Dell POWEREDGE 1855 User Manual

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SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT

www.dell.com/powersolutions

DELL POWER SOLUTIONS

Offline updates

To perform an offline update, administrators must schedule server

downtime. Most offline update utilities boot into a pre-OS environ-

ment such as DOS to perform the update. These update utilities may

also require multiple system reboots to complete the update process.

Although the offline update

process is time-consuming

and requires several manual

steps, this is a safe method

to update system software on

virtually any server because

the network is not involved.

In contrast, network traffic,

Trivial FTP (TFTP) server

response time, packet loss,

and link loss can affect firm-

ware updates that are per-

formed over a network.

On a PowerEdge 1855

server blade, administrators

can update BIOS, BMC firmware, RAID firmware, SCSI hard disk

drive firmware, SCSI controller firmware, and OS-level drivers

using DOS-based update utilities found on the Dell support Web

site (support.dell.com). Note: The PERC 4/IM is integrated into

the PowerEdge 1855 server blade motherboard, so PERC 4/IM

firmware is included as part of the system BIOS update package.

Online updates

Unlike an offline update, the online update process minimizes server

downtime by allowing the process to run in a normal OS environ-

ment. The greatest advantage of the online approach is its capability

to automate the update process. Online updates enable organiza-

tions to update multiple server blades from a central console using

Dell OpenManage change-management tools or third-party change-

management frameworks.

Dell OpenManage change-management tools for the PowerEdge

1855 blade server comprise the following:

•

Dell Update Packages

•

Dell OpenManage Server Update Utility (SUU)

•

Dell OpenManage IT Assistant (ITA) 7

Dell Update Packages. Dell Update Packages are self-contained,

easy-to-use programs; each package updates a single system software

component on the server on which it is executed. Each Dell Update

Package contains the logic to verify that the update will work on a

given system. Dell Update Packages support both a graphical user

interface (GUI) and a command-line interface (CLI). BIOS and BMC

firmware Dell Update Packages are available for PowerEdge 1855

server blades. Dell Update Packages are supported on Microsoft

Windows Server

™

2003 and Red Hat

™

Enterprise Linux

operating

systems. In addition, Dell Update Packages can be integrated into

third-party or custom software distribution application frameworks

such as Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003, Altiris

Deployment Solution, and others.

Dell OpenManage Server Update Utility. SUU is a comprehen-

sive system update utility that provides a mechanism to update several

system software components at once. It is a CD-based application that

can identify systems and apply the appropriate updates. For example,

on a PowerEdge 1855 blade server, administrators can use the SUU CD

to update all system software on a server blade. The SUU update pro-

cess requires administrators to update one server blade at a time.

Dell OpenManage IT Assistant. ITA 7 provides centralized soft-

ware update capability for Dell servers. IT Assistant allows admin-

istrators to load Dell Update Packages and Dell System Update Sets

into a central repository and then compare the packages to the

software versions currently running on PowerEdge systems. Admin-

istrators can then decide whether to update systems that are not in

compliance, either immediately or according to an administrator-

defined schedule.

BMC flash updates

The BMC does not disable the power button on the front of an

individual PowerEdge 1855 server blade during a flash update. If

an administrator presses the power button during a flash update,

the server blade will power off and leave the BMC in an unknown

state. To recover the server blade, an administrator should remove

the server blade from the PowerEdge blade server chassis, wait five

seconds, reinsert the server blade, and allow the server blade to

boot. Then the flash update can be performed again.

Note: Keyboard, video, mouse (KVM) hot-key keyboard

sequences are not supported during a BMC flash update. If an

administrator attempts a hot-key sequence from a server blade

that is performing a BMC flash update, the flash update may fail.

To recover, the administrator must execute the flash update again.

Updating chassis components

Because individual server blades in the PowerEdge 1855 blade server

share common chassis infrastructure components, keeping the system

software of the chassis components up-to-date can play a critical role in

For more information about how Dell Update Packages are designed to work in third-party software distribution applications, see “Scripting Dell Update Packages on Windows and Linux” by Manoj Gujarathi, Pritesh Prabhu, and

Subbu Ganesan in Dell Power Solutions, October 2004, www.dell.com/downloads/global/power/ps4q04-20040125-Gujarathi.pdf; and “Deploying Dell Update Packages Using Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003” by Sand-

eep Karandikar and Manoj Gujarathi in Dell Power Solutions, February 2005, www.dell.com/downloads/global/power/ps1q05-20040111-Gujarathi.pdf.