iDRAC6 firmware upgrade fails using Deployment Toolkit ISO

Question

System: PowerEdge R910, 11GOperating System: RHEL/CentOS 7Issue: Deployment Toolkit v6.0.1 missing libstdc++ and libxml2 packagesBIOS and iDRAC firmware upgrades are being done remotely via iDRAC6 Enterprise.  This is an 11G server, so the firmware is no longer included as an update using the Lifecyle Controller.  Per article:https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/sln296511/updating-dell-poweredge-servers-via-bootable-media-iso?lang=en#2I downloaded the Deployment Toolkit for R910, and I'm mapping the 'ISOLinux.iso' using the iDRAC6 virtual console's virtual media feature.The BIOS update to version 2.12.0 worked without problem. The iDRAC firmware update (version 2.85 to 2.90 using ESM_Firmware_9GJYW_LN32_2.90_A00.BIN) fails with the following error message:'The following packages are required for update package to run: compat-libstdc++-33.i686 libstdc++.i686 libxml2.i686'In my experience this type of error usually results from a 64-bit OS like RHEL/CentOS 7 attempting to run 32-bit software.Since I'm using the Deployment Toolkit on the ISO image mounted as virtual media, how do I resolve the dependencies? (The OS on the R910, and the machine I'm using to to perform the maintenance have the libstdc++ and libxml2 packages installed)This is an exclusively RHEL/CentOS environment, so I'm looking for a long-term maintenance solution NOT involving MS Windows.  Or is there an alternative update method for the iDRAC firmware that can be done remotely from a machine running RHEL/CentOS 7?

5wio · Accepted Answer

We have 100% Linux environment - not a single server, or workstation running windows. Since Dell supports numerous Linux distros, it would be useful to get some Linux-specific hardware support.

For Linux users: None of the toolkit software is needed for the iDRAC firmware update.

SOLUTION:

1. On any Linux client machine, browse to the associated dell.com/support for the service tag/server model.

2. I was unable to get the iDRAC6 to accept the firmware image for RHEL 7/CentOS 7 ("ESM_Firmware_9GJYW_LN32_2.90_A00.BIN") using the iDRAC web gui > iDRAC > upgrade > upload feature. Alternatively, I extracted the firmware image from the Windows Server 2003 archive (step 3). Yes,

3. Select OS: Windows 2003 server and download "Dell iDRAC Monolithic Release 2.90", file "ESM_Firmware_9GJYW_WN32_2.90_A00.EXE".

4. On Linux client machine, use any archive management software that can handle Windows archive EXE file to extract files. Using the "unzip" program via command line:

cd ~/Downloads/
mkdir idrac6_firmware_2.90
cd idrac6_firmware_2.90/
unzip ESM_Firmware_9GJYW_WN32_2.90_A00.EXE

*** NOTE: The only relevant file is payload > "firmimg.d6"

5. I had numerous failures uploading and installing the firmware image using the iDRAC6 web GUI, so I recommend rebooting both the client machine with fresh browser session, and the iDRAC. To avoid a factory reset of the iDRAC and lose settigs, a soft-reset can be easily via secure shelle:

Client machine's command line:

ssh yourLoginName@yourIDRACipAddress
password:
/admin1-> racadm racreset

6. Give the iDRAC a 5 minutes to reboot. On your Linux client machine use a browser to log into the iDRAC through the web gui.

7. Browse to iDRAC Settings > Update > click Browse > select ~/Downloads/idrac_firmware_2.90/payload/firmimg.d6 (or wherever the firmware image was extracted).

8. "Upload (Step 1 of 3) > Click upload. Do NOT browse off of the iDRAC upload page.

9. If the upload is successful you will see "Status (2 of 3)", showing current version number and new version number. If it fails/hangs try rebooting your client and browser session.

10. Click "next" button

11. The installation of the firmware should start and show "Updating (Step 3 of 3)" and periodically update the "status" box. Do NOT browse off of the iDRAC installation page. Mine took about 10 minutes and spent several minutes before jumping to each of 0%, 30%, 50%, 70%, 90% values. Let it run. If you see a spinning wheel, or a message like "The firmware is updating, try again later", start over at step 5.

12. If the installation is successful, you will get a new message confirming it, and indicating that the current session is no longer valid. The iDRAC is automatically rebooting with the new firmware. Give it several minutes - mine took 5+ minutes.

DELL-Josh Cr · Answer

Hi, Do you not have any Windows clients either to extract the firmware image and update within the web gui?

PowerEdge Hardware General

iDRAC6 firmware upgrade fails using Deployment Toolkit ISO

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