Dell Lifecycle Controller 2 White Paper

Automatic Backup Server Profile in Dell
PowerEdge 12th Generation Servers

A Dell Technical White Paper on scheduling periodic
Automatic Backup Server Profile using various interfaces
such as RACADM, WS-Man, iDRAC GUI, and Lifecycle
Controller

Dell Engineering
December 2013

A Dell Technical White Paper

Revisions

Date Description

December 2013 1.0 Release: Initial release

TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND TECHNICAL INACCURACIES. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT EXPRESS
OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.
© 2013 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this material in any manner whatsoever without the express
written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden. For more information, contact Dell.
Dell, the DELL logo, and the DELL badge are trademarks of Dell Inc. Symantec, NetBackup, and Backup Exec are
trademarks of Symantec Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft, Windows, and Windows Server are
registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Other trademarks and
trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their
products. Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.

2 Automatic Backup Server Profile | Revision 1.0.

Contents

Revisions ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 2

Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................................................. 4

1 About Automatic Backup Server Profile .................................................................................................................................... 5

1.1 Prerequisites ......................................................................................................................................................................... 5

2 Backing up Server Profile ............................................................................................................................................................. 6

2.1 Using RACADM ................................................................................................................................................................... 6

2.2 Usage Examples .................................................................................................................................................................. 6

2.3 Using WS–Man ..................................................................................................................................................................... 7

2.3.1 Usage Examples ................................................................................................................................................................... 7

2.4 Using the iDRAC GUI ......................................................................................................................................................... 8

2.4.1 Using Lifecycle Controller ................................................................................................................................................ 9

3 Scheduling Automatic Backup Server Profile ........................................................................................................................ 10

3.1 Using RACADM Commands ........................................................................................................................................... 10

11

3.1.1 Usage Examples ................................................................................................................................................................. 11

3.2 Using WS–Man ................................................................................................................................................................... 11

3.2.1 Usage Examples ................................................................................................................................................................. 12

3.3 Using iDRAC GUI ...............................................................................................................................................................14

3.3.1 Using Lifecycle Controller ............................................................................................................................................... 15

4 Getting Automatic Backup Server Profile Schedule .............................................................................................................16

4.1 Using RACADM ..................................................................................................................................................................16

4.2 Using WS–Man ...................................................................................................................................................................16

4.3 Using iDRAC GUI ............................................................................................................................................................... 17

4.3.1 Using Lifecycle Controller ............................................................................................................................................... 17

5 Clearing Automatic Backup Server Profile Schedule........................................................................................................... 18

5.1 Using RACADM ................................................................................................................................................................. 18

5.2 Using WS–Man .................................................................................................................................................................. 18

5.3 Using iDRAC GUI .............................................................................................................................................................. 18

5.4 Using Lifecycle Controller ...............................................................................................................................................19

3 Automatic Backup Server Profile | Revision 1.0.

Executive Summary

To prevent server downtime for long duration that is caused by corrupted firmware,
incorrect configuration changes, or motherboard damage, Dell recommends you to
back up the server profile and save in an external location or storage device. When the
server is not functional because of the aforesaid reasons, Lifecycle Controller provides a
feature to backup and export the server profile to a vFlash Card or a CIFS or NFS share,
and then restore the earlier saved server profile. It also provides a mechanism to
schedule the server profile backup at periodic intervals.

This whitepaper aims at providing detailed information about scheduling periodic
automatic backup of server profile using various interfaces such as WS–Man, RACADM,
and iDRAC Web GUI.

4 Automatic Backup Server Profile | Revision 1.0.

1 About Automatic Backup Server Profile

Lifecycle Controller allows you to create a copy of the server's profile on the vFlash SD card attached to a
server, or on a CIFS or NFS share on the network. The server profile includes server component
configuration and firmware installed on various components on the server. For more information about
the supported components, see Supported Components available <where?>. Whenever a firmware is
corrupted, configuration changes are incorrect, or the motherboard is replaced, you can use the backup
image to restore the server to its previously-stored profile. It is recommended that an Automatic Backup
Server Profile be scheduled at periodic intervals to allow for regular backups. A backup image file contains:

 Readable

o System identification information such as model number and service tag. For example,

R720 and 1P3H8BS.

o Date and time the backup was completed
o Currently installed hardware inventory information
o Firmware for each component

 Encrypted

o Component configuration information
o User name and password for RAID controller and BIOS
o Component certificates
o Licenses
o Signature to validate backup file has not been tampered with and was generated by

Lifecycle Controller

A backup image does not contain:

 Operating system or any data stored on hard disk drives (HDDs) or virtual drives (VDs)
 vFlash SD card partition information
 Lifecycle log
 Dell diagnostics
 Dell OS Driver Pack
 Local Key Management (LKM) passphrase if the LKM–based storage encryption is enabled.

However, you must provide the LKM passphrase after performing the restore operation.

1.1 Prerequisites

Make sure that the following prerequisites are met before performing a backing up a server profile:

 A software license for 12th generation Dell PowerEdge servers. For more information about

managing licenses using iDRAC Web interface, click Overview  Server  Licenses, and then click
Help in the upper-right corner.

 A server must have a valid service tag (7 characters).
 vFlash SD card must be installed and initialized for backing up to vFlash.
 A network share (CIFS or NFS) with sufficient storage space must be configured for backing up to

the network share.

5 Automatic Backup Server Profile | Revision 1.0.

2 Backing up Server Profile

2.1 Using RACADM

racadm systemconfig backup -f <filename> <target> [-n <passphrase>]

-time <time> -dom <DayOfMonth> -wom <WeekOfMonth> -dow <DayofWeek>

-rp <repeat> -mb <MaxBackup>

<target> can be any of the following with listed options

-l <location> -u <user> -p <password>

--vFlash

2.2 Usage Examples

To back up system to CIFS share and encrypt data by running a command at command line interface (CLI)

racadm systemconfig backup -f <Image Name> -l //<Share IP>/<Share
Name> -u <UserName> -p <Password> -n <Encryption Passphrase>

To back up system to NFS share and encrypt data by running the command at CLI:

racadm systemconfig backup -f image.img -l 192.168.2.140:/share ­u admin -p passwd -n encryptpasswd123

To back up system to vFlash SD by running a command at CLI Backup system to vFlash SD:

racadm systemconfig backup --vFlash

Note: For remote RACADM, also enter the –r <HostName> -u <user name> and –p <password> options in
the command.

6 Automatic Backup Server Profile | Revision 1.0.