Lifecycle Controller User's Guide

Installing an operating system

1. Start Lifecycle Controller. For more information, see Starting Lifecycle Controller.
2. In the left pane, click OS Deployment.
3. In the right pane, click Deploy OS and select one of the following:
   • Configure RAID First — Click to configure a RAID connected to the server. For information about configuring a RAID, see Using the optional RAID Configuration .
     NOTE:Configuring RAID is optional if an already-connected virtual disk is present.
   • Go Directly to OS Deployment — Click to launch the operating system deployment wizard and start installing an operating system.
4. On the Select an Operating System page, select the following and click Next:
   • Boot Mode — Choose either UEFI or BIOS boot mode depending on the boot configuration of the system for operating system installation.
   • Secure Boot — Allows you to enable or disable the Secure Boot option. Click Enabled to secure the boot process by checking if the drivers are signed with an acceptable digital signature. This option is available only for the UEFI boot mode. For more information about Secure Boot, see UEFI Secure Boot
     NOTE: The Secure Boot option is available only if the Load Legacy Video Option ROM setting is set to disabled. To disable the Load Legacy Video Option ROM setting, click System Setup > System BIOS Settings > Miscellaneous Settings > Load Legacy Video Option ROM > Disabled.
   • Secure Boot Policy — Allows you to specify the policy or digital signature that BIOS uses to authenticate. By default Standard secure boot policy is applied.
     • Standard — BIOS uses the default set of certificates to validate the drivers and operating system loaders during the boot process.
     • Custom — BIOS uses the specific set of certificates that you import or delete from the standard certificates to validate the drivers and operating system loaders during the boot process.
     NOTE:The secure boot policy settings made on the BIOS can also be changed on the Lifecycle Controller UI.
     NOTE:The Secure Boot option is available only if the BIOS of the system supports the feature.
   • Available Operating Systems — Displays the list of operating systems depending on the boot mode selected. Select the operating system to install on the server. The drivers pack for deploying the Windows and Linux operating systems that are supported by Lifecycle Controller are available and extracted to a local repository (OEMDRV). These driver packs contain the drivers required for installing an operating system.
     NOTE:If you select Any Other Operating System option, make sure that you have prepared the necessary drivers for your system. See Dell Support page for more information about operating system installation images and drivers for these operating systems.
5. On the Select Installation Mode page, select any one of the following:
   • Unattended Install
   • Manual Install
   NOTE:The Unattended Install option is enabled only if the operating system is compatible for an unattended installation. If the operating system is not compatible, the option is grayed out. For more information about unattended install mode, see Unattended installation.

   NOTE:A detailed procedure for installing an operating system using the unattended installation mode is provided in the video about unattended installation of an operating system on YouTube .
6. On the Select Installation Mode page, select or enter the appropriate data to import the operating system configuration file and then click Next. For more information about the fields available on the Select Installation Mode page, see the online help by clicking Help in the upper-right corner of the Lifecycle Controller UI.
7. On the Select OS Media page, insert the appropriate operating system media and click Next.

   Lifecycle Controller validates the media and displays an error message if the verification process is not successful. The verification may be unsuccessful if:

   • An incorrect operating system media is inserted.
   • An operating system media is damaged or corrupted.
   • The optical drive in the system cannot read the media.
8. On the Reboot the System page, the summary of selections is displayed. Verify the selections and click Finish.
   The system reboots and starts the operating system installation. For more information about the post-reboot scenarios, see Post reboot Scenarios