Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
131 Posts
0
143443
Extended Storage in the Chassis Management Controller - M1000e. How does it work?
My M1000e will be arriving at my OEM integrator on December 26th. I want them to upload the ESXi 5.5 iso to the extended storage and use that to install the M420 operating systems. Finding documentation about this particular feature (extended storage) is proving a challenge. Has anyone else already completed this quest? If so, then please point me to the documents. Thanks.
DELL-Chris H
Moderator
Moderator
•
8.4K Posts
0
December 19th, 2013 13:00
Jack_The_Coiner,
THe documentation you need is here - http://www.dell.com/support/troubleshooting/au/en/audhs1/KCS/KcsArticles/ArticleView?c=au&l=en&s=dhs&docid=599926
It will walk you through configuring and loading.
Let me know if this helps.
Jack_the_coiner
131 Posts
0
December 19th, 2013 14:00
Also I wish I could see the pictures in that link. They will not load for me. Does this site have any particular browser requirements?
Jack_the_coiner
131 Posts
0
December 19th, 2013 14:00
Thank you Chris,
I've seen that page, and it didn't cover the topic I was trying to pursue. While I was working with the DSC (Dell Solution Center) those guys there mentioned the extended storage as a method I could use to store ISO file locally and thus avoid the long wait times necessary when imaging servers using the Lifecycle controller or the iDRAC. All of the articles I can find at DELL only mention using the extended storage as a method of storing chassis data or dell update packages. I see no mention of uploading an ISO and mounting it in order to do an OS install. That is really what I am looking for.
I wonder if I have paid for something I cannot use. Thanks.
Jack_the_coiner
131 Posts
0
December 19th, 2013 15:00
And I just found this...when I highlight the m420 in slot 8a I can choose a first boot device with a Local SD Card as a value. Is this local to the CMC or local to the server?
Jack_the_coiner
131 Posts
0
December 19th, 2013 15:00
I took the opportunity to log into a live CMC running 4.45 (almost the latest), and checked the "flash media" tab under CHASSIS CONTROLLER. There is nothing there to indicate the the SD can be used in this manner. The only options are:
repair active controller media, replication between media, and store chassis data
I tried mounting that SD from iDRAC7, but that isn't possible either. Finally I do see that RACADM has a command that would work to mount a network share: remoteimage
Something like this:
racadm remoteimage -c -u user -p password -l //someIP/somedir/esxi55.iso
Would configure the next boot for a device (an m420) in this case. Problem is I don't know if this will work for the SD. What would the location and directory be? /cmcIP/SD perhaps?
Jack_the_coiner
131 Posts
0
December 19th, 2013 16:00
I've got a real stream-of-consciousness thread going here, and I just found out about vFlash. Fishing through the LifeCycle controller of an m420 revealed this little gem to me, and this:
http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/extras/m/white_papers/20100867.aspx
Might be what I am looking for. Too bad I can't use the CMC's SD for all the servers, but this seems like it might make a fine 2nd choice.
Jack_the_coiner
131 Posts
0
December 20th, 2013 12:00
Yes, I believe this will do what I want, but now I want to know if I can order some of these from DELL pre-configured so my integrator needs only to put the card in and boot from the correct partition to begin his install. I suspect they would not do it, but worth the $0.00 it costs for an email.