Upgrade the iDRAC firmware from the command line on NetWitness Platform appliances

Issue

How to upgrade the iDRAC firmware on Dell PowerEdge through the command line interface on NetWitness appliances?

Resolution

The command-line installation instructions are as follows:

1. Upload a copy of the iDRAC-with-Lifecycle-Controller_Firmware_{Version}.BIN file to the NetWitness Dell appliance with a program like WinSCP, or similar.

   This example assumes the file was copied to the /root directory of the NetWitness appliance.

2. Logon to the appliance via the console or through an ssh session with root permissions.
3. Change into the /root folder and change the uploaded file to executable mode:
   cd /root
   chmod +x iDRAC-with-Lifecycle-Controller_Firmware_*.BIN
    
4. Execute the BIN file to upgrade the firmware.
   ./ iDRAC-with-Lifecycle-Controller_Firmware_{Version}.BIN
   
   Substitute {Version} with the correct file name details.
    
5. Read the license information and all prompts carefully and respond to each prompt with the default response. Make sure you are applying the firmware version you intend to apply.  You may cancel the installation with Ctrl+C before responding to the final prompt.
    
6. Wait for the upload to complete. This should take between 6 and 8 minutes.  There is a simple progress indicator displayed on the screen during the update process and confirmation when completed.
    
7. When the update completes, the iDRAC will reset (reboot) but this will not be obvious through the console or ssh session.
   Logout of the console or ssh session.  No further action is required. 

   Only the iDRAC will reboot at the end of the process.  The appliance operating system will not reboot. 

Notes

For instructions on upgrading the Dell iDRAC firmware via the web interface, refer to RSA Knowledgebase article

https://community.netwitness.com/t5/netwitness-knowledge-base/how-to-upgrade-the-idrac-firmware-through-the-web-interface-on/ta-p/677339

Internal Comments

UserName:saxonj
8/1/2014 2:50:08 PM - Improved searching
Added "iDRAC" as search term as a seprate fact statement. Solution would not show up searching on "iDRAC" and would only show up with "iDRAC7."

UserName:shurtj
8/11/2014 2:35:42 PM - Updated Article
Updated article and made changes to abide by Primus best practices. Added link to a66524.

Product Details

NetWitness Product Set: NetWitness Logs & Network
NetWitness Version/Condition: 10.6.x, 11.x, 12.x
Platform: iDrac
Platform (Other): Dell PowerEdge

Summary

How to upgrade the iDRAC firmware from the command line on RSA NetWitness appliances?

Approval Reviewer Queue

Technical approval queue