book.book Page 1 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Dell Server Deployment Pack Version 2.
book.book Page 2 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Notes and Cautions NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your computer. CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates potential damage to hardware or loss of data if instructions are not followed. ____________________ Information in this document is subject to change without notice. © 2010 - 2012 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of these materials in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc.
book.book Page 3 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Contents 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . What’s New in Version 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Other Dell Documents You Might Need . Before you Begin Using Configuration Manager . Recommended DTK version for Configuration Manager . . . . . 3 6 . . . . Dell Server Deployment Pack Features Overview 2 6 . . . . . . . . . . .
book.book Page 4 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Configuring your Server’s Hardware Components . . . 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Creating a Task Sequence Editing a Task Sequence Configuring Task Sequence Actions. . . . . . . . . . . 18 . . . . . . . . . . . 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Configuring your System BIOS Configuring Set Boot Order . Configuring RAID Using RAID Config (wizard) Using the Array Builder . . . 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
book.book Page 5 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 4 Using The Dell Server Deployment Pack on Systems Running Configuration Manager 2007 . . . . . . . . . . 35 Importing a DTK Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Upgrading a DTK Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Boot Image for Deploying Dell PowerEdge Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hardware Configuration and Operating System Deployment on Unknown Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 . . . . . . . . 41 . . . . . . . . . . .
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book.book Page 6 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 1 Introduction This document describes the activities that you can perform with Dell Server Deployment Pack Version 2.0 for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (Configuration Manager.) What’s New in Version 2.0 • Support for Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager. • Support for 12th generation of PowerEdge servers. • Support for Dell Deployment ToolKit (DTK) v3.5 to v4.0.
book.book Page 7 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM • Support for importing of Dell Deployment ToolKit (DTK) using the Deployment ToolKit Configuration Wizard. • Support for importing Dell driver packages from the Configuration Manager Admin Console. • Support for deployment using x64 boot images (DTK with 64-bit support is required.
book.book Page 8 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM • The Dell OpenManage Deployment ToolKit Command Line Interface Reference Guide provides information on the command line utilities to configure system features. • The Server Update Utility User's Guide provides information on how to identify and apply updates to your system. • The Dell Repository Manager User’s Guide provides information on how to create customized bundles and repositories for servers running on Microsoft Windows operating systems.
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book.book Page 9 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Before you Begin Using Configuration Manager 2 After a fresh install or upgrade using the option Remove Dell Deployment ToolKit (DTK) utilities and Windows PE drivers, make sure that you import a DTK package before going ahead. For more information, see the Importing a DTK Package section for systems running Configuration Manager 2007 and Importing a DTK Package section for system running Configuration Manager 2012.
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book.book Page 10 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 3 Using The Dell Server Deployment Pack on Systems Running Configuration Manager 2012 Importing a DTK Package NOTE: By default, Dell Server Deployment Pack self extractable provides one DTK self extractable zip that is available in the extracted location. You may download another one from the Dell Support site at support.dell.com.
book.book Page 11 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 5 If there is no existing DTK package present on the server, or if the version selected is newer than the existing version, click Next. The Boot Image Property screen is displayed. NOTE: Dell Server Deployment Pack 2.0 does not support downgrading or reimporting the same version of DTK. 6 Refer step 3 to step 8 under the Creating a Boot Image for Deploying Dell PowerEdge Servers section for creating a boot image.
book.book Page 12 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Creating a Boot Image for Deploying Dell PowerEdge Servers To create a Boot Images fro Deploying Dell PowerEdge Server: 1 Launch Configuration Manager by clicking StartAll Programs Microsoft System CenterConfiguration Manager Configuration Manager Console. The Configuration Manager Console screen is displayed. 2 From the left pane of the Configuration Manager console, select Software LibraryOverviewOperating SystemsBoot Images.
book.book Page 13 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 6 Enter a name for the Dell boot image. The Version and Comments fields are optional. 7 Click Create. The boot image creation process begins. A progress bar shows the status of the boot image creation. Once the boot image is created, the boot image details is displayed on the Summary screen, DTK details, and success state. 8 Right-click each of the newly created boot images and perform the update and manage distribution points operations.
book.book Page 14 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 8 The Distribute Content Wizard screen is displayed. Proceed through the wizard to manage the distribution points. 9 Repeat step 7 for all the other boot images that you created. Similarly, use the Distribute Content and Update Distribution Points wizard to update and manage the operating system images to distribution points.
book.book Page 15 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 6 Click Close. 7 To update and manage distribution points for the driver packages you imported, go to Driver PackagesDell PowerEdge Driver Packages . The driver packages window is displayed. 8 Right-click each of the newly imported driver packages and perform the distribute content and update distribution points operations.
book.book Page 16 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Creating a Dell-specific Task Sequence To create a Dell-specific task sequence using PowerEdge Server Deployment template: 1 Launch Configuration Manager by clicking StartAll Programs Microsoft System CenterConfiguration Manager Configuration Manager Console. The Configuration Manager Console screen is displayed. 2 From the left pane of the Configuration Manager console, select Software LibraryOverview Operating SystemsTask Sequences.
book.book Page 17 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Creating a Custom Task Sequence To create a custom task sequence: 1 Launch Configuration Manager by clicking StartAll Programs Microsoft System CenterConfiguration Manager Configuration Manager Console. The Configuration Manager Console screen is displayed. 2 From the left pane of the Configuration Manager console, select Software LibraryOverview Operating SystemsTask Sequences. 3 Right click Task Sequences, then Create Task Sequence.
book.book Page 18 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 4 Click AddDell DeploymentPowerEdge Server Configuration. This loads the custom action for your Dell server deployment. NOTE: When editing a task sequence for the first time, an error message Setup Windows and ConfigMgr is displayed, create and select the Configurations Manager Client Upgrade package to resolve the error. For more information creating packages, see the Configuration Manager 2012 documentation at technet.microsoft.com.
book.book Page 19 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM The Configuration file/ Command line parameters field is enabled. For more information see, Configuration file/ Command line Parameter Options. Configuration file/ Command line Parameter Options There are three options you can choose from: • • • Edit CAUTION: When you update or save a new file in the package, it is not automatically updated on all of its distribution points.
book.book Page 20 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 2 In the Configuration File Editor window, you can edit the syscfg.ini file, select the Save these changes to the existing file in the toolkit package when I click OK option and click OK. After creating the .ini file using any of the preceding options listed, click Apply in the Task Sequence Editor window. The task sequence for Set BIOS Config (ini file) is created.
book.book Page 21 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 1 Select from the Configuration file / Command line parameters drop-down menu. 2 Click Create. The Array Builder wizard is displayed. For more information on the Array Builder see, Using the Array Builder. 3 Enter the configuration rule name in the Configuration Rule Name field. 4 Select the error handling rule from the drop-down menu.
book.book Page 22 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Using the Array Builder Using Array Builder, you can define arrays/disk sets with all available RAID settings, logical drives/virtual disks of varying sizes or use all available space, and assign hot spares to individual arrays or assign global hot spares to the controller.
book.book Page 23 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM When a controller is created, a default variable condition, array and disk(s) are created to ensure a valid configuration. You can choose to leave the controller unconfigured - with disks set to non-RAID, or you can add arrays or do other actions. Adding a Controller 1 To add a new controller, select a controller from the list, or select an embedded controller. The Controllers drop-down menu to your left is enabled. 2 Click ControllersNew Controller.
book.book Page 24 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 2 Click Yes to delete or No to cancel. NOTE: On a server, you require at least one controller. If there is only one controller and you delete it, then a message that the default controller was inserted because the last controller was deleted is displayed.
book.book Page 25 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Deleting a Variable Condition To delete a variable condition: 1 Select the variable condition and click VariablesDelete Variable Condition. A message that all the attached arrays and disks are deleted is displayed. 2 Click Yes to delete or No to cancel. Arrays Array nodes include both RAID arrays and non-RAID disk groups (indicated by the different icons for RAID arrays and non-RAID disks).
book.book Page 26 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Deleting an Array To delete an array: 1 Select the array and click ArraysDelete Array. A message that all the attached disks will be deleted is displayed. 2 Click Yes to delete or No to cancel. Logical Drives (also known as Virtual Disks) Logical drives are present on RAID arrays and non-RAID groups. You can configure them by specifying the size (in GB) or to consume all available (or remaining) space in the array.
book.book Page 27 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Deleting a Logical Drive To delete a logical drive 1 Select the logical drive and click Logical DrivesDelete Logical Drive. A message to confirm the delete operation is displayed. 2 Click Yes to delete or No to cancel.
book.book Page 28 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Changing a Disk To change a disk, click on the disk and select DisksChange Disk. You can change a disk to: • Standard disk • Hot spare (only for the current array) • Global hot spare (all arrays) Deleting a Disk To delete a disk, click on the disk and select DisksDelete Disk. Exporting to XML This menu item allows you to save the current configuration in an XML file to a location of your choice.
book.book Page 29 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Creating Task Sequences for RAID, DRAC, and iDRAC From the Configuration action type menu you can select the options listed in Table 3-1 to create task sequences for RAID, DRAC, and iDRAC. Table 3-1. Options And Suboptions In Configuration Action Type Menu Option Suboptions Description RAID Configuration (.ini file) 5i-raid0.ini Sample file for RAID 0. 5i-raid1.ini Sample file for RAID 1. 5i-raid5.ini Sample file for RAID 5. raidcfg.
book.book Page 30 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Table 3-1. Options And Suboptions In Configuration Action Type Menu (continued) Option Suboptions iDRAC Configuration Description See to see how you do it for the BIOS option. See for the BIOS option. idrac6cfg.ini Use the existing idrac6cfg.ini file to configure iDRAC 6. See Edit for a similar example.
book.book Page 31 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Configuring Variable Replacement Tab To configure the Variable Replacement Tab: 1 Under the Action to take when a variable is unintialized or the value is null or blank section you can: • Use a null/blank value — Select Use a null/blank value to use a variable that has not been initialized or has a blank value. This allows the clients to continue processing the action even if the variable is undefined or blank.
book.book Page 32 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 3 Select Retain network folder settings from a prior step, if available to copy any available network folder settings from the previous step or to configure the network folder settings proceed to step 4. 4 Provide a valid network/local path to save the file. 5 Provide the Domain and Account name to access the path. 6 Provide and confirm the password.
book.book Page 33 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Adding Dell Driver Packages To add Dell driver packages: 1 From the left hand side of the Task Sequence Editor, under Deploy Operating System click Apply Driver Package. 2 Click Browse. The Select a Package window is displayed. 3 Click Dell PowerEdge Driver Packages. The list of driver packages available in the Dell Server Deployment Pack is displayed. 4 Select a package for a Dell PowerEdge server, say, Dell R720-Microsoft Windows 2008x86 OM7.0.
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book.book Page 35 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 4 Using The Dell Server Deployment Pack on Systems Running Configuration Manager 2007 Importing a DTK Package NOTE: By default, Dell Server Deployment Pack self extractable provides one DTK self extractable zip that is available in the extracted location. You may download another one from the Dell Support site at support.dell.com.
book.book Page 36 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 5 If there is no existing DTK package present in the server, or if the version selected is newer than the existing version, click Next. The Boot Image Property screen is displayed. NOTE: Dell Server Deployment Pack 2.0 does not support downgrading or reimporting the same version of DTK. 6 Refer step 3 to step 11 under the Creating a Boot Image for Deploying Dell PowerEdge Servers section for creating a boot image.
book.book Page 37 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Creating a Boot Image for Deploying Dell PowerEdge Servers To create a boot image for deploying Dell PowerEdge server: 1 Launch Configuration Manager by clicking StartMicrosoft System CenterConfiguration Manager 2007Configuration Manager Console. The Configuration Manager Console screen is displayed. 2 From the left pane of the Configuration Manager console, select Site Database Computer Management Operating System Deployment Boot Images.
book.book Page 38 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 6 Enter a name for the Dell boot image. The Version and Comments fields are optional. 7 Select Enable Unknown Computer Support for this Boot Image to enable unknown computer support. 8 A warning that the boot image is used only for unknown computer deployment is displayed. Click OK. 9 Click Browse. In the Collection selector screen, select the collection to which the unknown computer is added during the operating system deployment.
book.book Page 39 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM into the Windows PE image. When the client boots to the Windows PE, enter the Configuration Manager administrator credentials, and give a name to the unknown computer. The PE hook then uses the credentials to connect to the Configuration Manager and adds the unknown computer to the collection which was selected in the wizard. There is an option to set machine and task sequence variables here. NOTE: Use this image for deploying unknown computers.
book.book Page 40 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Table 4-1. Unknown Computer support for various boot images Boot Images Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 - R2/R3 WAIK x86 X WAIK x64 X ConfigMgr x86 N/A ConfigMgr x64 N/A Custom x86 N/A Custom x64 N/A Updating and Managing Distribution Points To update and manage distribution points: 1 Launch Configuration Manager by clicking StartMicrosoft System CenterConfiguration Manager 2007Configuration Manager Console.
book.book Page 41 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 8 From the left pane of the Configuration Manager console, select Site DatabaseComputer ManagementOperating System Deployment Boot ImagesDell Deployment. Right-click on the boot image that you created, and click Manage Distribution Points. 9 The Manage Distribution Point Wizard screen is displayed. Proceed through the wizard to manage the distribution points. 10 Repeat step 8 and step 9 for all the other boot images that you created.
book.book Page 42 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 5 A list of the driver packages for a combination of the servers and operating systems is displayed. Select the required packages and click Finish. A progress bar displays the status of the import. After the import is complete, the import summary is displayed. NOTE: Sections involving importing of drivers may take more time without updating the progress bar. 6 Click Close.
book.book Page 43 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Configuring your Server’s Hardware Components Creating a Task Sequence You can create a task sequence to configure your server in two ways: • Create a Dell-specific task sequence using PowerEdge Server Deployment template. • Create a custom task sequence.
book.book Page 44 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM • Scripted OS install 9 Select an operating system package from the Operating system package to use drop-down menu. 10 If you have a package with unattend.xml, then select it from the Package with unattend.xml info menu. Else, select . 11 If Dell Lifecycle Controller Integration for Configuration Manager is installed on the server, then select the check box Apply Drivers from Dell Lifecycle Controller.
book.book Page 45 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 3 Right click the task sequence and click Edit. The Task Sequence Editor window is displayed. 4 Click AddDell DeploymentPowerEdge Server Configuration. This loads the custom action for your Dell server deployment. If you are creating a task sequence for the first time, then a message asking you whether you are adding any array configuration task to this task sequence is displayed.
book.book Page 46 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM • Reboot to PXE/USB Custom Action is created automatically when you edit a task sequence. For more information, see Editing a Task Sequence. • Reboot to PXE/USB Custom Action is created manually when from the Task Sequence Editor you click AddDell DeploymentReboot to PXE/USB. To automate the reboot process, insert a Set Boot Order step before the Reboot to PXE/USB Custom Action step.
book.book Page 47 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM • • Distribution Points: Access content directly from a distribution point when needed by the running task sequence • Interaction: Show task sequence progress Always configure Windows PE boot images with the following settings: • • Windows PE: Enable command support (testing only) Two advertisements are required while using a PXE boot media with the Unknown Computer support feature.
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book.book Page 48 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM 5 Troubleshooting Task sequences fail or act incorrectly after an upgrade In order for the task sequences to function correctly on systems running Configuration Manager 2007 SP1: 1 Launch the task sequence editor. For more information see, Editing a Task Sequence. 2 Edit each task sequence action. For example, for each Dell custom action sequence present add a “.” to the Description and then remove it. This enables the Apply button.
book.book Page 49 Friday, April 13, 2012 9:34 PM Operating System Deployment Fails in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 When the operating system deployment fails in Microsoft Windows Server 2003: 1 Make sure that you select the appropriate mass storage controller driver in the Apply Driver Package step of the task sequence. 2 Uninstall and reinstall the Dell Server Deployment Pack Version 2.
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