Updating your Dell server a hassle or maybe not?

This week I tried to update our company Dell Server. They're all running in a Datacenter, so i tried to perform it remotely with a bootable iso....

Running updates on a HP isn't a hassle, just download the disk and run it on your system trough the iLo.

But now try a Dell Poweredge. hhmmmm strange no *.ISO download, they have the SUU and the SBU.

But the SBU is the only one who's bootable, you expect some patches in it. But no way. You have to connect the SUU disk. But remotely.... soo dull Dell thanks.

So it's now Dell from hell..... or not.

Even called support they only would give me a quote for supporting me. This is new since 2 months that if your products are OWR, this according the technician I spoke with.

When i worked @Dell you'll always got support when trying to update the server or system. So something is changed but not in my/our profit.

So when you come to the point of giving up.....

I found out that they have Dell Repository Manager Client/Datacenter edition.

You can find it here:

Download it here 

Then you can install it on a windows guest OS like windows 7 or 8. Or to an 2008 R2 server installation. But i installed it on my windows 8 desktop.

After installing the software, that's pretty straight forwarded. Next, Next > Finish.

Then here it comes.

At the home screen got to:




Then type in the server type and description:


Select like below:


Select your server type: ( i will select "Rack Mount" for this example)


Select like below:





Select your server model here: (I select R710 for this example)


Select like below (default)



Select like below (default)


Select "Finish"


After this the repository is indexed and done:



After this the go to the tab "Your server type"


Then click the "System Bundle" you prefeer. I clicked Linux, my server is a ESXi host.

Then you go to the components tab, after the Bundle is clicked.

Here you see the applicable patches/firmware/bios whatever you prefeer to install.

After selected the patches/firmware/bios that you want. I selected here all the patches, but this is just for example. Take your time to select whatever you want/like or need.

Ten go back to the Bundles tab.

On the Bundles tab select "Export":



Then the export phase:


Select the bootable Linux option here:


If the plugin is found press Next:




 Select your location for the *.ISO (no screenshot made your local computer is showed)
Press Next:









Just press Finish:


After this step the creation of the *.ISO will begin. You're able to follow it in the que below in the screen of the management console.

After this is done, load the *.ISO in the Drac console "Launch Virtual Media."

You have to perform multiple runs of the *.ISO due it's not performing all of the updates at once.

If you experiencing some problems check below:

If this is failing due you cannot connect, go to the Console/Media tab >  Configuration



Then select the following:

Terminate idle sessions Vsphere client

Ever wondered why the sessions are kept within Vsphere client? the idle timer is set for 30 minutes. But the're always sessions left with idle time far over the 30 mins....

Create a edited shortcut of vpx client. Edit the target line:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\VpxClient.exe" -inactivityTimeout 90

With this at the end the session will be ended after 90 minutes.

It's also possible trough PowerCLI.

This option is to list all sessions:

Function Get-ViSession {
    <#
        .SYNOPSIS
            Lists vCenter Sessions.
        .DESCRIPTION
            Lists all connected vCenter Sessions.
        .EXAMPLE
            PS C:\> Get-VISession
        .EXAMPLE
            PS C:\> Get-VISession | Where { $_.IdleMinutes -gt 5 }
    #>
    $SessionMgr = Get-View $DefaultViserver.ExtensionData.Client.ServiceContent.SessionManager
    $AllSessions = @()
    $SessionMgr.SessionList | Foreach {   
        $Session = New-Object -TypeName PSObject -Property @{
            Key = $_.Key
            UserName = $_.UserName
            FullName = $_.FullName
            LoginTime = ($_.LoginTime).ToLocalTime()
            LastActiveTime = ($_.LastActiveTime).ToLocalTime()
           
        }
            If ($_.Key -eq $SessionMgr.CurrentSession.Key) {
                $Session | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Status -Value "Current Session"
            } Else {
                $Session | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Status -Value "Idle"
            }
            $Session | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name IdleMinutes -Value ([Math]::Round(((Get-Date) – ($_.LastActiveTime).ToLocalTime()).TotalMinutes))
    $AllSessions += $Session
    }
    $AllSessions
}


This option is to end al sessions above 30 minutes:

Connect-VIServer vsphereserver -User username -Password pwd

Function Disconnect-ViSession { 
       [CmdletBinding()] 
    Param ( 
        [Parameter(ValueFromPipeline=$true)] 
        $SessionList 
    ) 
    Process { 
        $SessionMgr = Get-View $DefaultViserver.ExtensionData.Client.ServiceContent.SessionManager 
        $SessionList | Foreach { 
            Write "Disconnecting Session for $($_.Username) which has been active since $($_.LoginTime)" 
            $SessionMgr.TerminateSession($_.Key) 
        } 
    } 
}
Get-VISession | Where { $_.IdleMinutes -gt 30 } | Disconnect-ViSession




What's this all about. The VPX client service is using RAM on your Vcenter server with every session it will increase. So it's usefull to keep it clean.

sticky APIPA on internal network interface on windows server 2008 R2

The issue i recently had was a sticky APIPA addressing on one of my Network Interfaces on my just installed server.....

The OS is Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1.

What did i do to resolve the issue:

I gave in a alternative ip address, it started working, after that i disabled the NIC, i enabled it again and gave in the right address. Then it started working with the address i wanted to work with.

Strange issue, but i guess the APIPA was stuck somewhere. Stupid old mechanism....

Unhide extensions for known file types in Windows 7 GPO and registry key

Action:          Update
Hive:             Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Value name: HideFileExt
Value type:   REG_DWORD


picture removed.

Windows 7 Desktop Optimization for VMware View in a "BREEZE" use this.

The issue is with Windows 7 that too much options are using disk I/O.

You now can disable those features with a few mouseclicks!

It saves you about 90% on Read/Write on the storage of the server.

It also saves diskspace i made an compare with an VMware View 5.1 desktop pool. One pool "As-is" others call it Vanilla and one pool with the optimizer from Dell. It saves you an incredible 43% on disk space!!

And another one here, it saves you 10% RAM usage on the desktop.

And here we go again, it saves CPU utilization too. Remarkable but true it's 37% compared to the Vanilla pool.

So it's really an big deal doing this.

I also got a few screenshots too, there 40 options that you can use for optimization:







It's simple no hassle.



Download the tool