for example C:\DTK501. 3. Copy the extracted DTK folder to the Integration Gateway’s DTK share folder. For example \\DLCI IG Share\DTK\DTK501. NOTE: If you are upgrading from SCVMM SP1 to SCVMM R2, then upgrade to Windows PowerShell 4.0. and create a WinPE ISO image. To update a WinPE image: 1.
To modify a deployment template: 1. In DLCI Console Add-in for SCVMM, click Deployment Templates. 2. Select the deployment template that you want to modify and click Edit. 3. Make the required changes and click Finish. Deleting deployment template NOTE: Deleting a deployment template does not impact the associated hardware, hypervisor profiles and update source. To delete a deployment template: 1. In DLCI Console Add-in for SCVMM, click Deployment Templates. 2.
10 Deploying hypervisors Operating systems are deployed only on servers that are compliant. Before hypervisor deployment, consider the following: upgrade the firmware versions to the latest versions available at ftp.dell.com or downloads.dell.com, and then continue with hypervisor deployment. To deploy to servers: 1. In the appliance do the following: • In the appliance dashboard, click Deploy Unassigned Servers. 2. • In the appliance navigation pane, click Deployment Wizard. In Welcome, click Next. 3.
11 Viewing information in appliance Jobs and logs center The Jobs and Logs Center page has information about all the activities that are initiated in DLCI for SCVMM. You can view a job’s progress status and its subtask. Also, you can filter and view jobs for a particular category. You can view the jobs from the DLCI Admin Portal—SCVMM and DLCI Console Add-in for SCVMM. Job names are provided by users or are system generated, and the subtasks are named after the IP address or host name of the managed server.
Viewing managed jobs To view the managed jobs: In DLCI Console Add-in for SCVMM, do any of the following: • In the navigation pane, click Maintenance Center, and then click Manage Jobs. • In the navigation pane, click Jobs and Log Center, and then click Scheduled tab. Canceling scheduled jobs 1. In DLCI Console Add-in for SCVMM, do any of the following: • 2. 46 In the navigation pane, click Maintenance Center, and then click Manage Jobs.
12 Troubleshooting Empty cluster update group does not get deleted during autodiscovery or synchronization When a cluster group is discovered in the appliance, a cluster update group gets created in the Maintenance Center with all the servers listed in the cluster update group. Later, if all the servers are removed from this cluster through SCVMM, and an autodiscovery or synchronization with SCVMM operation is performed, the empty cluster update group is not deleted in Maintenance Center.
Failure applying RAID configuration Applying a hardware profile with RAID configuration may fail with the following error messages: Error An unknown exception has occurred and has been logged in the extended logs. Error RAID configuration failed with error: An unknown exception has occurred and has been logged in the extended logs. Error 0_EX_MSG As a workaround, do a Power Cycle System for the server and reapply the hardware configuration.
As a workaround, delete all the files in Dell folder, and then schedule a firmware update job. Failure of firmware update on 11th generation of servers A firmware update job started on 11th generation of Dell PowerEdge servers may fail due to incompatible versions of iDRAC and LC with the following error: WSMAN command failed to execute on server with iDRAC IP . As a workaround, upgrade the iDRAC and LC to the latest versions and then start the firmware update job.
Failure to export server profiles After scheduling an export server profile job, the server profile is not exported, and the following error message is displayed: “The selectors for the resource are not valid”. As a workaround, reset iDRAC, and then schedule the export server profile job. For more information, see iDRAC documentation available at dell.com/support.
See the following KB article for workaround: support.microsoft.com/kb/961804. Hypervisor deployment failure due to driver files retained in library share Hypervisor deployment is failing and the activity log displays the following error: • Error: Error while applying Hypervisor Profile to host . Failed with error : For input string: "" • Information: Successfully deleted drivers from library share sttig.tejasqa.
The server is listed under the Host tab. Hypervisor deployment fails for 11th generation PowerEdge blade servers when using Active Directory Hypervisor deployment fails on the 11th generation PowerEdge blade servers when using the Active Directory user credentials. The 11th generation PowerEdge blade servers use the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) protocol for communication. However, the IPMI standard is not supported for using credentials from the Active Directory setup.
13 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.
