Make my own Firmware Catalog

Question

It's time for quarterly updates, and I want to install all the latest firmware. The problem is that the catalog direct from dell.com hasn't changed since November, or three weeks ago. I want to use Dell OME to install the updates, but since it doesn't have the latest updates, I may have to install the updates via the CMC or DRAC, which is more time-consuming.

Is there a way I can put a few chosen firmware updates on a share so that OME will see them and install them on my servers? Or in other words, to make a baseline with a few select firmware packages that haven't hit the Dell catalog yet?

Thanks.

Dell-DylanJ · Accepted Answer

Apologies, I misread and misunderstood. I do have a suggestion, though.

In order to make your firmware catalog, so you don't need for ours to be updated, you would need to download Dell Repository Manager (DRM). DRM will allow you to create a catalog and you can add whatever updates you want to it. To use DRM, you would need to download each individual update you want to add to your catalog and add them to the repository.

Regarding sharing, a Windows share can be used as a CIFS share, if that's something you'd want to do.

If DRM is the route you would want to go, I think these three videos might be a good primer. They're on creating catalogs, creating repositories, and adding bundles. The DUPs and non-DUPs (such as .exe, .msi, .bin, or any other file formats) are referred to as components in the manual.

Components page of manual: https://dell.to/38onRTg

Creating catalog: https://dell.to/3pkSDDx

Creating a repository: https://dell.to/3azBOQV

Adding bundles: https://dell.to/38wKfd0

I did try to find documentation of how to do this using OME 3.5's Update Manager, but I'm not seeing anything. As I understand it, the Update Manager feature was an integration of DRM (though I don't know that to be an absolute fact). Provided that is the case, I'd expect the process to look similar. You should expect to need to download the packages and there should be a wizard to import them. I'm happy to update, if that changes, though.

DELL-Joey C · Answer

Hi,

I'm not very good in OME, but I will try to help out as much as I can.

Based on the user guide, it seems that the firmware and driver updates can be done in local customized catalog or by a baseline.

Maybe you can check out the guide here for local catalog: https://dell.to/3mzzID6 or with a baseline: https://dell.to/2WBqawP

Let me know if it helps.

rpseekell · Answer

Yes, I saw these articles, but what they do not tell me is very important - how to actually set up the shares, what needs to go in them, and where the catalog.XML file comes from.  Do you know?

DiegoLopez · Answer

Hey @rpseekell,   Please, check this video series Creating a Firmware Catalog Using https://dell.to/34yAxGc as Source   Regards.

rpseekell · Answer

I already know how to add a catalog to OME.  The problem is that the catalog is over three weeks old, and there is newer firmware available that I want to apply to all my servers using Dell OME.  How can I add additional firmware to a baseline?

rpseekell · Answer

Thanks for your reply. The baseline is not the problem. I already have a baseline which includes all my servers and points to a catalog. The edit steps you referenced do not fix the problem.

The problem is that the catalog is old, which comes directly from Dell, and I want to add newer firmware. Dell hasn't released a new catalog in a while, and there are newer firmware updates that I want to install.

I thought maybe I could "add a catalog to the local network" from a few pages before the one you referenced, but it does not say how to set up an NFS or CIFS or HTTP share with the required files. Perhaps if I knew that, then I could achieve my desired outcome.

Dell-DylanJ · Answer

Hello,

The OME manual (referenced 3.2.1) shows that the baseline can be modified, on page 58. Is this something you tried and it didn't work out, or would this be new information? I don't have a reference appliance available, but if the baseline can be modified, I would think this would be how.

rpseekell · Answer

Thank you. This is helpful. I will try out Dell EMC Repository Manager. To follow up, the catalog from Dell updated overnight.  So I'll use that for the time being.

Dell OpenManage Enterprise

Make my own Firmware Catalog

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