RSA NetWitness appliance firmware update via iDRAC fails with image file is not valid

Issue

Following the NetWitness appliance firmware update instructions from,
How to upgrade the iDRAC firmware through the web interface on RSA NetWitness Platform appliances
RSA NetWitness Availability of BIOS & iDRAC Firmware Updates



The upgrade via iDRAC of the NetWitness appliance firmware fails to upload the file with error,

RAC0142: The firmware image file is not valid for iDRAC firmware update.

Cause

An appliance which is running a very old firmware version, in particular the Series 4S (Dell R620) appliances, does not know how to upgrade firmware using the Update Package for Microsoft Windows 64-Bit .exe file.

Workaround

Another alternative is to upgrade the firmware is via the command-line see. How to upgrade the iDRAC firmware from the command line on RSA NetWitness Platform appliances.

Resolution

1. Check the Update Package for Microsoft Windows 64-Bit .exe file is correct for the NetWitness hardware needing to be upgraded.
   Confirm on the RSA NetWitness Availability of BIOS & iDRAC Firmware Updates website that the obtained Update Package for Microsoft Windows 64-Bit .exe file is correct for NetWitness hardware.
   
   Run the following command on the NetWitness appliance to see the type of hardware,
   
   # dmidecode -t 1 |grep Product
           Product Name: PowerEdge R630
   
   Where R630 in the above example output is a Series 5 appliance.
    
2. Confirm the Update Package for Microsoft Windows 64-Bit .exe file if not corrupt.
   Check the MD5, SHA1, or SHA-256 value of the downloaded .exe file with the expected value of the file.
3. Using a compression program like the 7-Zip program, open the Update Package for Microsoft Windows 64-Bit .exe file.
   Extract the firmimg.d7 file from the payload directory to disk.
   
   
   
   The firmimg.d7 file is just the firmware image without the Windows 64-bit program wrapper around it.
   
   In the iDRAC Update and Rollback, choose to Upload the firmimg.d7 file to do the firmware upgrade.
   
   

Product Details

RSA Product Set: RSA NetWitness Platform
RSA Version/Condition: 10.6.x, 11.x
Platform: CentOS
Platform (Other): Dell Appliance
O/S Version: 7

Summary

Trying to upload via iDRAC the correct NetWitness appliance Update Package for Microsoft Windows 64-Bit file fails.

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