Configure iDrac6 (Remote Access Controller 6) on ESXi Hosts
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Right Click on ESXi1 and Enter Maintenance Mode. Yes to move VMs and OK.
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Drag to Move the ESXi1 from VMware 5.1 Cluster to Maintenance Cluster
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Open a KVM to Press Ctrl + E to enter to setup
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Select LAN Parameters
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Enable VLAN and Set VLAN ID to 255
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Click Domain Name and input vmlab.local
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Save changes and Exit
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Reboot the host and verify with the ping test to the remote console IP works properly.
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Open IE, and type console IP and click Continue to this website (not recommended)
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Type username and password to get access to remote access controller
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Verify it accesses properly
Configure Dell OpenManage Integration plug-ins on vCenter environment
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On vSphere Client, access to vc5 and go to Home>Load Dell Management Center
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Yes to continue
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Connection Profiles>Create New
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Input Profile name and Description if need
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Check VMware 5.1 Cluster
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Next
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Input IDRAC Cred
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Input ESXi Host Cred
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Just Save and continue without test
If tested, it will fail to connect as below due to no CSIOR and OMSA Agent installed on the ESXi Hosts
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Leave as default, and Click Save and Continue
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Finish
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Click Fix vSphere Hosts for Compliance on the Overview screen
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Next
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Uncheck to manually put in the maintenance mode and reboot Hosts
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Finish to fix hosts
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Monitor the tasks are running
- Manually put each ESXi Host to Maintenance mode and reboot manually to complete the installation at a time.
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Click Connection Profiles again and Test Connection Profile. And Click Test Selected
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It will pass the connections as below
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Inventory Scan will run automatically and will found 2 Hosts inventoried successfully as below task pane
Dell Firmware Updates from an ESXi Host
- Enter ESXi2 to the Maintenance Mode.
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Drag to Move the ESXi2 from VMware 5.1 Cluster to Maintenance Cluster
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Go to Home>Inventory>Hosts and Clusters> select esxi1 and click OpenManage Integration Tab
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Click Run Firmware update Wizard under Host Actions
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Uncheck exit maintenance mode after firmware update completes option and click update
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OK to continue
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It will keep updating status on Recent Tasks
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Reboot ESXi2 to continue firmware updates
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But, I got an error as below
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Then, the events log shows the following info.
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To fix this issue, Go to Configuration Tab on the ESXi2>Networking>Click Properties of Standard vSwitch1
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Select iSCSI_LUN_Redundancy Port and Edit
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NIC Teaming Tab> move up vmnic1 from unused Adapters to Standby Adaptors to apply change
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Yes to Continue
- Repeat the same on iSCSI_LUN for vmnic5 to move up to Standby Adaptors
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Do the same configurations change on ESXi1 as well
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Then, try to run Firmware Update Wizard on Step4 above on ESXi2 again
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This time it runs correctly as below and show the status is “in progress”
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Then, it finally completed the Firmware update task
- Run Firmware Update wizard again
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Click Update from repository
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Next
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Click Check All Box to select all available upgrade
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Select Apply Update(s) on next reboot option
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Wait until all the pending patches were pushed to iDRAC
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Reboot the host manually (Make sure the host is in maintenance mode and maintenance cluster to pause any alert generating)
- After rebooting, repeat the above update steps till no further updates available.
- After all done, move ESXi2 back to VMware 5.1 Cluster and exit out from the maintenance mode.
- Do the same update task for ESXi1 as well
Patch ESXi Hosts
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Go to Home>Inventory>Hosts and Clusters> select esxi1 and Update Manager
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Click Attach
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Check all for Patch Baselines and Attach
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Click Remediate
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Next
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Yes to continue
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Immediately
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Next
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Finish to start Patching
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Monitor the patching status from Recent Tasks Tab
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After ESXi1 is rebooted click Scan
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Uncheck Upgrades
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Check the Complaint Status all Green and verify completed
- Move back ESXi1 to VMware 5.1 and exit from the Maintenance mode
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Enter ESXi2 Host to the maintenance mode and do the same ESXi Patch Steps