Dell Systems Build and Update Utility Version 1.3 User Manual
Dell™ Systems Build and Update Utility 1.3
User’s Guide
www.dell.com | support.dell.com
Notes
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of
your computer.
___________________
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
© 2009 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of these materials in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc.
is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: Dell, the DELL logo, PowerEdge, and OpenManage are trademarks of
Dell Inc.; Microsoft, Windows, and W indows Server , are either trademarks or registered trademarks of
Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries; VMware is a registered trademark
and ESX Server is a registered trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other
jurisdictions; SUSE is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries;
Red Hat and Red Hat Enterprise Linux are registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. in the U.S. and 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 Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and
trade names other than its own.
December 2009
Contents
1Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
About This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Who Should Read This Document?
How Will This Document Help Me?
How Do I Use This Document?
. . . . . . . . . . . . 7
. . . . . . . . . 7
. . . . . . . . . 7
Dell SBUU Overview
What is SBUU?
What’s New in This Release
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Function Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Before You Begin Using SBUU . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Prerequisites and Requirements
. . . . . . . . . . 10
Generic Prerequisites and Requirements . . . . . 10
Server Operating System Installation
Requirements
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Firmware Update Requirements . . . . . . . . . . 11
Hardware Configuration Requirements
Supported Operating Systems
Supported Systems
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
. . . . . . 11
. . . . . . . . . . . 11
Are There Other Dell Documents
I Might Need?
How Do I Get Technical Assistance?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
. . . . . . . 13
Contents 3
2 Launching SBUU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3 Using SBUU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Using SBUU in Different Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Updating Your System Firmware
Configuring Your System Hardware
Installing the Operating System
Deploying Your Current "Bare-Metal"
Dell System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Deploying More Than One System
With the Same Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Deploying More Than One System
With Slightly Different Configurations
Deploying Multiple Systems of
Different Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Deploying Multiple Systems With
the Same Configuration for
Different Operating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Reusing Configuration Files
. . . . . . . . . . 21
. . . . . . . . 22
. . . . . . . . . . 25
. . . . . . . 32
. . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4 Important Information and
Frequently Asked Questions 39
4 Contents
Firmware Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Important Information
Frequently Asked Questions
Hardware Configuration
Server Operating System Installation
Important Information
Frequently Asked Questions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
. . . . . . . . . . . . 39
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
. . . . . . . . . . 43
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
. . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Contents 5
6 Contents
1
Overview
This chapter provides details on the information available in this document
and where to find the required information. It also provides an overview of
System Build and Update Utility (SBUU) and the prerequisites for using
SBUU.
About This Document
It is strongly recommended that you read the current chapter before
proceeding.
Who Should Read This Document?
This document is for system administrators who are responsible for deploying
and updating Dell™ PowerEdge™ systems in their organizations.
How Will This Document Help Me?
This document introduces you to SBUU, and includes best practices on how
to make the product effective in helping you streamline your deployment and
update procedures for Dell systems.
• If you are a first-time user of this product, this document will help you set
up your systems prior to, while, and after using
• If you are an existing user of
understand how to leverage the utility modules in an interlinked manner
to create a customized deployment media.
SBUU
, this document will help you
SBUU
.
How Do I Use This Document?
This document helps you set up your Dell systems to use SBUU effectively
and efficiently and provides an overview of the various modules of SBUU and
the possible scenarios in which you might use them. However, it does not
cover all scenarios and possibilities. For specific information on Dell products
whose functionalities are now provided by SBUU, see "Are There Other Dell
Documents I Might Need?"
Overview 7
Depending on the Dell systems you want to deploy, redeploy or update, it is
recommended that you use the document as follows.
Table 1-1. Organization of Information in This Guide
Topics For Dell systems
Information on this document, its
intended audience, purpose, and
organization
Overview of
functionalities it offers
What you need before proceeding to use
SBUU and what
"About This Document"
"Dell SBUU Overview"
"Before You Begin Using SBUU"
SBUU and where to get other information
that you may need while using this utility
Important information about launching
the Systems Build and Update Utility and
pointers to user scenarios
Possible scenarios in which you can use
"Launching SBUU"
"Using SBUU"
SBUU
Important information and frequently
asked questions (FAQs) about the
Firmware Update module
Important information and FAQs about
the Hardware Configuration module
Important information and FAQs about
the Server Operating System Installation
module
"Firmware Update"
"Hardware Configuration"
"Server Operating System Installation"
8 Overview
Dell SBUU Overview
This section provides an overview of the Systems Build and Update Utility
(SBUU). This chapter helps you understand the functionalities that SBUU
provides to update and deploy your Dell systems.
What is SBUU?
SBUU is an integrated tool for deployment and update of your Dell systems.
It has modules such as Server OS Installation, Firmware Update, and
Hardware Configuration. These modules enable you to update BIOS and
firmware in the pre-operating system environment, apply these settings on
the current system or on multiple systems, and install the operating system.
What’s New in This Release
The key new features of SBUU in this release are:
• Support for ESXi Flash
• Support for Dell Embedded OMSA on VMware embedded ESXi 4.x
hypervisor.
• Support for new BIOS options.
• Display of blade server geometry and slot number.
• Support for PERC 7 and SAS 7 controllers.
Function Overview
Table 1-2 lists SBUU functions to deploy and update your Dell systems.
Table 1-2. Dell SBUU Functions
You Want To Go To
Update your system firmware (Baseboard
Management Controller [BMC], Dell
Remote Access Controller [DRAC],
Redundant Array of Independent Disks
[RAID]) and BIOS in a pre-operating system environment.
Configure your system hardware. "Configuring Your System Hardware"
"Updating Your System Firmware"
Overview 9
Table 1-2. Dell SBUU
You Want To Go To
Install an operating system on your system.
Create customized bootable media to
deploy multiple systems (different platforms) of your choice
Functions
(continued)
"Installing the Operating System"
"Using SBUU in Different Scenarios"
Before You Begin Using SBUU
This section lists the prerequisites for using SBUU and where to get other
information that you may need while using this utility.
Prerequisites and Requirements
You should have a Dell system with:
• Minimum memory of 512 MB
•DVD drive
Generic Prerequisites and Requirements
• Two Network File System (NFS) or Samba multiple network shares. If you
do not have network connectivity for the system you are deploying, ensure
that you have multiple USB keys.
• If you are planning to deploy multiple systems using
Dell recommends that you create a multi-system configuration file
(
.csv
file) that contains information about all your systems on your
network. Information includes the service tag, host name, IP addresses,
subnet mask, operating system(s) ISO file name(s), product keys, DRAC
IP address, and Domain Name System (DNS) IP addresses. Save this file
on a common network share or a USB key.
SBUU
does not validate the file but uses it during actual deployment.
When you want to apply your customized bootable media on a group of
similar systems,
SBUU
prompts you to browse and locate the multi-
system configuration file.
• A common network share or a USB key for the following actions:
• Export your configuration
SBUU
,
10 Overview
• Save your customizable bootable image
• A common network share or a USB key to save your customized bootable
image.
• A common network share to save logs for each system on your network
share. These logs can be a useful reference if you want to troubleshoot any
problem your systems might have encountered during deployment.
Server Operating System Installation Requirements
• Operating system media or a network share or a USB key on which to save
the operating system ISO image.
•
Dell Systems Management Tools and Documentation
install Dell OpenManage™ System Administrator). This is not applicable
for Dell PowerEdge™ SC systems.
• If you are using SBUU image downloaded from the support site and you
want to install Microsoft Windows 2008, Windows OS Install Support
Pack .
•Basic knowledge of RAID
DVD (if you want to
Firmware Update Requirements
Either of the following:
•DVD drive and
• A network share with the Server Update Utility content and knowledge of
setting up the NFS or Microsoft
Dell Server Updates
®
Windows® share.
DVD
Hardware Configuration Requirements
•Basic knowledge of BIOS,
RAID, BMC, and DRAC.
Supported Operating Systems
For the list of operating systems that SBUU supports, see the readme.txt file
in the root folder or the
Support website at support.dell.com.
Dell Systems Software Support Matrix
Overview 11
on the Dell
Supported Systems
For the list of Dell systems supported for this version of SBUU, see the
readme.txt file in the root folder or the
on the Dell Support website at support.dell.com.
Dell Systems Software Support Matrix
Are There Other Dell Documents I Might Need?
In addition to this guide and SBUU online help, you might need to refer to
the following documents to get details on specific SBUU modules and Dell
OpenManage products. These documents are available on the Dell Support
website at support.dell.com/manuals.
• For information on terms used in this document, see the
Dell support website.
•The
•The
•The
•The
•The
•The
•The
Dell Remote Access Controller 5 Firmware User's Guide
comprehensive information about using the
utility to configure a DRAC 5.
Dell Chassis Management Controller User’s Guide
comprehensive information about using the controller that manages all
modules in the chassis containing your Dell system.
Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller User’s Guide
information about installation, configuration, and maintenance of the
Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller
managed systems.
Dell Remote Access Controller Racadm User's Guide
comprehensive information about using the
Dell Baseboard Management Controller Utilities User's Guide
information about configuring a managed system to use the BMC
Management Utility to manage your system through its BMC.
Dell Update Packages User's Guide
and using Dell Update Packages as part of your system update strategy.
Dell OpenManage Deployment Toolkit User's Guide
information on how to run Linux DUP in the Dell-provided or your
customized Embedded Linux (ELI) environment considering the
dependencies.
provides information about obtaining
RACADM
(
iDRAC) on management and
RACADM
Glossary
command line
provides
provides
command line utility.
provides
on the
provides
provides
provides
12 Overview
•The
•The
•The
Dell OpenManage Deployment Toolkit Command Line Interface
Reference Guide
the Deployment Toolkit (DTK), which is a set of command line tools for
configuring and deploying Dell PowerEdge™ systems.
Server Update Utility User's Guide
identify and apply updates to your system.
Dell Systems Software Support Matrix
various Dell systems, the operating systems supported by these systems,
and the Dell OpenManage components that can be installed on
these systems.
provides general, best practice procedures on how to run
provides information on how to
provides information about the
How Do I Get Technical Assistance?
If at any time you do not understand a procedure described in this guide or if
your product does not perform as expected, help tools are available to assist
you. For more information about these help tools, see "Getting Help" in your
system's Hardware Owner's Manual.
Additionally, Dell Enterprise Training and Certification is available. See
www.dell.com/training for more information. This service may not be offered
in all locations.
Overview 13
14 Overview
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