Users Guide

1. In Configuration Manager 2012 or Configuration Manager 2012 SP1, or Configuration Manager 2012 R2, under Device
Collections, right-click All Dell Lifecycle Controller Servers and select Dell Lifecycle Controller > Launch Config
Utility.
2. From the left pane of the Dell Lifecycle Controller Configuration Utility, select Firmware Inventory, Compare, and
Update.
3. Select a baseline from the following options:
● Dell PDK Catalog — to specify a Dell PDK catalog to compare with the firmware inventory. To specify a PDK catalog:
○ Click Browse to navigate to the file location where you have saved the catalog. Ensure that the catalog resides on a
CIFS share that is accessible to the Dell Lifecycle Controllers.
○ Specify the User Name and Password to the CIFS share where your catalog resides if you want to update the
firmware inventory from the catalog. You do not need to specify the user name and password if you are viewing or
comparing against the catalog.
NOTE: To update the firmware inventory, you must point to a local repository.
● FTP: ftp.dell.com — to connect to a catalog on the Dell FTP site to compare the firmware inventory.
● Firmware Inventory Profile — to specify an existing profile that you have saved and use it to compare and update the
firmware inventory for the collection.
4. Click Next.
The Firmware Inventory, Compare, and Update screen displays the following information:
● Name — displays the name of the systems in the collection.
● Model — displays the system model information.
● Component — displays the components available on the servers.
● Version — displays the firmware versions of the components.
● Baseline — displays the baseline firmware version of the components.
● Criticality — displays the status of the firmware and indicates if the firmware of your collection is compliant, or needs
an update.
5. Click Copy to Clipboard to copy the information to clipboard, or click Export to CSV to export the information in comma
separated values format.
6. Select the systems that you wish to update with newer firmware and click Next.
The screen displays the firmware download progress.
7. After the download is complete, click Next and choose one of the following options:
● Start now — to start the update immediately.
● Start on next boot — to start the update when the systems boot next.
● Schedule update — to specify a date and time and schedule an update on that date.
8. Click Finish to complete the firmware update process.
Viewing the hardware inventory
You can use the Configuration Utility to view the hardware inventory details of all the systems in the collection.
To view the hardware inventory:
1. In Configuration Manager 2012 or Configuration Manager 2012 SP1, or Configuration Manager 2012 R2, under Device
Collections, right-click All Dell Lifecycle Controller Servers and select Dell Lifecycle Controller > Launch Config
Utility..
2. On the Dell Lifecycle Controller Configuration Utility, select Hardware Inventory.
The following details are displayed on the right pane of the Dell Lifecycle Controller Configuration Utility:
● Name: displays the name of the Dell system, which is part of the collection.
● Hardware: displays the hardware components of the system. For example, Memory, CPU, iDRAC, and so on.
● FQDD: displays the fully qualified device description of the hardware component.
● Description: displays the properties of the hardware component.
NOTE:
When the Configuration Utility is fetching the hardware inventory details of the collection, and there is a
disruption in the network connectivity, close the utility and launch it again when the network connectivity is restored.
The hardware inventory details do not get refreshed automatically.
NOTE: For the yx1x systems, the Slot Length and Slot Type fields may show the status as Not Applicable instead of
Unknown.
Using the Configuration Utility 39