Dell Lifecycle Controller 2 Quick Start Manual

Dell Lifecycle Controller 2 Remote Services Release

1.1 Quick Start Guide

Notes, Cautions, and Warnings

NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your computer.

CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem.

WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.

Trademarks used in this text: Dell™, the Dell logo, Dell Boomi™, Dell Precision™ , OptiPlex™, Latitude™, PowerEdge™, PowerVault™, PowerConnect™, OpenManage™, EqualLogic™, Compellent™, KACE™, FlexAddress™, Force10™ and Vostro™ are trademarks of Dell Inc. Intel®, Pentium®, Xeon®, Core® and Celeron® are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. AMD is a registered trademark and AMD Opteron™, AMD Phenom™ and AMD Sempron™ are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Microsoft®, Windows®, Windows Server®, Internet Explorer®, MS-DOS®, Windows Vista® and Active Directory® are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Red Hat® and Red Hat Enterprise Linux® are registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Novell® and SUSE® are registered trademarks of Novell Inc. in the United States and other countries. Oracle® is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Citrix®, Xen®, XenServer® and XenMotion® are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. VMware trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States or other countries. Corporation.

2012 - 12

Virtual SMP

vMotion

is a registered trademark of International Business Machines

IBM

vCenter

and

vSphere

are registered trademarks or

Rev. A00

Contents

Notes, Cautions, and Warnings...................................................................................................2

1 Introduction..................................................................................................................................5

Benefits of using iDRAC7 with Lifecycle Controller..................................................................................................5

Key Features.............................................................................................................................................................6

What’s New in this Release?....................................................................................................................................6

Why Use Lifecycle Controller Remote Services?.....................................................................................................6

Licensable Features in Lifecycle Controller.............................................................................................................7

What is the Web Service API?.................................................................................................................................7

Where can the Lifecycle Controller API be used from?...........................................................................................7

Who can use the API?..............................................................................................................................................8

How is One-to-many Management Achieved?.........................................................................................................8

Contacting Dell.........................................................................................................................................................8

2 Lifecycle Controller-Remote Services Features....................................................................9

Deployment and Configuration.................................................................................................................................9

BIOS Configuration.............................................................................................................................................9

iDRAC Configuration...........................................................................................................................................9

RAID Configuration.............................................................................................................................................9

NIC Configuration.............................................................................................................................................10

Operating System Deployment.........................................................................................................................10

System Configuration XML...............................................................................................................................11

Monitor...................................................................................................................................................................11

Hardware Inventory.........................................................................................................................................11

Lifecycle Log....................................................................................................................................................11

System Event Log.............................................................................................................................................12

Firmware Inventory..........................................................................................................................................12

Event Alerts......................................................................................................................................................12

Maintain..................................................................................................................................................................12

Firmware Update..............................................................................................................................................12

Part Replacement.............................................................................................................................................13

System Configuration XML - Export or Import.................................................................................................13

Server Profile - Export or Import......................................................................................................................13

Auto-Discovery.................................................................................................................................................13

Job Management....................................................................................................................................................13

Job Types.........................................................................................................................................................14

System Status...................................................................................................................................................14

3 Getting Started with API Collateral and Links......................................................................15

Profiles....................................................................................................................................................................15

MOF WSDL and XSD API Definitions......................................................................................................................17

Managed Object File........................................................................................................................................17

Web Service Description Language (WSDL)...................................................................................................17

XML Schema Description.................................................................................................................................18

Web Services Interface Guide...............................................................................................................................18

Best Practices Guide..............................................................................................................................................18

Attribute Registry XML............................................................................................................................................18

Event Message Registry XML.................................................................................................................................19

XML Schemas.........................................................................................................................................................19

Authorization and Licensing Requirements for API Access...................................................................................19

White Papers..........................................................................................................................................................20

4 Integrating the Lifecycle Controller API................................................................................21

API Clients..............................................................................................................................................................21

Best Practices Workflow References....................................................................................................................21

Sample Scripts and Tools.......................................................................................................................................21

Applications Using Lifecycle Controller-Remote Services.....................................................................................22

WinRM and OpenWSMAN Installation and Configuration.....................................................................................22

5 Social Media Reference..........................................................................................................23

Lifecycle Controller Technical Learning Series.....................................................................................................23

6 Terms and Definitions...............................................................................................................25

Introduction

The Dell Lifecycle Controller provides advanced embedded systems management. It includes a 1GB-managed and persistent storage that embeds systems management features in addition to the iDRAC features.

The Dell Lifecycle Controller Remote Services further enables remote systems management in a one-to-many method. Remote Services is accessible over the network using the secure Web services interface and can be programmatically utilized by applications and scripts. Remote services enable management consoles to perform one-to-many bare-metal server provisioning. The combination of the Auto-discovery feature to identify and authenticate the attached Dell system to the network and integration with one‑to-many management consoles reduces the manual steps required for server. The interface is aimed at simplifying many tasks, some of which include remotely deploying an operating system, remote update and inventory, and remotely automating the setup and configuration of new and already-deployed Dell systems.

Lifecycle Controller reduces the time and number of steps taken to accomplish tasks, reduces potential for error, enhances server and application uptime and security, and results in more efficient IT management. Developed on the industry standard Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) platform and Web Services for Management (WSMAN) interfaces, Lifecycle Controller provides an open environment for console integration that also allows custom scripting for Lifecycle Controller. Leading systems management consoles. For example, Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager, BMC Software BladeLogic Operations Manager, Symantec Deployment Solution, Dell Management Console) have integrated Dell Lifecycle Controller, thus offering its features and capabilities to existing infrastructure, where the respective consoles are installed.

Benefits of using iDRAC7 with Lifecycle Controller

At the heart of 12th generation server’s embedded management is iDRAC7 with Lifecycle Controller technology, that allows you to perform useful tasks such as configure BIOS and hardware settings, deploy operating systems, update drivers, change RAID settings, and save hardware profiles. Together, they provide a robust set of management functions that can be leveraged throughout the entire server lifecycle.

Dell Lifecycle Controller simplifies server lifecycle management— from provisioning, deployment, patching and updating to servicing and user customization—for servers located both locally and remotely. It was delivered as a part of the Dell Remote Access Controller or iDRAC (Express, Enterprise and vFlash) starting with Dell PowerEdge 11G servers. On 12G servers, the vFlash feature is included with the iDRAC7 Enterprise License, so you no longer have to separately license vFlash starting with Lifecycle Controller 2. Dell’s 12G servers only use Express or Enterprise licensing. Lifecycle Controller includes managed and persistent storage that embeds systems management features and Operating System device drivers directly on the server, thus eliminating the media-based system management tools and utilities, traditionally needed for systems management.

The benefits include:

• Increased Availability — Early notification of potential or actual failures that help prevent a server failure or reduce recovery time after failure.

• Improved Productivity and Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) — Extending the reach of administrators to larger numbers of distant servers can make IT staff more productive while driving down operational costs such as travel.

• Secure Environment — By providing secure access to remote servers, administrators can perform critical management functions while maintaining server and network security.

• Enhanced Embedded Management through Lifecycle Controller – Lifecycle Controller provides deployment and simplified serviceability through Lifecycle Controller GUI for local deployment and Remote Services (WS-

Management) interfaces for remote deployment integrated with Dell OpenManage Essentials and partner consoles.

For more information about iDRAC7, see support/manuals

Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller User’s Guide

available at dell.com/

Key Features

You can perform the following systems management tasks using Lifecycle Controller-Remote services:

• Install operating systems and drivers

• Manage Licensing

• Perform BIOS firmware updates

• Part Replacement

• Perform component firmware updates

• Get hardware inventory information

• Get and set NIC/CNA and RAID configuration

• Get and set BIOS configuration and BIOS passwords

• Export lifecycle log and add work notes

• Export current and factory shipped hardware inventory log

• Manage, attach, and boot to vFlash SD card partitions

• Lock the controllers using the local key

• Export and import the server profile

• Export and import System Configuration XML

• Schedule and track the status of the update and configuration

What’s New in this Release?

The highlights of this release of Lifecycle Controller-Remote Services are:

• Import and export System Configuration XML file that contains information about a component configuration

• Backplane and enclosure firmware update

• Faster iDRAC firmware update

• New Shutdown job type

• Added support for Fibre Channel (FC) HBA cards

Why Use Lifecycle Controller Remote Services?

When Dell examined the most common management tasks and the inefficiencies associated with them, it discovered that the additional time taken for performing the management tasks was not because of the tools, but it was because of how they were delivered. The most common tasks such as provisioning, deploying, and updating required multiple tools, multiple forms of media, and searching the Web for the latest enablement tools, including drivers and firmware. This traditional delivery model resulted in inefficient usage of time, a potential for error, and exposure to security risks. Lifecycle Controller-Remote Services addresses all these system management issues.

Licensable Features in Lifecycle Controller

The Web Services for Management (WSMAN) License and Privilege Specification encompasses all the license and privilege information that is required to utilize the WSMAN API provided by the integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC7) with Lifecycle Controller 2.0.

The Lifecycle Controller manageability capabilities are partitioned into distinct areas and represented by the Dell Common Information Model (DCIM) profile specifications that provide comprehensive details about each manageability feature or capability. These features may be free, partially licensed, or fully licensed. Furthermore, the accessibility of a feature is defined by the credentials provided with the WSMAN request and maps to the user-assigned privilege credential, such as administrator or read-only access.

What is the Web Service API?

Web Services-Management (WSMAN) is a Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) open standard, defining a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)—based protocol for managing servers, devices, applications, and various Web services. WSMAN provides a common way for systems to access and exchange management information across the IT infrastructure.

DMTF is an industry organization that develops, maintains, and promotes standards for systems management in enterprise IT environments.

The DMTF data model is complex and typically requires multiple transactions to accomplish simple operations such as specifying a user name and password, or giving administrator privileges to a user account. Therefore, Lifecycle Controller also offers a Dell data model for management that is based on an attribute model.

Where can the Lifecycle Controller API be used from?

Lifecycle Controller-Remote Services is a standards-based interface that enables consoles to integrate, for example, bare-metal provisioning and one-to-many operating system deployments, for remotely-located servers. Dell’s Lifecycle Controller takes advantage of the capabilities of both Lifecycle Controller and Lifecycle Controller-Remote Services to deliver significant advancement and simplification of server deployment.

Lifecycle controller also supports local one-to-one system management tasks through a graphical user interface (GUI) using the server’s KVM or the Virtual Console in iDRAC for operating system installation, updates, configuration, and for running diagnostics, on single and local servers. This eliminates the need for multiple option ROMs for hardware configuration. For more information, see

Lifecycle Controller User’s Guide

Who can use the API?

Lifecycle Controller-Remote Services features are available based on the type of license (Basic Management, iDRAC7 Express, iDRAC7 Express for Blades, or iDRAC7 Enterprise) you purchase. Only licensed features are available in the iDRAC7 Web interface and Lifecycle Controller-Remote Services. For more information about managing licenses, see

iDRAC7 User’s Guide

. For more information about Lifecycle Controller-Remote Services licensing, see Licensing

How is One-to-many Management Achieved?

A management station sends WSMAN commands over a network and the WSMAN commands can traverse the network safely from outside the firewall and still be secure.

Contacting Dell

To obtain the most up-to-date information regarding Lifecycle Controller and WSMAN, see the Social Media Reference section in this document.

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