Dell PowerEdge 2900 Firmware Update

Thanks for the reply Robert!  I'm just confused, because the file I downloaded from the Dell website, is the one that is listed under the PE 2900 model.  It even says as much on the download page I linked to above.  I included links to show that the Dell website actually sent me to this particular ISO file.

I can't really find exactly what you've referred to above in the download list, though.  The server itself is running ESXi 5.1, so does that mean what I need is the following:

en.community.dell.com/.../20898177

??

Also, this is clearly stated as NOT bootable media, so I have no idea how I would get this to work.  Ideally, I just want to boot up to a utility and let it upload the firmware automatically.

Thanks,

Greg

Hello.

Sounds like it is not an ISO for PE 2900 server. You burn another ISO from this link: www.dell.com/.../drivers. Select appropriate Operating System, Systems Management and locate Dell Server Update Utility. Find instructions at the bottom of the ISO page.

This forum is unusual - it says I posted my reply already but it's not there.  Now it won't let me post again.  ***?

Anyways, here is what I said, again:

Thanks for the reply Robert!  I'm just confused, because the file I downloaded from the Dell website, is the one that is listed under the PE 2900 model.  It even says as much on the download page I linked to above.  I included links to show that the Dell website actually sent me to this particular ISO file.

I can't really find exactly what you've referred to above in the download list, though.  The server itself is running ESXi 5.1, so does that mean what I need is the following:

en.community.dell.com/.../20898177

??

Also, this is clearly stated as NOT bootable media, so I have no idea how I would get this to work.  Ideally, I just want to boot up to a utility and let it upload the firmware automatically.

Thanks,

Greg

Yes, the ISO is not bootable. You will have to burn it to a DVD/CD and then boot to it. See instructions at the end of the page.  www.dell.com/.../DriversDetails

Thank  you again, but none of this makes any sense at all.  There are 30 pages of PDF instructions talking about all kinds of stuff about which I could care less.  I just need to know how to run the [ADMIN NOTE: profanity removed]program, but I can't find that anywhere.  Why is this so difficult?  It's like Dell wants us to be forced to sift through hours of worthless type and dig forever before we find a very simple answer to a very simple question.  It's a program, there should be basic instructions to tell me how to execute the *** thing.  At the end of the day that's all this is going to be.  I put some files on a drive, then execute one of those files from somewhere.  The process should be automated more or less.  I don't want to spend 4 hours reading a manual to figure out how to do something that should take 5 seconds.

Can you help me directly?  You seem knowledgeable, but for some reason rather than offering direct assistance, you are pointing me to FAQ's and Read Me's and manuals.  You say burn this to DVD and boot to it, but the ISO is not bootable.  So, how would that work?  If I have to run the program from the command line interface, do I do that through putty?  Are you able to guide me a bit here, rather than pointing me to hours of reading?  I appreciate your help, don't get me wrong, but at this point I'm asking for some advice, not just a pointer to a manual.  Can't I just load these files on a drive somewhere and run a command?  Why can't I use the bootable ISO that DOES boot up and run, which comes from the Dell website and states very clearly it is for my system, but throws errors when it runs?

Hello

The KB article you linked is not a support page that is actively maintained. That is a list of custom repositories that an agent put together a few years ago. I will reach out to the person that created that article to have it taken down since some of the repositories are not functioning correctly.

The SUU that Robert mentioned is a repository. It is used in conjunction with the SBUU. You will need to download and boot to the Systems Build and Update Utility. Once you are booted to the SBUU you will have the option to perform updates. It will request the repository location. You can direct it to the SUU as the repository location.

If you continue having issues performing the firmware update then please specify which firmware you are trying to update.

Thanks

Guys - I really appreciate the assistance.  I truly do.  But unfortunately you're speaking Chinese to me to a degree and I'm still quite confused.

I am very savvy, and learn quicker than most.  But I am not your average IT person.  I've never taken any classes for this, or ever obtained any form of certification or degree for anything IT.  That said, I have always been highly skilled in technical matters in general.  I've been personally handling all "desktop support" for our small business for several years now, for example.  But the first time I actually had to take on the responsibility of administering a server was only about 3 months ago.  I have learned a huge amount about VMWare since then and feel extremely comfortable with our virtual machines, but unfortunately I am not as comfortable with the actual Dell hardware yet (as you can see).

So let me clarify exactly what's going on.  I am currently administering five Dell PowerEdge servers at this time (3 R515's, a R430 and a 2900), and am simply trying to update them to current specs.  The R430 was easy, just booted in to Lifecycle and it did everything automatically.  The R515's are our production machines, though, and I am trying to use the 2900 as a test before I move on to the R515's.  The 2900 has likely not been updated in a VERY long time, if ever.  I'm guessing the same is true for the R515's - none of them are current enough for me to simply boot to Lifecycle and auto-update.

As to your question, unfortunately I have no idea how to tell you what specific firmware I'm updating.  I actually want to update any and all firmware that currently requires updating.  The idea here, again, is that I want all of our equipment to be running the correct, current firmware.  I know from Dell OpenManage for example that we need to update firmware, at the very least, for the RAID controller (it's throwing a warning on all three R515's).  I was very happy to find an option for a bootable ISO that would do this for me automatically, but now it sounds as though that is not an option.  That's fine.  But "Plan B" is not going so well for me and I was hoping for some direct assistance.

To that point, I'm hoping you can help a greenie out here, and perhaps be a little more direct with me than you would with someone who is experienced in working on Dell servers.  I am not that.  For example, can you perhaps point me to the appropriate SBUU and SUU for this purpose?  I don't even really know what these things are, although I know the acronyms stand for now per above.  I am assuming, based on what you've stated above, that likely the SBUU is some form of bootable image that I can use to run the SUU?  If so, that sounds relatively straight forward - but I don't really know where to find said SBUU or the appropriate SUU?

Thanks,

Greg

Thanks - I will give it a shot as time allows.  I have unfortunately been too busy the past few days to give any time to this, but I will get to it at some point this week I'm sure.

Can you please help me understand how I'm supposed to burn a 17GB file (the SUU is 17585 MB) to a CD or DVD per the instructions?  I'm terribly confused. . . . .

Can I instead extract to a USB thumb drive perhaps?

Also, in the readme, it states that this SUU is not for my system (which is a PowerEdge 2900).  Here is what the readme states:

######################################

SUU 15.12.00 supports the following PowerEdge systems running the supported

Linux and Windows operating systems:

M600,M605,M805,M905,R200,R300,R805,R900,R905,T100,T105,T300,T605

M420,M520,M610,M610x,M620,M710,M710HD,M820,M910,M915,

R210,R210 II,R220,R310,R320,R410,R415,R420,R510,R515,R520,R610,R620,

R710,R715,R720,R720xd,R810,R815,R820,R910,R920,FM120

T110,T110 II,T310,T320,T410,T420,T610,T620,T710

R730,R730xd,T630,R630,M630,R530,R430,T430,FC630,C4130,FC430,FC830,M830,

R530xd, R930, R330, R230, T330, T130, C6320, DSS1500, DSS2500, DSS1510

######################################

Is this process really intended to be so complicated?  It would be hilarious how ridiculously disjointed this process is, or at least the instructions available from the Dell support website, etc., if I weren't trying to attempt it myself.  I mean come on - this should be so straight-forward!

ETA: Also, for what it's worth, I am guessing the list of supported servers above, is the same list that was included in the original bootable, self-contained file I downloaded initially and referred to in my initial post above.  I would guess at this time, the links under the support page for the 2900 server, are simply incorrect.  Hopefully someone at D3ll can figure this out and get the links corrected, or otherwise help point me to the appropriate files for my system.

Is no further assistance available?  Anyone?  I just need to update the firmware on a PowerEdge 2900.  Should be so simple. . . .

OK, someone has now suggested that only 11th gen and higher can receive automatic firmware updates in the fashion I would like (the bootable ISO I referred to in my initial post).  They have suggested that I will have to manually update all the firmware on the 2900 at this time.  I hope that's incorrect, but it seems reasonable.

Still hoping someone will reply at some point regarding the SUU.  It is way too large for a CD or DVD.  I will try extracting the ISO and putting the files on a USB thumb drive if I don't hear back.  But again, I'm concerned that this SUU is not for the PowerEdge 2900, because that system is not listed in the documentation included with the SUU.

I'm concerned that this SUU is not for the PowerEdge 2900, because that system is not listed in the documentation included with the SUU.

Did you follow the instructions I provided?

You can find both on the download page for the 2900 http://www.dell.com/support

When I go to the download page for the 2900 I don't have any issues locating an SUU that lists the 2900 in the compatible systems list.

I think you are confusing the SBUU and SUU links I posted under that. You stated in previous posts that you are updating several systems. I provided you with instructions for locating the correct SBUU and SUU for a system and I provided links to the latest SBUU and SUU. There is not a single SUU that has updates for every system. If you are updating systems across multiple generations then you will likely need multiple SUUs.

The alternative is to manually install updates or use repository manager to create your own repository. I would not suggest using repository manager though. It is much more difficult to create your own repository than to download and use a repository we have already created. Since it has been several weeks and you still are unable to use the SBUU and SUU I would not suggest trying to use repository manager.

Thanks

Daniel - did you read my posts above, after your instructions?  It sounds as though you did not.  I am not confusing anything.  I think you may be, however.  Here are my relevant posts, once more, so there is no confusion:

Can you please help me understand how I'm supposed to burn a 17GB file (the SUU is 17585 MB) to a CD or DVD per the instructions?  I'm terribly confused. . . . . Can I instead extract to a USB thumb drive perhaps?

and

Also, in the readme, it states that this SUU is not for my system (which is a PowerEdge 2900).  Here is what the readme states:  (You can scroll up to see the list of compatible systems I pasted in the original post.)

So, for what it's worth, I was going to eventually boot to the SBUU and then see if putting the SUU files on a thumb drive would work, will still do that if I continue to get ambiguous responses from here.   I just haven't had time to try yet.

But, since you mentioned this:

When I go to the download page for the 2900 I don't have any issues locating an SUU that lists the 2900 in the compatible systems list.

Why don't you link me to what you are referring to, then?  I am following YOUR link, to the SUU from which I posted the compatible system list above.

Did you actually download the file, and view the documentation included within the actual SUU?  Or are you just trusting the compatible system list on the website?  Those are obviously two very different things.  I am guessing, you simply looked at the latter, which is inconclusive and assumes there could not possibly be an error within the list on the website.  I actually downloaded and extracted the files, and again, you can see above which systems it states are compatible with that particular SUU.

PLEASE NOTE (and I also wrote this above, but since it seems my posts aren't actually being read, I'll repeat) that this appears to be the exact same list of compatible systems included in the initial file I downloaded from Dell, before I ever requested help, that was supposed to do this automatically on its own.  The very first post above contains the link to the bootable ISO.  Again, it appears to me, that the links on the website may be incorrect.

Also, I am not trying to update multiple systems per this thread, just the 2900.  Not sure where you get that from.  I stated above that this would be a "test case" before I move on to my production servers.  The production servers are all 11th gen or newer, though, so they won't be nearly as difficult.  And I don't assume that the files I will need to do so, are the same as what I need in this instance.

I am at a loss.  This process of requesting assistance has been so frustrating, for some reason everyone wants to talk around and over the issue, as opposed to being direct about assisting.  I am telling you that the links being provided have been downloaded, and per the documentation included within those downloads, they are not for my system.  But, the assumption is not that the links could potentially be incorrect, but rather that I "must be confused".  How pretentious.  Sheesh. 

I will eventually have to figure it out on my own I guess, or otherwise just not update the 2900.