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November 25th, 2015 17:00

Need help with System Config automation via xml through racadm

Our server deployment schedule is going to start increasing so it's time to automate as much as possible.

I see that BIOS DRAC and PERC can be configured through an xml file.

This is exactly what I want BUT my initial tests are not going well.

I manually set a test server the way I wanted with custom settings in BIOS, DRAC and PERC.

Via racadm I was able to export that config as an xml file to an NFS share.

I then manually modified settings in BIOS, DRAC and PERC to what I didn't want.

Then the test to get the system back to the way I wanted it:

I tried importing the unmodified xml file which seemed to go fine until I saw this error

/admin1-> racadm jobqueue view -i JID_484977101178
---------------------------- JOB -------------------------
[Job ID=JID_484977101178]
Job Name=Configure: Import system configuration XML file
Status=Completed with Errors
Start Time=[Not Applicable]
Expiration Time=[Not Applicable]
Message=[SYS055: Import of system configuration XML file operation completed with errors.]
Percent Complete=[100]

The Lifecycle logs show lots of SYS059 (success) entries up until the SYS032 entry but in reviewing the system after it rebooted itself it is really hit or miss what was changed.

Some BIOS settings were corrected, some were not.

Some DRAC settings were corrected, some were not.

PERC was not touched. Sadly as this part is more important to me.

Any suggestions from people who use this?

Do I need to separate out BIOS from DRAC from PERC and do them as separate xml files when I run set?

I see in the xml that the PERC settings are commented. Why is this? If I had uncommented them would the RAID have been rebuilt as I wished?

9 Posts

November 30th, 2015 00:00

Slightly off topic, but you should know that Dell can also deliver your servers preconfigured, just bring this up with your account manager.

November 30th, 2015 05:00

The PERC settings are commented out to prevent accidental removal of existing Virtual Disk.

Take a look at these Whitepapers, they should be enough to get you started.

615 Posts

November 30th, 2015 08:00

Thanks Martijn,

I will review the whitepapers.

615 Posts

November 30th, 2015 08:00

Thanks. Yes I am aware of that but through the OEM group this level of config increases delivery time.

November 30th, 2015 08:00

The customisations can also be done through the CFI program which should not take that long.

August 22nd, 2016 10:00

I've been using PowerShell / WBEM to investigate failures in partially applied configuration:

$cs = New-CimSession -ComputerName -Authentication Basic `
     -Credential (Get-Credential -UserName -Message "Provide Drac User Details") `
     -SessionOption (New-CimSessionOption -SkipCACheck -SkipCNCheck -SkipRevocationCheck `
     -Encoding utf8 -UseSsl) -Port 443

(Invoke-CimMethod -InputObject (Get-CimInstance -CimSession $cs `
     -ResourceUri "http://schemas.dell.com/wbem/wscim/1/cim-schema/2/root/dcim/DCIM_LCRecordLog" `
     -Namespace root/dcim) -CimSession $cs -MethodName "GetConfigResults" `
     -Arguments @{JobID=" "}).ConfigResults

December 11th, 2018 10:00

The links to the Whitepapers are no longer valid. Can anyone point me to where they have been relocated, or other similar documentation for SCP xml configuration files?

Thank you.

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