Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter 1.7 Update Manual

Sangita Pandit

Michael Hepfer

Kaushal Gala

Firmware Updates for Datacenters and

Clusters Using the Dell Management

Plug-in for VMware vCenter

This Dell technical white paper describes how to use the Dell
Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter to perform firmware updates

for datacenters and clusters onto Dell PowerEdge 11

th

generation or

later host systems.

Firmware Update for datacenters and clusters using the Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter

This document is for informational purposes only and may contain 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. Dell and its affiliates cannot be responsible for errors or omissions
in typography or photography. Dell, the Dell logo, and PowerEdge are trademarks of Dell Inc. Intel and
Xeon are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft,
Windows, and Windows Server are either trademarks or 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
proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.

July 2013| Rev 1.0

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Firmware Update for datacenters and clusters using the Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter

Contents

Executive summary ................................................................................................... 4

Introduction ........................................................................................................... 4

Firmware update assurances ...................................................................................... 4

Server prerequisites for candidates of firmware updates for datacenters and clusters .................. 4

Firmware Repository prerequisites ................................................................................ 5

The Firmware Update Wizard for datacenters and clusters ................................................... 5

The Job Queue ....................................................................................................... 14

Firmware Update jobs ............................................................................................. 14

Troubleshooting ...................................................................................................... 15

Known firmware compatibility issues ............................................................................ 16

Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 17

Figures

Figure 1. ................................................................................... 6

................................................................................. 6

............................................................................................ 7

Figure 4. Firmware inventory information for the datacenter. .............................................. 8

Figure 5. Selecting the update bundles. ......................................................................... 9

Figure 6. Error screen for firmware repository. ................................................................ 9

Figure 7. Repository is being updated by another process. .................................................. 10

Figure 8. Select the systems/components to update. ........................................................ 11

Figure 9. Review the components you selected. .............................................................. 12

Figure 10. Schedule your firmware update. ..................................................................... 13

Figure 11. Job creation confirmation ............................................................................. 13

Figure 12. Job Queue ................................................................................................ 14

Figure 13. Firmware Update Job Details ......................................................................... 15

Figure 14. Purging firmware update jobs. ........................................................................ 15

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Firmware Update for datacenters and clusters using the Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter

Executive summary

The Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter is a virtual appliance that streamlines tools and tasks
associated with management and deployment of Dell servers in your virtual environment. It reduces
complexity by natively integrating the key management capabilities into the VMware vSphere Client
console. It minimizes risk with hardware alarms, streamlined firmware updates and deep visibility into
inventory, health and warranty details.

The Dell Management Plug-in enables users to schedule firmware updates for datacenters and clusters
from within VMware vCenter. The Dell Management Plug-in provides a wizard that guides you through
the steps to perform firmware updates on datacenter and cluster hosts.

Introduction

The Dell Management Plug-in performs firmware updates for datacenters and clusters on complaint
Dell PowerEdge 11th and 12th Generation servers. In addition, you can schedule the firmware update
to run at a future time. This feature helps users to perform these firmware updates at the scheduled
maintenance window without having to be present personally to attend the firmware update.

Firmware update assurances

Sequential execution. To make sure all the hosts are not brought down to perform firmware updates,
the firmware update is performed sequentially, one host at a time.

Single failure stoppage. If an update job fails on a server being updated, the existing jobs for that
server continues; however the firmware update task stops and does not update any remaining servers.

One firmware update job for each vCenter. To avoid the possibility of multiple update jobs
interacting with a server or cluster, only one firmware update job for each vCenter is allowed. If a
firmware update is scheduled or running for a vCenter, a second firmware update job cannot be
scheduled or invoked on that vCenter.

Entering Maintenance Mode. Hosts are placed into maintenance mode prior to installing updates.
Before a host can enter maintenance mode, VMware requires that you power off or migrate off guest
operating systems to another. You can configure the DRS features for a cluster to migrate the guest
operating systems to another host automatically. If a host is not able to enter maintenance mode the
firmware update task timeouts and fails.

Exiting Maintenance Mode. Once the updates for a host have completed, the host will be taken out of
maintenance mode, if a host was in maintenance mode prior to the updates.

NOTE: If a host was in maintenance mode prior to the firmware update task, it is removed from
maintenance mode after the firmware update jobs complete on the host.

Server prerequisites for candidates of firmware updates for
datacenters and clusters

For the Dell PowerEdge 11th and 12th generation server to update the firmware of datacenters and
clusters, the server must fulfill the following requirements:

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Firmware Update for datacenters and clusters using the Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter

 Servers must have a valid iDRAC Express or Enterprise License.
 Server must be part of a Connection Profile.
 Server must be compliant in terms of firmware, CSIOR status, Hypervisor, and OMSA

status (in case for Dell PowerEdge 11

 At least the base level of firmware updates for Lifecycle Controller, iDRAC, and

BIOS. See the product documentation for more details.

 Conduct System Inventory on Reboot (CSIOR) must be enabled.
 For Dell PowerEdge 11th generation servers, you must install a supported

version of the OMSA agent. See product documentation for more details

th

generation servers).

Firmware Repository prerequisites

A firmware repository accessible to the Dell Management Plug-in appliance is required. The repository
can be the default repository location of ftp.dell.com, or a repository created using the Dell Repository
Manager.You can find information about creating a repository using the Dell Repository Manager in the

whitepaper “Using Dell Repository Manager with OpenManage Essentials & Dell™ Management Plug-in

for VMware vCenter”

http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/extras/m/white_papers/20069223.aspx

The Firmware Update Wizard for datacenters and clusters

The Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter uses the Firmware Update Wizard on the datacenter
or cluster page to step through the firmware update process and schedule update jobs.

1. In the vSphere Client, under the Inventory heading, select Hosts and Clusters.

2. In Hosts and Clusters, in the tree view, select a datacenter or a cluster and then select the Dell

Server Management tab.

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Firmware Update for datacenters and clusters using the Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter

Host and cluster view.

Figure 1.

3. Click Update Firmware.

If this link is not enabled or if you get a popup message when you click this option, then there
is a firmware update job in progress or scheduled. Firmware updates can be performed on
different vCenters simultaneously, however only one in progress firmware job for each vCenter
is allowed. Dismiss the dialog. Wait, and try this again later. View the status of all jobs on the
Firmware Update Jobs tab in Job Queues.

Job in progress warning

4. In the Welcome page, review the information about the update before proceeding with the

wizard.