Dell 1855 User manual

Brand: Dell

Model: 1855

Category: Servers

Type: User manual

DELL POWER SOLUTIONS Re

ugust 2005

SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT

uipped with 10 server blades and several I/O mod

ules and management modules, the Dell PowerEdge

855 blade server contains numerous system software

components to update durin

the chan

e-mana

ement

rocess. Although best practices dictate careful planning

and methodical implementation when deployin

system

software updates for the PowerEdge 1855 blade server,

such chan

e mana

ement need not be di

icult. As is

e case wit

er PowerE

ge servers, a

ministrators

can mana

e software updates for the PowerEd

e 1855

blade server using standards-based Dell OpenManag

™

s, t

-party enterprise c

e-mana

ement

ools

or both.

Upd

ng server

he process for updating system software components on

PowerEd

e 1855 server blades is desi

ned to be the same

as on ot

er PowerE

ge servers. T

is simi

arity a

ows

administrators to levera

e existin

chan

e-mana

ement

rocesses in their IT or

anization to mana

e updates to

owerEdge 1855 server blades. On PowerEdge 1855 server

lades, administrators can typically update firmware on

the

ollowin

system so

tware components

•

erver s

stem BIO

•

Baseboard management controller (BMC

)

•

PowerEd

e Expandable RAID Controller 4,

Integrated Mirroring

(

PERC 4/IM

)

•

Adaptec SCSI Card 3916

•

CSI hard disk drives

•

riv

As part of the change-management planning

rocess, administrators must decide which u

date

ethod best fits their environment. System software

components on a PowerEd

e 1855 server blade can be

updated using one o

two methods: o

line updates or

online updates.

BY NARAYAN DEVIREDDY AND R

TIN

ng t

Dell PowerEdge 1855 Blade Server

hassis and

erver Blade

Many hardware components in the Dell

™

PowerEdge

™

1855 blade server have been

designed with a firmware upgrade option—including the Dell Remote Access Controller/

Modular Chassis (DRAC/MC) management module; server baseboard management

controllers; I/O modules; and keyboard, video, mouse modules. This article discusses

standards-based frameworks for updating individual server blades and available

software utilities as well as recommended methods and best practices for updating

chassis component firmware.

Related Categories:

Blade servers

Dell PowerEdge blade servers

New-generation server technology

Visit www.dell.com/powersolutions

for the complete category index.

SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT

www.

.com

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ell Power Solutions

ELL POWER SOLUTIONS

ffline updates

o per

orm an o

line update, administrators must schedule server

downtime. Most o

line u

date utilities boot into a

re-OS environ

ment such as DOS to perform the update. These update utilities may

also re

uire multi

le s

stem reboots to com

lete the u

date

rocess.

Although the offline update

rocess is time-consumin

requires severa

manua

ste

s, this is a sa

e method

o update system software on

irtually any server because

e networ

is not invo

In contrast

network traffic

rivial FTP

(

TFTP

)

server

esponse time, pac

oss,

and link loss can a

ect

irm

are up

ates t

at are per

n a PowerE

ge 1855

server blade

administrator

can u

date BIOS, BMC

irmware, RAID

irmware, SCSI hard disk

drive firmware

SCSI controller firmware

and OS-level drivers

sing DOS-based update utilities

ound on the Dell support Web

site (support.dell.com).

Note:

e PERC 4/IM is integrate

into

he PowerEd

e 1855 server blade motherboard, so PERC 4/IM

irmware is included as part of the system BIOS update package.

nline update

nlike an o

line u

date, the online u

date

rocess minimizes server

owntime

y a

owing t

e process to run in a norma

OS environ

ment. The

reatest advanta

e of the online approach is its capability

o automate the update process. Online updates enable organiza

ions to update multiple server blades from a central console usin

Dell OpenMana

e chan

e-mana

ement tools or third-party chan

management frameworks.

ell OpenMana

e chan

e-mana

ement tools

or the PowerEd

855 blade server comprise the following

•

ate Pac

ages

•

ell OpenMana

e Server Update Utility (SUU

)

•

ell OpenManage IT Assistant

(

ITA

)

Dell Update Packages

Dell Update Packa

es are sel

-contained,

easy-to-use programs; each package updates a single system software

com

onent on the server on which it is executed. Each Dell U

date

ackage contains the logic to verify that the update will work on a

iven system. Dell Update Packa

es support both a

raphical user

inter

ace

(

GUI

)

and a command-line inter

ace

(

CLI

)

. BIOS and BMC

irmware Dell Update Packa

es are available for PowerEd

e 1855

server blades. Dell Update Packages are supported on Microso

Win

™

2003 and Red Hat

™

Enterpr

se L

nux

operat

systems. In addition, Dell Update Packa

es can be inte

rated into

third-party or custom software distribution application frameworks

such as Microso

t Systems Mana

ement Server

(

SMS

)

2003, Altiri

oyment So

ution, an

ers

ell OpenMana

e Server Update Utility

SUU is a comprehen-

sive s

stem u

ate uti

rovi

es a mec

anism to u

ate severa

system software components at once. It is a CD-based application that

can identi

stems and a

the a

riate u

dates. For exam

le,

on a PowerE

ge 1855

e server, a

ministrators can use t

e SUU CD

to u

date all s

stem so

tware on a server blade. The SUU u

date

ro-

cess requires a

ministrators to up

ate one server

e at a time.

ell OpenManage IT Assistant

ITA 7

rovides centralized so

ware update capability for Dell servers. IT Assistant allows admin-

istrators to load Dell Update Packa

es and Dell System Update Sets

into a centra

repository an

en compare t

e pac

ages to t

software versions currently runnin

on PowerEd

e systems. Admin-

istrators can then decide whether to u

date s

stems that are not in

comp

iance, eit

er imme

iate

y or accor

ing to an a

ministrator-

ined schedule.

MC flash u

date

The BMC does not disable the power button on the front of an

individual PowerEd

e 1855 server blade durin

lash update. I

an administrator presses the power button during a

lash update,

the server blade will power off and leave the BMC in an unknown

state. To recover the server blade

an administrator should remove

the server blade from the PowerEd

e blade server chassis, wait five

seconds

reinsert the server blade

and allow the server blade to

oot. Then the flash update can be performed again

Note:

board, video, mouse

(

KVM

)

hot-ke

board

sequences are not supported during a BMC flash update. If an

administrator attempts a hot-key sequence

rom a server blade

that is per

orming a BMC

lash update, the

lash update may

ail.

To recover, the administrator must execute the flash update a

ain

Upd

ng c

ass

s com

onents

Because individual server blades in the PowerEd

e 1855 blade server

share common chassis infrastructure components, keeping the syste

tware o

the chassis com

onents u

-to-date can

a critical role in

For more information about how Dell Update Packages are designed to work in third-party software distribution applications, see “Scripting Dell Update Packages on Windows and Linux” by Manoj Gujarathi, Pritesh Prabhu, and

ubbu

anesan in Dell Power

olutions

ctober 2004, www.dell.com/downloads/global/power/ps4q04-20040125-

ujarathi.pdf; and “Deploying Dell Update Packages Using Microsoft

ystems Management

erver 2003” by

and

eep Karandikar and Mano

arathi in Dell Power

olutions

February 2005, www.dell.com/downloads/

lobal/power/ps1q05-20040111-

arathi.pdf.

Although the offline update

process is time-consuming

and requires several manual

steps, this is a safe method

to update system software on

virtually any server because

the network is not involved.

SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT

DELL POWER SOLUTIONS Re

ugust 2005

e overa

PowerE

ge 1855

e server c

ange-management process.

However, the

rameworks that are used to update individual server

blades do not scale to manage the updates o

chassis components.

his section describes how to update components in the PowerEd

855 blade server chassis that have administrator-upgradeable system

software. These firmware components include

•

Management mo

•

VM m

odu

•

O mo

ministrators can up

ate t

e PowerE

ge 1855

e server

chassis module firmware usin

either the GUI or the CLI of the Dell

Remote Access Controller/Modular Chassis

(

DRAC/MC

)

. Both inter-

faces require administrators to download the firmware image from

TFTP or an FTP server. The updated

irmware ima

e should be

e avai

e in a

esignate

irectory on t

e TFTP or FTP server.

Note:

ell Remote Access Controller/Modular Chassis User’s

Gui

provides specific instructions on how to set up the TFTP

or FTP server

or a

irmware u

date at su

ort.dell.com/su

ort

edocs

tware

smdrac3

dracmc

Management module

irmware updates

e DRAC/MC is t

e management mo

e t

at a

ows a

ministra-

ors to monitor and mana

e chassis components in a Dell PowerEd

855 blade server. The PowerEdge 1855 blade server offers two dif-

erent con

urations

or mana

ement module

irmware

•

Sin

le DRAC/MC

•

ant DRAC

Single DRAC/MC firmware. DRAC/MC

irmware can be

raded usin

the GUI, CLI, or DRAC/MC firmware recovery

console.

The DRAC/MC

irmware u

date is a TFTP-based u

date

process. For all three DRAC/MC firmware update methods, adminis-

rators must complete the

ollowin

setup procedures be

ore startin

he firmware update process:

1. Set up a TFTP server and copy the

irmware image to the

oot

TFTP

ecord the IP address o

the TFTP server and the

ile name

of the updated firmware ima

3. Lo

in to the DRAC/MC, usin

either the GUI or CLI

To update the

irmware usin

the GUI, administrators should

navigate to t

e Up

ate ta

ect “Firmware Up

ate.” Next,

hey should enter the TFTP IP address of the firmware image file

name and start the DRAC/MC

irmware update process by clickin

“

ate Firmware.”

To update the firmware usin

the CLI, administrators should enter

ollowing Racadm command at the DRAC/MC console prompt

DRAC/MC: racadm fwu

date -a

FTP_IP_ADDRES

-d mgmt.bi

ere

TFTP_IP_ADDRESS

is the IP address of the TFTP server and

mgmt.

is the name o

the

irmware ima

ile

ote: T

is Raca

m comman

can

e entere

at t

e DRAC/MC

serial console or at a Telnet session. Best practices recommend usin

he serial console because

a TFTP download

ails

administra-

lose

access

ect

such

et.

DRAC/MC will boot to the DRAC/MC

irmware recover

console,

hich can be accessed only at the serial console. The firmware

ecovery console provides the

ollowin

options

•

rade

irmware

rom the serial por

•

pgrade

irmware

rom the networ

•

Confi

ure network parameter

sing the DRAC/MC firmware recovery console, administra-

ors can restart the

irmware u

date

rocess either via serial

ort

the

ote:

While in recover

mode, the DRAC/MC does not moni-

or chassis components of the PowerEdge 1855 blade server. For

hat reason

administrators should take extra care to minimize the

mount o

time that the DRAC/MC s

ends in recover

mode.

Redundant DRAC

irmware

In a redundant confi

uration,

wo se

arate DRAC/MC modules are installed in a chassis

•

rimar

DRAC/MC module, which activel

monitors the

chass

•

standb

DRAC/MC module, which monitors the active

signal from the primary DRAC/MC module (If a failure in the

rimary DRAC/MC module occurs

or more than

ive sec-

s, t

e stan

y DRAC/MC mo

e is

esigne

ecome

he active, primary DRAC/MC module.

)

e PowerE

e 1855

e server supports re

ant DRAC/MC

mode i

the DRAC/MC is runnin

irmware version 1.1 or hi

her.

oug

ant DRAC/MC mo

es can

e up

ate

wit

a sing

irmware packa

e, the DRAC/MC

oes throu

h the

ollowin

steps

o complete the firmware update process once the administrator

For more information about how to access the DRAC/MC GUI and the CLI

(

also known as the Racadm command-line utilit

, refer to the

Dell Remote Access Controller/Modular Chassis User’s Guide

at support.dell.com/support/

docs/software/smdrac3/dracmc.

SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT

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ell Power Solutions

ELL POWER SOLUTIONS

nitiates a firmware update task, using either the GUI or the racadm

fwup

1. The primary DRAC/MC module starts the TFTP firmware update.

2. The standb

DRAC/MC module monitors the chassis while the

rimary DRAC/MC mo

e is up

ate

. At t

is time, neit

RAC/MC is accessible, either throu

h Telnet or the GUI.

3. W

en t

e primary DRAC/MC mo

e comp

etes t

e TFTP

date, the TFTP u

date on the standb

DRAC/MC module

egins. T

e primary DRAC/MC mo

e continues to moni

or the chassis while the standby module is updatin

the

irmware. At this time, neither DRAC/MC is accessible, either

hrou

h Telnet or the GUI

4. When the standb

DRAC/MC module com

letes the

irmware

update process, the primary DRAC/MC module is available fo

network access. Telnet and the GUI become available

KVM module

irmware u

date

e KVM mo

e ena

es a

ministrators to access server

es in

he PowerEd

e 1855 blade server by providin

keyboard, monitor,

nd mouse

unctions as i

the administrator were directl

connected

o the module. The PowerEd

e 1855 blade server provides a built-

n analog KVM module and an optional digital KVM module. Both

KVM modules are flash-upgradeable.

nalo

or di

ital KVM module

irmware can also be updated

sing the DRAC/MC GUI or CLI. For both firmware update methods,

dministrators must complete the

ollowin

setup procedures be

ore

starting the firmware update process:

1. Set up a TFTP server, and copy the

irmware image to the

oot

TFTP

ecord the IP address o

the TFTP server and the

ile name

of the new firmware ima

3. Lo

in to the DRAC/MC, usin

either the GUI or CLI

To update the

irmware usin

the GUI, administrators should

navigate to t

e Up

ate ta

ect “KVM Firmware Up

ate.”

hey should then enter the TFTP server IP address o

the

irmware

mage

ile name, and start the KVM

irmware update process by

clickin

“Update Firmware.” The TFTP download and firmware

date

rocess ma

take u

to six minutes. A

ter the u

date com

etes, t

e KVM wi

reset.

To update the

irmware usin

the CLI, administrators should enter

he following Racadm command at the DRAC/MC console prompt

C/MC: racadm fwu

date -a

FTP_IP_

DDRES

firmware

nam

-m

module firmware updates

he PowerEd

e 1855 blade server chassis provides extensible I/O

unctionality such as networking, Fibre Channel, or In

iniBand

connectivity. The McDATA 4314 Fibre Channel switch and

rocade Silkworm 3014 Fibre Channel switch

rovide Fibre

anne

connectivity. T

e De

PowerConnect

™

M E

the

switch, a mana

ed Layer 2 network switch, provides network

functionality

To update the

irmware o

the precedin

I/O modules, admin-

strators need to procure the IP addresses of the switches. As part

the installation o

the McDATA

Brocade

and PowerConnect

switches, administrators must con

igure the IP address using the

correspondin

switch confi

uration application. However, admin-

strators can obtain the IP address o

the Brocade switch using the

DRAC

MC CLI as follows:

1. Log in to t

e DRAC/MC an

connect to t

e switc

using t

DRAC/MC: connect switch-

og in to t

e switc

wit

e username “a

min” an

pass

word “

assword.”

nter t

e i

addrshow comman

to o

tain t

e IP a

ress.

nlike the TFTP-based DRAC/MC

irmware u

date

rocess, the

cDATA and Brocade Fibre Channel switch module firmware update

process is FTP based. Administrators must complete the

ollowin

setup procedures before starting the firmware update process

1. Set up an FTP server on t

e management station, an

unzip

irmware in a local director

ecord the IP address o

the switch and the FTP server

3. Ensure that the switch is in normal operation mode by

inspecting the status LEDs

cDATA 4314 Fibre Channel switch

irmware. To

rovide

consistent performance throughout the fabric, administrators

should ensure that all switch modules are runnin

the same

ersion of firmware. Installing updated firmware requires a

switch reset. A stable

abric is required to success

ully activate

irmware on a switch without disrupting tra

ic. There

ore,

dministrators must ensure that no administrative chan

es are

n progress anywhere in the

abric be

ore installing the Fibre

h firmw

McDATA provides mana

ement station so

tware called

Enterprise Fabric Connectivity Manager (EFCM), which provides

GUI to u

date the switch

irmware. Detailed instructions on

ow to use EFCM can be found in the McDATA 4314 switch

docu

tat

For more information about EFCM, refer to the

EFCM Management Guide

on the CD that ships with the McDATA 4314 Fibre Channel switch

SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT

DELL POWER SOLUTIONS Re

ugust 2005

or the firmware update process, the McDATA management

nter

ace requires administrators to lo

in to the switch usin

the

“

admin” account and access the advanced con

iguration console

mode usin

the

min

sta

Brocade Silkworm 3014 Fibre Channel switch firmware. Brocade

Fibre Channel switch firmware can be upgraded using either a

eb-based GUI or a CLI. To u

date the

abric OS in command

ine mo

e, a

ministrators s

execute t

e firmwaredownloa

command

rom an FTP server or

rom a local Network File S

stem

(NFS) directory while in

dmi

irmwaredownload o

tions

ost_or_IP,use

path

the

pfil

assw

The updated firmware is in the form of Red Ha

Pac

age

ana

(

RPM

™

)

packa

es with names de

ined in p

ile, a binary

file that contains specific firmware information and the names o

irmware packa

es to be downloaded.

omain systems, t

irmwaredownload comman

downloads the

irmware ima

e by de

ault to both control proces-

sors

(

CPs

)

in rollover mode, which hel

revent disru

tion to

pplication services. This operation depends on support for the

High-Availability

(

)

ure, w

can

e ena

hrou

h the

hae

com-

the

tch

HA su

ort is not avail

abl

e, a

ministrators can sti

rade the CPs one at a

ime, using t

–s

tion

Systems supported by the

rocade

irmware have two

partitions of nonvolatile stor

e areas—a primary and a

secon

ary partition—to store

irmware ima

es. The firmw

edo

load

oads

ate

image into t

e secon

ary partition an

swaps t

e secon

ry partition to be the primary partition. The command then reboots

he CP and activates the updated image. Finally, it per

orms the

firmw

eco

mmi

procedure automatically to copy the updated

mage to the other partition

(

unless the –

tion is used

To update the firmware usin

the GUI, administrators should

aunch the Brocade Web console by enterin

the IP address o

e switc

in t

rowser a

ress

ine. T

ey s

og in

s “a

min” an

navigate to t

e Firmware ta

. On t

e Firmware

e, administrators should enter the FTP server’s IP address

nd the path to the

irmware image

ile, then begin the

irmware

pdate process.

t the switch console

administrators can use the

firmw

edo

loadstatus

the

load

rocess. A

ter the download is

inished, administrators can enter

the

irmwareshow command to verify that the firmware update

com

leted success

ull

Dell PowerConnect 5316M Ethernet switch firmware.

irmware ima

es can be stored in the

lash memory o

the

PowerConnect 5316M switc

e. T

e images are ca

active

nd nonactive, dependin

on which ima

e the switch is currently

unning. The switch also supports two protocols to download the

mages: networ

ase

TFTP an

seria

port–

ase

xmo

To use the TFTP method, administrators must com

lete the

following setup procedures before starting the firmware update

process

1. Set u

a TFTP server

nstall the updated

irmware image on the TFTP server.

in to the switch, and enter the privile

ed EXEC mode.

fter logging in, administrators can execute the following com-

mand in privile

ed EXEC mode to copy the

ile named “ima

e” to

he nonactive image file

console

y tft

ostname/

ath/to/the/

systemimag

lash

fter the flash update is complete, the switch can be instructed

o boot

rom either o

the two images by executing the

ollowing

comman

in privi

EXEC mo

console

boot system {image1 | image2

}

dministrators should enter the following command to verify

he ther the switch success

ully booted into the updated system

mage

console

show versio

lthou

h administrators may never need to up

rade the switch

boot image, they can do so by executing the following command

For more information about the CLI-based firmware u

date

rocess for the McDATA 4314 switch, refer to the

McDATA 4314 Command Line Interface Guide

on the CD that ships with the McDATA switch.

or more information about command options for Brocade Silkworm 3014 Fibre Channel switch firmware, refer to the

Brocade Fabric Operating System (FOS) Reference Manual

on the CD that ships with the Brocade switch.

For more information about the operation modes of the Power

onnect 5316M switch and how to confi

ure the system identity, refer to the

Dell PowerConnect 5316M Ethernet Switch Module User’s Guide

Dell

PowerConnect CLI 5316M Reference Guide

at support.dell.com/support/edocs/network/PC5316M/en.

To provide consistent

performance throughout the

fabric, administrators should

ensure that all switch modules

are running the same version

of firmware.

SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT

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ell Power Solutions

ELL POWER SOLUTIONS

console

y tft

ostname/

ath/to/the/

ootimag

boot

ote:

Best practices recommend savin

extra copies of the

switch con

igurations on a TFTP server, especially be

ore a

irm-

are upgra

The PowerConnect 5316M Ethernet switch module used in

e PowerE

ge 1855

e server c

assis

oes not come equippe

ith its own serial console

ort. Instead, the serial console can

e accesse

as a mo

e to w

e DRAC

MC is connecte

here

ore, to use xmodem as the source

or the mana

ement

station where the

irmware image is stored, administrators must

perform the followin

steps from the DRAC/MC

nsure that the current shell interface is already at the

RAC/MC command

rom

t. I

not, switch back to the con

ext of the DRAC/MC command prompt by pressing the

nter ke

, the tilde ke

, and the

eriod ke

. N

ote:

ess

Shift key if the tilde character is located in the upper register

the ke

board, and then

ress the

eriod ke

2. At the DRAC/MC command prompt, issue the

ollowing

C/MC: racadm config –g cfgSerial

–

o cf

SerialConsoleIdleTimeout 0x300

edirect the DRAC/MC serial console to the internal serial

console interface of the PowerConnect 5316M Ethernet switch

module in binary mode by enterin

the

ollowin

command:

MC: connect –b switc

-N

is the chassis I/O module bay number in which the

owerConnect 5316M Ethernet switch module is inserted.

ress t

e Enter

ey severa

times to ensure t

at t

e termina

connection is success

ull

established and that the Ethernet

switc

e prompt appears

ote

To terminate t

inary mo

e connection to t

e PowerConnect

316M Ethernet switch module’s serial console

disconnect the

current session o

the terminal

Keeping blade server system software

com

onents u

-to-

ate

he modular desi

n o

blade servers, such as the Dell PowerEd

e 1855

e server,

rings an a

imension to t

e tra

itiona

ange-

mana

ement process. Today’s industry-leadin

chan

e-mana

emen

nd software distribution frameworks such as Altiris Patch Management

olution and Microso

t SMS are desi

ned to provide robust auto-

mate

too

s to manage up

ates on mo

es t

at resi

e on server

blades. Because these frameworks do not scale to mana

e the updates

chassis management modules and I/O modules, updating blade

server chassis modules requires careful planning and deployment

such as the a

roach described in this article

Narayan Devireddy is a development manager in the Dell Enterprise

Systems Management Software organization. He has 14 years of systems

management product development experience. Before joining Dell, Narayan

worked for Novell, Compaq, and Computer Associates in different capaci-

ties. He has an M.S. in Computer Science from Alabama A&M University.

Ruoting Huang is a development engineer in the Dell Enterprise Systems

Management Software organization. He focuses on parallel processing and

internetworking. Ruoting has an M.S. in Computer Science from the Asian

Institute of Technology.

For more information about configuring and using the DRAC/MC, refer to the

Dell Remote Access Controller/Modular Chassis User’s Guide

at support.dell.com/support/edocs/software/smdrac3/dracmc.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Dell PowerEdge 1855 Systems User’s Guide:

support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/pe1855

Dell OpenManage:

www.dell.com/openmanage

Dell servers:

www.dell.com/servers

Dell 1855 User manual

Brand: Dell

Model: 1855

Category: Servers

Type: User manual

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Dell 1855 User manual

Dell 1855 User manual

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