Softpanorama

May the source be with you, but remember the KISS principle ;-)
Home Switchboard Unix Administration Red Hat TCP/IP Networks Neoliberalism Toxic Managers
(slightly skeptical) Educational society promoting "Back to basics" movement against IT overcomplexity and  bastardization of classic Unix

Updating the DRAC Firmware

News Dell DRAC Recommended Links PERC controller Can't connect to iDRAC7 Updating the DRAC 5 Firmware
vFlash for DRAC Configuring Platform Events IPMI Humor Etc  

Introduction

There are two major ways to apply DRAC firmware upgrade:

In case you don't have personnel on a remote site frozen DRAC this is a disaster for rack servers (blades has ability to reboot DRAC from the enclosure controller) . Again, in the rat race for additional functionality Dell forgot the primary purpose of the DRAC -- to be reliable KVM -- and the main criteria of its usefulness -- reliability.

The current version of DRAC 7 for M620 R620 generation server is 2.65.65.65 (Feb 2020). This version works OK, but sometime to display Web interface in browser you need to click reload. It does not display it from the first time.

For M630/R630 server the current version is different and higher.

While it is now history, until version 1.51.51 DRAC was  very unstable and the only enhancement listed are "Adjustments for Intel IvyBridge processor specification updates"

You need to have reliable TCP/IP connection when do the update of DRAC firmware from the DRAC GUI using .D7 file extracted from the DRAC update for Windows.

If download hangs sometimes you can't proceed. In this case you need to re-initialize the card and repeat the process. If you can still log in to GUI interface resetting DRAC  might help...

Other (not-recommended) methods

There are several methods to update your DRAC firmware.

Where to find the firmware update

The first step to updating the firmware on your iDRAC is to download the update package / image. (Updating DRAC Firmware)

To find the latest version of the iDRAC firmware, check the Dell TechCenter iDRAC page or go to support.dell.com and search for iDRAC6 or iDRAC7.

There are two versions of iDRAC firmware update one for Windows and one for Linux. Use windows version as only from it you can xteact .D& file which allow you to perform the update from DRAC GUI interface.

To update your DRAC firmware, download the latest firmware from the Dell Support website located at support.dell.com and save the version for window  to your PC.

The following software components are included with your .exe DRAC firmware package:

This is self-extractable archive. Run it and you will get the two files mentioned above.  Then read the readme file. Don't skip this step, it's important.

Before You Begin

Before you update your DRAC firmware:

  1. Ensure that the DRAC virtual flash is unmounted or not in use by the operating system or another application or user.
  2. Disconnect and unmount Virtual Media.

Updating the DRAC Firmware Using the DRAC Web-Based Interface

This is the most common and the most reliable approach.  In order to get the update package, download Windows version and extract it into some folder. You will see in this folder the file with the extension D7. For example:

C:\Dell\Drac7\<image_name>. 

The default firmware image name is firmimg.d7. This is the file you need to use for the firmware update.

To update DRAC from the web interface  (assuming your iDRAC is connected to the network and is addressable) type in the IP address of your DRAC card in any web browser, log in with the username / password (if you haven’t changed anything u:root p:calvin) then go to

iDRAC Settings > Update and Rollback

Point the GUI towards the firmware D7 image.

  1. In the System tree, click Remote Access and click the Update tab.
  2. In the Firmware Update page in the Firmware Image field, type the path to the firmware image that you downloaded from support.dell.com or click Browse to navigate to the image.
  3. Click Upload. (you need to move the right edge of your browser window to see the Upload button)
  4. You will see the image started downloading is percentages of downloaded art will appear on the screen. Download can take up to 30 min, even more on slow VPN links. Do not try several downloaded over VPN link as timeout can occure.
  5. Sometimes, the download can stop at some point too leaving image unfinished.  When did not finishes reinitialize the card and try again. If this does not help reboot DRAC and try again.

After that you need to check the image and start the update. This is a long process: update of firmware can take up to 10 min. Responses from DRAC might be absent. Please be patient.  DRAC reboots after upgrade.

Some update have minor but annoying problem: they do not display full WEB interface until you click reload on the browser.

Sometimes DRAC automatically log you out from the windows on which you performed update  (as it should be) but this is not a sure thing.

NOTE:
  1. Crick Install (you need to move the right button corner of your browser window to see the Install button button)
  2. You will see System alert RAC0603: Updating Job queue. You can click see the status.
  3. New Windows opens you will see something like JID_911131619378 Firmware update: DRAC
  4. When update finishes you will be automatically logged out.
  5. After the DRAC resets, close the browser, open it again and then log in to the DRAC. It should be a new version of DRAC.

NOTES:

  1. If you are running Firefox, the text cursor does not appear in the Firmware Image field.
  2. After the firmware upgrade, it is recommended to clear the Web browser cache. The simplest way is to close the browser and open it again.
  3. You can also reset DRAC manually from Server Overview/Troubleshooting menu. But it is not recommended as DRAC after the update should reboot tiself. Please be patient.  You can reboot it only when in SLOT menu you will see the new version.
  4. Sometime update screw root password and you need to reset it via Server Overview/Setup menu

Top Visited
Switchboard
Latest
Past week
Past month

NEWS CONTENTS

Old News ;-)

[May 31, 2014] How do I update Dell iDRAC firmware?

(updated 8/29/2013)
This post was written by Peter Tsai and Raja Tamilarasan


How do I update Dell iDRAC firmware? is a question we are asked often.

Updating DRAC firmware is a relatively common task that doesn't have to be overly complicated. There are a variety of methods available and you should be able to find one firmware update method that is right for you.

The first step to updating the firmware on your iDRAC is to download the update package / image.

To find the latest version of the iDRAC firmware, check the Dell TechCenter iDRAC page or go to support.dell.com and search for iDRAC6 or iDRAC7.

There are two versions of iDRAC firmware - one for Blade servers (modular) and one for standard rack servers (monolithic). Download only the one you need, or both if you have each type of server.

Once you have the driver there are several ways to install iDRAC firmware updates:

  1. iDRAC updates via an Operating System executable
  2. iDRAC updates via iDRAC web GUI
  3. iDRAC updates via command line using RACADM
  4. iDRAC updates via Web Services for Management (WSMAN)

1. For those with Windows installed, the most simple and easiest option for you is to download the "Update Package for MS Windows" and per the instructions on the download page, run the executable on the server that contains the iDRAC to be updated. There are also Linux install options mentioned on the download page as well.

2. The other option is to get the .IMG file update package, extract the file then perform an update either through the DRAC web GUI (assuming your iDRAC is connected to the network and addressable). To do that you type in the IP address of your DRAC card in any web browser, log in with the username / password (if you haven't changed anything u:root p:calvin) then click on the iDRAC Settings > Update tab. Point the GUI towards the firmware image, and you should be good to go.

3. Using a tool called RACADM (Remote Access Controller Administrator) you can update the firmware via a command line. The comand to update firmware is racadm fwupdate -p -u -d <path>

4. Click me to jump to information about firmware update using WSMAN.

One other option is to use Dell Repository Manager or the United Server Configurator, which is a component of Lifecycle Controller.

If you have Internet connectivity in your datacenter, you can just boot USC by pressing F10 during post and choose platform updates. If you don't have access to the internet, it you can still do updates by creating an SUU USB key and booting to USC. To see how this is done, watch the video entitled "USB Updates Using Repository Manager with Lifecycle Controller" on www.delltechcenter.com/RepositoryManager.

[Feb 03, 2014]Updating firmware on Dell PowerEdge R710 by Yury Zaytsev

This blog post is about DRAC 6 process...
Jun 04, 2011 | yury.zaytsev.net

... There are generally several avenues that one might take to update the server firmware:

A rather complete (but possibly not exhaustive) list of components that might require updates is as follows:

What follows are comments regarding each one of those and applicable update methods.

iDRAC firmware update

Updating the DRAC firmware should be the first step to updating anything else, especially in the case of a restricted onsite presence / remote hands availability. During the update, the DRAC might become unavailable for a period of time up to 15 minutes; this is normal and expected.

It is preferable to turn off the server and perform the update from the DRAC management console (iDRAC Settings | Update | Upload). The update package has to be downloaded manually from the server support and drivers home page at Dell.

Additionally, iDRAC is able to re-flash USC / LC using USC repair packages lc-1 in the case if it was hosed during the update. It is generally not recommended by Dell and considered to be a last-resort action, but I have found it to be the only reliable way of updating the USC.

Update iDRAC Firmware, LifceCycle Controller, Bios via Command Line

May 17, 2013 | Dell Community
nampnx

on 17 May 2013 3:29 AM

Hi all,

My company currently have over 200 dell m610 servers. Now I need to update my DELL M610 servers to latest versions (iDRAC, LifeCycle, Bios) via command line. With dell m620 i used WSMAN command to update many server by creating script but m610 i couldn't because out of date versions: iDRAC, LC, Bios. If using RACADM I only update iDRAC firmeware not LC, Bios. Is there any way to update date all of them by command line?

Thanks so much.

DELL-Josh Cr

Hi nampnx,

What OS are you running? If you are using Windows or Red Hat you can use the update packages for those OSes and run them from command line. You can use the /s switch to run them silently without user intervention as part of a script.

Here are the current updates:

iDRAC remote access controller firmware 3.50, A00, released 3/29/13, URGENT, *May take 8-15 minutes to complete:

Recommended Links

Google matched content

Softpanorama Recommended

Top articles

Sites

Documentation

What is iDRAC? iDRAC6 Home
iDRAC7 What's New DRAC5 Home
iDRAC7 Manuals iDRAC7 White Papers Home
iDRAC7 Useful links iDRAC Related Blog Posts
iDRAC7 Licensing Lifecycle Controller 2 Home
iDRAC7 Video Demos iDRAC7 Troubleshooting
iDRAC7 Blogs


Etc

Society

Groupthink : Two Party System as Polyarchy : Corruption of Regulators : Bureaucracies : Understanding Micromanagers and Control Freaks : Toxic Managers :   Harvard Mafia : Diplomatic Communication : Surviving a Bad Performance Review : Insufficient Retirement Funds as Immanent Problem of Neoliberal Regime : PseudoScience : Who Rules America : Neoliberalism  : The Iron Law of Oligarchy : Libertarian Philosophy

Quotes

War and Peace : Skeptical Finance : John Kenneth Galbraith :Talleyrand : Oscar Wilde : Otto Von Bismarck : Keynes : George Carlin : Skeptics : Propaganda  : SE quotes : Language Design and Programming Quotes : Random IT-related quotesSomerset Maugham : Marcus Aurelius : Kurt Vonnegut : Eric Hoffer : Winston Churchill : Napoleon Bonaparte : Ambrose BierceBernard Shaw : Mark Twain Quotes

Bulletin:

Vol 25, No.12 (December, 2013) Rational Fools vs. Efficient Crooks The efficient markets hypothesis : Political Skeptic Bulletin, 2013 : Unemployment Bulletin, 2010 :  Vol 23, No.10 (October, 2011) An observation about corporate security departments : Slightly Skeptical Euromaydan Chronicles, June 2014 : Greenspan legacy bulletin, 2008 : Vol 25, No.10 (October, 2013) Cryptolocker Trojan (Win32/Crilock.A) : Vol 25, No.08 (August, 2013) Cloud providers as intelligence collection hubs : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2010 : Inequality Bulletin, 2009 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2008 : Copyleft Problems Bulletin, 2004 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2011 : Energy Bulletin, 2010 : Malware Protection Bulletin, 2010 : Vol 26, No.1 (January, 2013) Object-Oriented Cult : Political Skeptic Bulletin, 2011 : Vol 23, No.11 (November, 2011) Softpanorama classification of sysadmin horror stories : Vol 25, No.05 (May, 2013) Corporate bullshit as a communication method  : Vol 25, No.06 (June, 2013) A Note on the Relationship of Brooks Law and Conway Law

History:

Fifty glorious years (1950-2000): the triumph of the US computer engineering : Donald Knuth : TAoCP and its Influence of Computer Science : Richard Stallman : Linus Torvalds  : Larry Wall  : John K. Ousterhout : CTSS : Multix OS Unix History : Unix shell history : VI editor : History of pipes concept : Solaris : MS DOSProgramming Languages History : PL/1 : Simula 67 : C : History of GCC developmentScripting Languages : Perl history   : OS History : Mail : DNS : SSH : CPU Instruction Sets : SPARC systems 1987-2006 : Norton Commander : Norton Utilities : Norton Ghost : Frontpage history : Malware Defense History : GNU Screen : OSS early history

Classic books:

The Peter Principle : Parkinson Law : 1984 : The Mythical Man-MonthHow to Solve It by George Polya : The Art of Computer Programming : The Elements of Programming Style : The Unix Hater’s Handbook : The Jargon file : The True Believer : Programming Pearls : The Good Soldier Svejk : The Power Elite

Most popular humor pages:

Manifest of the Softpanorama IT Slacker Society : Ten Commandments of the IT Slackers Society : Computer Humor Collection : BSD Logo Story : The Cuckoo's Egg : IT Slang : C++ Humor : ARE YOU A BBS ADDICT? : The Perl Purity Test : Object oriented programmers of all nations : Financial Humor : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2008 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2010 : The Most Comprehensive Collection of Editor-related Humor : Programming Language Humor : Goldman Sachs related humor : Greenspan humor : C Humor : Scripting Humor : Real Programmers Humor : Web Humor : GPL-related Humor : OFM Humor : Politically Incorrect Humor : IDS Humor : "Linux Sucks" Humor : Russian Musical Humor : Best Russian Programmer Humor : Microsoft plans to buy Catholic Church : Richard Stallman Related Humor : Admin Humor : Perl-related Humor : Linus Torvalds Related humor : PseudoScience Related Humor : Networking Humor : Shell Humor : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2011 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2012 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2013 : Java Humor : Software Engineering Humor : Sun Solaris Related Humor : Education Humor : IBM Humor : Assembler-related Humor : VIM Humor : Computer Viruses Humor : Bright tomorrow is rescheduled to a day after tomorrow : Classic Computer Humor

The Last but not Least Technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage and those who manage what they do not understand ~Archibald Putt. Ph.D


Copyright © 1996-2021 by Softpanorama Society. www.softpanorama.org was initially created as a service to the (now defunct) UN Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP) without any remuneration. This document is an industrial compilation designed and created exclusively for educational use and is distributed under the Softpanorama Content License. Original materials copyright belong to respective owners. Quotes are made for educational purposes only in compliance with the fair use doctrine.

FAIR USE NOTICE This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to advance understanding of computer science, IT technology, economic, scientific, and social issues. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided by section 107 of the US Copyright Law according to which such material can be distributed without profit exclusively for research and educational purposes.

This is a Spartan WHYFF (We Help You For Free) site written by people for whom English is not a native language. Grammar and spelling errors should be expected. The site contain some broken links as it develops like a living tree...

You can use PayPal to to buy a cup of coffee for authors of this site

Disclaimer:

The statements, views and opinions presented on this web page are those of the author (or referenced source) and are not endorsed by, nor do they necessarily reflect, the opinions of the Softpanorama society. We do not warrant the correctness of the information provided or its fitness for any purpose. The site uses AdSense so you need to be aware of Google privacy policy. You you do not want to be tracked by Google please disable Javascript for this site. This site is perfectly usable without Javascript.

Last modified: February 26, 2021