Owner's Manual

Software Updates 139
8
Software Updates
IT Assistant provides a centralized software update capability. You can load
Dell Update Packages and System Update Sets (system bundles) into the
IT Assistant repository, either from the Dell™ Server Updates media or from
the Dell FTP site at
ftp.dell.com , then run a compliance check of all the
systems in your enterprise against the Update Packages.
NOTE: Dell OpenManage™ Content Manager creates multi-level directories in the
output when ftp.dell.com is used as the source for the packages. IT Assistant does
not support such multi-level directories for software updates.
NOTE: A System Update Set is a logical set of Dell-certified packages that work
together without problems.
NOTE: For Dell OpenManage version 5.3 and above, the Software Update Utility is
available only on the Dell Server Updates DVD. However, for Dell OpenManage
version below 5.3, the Software Update Utility is available on the Dell PowerEdge™
Server Update Utility CD. For the purposes of this guide, the Dell Server Updates
DVD and the Dell PowerEdge Server Update Utility CD will be hereafter called the
Server Updates media.
The highlights of the software update feature of Dell OpenManage
IT Assistant are:
• Software Web updates: You can schedule a task to check the Dell FTP site
at
ftp.dell.com for availability of new update packages in System Update
Sets. You can configure an e-mail task to notify you of new updates. You
can also configure the task to send notification of all updates or just those
updates that apply to the systems in your network.
• Digital Signature verification: IT Assistant checks the authenticity and
integrity of the update packages, catalogs, and MSI files using digital
signature verification.
NOTE: If you are running the software update task across a wide area network
(WAN), the task could fail if the network does not have sufficient bandwidth.
However, if you want to perform this task across WAN locations, it is recommended
that you install IT Assistant locally on a system at the remote location, have the
update package/installers available locally on the IT Assistant system and access
the IT Assistant through Remote Desktop to that system.