In regard to: Re: [Linux-PowerEdge] PE Update Strategy & Questions,...:
OpenManage Enterprise the successor to OpeManage Essentials (both OME
for simplicity) is available now. It is supplied as a CentOS based
virtual appliance which can run on VMware, Hyper-V or KVM - so yes OME
is available for Linux.
If you want more information, let me know and I will provide when I am online.
I certainly would be interested in more information on OM Enterprise.
Everything I've been able to find on dell.com still says "Tech Release",
which although listed as "fully supported", makes it sound fairly
beta-ish.
Just seeing that it uses HTML5 (rather than Silverlight (!)) makes me
more interested in the product than I ever was in Essentials.
Thanks,
Tim
-------- Original message --------
From: Cameron Smith <came...@networkredux.com>
Date: 20/04/2018 19:22 (GMT+00:00)
To: R S <rene.shus...@bcsemail.org>
Cc: linux-poweredge-Lists <linux-powere...@lists.us.dell.com>
Subject: Re: [Linux-PowerEdge] PE Update Strategy & Questions
You are welcome!
Sadly OME is not Linux ready yet. I have heard rumors that it might be in the
works but I wouldn't hold my breath.
If using the .EXEs in the DRAC GUI here are some tips.
Before you start, go to the Lifecycle Controller job queue which is the Job
Queue link on the main DRAC page and see if there is anything already in there.
If there are any jobs in there that are failed or pending (that you don't want)
delete them.
Reboot the DRAC from the main drac page with the Reset link (This does not
affect the OS)
Once DRAC is back up which is usually within 90 seconds then do your firmware
uploads. You can set these to immediately reboot the server and run or to be
queued to run when the server is rebooted by you at a later time manually.
Then go to the Job Queue and monitor their status.
Cameron
On Fri, Apr 20, 2018 at 11:11 AM, R S
<rene.shus...@bcsemail.org<mailto:rene.shus...@bcsemail.org>> wrote:
Thanks for sharing this. Makes me want to spent time and try out OME.
I used the 64bit EXEs in iDRAC just recently for the first time wondering how
the iDRAC can handle EXEs?!?! :) It worked though.
Is OME available for GNU/Linux?
On Fri, Apr 20, 2018 at 12:37 PM, Cameron Smith
<came...@networkredux.com<mailto:came...@networkredux.com>> wrote:
For localizing the repo you can look into Dell Repo Manager:
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=2GY7P
You can customize the repo if you need to hold back a version for anything and
it's a great tool. Runs on Linux now!!!
For firmware updates I used to use .BIN files in the OS. I then moved to 64-bit
.exe files through DRAC. I now use OME to DRAC for almost everything for
managing about 600 servers (11/12/13Gen).
OME has gotten much better. Based on your numbers though I believe you would need to run
multiple installs of OME as I "think" it maxes out at close to 2000 devices.
It's is also good to batch update smaller groups of devices at a time (20 or so) rather
than trying to update 1000 at a time. Just something to think about if you need to end up
going this route.
Cameron
On Fri, Apr 20, 2018 at 6:32 AM, Prashant Sun
<mailinglists...@gmail.com<mailto:mailinglists...@gmail.com>> wrote:
Thanks RS & Florian for your suggestions.
I intend to use Catalog.xml file as my primary tool to approve updates that are
applied by iDRAC or dsu. I plan to download this Catalog.xml and publish via
ftp/http internally and do a phased roll-out. Say dev servers get first.I
understand the firmware behaves differently even on same model at different
times but that's a risk we are willing to take.
Couple of more questions:
Q1) Does anyone here use iDrac or dsu based updates? Do you mirror the upstream
repo locally and point to it somehow? Please respond to this list or directly
so we can talk further.
Q2) Any other strategies for updating large(3000+) servers that is OS agnostic?
I am keeping OME as last option.
Thanks all
On Thu, Apr 19, 2018 at 2:40 AM, Florian Haller-Casagrande
<florian.haller-casagra...@smile.fr<mailto:florian.haller-casagra...@smile.fr>>
wrote:
Hi,
Another solution is to setup an OpenManage Essential server (or "OME",
available for free on Dell website), let is scan your network and find all you iDRAC (no
need to go further, like OS-level or with OMSA agents). It will then display you all the
available updates for your machines, and you will be able to schedule them (or apply them
immediately), through the iDRAC (and the LC).
That is clearly, IMHO, the easiest way to go with dozens/hundreds of servers.
But, these are some limitations I have with this solution :
- OME is heavy, requiring a SQL server (embedded) and eating a lot of CPU/RAM
when you have hundreds of machines ;
- OME offers many features, such as managing iDRAC/BIOS/etc configurations,
licenses, hardwares issues and so on, but it is not easy to handle, and to be
honest I only use it to update my firmwares ;
- 80% of my servers are pretty well detected, but for some of them the
inventory task fail, and they are not listed (so I can't update them with OME,
I still need to go with a Dell ISO or whatever) ;
- As Rene Shuster said, BIOS and LC updates are (almost) the first to run.
Personally, I first update all the iDRACs, as OME will go through it to push
updates to the LC. So : iDRAC, then BIOS+LC, then everything else ;
- I still have many iDRAC6, and the iDRAC update is strangely not "reboot-less"
(if you upgrade through its webUI, no need to reboot the server, only the iDRAC). With
OME, the update is loaded (into the LC ?), and waiting for server reboot to be applied...
I was previously using the ISO solution, but having to connect to every single
iDRAC, reboot and then go to PXE boot is time-consuming. And, most of the time,
you have to reboot twice with the ISO, as some updates fail the first time
because of some dependences (the Dell support teams are very insistent on this
point).
As we have various Linux/*BSD systems, we can't rely on DSU or such tools (Dell
still doesn't support Debian 9...), and that is why I focus on out-of-band
solutions.
My 2cts.
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[eco]Pour la planète, n'imprimez ce mail que si c'est nécessaire.
On 04/18/2018 09:27 PM, R S wrote:
I recommend to apply BIOS update and LC update separately from all other
updates and do them first with whatever route you choose. They go together is
what DELL documentation says. BIOS first, then LC, then reboot and hope for the
best.
Here are the pitfalls I encountered:
* updating the LC controller will result that all other updates chained behind
the LC update cannot be applied when using for example an ISO that has been
created with DELL Repo Manager.
* You might loose KVM capability when updating LC
* There is a high chance that a LC update will render your iDRAC/LC into a brick
* replacing a bricked iDRAC used to be swapping out the iDRAC card (available
used for $60), starting with iDRAC7 DELL decided to solder it on the mainboard.
* Check the warranty of all 3000 servers first as you will be opening tickets
with DELL to get your mainboard replaced due to bricked iDRAC/LC if they are
still under warranty.
* a lot of PSU updates are not listed in the catalog and you will need to apply
them in a different way. I do them last as they need up to 30 minutes to apply
to both PSU. Don't make the mistake and get impatient and power the server on
during the firmware update. The FW update will fail and you will need to start
over
* NIC updates sometimes fail to apply. Sometimes they need stepped updates, for
example to fix the underlying issue of not beeing able to update to a more
recent FW
* a lot of HDD/SSD updates are not listed in the catalog either and need to be
installed in a different way.
* iDSDM update is not listed in catalog.
All of the above depends on a lot of factors. You could have two servers with
the same FW level and one fails and the other applies all FW fine. Even heavily
outdated servers might apply the latest FW updates just fine, but then again a
server just one month behind might fail updating to the latest.
On Wed, Apr 18, 2018 at 2:10 PM, Prashant Sun
<mailinglists...@gmail.com<mailto:mailinglists...@gmail.com>> wrote:
Greetings!
I am taking up a project to consolidate the bios/LC/idrac/hw firmware updates
for powerEdge 12G+ servers and would appreciate if you can answer few questions
noted below.
Environment: 3000+ Linux servers(RHEL6, 7) all running in multiple sites. Primarily
PE R600 & 700 series with idrac enterprise 7,8,9.
Update Plan: Create a local mirror of the upstream repo and use it in some
fashion.
I narrowed down my update strategy to following options.
A. Install using yum repo (os-independent & os-dependent)
B. Install using DSU by passing catalog.xml(update definitions) & location
of .BIN files(using config.xml)
C. Create an iso using DSU by passing Catalog.xml & config.xml(pointing to
local .BIN repo). Then PXE boot to this iso to patch.
D. Setup iDrac scheduled updates using local copy of repo and use multiple
Catalog.xml to roll-out in phased manner.
__Questions__:
Q1. I like option:D as it is OS agnostic and uses iDRAC/LC to apply patches in
a scheduled way. Has anyone encountered issues where certain category of
updates fail for some reason? Will probably make windows server team happy too
with this. :)
Q2. I can also deal with option:C which involves creating iso and pxe booting
servers into it. This has historically worked well for me using Dell Repo
Mnager but the nv is too large and I'd like to avoid manual work having to do
this. So curious to know if folks here prefer this over option:C.
Q3. In order to go with option C or D ), is there a .BIN repo that I can mirror
locally? Sorry I may not have google'd hard enough. If you have the link handy,
please share. Thx. I found the Catalog.xml file from
'https://downloads.dell.com/catalog/' but don't see fw files there.
Q4. I have never used RPM based updates(option A), but curious to know your
experiences? Are all updates available via DRM typically also packaged into
rpms or only a subset?
Q5. Option B sounds like a custom tailored updates for each server but I have
heard from fellow admins that it is a hit or miss. Do you agree with this? Do
you recommend even looking at this?
Any other ideas to fully automate bios/lc/idrac/hw firmware updates is welcome.
Cheers
P
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