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SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
DELL POWER SOLUTIONS Re
p
rinted from Dell Power Solutions, August 2005. Copyright © 2005 Dell Inc. All rights reserve
d
.
A
ugust 2005
58
th
e overa
ll
PowerE
d
ge 1855
bl
a
d
e server c
h
ange-management process.
However, the
f
rameworks that are used to update individual server
blades do not scale to manage the updates o
f
chassis components.
T
his section describes how to update components in the PowerEd
g
e
1
855 blade server chassis that have administrator-upgradeable system
software. These firmware components include
:
•
Management mo
d
u
l
e
s
•
K
VM m
odu
l
es
•
I/
O mo
d
u
l
es
Ad
ministrators can up
d
ate t
h
e PowerE
d
ge 1855
bl
a
d
e server
chassis module firmware usin
g
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
a
TFTP or an FTP server. The updated
f
irmware ima
g
e should be
ma
d
e avai
l
a
bl
e in a
d
esignate
d
d
irectory on t
h
e TFTP or FTP server.
Note:
Th
e
D
ell Remote Access Controller/Modular Chassis User’s
Gui
de
provides specific instructions on how to set up the TFTP
e
or FTP server
f
or a
f
irmware u
p
date at su
pp
ort.dell.com/su
pp
ort
/
edocs
/
so
f
tware
/
smdrac3
/
dracmc
.
Management module
f
irmware updates
Th
e DRAC/MC is t
h
e management mo
d
u
l
e t
h
at a
ll
ows a
d
ministra-
t
ors to monitor and mana
g
e chassis components in a Dell PowerEd
g
e
1
855 blade server. The PowerEdge 1855 blade server offers two dif-
f
erent con
f
i
g
urations
f
or mana
g
ement module
f
irmware
:
•
Sin
g
le DRAC/MC
•
R
e
d
un
d
ant DRAC
/
MC
Single DRAC/MC firmware. DRAC/MC
f
irmware can be
u
p
g
raded usin
g
the GUI, CLI, or DRAC/MC firmware recovery
console.
2
The DRAC/MC
f
irmware u
p
date is a TFTP-based u
p
date
process. For all three DRAC/MC firmware update methods, adminis-
t
rators must complete the
f
ollowin
g
setup procedures be
f
ore startin
g
t
he firmware update process:
1. Set up a TFTP server and copy the
f
irmware image to the
r
oot
o
f
t
h
e
TFTP
se
rv
e
r
.
2.
R
ecord the IP address o
f
the TFTP server and the
f
ile name
of the updated firmware ima
g
e.
3. Lo
g
in to the DRAC/MC, usin
g
either the GUI or CLI
.
To update the
f
irmware usin
g
the GUI, administrators should
navigate to t
h
e Up
d
ate ta
b
an
d
se
l
ect “Firmware Up
d
ate.” Next,
t
hey should enter the TFTP IP address of the firmware image file
name and start the DRAC/MC
f
irmware update process by clickin
g
“
U
pd
ate Firmware.”
To update the firmware usin
g
the CLI, administrators should enter
t
he
f
ollowing Racadm command at the DRAC/MC console prompt
:
DRAC/MC: racadm fwu
p
date -a
T
FTP_IP_ADDRES
S
-d mgmt.bi
n
wh
ere
TFTP_IP_ADDRESS
is the IP address of the TFTP server and
S
mgmt.
b
i
n
is the name o
f
the
f
irmware ima
g
e
f
ile
.
N
ote: T
h
is Raca
d
m comman
d
can
b
e entere
d
at t
h
e DRAC/MC
serial console or at a Telnet session. Best practices recommend usin
g
t
he serial console because
,
i
f
a TFTP download
f
ails
,
administra-
to
r
s
wi
ll
lose
W
eb
access
a
n
d
n
et
w
o
r
k
co
nn
ect
i
o
n
s
such
as
T
el
n
et.
DRAC/MC will boot to the DRAC/MC
f
irmware recover
y
console,
w
hich can be accessed only at the serial console. The firmware
r
ecovery console provides the
f
ollowin
g
options
:
•
U
p
g
rade
f
irmware
f
rom the serial por
t
•
U
pgrade
f
irmware
f
rom the networ
k
•
Confi
g
ure network parameter
s
U
sing the DRAC/MC firmware recovery console, administra-
t
ors can restart the
f
irmware u
p
date
p
rocess either via serial
p
ort
o
r
the
n
et
w
o
r
k.
N
ote:
While in recover
y
mode, the DRAC/MC does not moni-
t
or chassis components of the PowerEdge 1855 blade server. For
t
hat reason
,
administrators should take extra care to minimize the
a
mount o
f
time that the DRAC/MC s
p
ends in recover
y
mode.
Redundant DRAC
/
MC
f
irmware
.
In a redundant confi
g
uration,
t
wo se
p
arate DRAC/MC modules are installed in a chassis
:
•
A
p
rimar
y
DRAC/MC module, which activel
y
monitors the
chass
i
s
•
A
standb
y
DRAC/MC module, which monitors the active
signal from the primary DRAC/MC module (If a failure in the
p
rimary DRAC/MC module occurs
f
or more than
f
ive sec-
on
d
s, t
h
e stan
db
y DRAC/MC mo
d
u
l
e is
d
esigne
d
to
b
ecome
t
he active, primary DRAC/MC module.
)
T
h
e PowerE
dg
e 1855
bl
a
d
e server supports re
d
un
d
ant DRAC/MC
mode i
f
the DRAC/MC is runnin
g
f
irmware version 1.1 or hi
g
her.
A
l
t
h
oug
h
re
d
un
d
ant DRAC/MC mo
d
u
l
es can
b
e up
d
ate
d
wit
h
a sing
l
e
f
irmware packa
g
e, the DRAC/MC
g
oes throu
g
h the
f
ollowin
g
steps
t
o complete the firmware update process once the administrator
2
For more information about how to access the DRAC/MC GUI and the CLI
(
also known as the Racadm command-line utilit
y)
, refer to the
Dell Remote Access Controller/Modular Chassis User’s Guide
at support.dell.com/support/
e
e
docs/software/smdrac3/dracmc.