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How to reinstall and rebuild Dell PowerEdge 840 using Dell OpenManage
Where I am working now, we have a Dell PowerEdge 840 where on the casing, the Windows license sticker says "SBS STD 2003". I need to rebuild to factory settings and configure it for another purpose. This is my first time working on a Dell server.
Since this is a pretty old model, it's hard to get clear instructions for what I want to do. I have so far gathered that I need to use a Pre-OS install CD called Dell OpenManage for installing drivers and creating HDD configuration.
I managed to find a Small Business Server 2003 Standard edition installation CD so I believe this is what I need for OS reinstall. But I cannot find any OpenManage software or CD.
The product download page lists serveral OpenManage DVD/CD ISO but the description is not helping much.
Can a kind soul help me identify the correct tools required please? Thanks in advance!
theflash1932
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May 10th, 2013 12:00
"I have so far gathered that I need to use a Pre-OS install CD called Dell OpenManage for installing drivers and creating HDD configuration."
You can, but it is not required. You can install directly from the OS CD as well - you would just need to configure RAID and load drivers yourself. If you want to go this route, which RAID controller do you have? How many disks?
Installation and Server Management (ISM) should work, but is outdated, replaced by Systems Build and Update Utility (SBUU).
Deployment Toolkit is an advanced toolkit for server configuration when deploying the system - ignore this one.
Systems Build and Update Utility is the one you want ("bootable utility for a single server Operating System install ... pre-OS system configuration"). Boot to this utility, select Install OS, and follow the prompts. Just make sure to uncheck the box to install OpenManage Server Administrator. You can also use SMTD (Systems Management Tools and Documentation), which is an all-in-one DVD with all of the tools.
SBUU will require your 2003 media to have SP2 on it. If it doesn't have SP2, then you will need to use nLiteOS.com to integrate SP2.
DELL-Josh Cr
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May 10th, 2013 12:00
Hi Jake See,
The 3rd link that you used is the most recent one for the 840. http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/DriverDetails/Product/poweredge-840?driverId=NF1CT&osCode=WNET&fileId=2731102793&languageCode=EN&categoryId=SM
The first one would work as well but it is older versions of the drivers, so you would have to update them after the OS installation.
Here is a video that shows the process to do an installation with the SBUU DVD.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAqW5n-7sLI&feature=player_embedded
Here is a whitepaper detailing the procedure as well.
http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/extras/m/white_papers/20079407/download.aspx
CarlClay
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October 19th, 2013 09:00
When attempting to follow your instructions, I get the the following message when booting the DVD: "unsupported system detected" I tried several different versions of dell systems build and update utility, but keep getting the same error?
DELL-Jeff M
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October 22nd, 2013 17:00
The OpenManage utilities usually communicate with the BIOS and ESM/BMC to determine the hardware it is on. If you update both of those to the latest version, then the OpenManage preinstall disk should see it as a supported Dell server.
CarlClay
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October 25th, 2013 11:00
Problem turned out to be a bad motherboard. Dell replaced it. That took care of the problem.