Dell Power Solutions

SYSTEMS MANAGEMENTAuthorizing updatesThe update authorization process involves selecting the runtimeenvironment and scheduling the updates. This process occurs duringthe creation of an advertisement, and administrators should notethe following when scheduling updates:Figure 2. Advertisement creation for a Dell Update Packageto be executed. Figure 3 lists available command-line options.Each update package is designed to update specific devicesoftware on a given type of server. Use of a software distributionservice such as SMS 2003 means that update packages canbe run in silent mode, without user intervention, as defined bythe /s option. Some of the updates require a system reboot tobecome active. Administrators can choose to run multiple updatessequentially and schedule a single reboot once the final update iscompleted. Doing so means using the /r option only once, whenthe final update package is pushed to managed systems. Alternatively,administrators can have the system restart capability ofSMS 2003 perform a similar task.If the target systems have Dell OpenManage Server Administratorinstalled, administrators can use the Dell OpenManageServer Administrator CLI to inventory the target systems. If DellOpenManage Server Administrator is not installed, administratorscan use the update package’s CLI to inventory the target systems.Update packages are self-contained and do not require additionalcomponents to be installed on managed systems. Each updatepackage performs three functions during execution:• Inventory the system to determine the version of softwareinstalled• Compare the installed software version with the one availablein the update package• Execute an upgrade, downgrade, or reinstallation based onthe command-line option selectedExecution is halted whenever the prerequisites for the applicationupdate are not met. Figure 4 shows commonly performed tasksand the command-line options to invoke them.• To guarantee that the update sequencing is honored, administratorsshould not create advertisements with conflictingschedules. Out-of-sequence updates create the potential forfailure when update prerequisites are not met.• To optimize network bandwidth, SMS uses distributionpoints to share packages across different systems. In suchscenarios, administrators should be careful when specifyinglog locations through command-line parameters fordifferent updates. These logs must be local to each targetsystem.• The update authorization process needs to take into accountthe planned maintenance window as well as the systemdowntime incurred to complete the updates.• No tape backup or resource-intensive system activity shouldbe in progress when applying updates.• By using collections, administrators can phase out deploymentof system software updates across the organizations.• Since Dell Update Packages update firmware software onthe embedded system devices, or on drivers that talk to theattached peripherals, no rollback capabilities are provided. Ifa rollback is desired, administrators must download an earlierversion of the firmware software and use SMS to distribute theupdate. System software deployment requires advance planningso administrators can ensure that all updates are applied for agiven collection in the allotted maintenance window.SMS provides the capability to force the target systems to beupdated after the expiration of the advertisement by making thesystem software updates mandatory.Command-line option Description/? or /h Displays command-line usage help/e=pathExtracts files to a specified path*/s Executes the update package in silent mode/f Forces a downgrade or update to the same or an older version*/c Determines whether the update can be applied to the target system*/r Reboots if necessary after the update*/l=file/u=file*Must be used with /s.Figure 3. Dell Update Package command-line optionsAppends log messages to a specified ASCII file*Appends log messages to a specified Unicode file*www.dell.com/powersolutions Reprinted from Dell Power Solutions, February 2005. Copyright © 2005 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. POWER SOLUTIONS 55