DELL PATCH FAQs. What are the pre-requisites for performning Altiris Agent enabled patching of servers?

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1 DELL PATCH FAQs This document provides few basic troubleshooting tips for the Dell Patch Mangement Solution. The following are the most frequently asked questions: What are the pre-requisites for performning Altiris Agent enabled patching of servers? What are the pre-requisites for performing Lifecycle Controller enabled pacthing of servers? How do I verify that a server is supported for Altiris Agent enabled patching (via Altiris Agent)? How do I verify that a server is supported for Lifecycle Controller enabled patching (via Lifecycle Controller)? Why is the managed server not being identified as a supported server for Altiris Agent enabled patching? Why is the managed server not being identified as a supported server for Lifecycle Controller enabled patching? Why is the stage and distribute task failing on the Dell Management Console machine? Why is the Altiris Agent enabled rollout job failing for the target managed server? Why is the out band rollout job failing for the target managed server?

2 How do I repair the Lifecycle Controller? How do I check the jobs that are scheduled via Lifecycle Controller enabled patching? How do I clear the job store of the Lifecycle controller on the target managed server?

3 WHAT ARE THE PRE-REQUISITES FOR ALTIRIS AGENT ENABLED PATCHING (VIA ALTIRIS AGENT)? 1. Proxy needs to be configured. This can be done by clicking on Configure Proxy link under the Getting Started webpart in the Patch Management For Dell Servers Home page. 2. The Dell Update Package catalog has to be downloaded. This can be downloaded by clicking on the Download Updates Catalog link. The DUP catalog can be downloaded from the Dell FTP or the Server Update Utility (SUU) DVD. If the Dell Management Console is upgraded from the previous version, then the Dell Updates Catalog has to be downloaded again. 3. Inventory collector has to be downloaded. This can be downloaded by clicking on the Download Inventory Collector link. If the Dell Management Console is upgraded from the previous version, the the Inventory collector has to be downloaded again. 4. Dell Vendor configuration needs to be performed. Click on Solution Global Settings link. In the Dell Vendor Configuration page, provide the appropriate location i.e., Dell site (ftp.dell.com) or Local Storage, for the DUPS Download Location. If the target managed server supports patching through both Altiris Agent and Lifecycle Controller channels, then the DUPs Update Preference Settings has to be set to Apply updates using Altiris Agent. 5. Altiris Agent needs to be installed on the server. Please refer to the following in order to verify if the operating system is supported for installing Altiris Agent: a. Supported Windows Operating systems b. Supported Linux Operating systems 6. Altiris Agent enabled compliance assessment task needs to run. For Windows compliance assessment task, click on Windows Servers. For Linux compliance assessment task, click on Linux Servers. WHAT ARE THE PRE-REQUISITES FOR LIFECYCLE CONTROLLER ENABLED PATCHING (VIA LIFECYCLE CONTROLLER)?

4 1. Proxy needs to be configured. This can be done by clicking on Configure Proxy link under the Getting Started webpart in the Patch Management For Dell Servers Home page. 2. The Dell Update Package catalog has to be downloaded. This can be downloaded by clicking on the Download Updates Catalog link. The DUP catalog can be downloaded from the Dell FTP or the Server Update Utility (SUU) DVD. If the Dell Management Console is upgraded from the previous version, then the Dell Updates Catalog has to be downloaded again. 3. Dell Vendor configuration needs to be performed. Click on Solution Global Settings link. In the Dell Vendor Configuration page, provide the appropriate location i.e., Dell site (ftp.dell.com) or Local Storage, for the DUPS Download Location. If the target managed server supports patching through both Altiris Agent and Lifecycle Controller channels, then the DUPs Update Preference Settings has to be set to Apply updates using Lifecycle Controller. 4. The target managed server should have idrac6 Enterprise Edition and Lifecycle Controller (Unified Server Configuration application). Please refer to the following firmware/application version pre-requisites for OOB patch: a. Firmware/Application version pre-requisites 5. Both the Dell Management Console server and the target managed server need to be registered to the DNS i.e., should be able to ping both DMC server and idrac6 via hostnames. 6. Discover the target managed server with a connection profile that will include WS-MAN protocol. Inventory also has to be collected. 7. Lifecycle Controller enabled compliance assessment task has to be run on the target server. For Lifecycle Controller enabled compliance assessment task, click on Lifecycle Controller Enabled Servers. HOW DO I VERIFY THAT A MANAGED SERVER IS SUPPORTED FOR ALTIRIS AGENT ENABLED PATCHING? The following verification points can be followed to check if a server is supported for Altiris Agent enabled patching (via Altiris Agent): 1. After meeting all the pre-requisites for Altiris Agent enabled patching, in the Patch Management for Dell Servers Home page, under Identify Supported Servers webpart, the target managed server should be present under Supported servers link.

5 2. In the resource manager of the target managed server, navigate to View -> Inventory -> Software Management-> Patch Management For Dell Servers and verify that the Dell Applicable Software Update table is populated with the DUPs applicable on the device. HOW DO I VERIFY THAT A MANAGED SERVER IS SUPPORTED FOR LIFECYCLE CONTROLLER ENABLED PATCHING? The following verification points can be followed to check if a server is supported for Lifecycle Controller enabled patching (via Lifecycle Controller): 1. After meeting all the pre-requisites for Lifecycle Controller enabled patching, in the Patch Management for Dell Servers Home page, under Identify Supported Servers webpart, the target managed server should be present under Supported servers link. 2. In the resource manager of the target managed server, navigate to View -> Inventory -> Dell Hardware Data and verify that the following tables are present: DMC_DeviceCapabilitiesByInv, DMC_OOB_Available_Software_Inventory and DMC_OOB_Installed_Software_Inventory. Verify that the following CapabilityGuid is present under DMC_DeviceCapabilitiesByInv : a0ec8942-ea12-49ec-a96b-e50cd8d WHY IS THE MANAGED SERVER NOT BEING IDENTIFIED AS SUPPORTED SERVER FOR ALTIRIS AGENT ENABLED PATCHING? The server might not be identified as a supported server for Altiris Agent enabled patching for the following reasons: 1. The pre-requisites are not met for Altiris Agent enabled patching. All the pre-requisites for Altiris Agent enabled patching have to be met for a server to be identified as a supported server. 2. The Altiris Agent enabled compliance assessment task might have failed on the target managed server.

6 WHY IS THE MANGED SERVER NOT BEING IDENTIFIED AS SUPPORTED SERVER FOR LIFECYCLE CONTROLLER ENABLED PATCHING? The server might not be identified as a supported server for Lifecycle Controller Enabled patching for the following reasons: 1. The pre-requisites are not met for Lifecycle Controller enabled patching. All the pre-requisites for Lifecycle Controller enabled patching have to be met for a server to be identified as a supported server. 2. The Lifecycle Controller enabled compliance assessment task might have failed. Inventory of the target managed server has to be collected before running the Lifecycle Controller enabled compliance assessment task. If the inventory task has failed (due to idrac6 firmware version not meeting the minimum requirement), then the Lifecycle Controller enabled compliance assessment task will not be successfully. WHY IS THE Stage and Distribute TASK FAILING ON THE DELL MANAGEMENT CONSOLE MACHINE? The Stage and Distribute task can fail for the following reasons: 1. If the Dell Update packages are being downloaded from the Dell FTP site, then check the network connectivity. This can be done by clicking on the Configure Proxy link. Select the Proxy tab and click on Test settings. The test should pass successfully. 2. If the Dell Updates catalog has been downloaded from the Dell FTP site but the Dell Update Packages are being downloaded from a Local Store such as Server Update Utility DVD, then the Stage and Distribute task will fail. Similarly, if the Dell Updates catalog has been downloaded from the Server Update Utility DVD but the Dell Update Packages are being downloaded from the Dell FTP, then again, the Stage and Distribute task will fail. This will occur, if the package referenced in the catalog is not available in the repository from which it is being downloaded. WHY IS THE ALTIRIS AGENT ENABLED ROLLOUT JOB FAILING FOR THE TARGET MANAGED SERVER?

7 The Altiris Agent enabled rollout job can fail on the target managed server for the following reasons: 1. The Altiris Agent on the target managed server is not registered to the Dell Managemet Console server. a. If the target managed server has a Linux operating system, type the following command aex-cta ts. The Task Server: should display the hostname of your Dell Management Console server. b. If the target managed server has a Windows operating system, right-click on the Altiris Agent icon in the system tray and select Symantec Management Agent. Click on the Task Status tab and verify that the Task Server: displays the hostname of the Dell Management Console server. 2. In certain instances, the post-install compliance assessment task can fail due to which the rollout job will fail. Double-click on the rollout job and verify if the post-install compliance task has failed. This is a known issue with the product and the issue is seen when the managed server is rebooted due to an update. 3. The Dell Update package may have failed on the managed server due to legitimate reasons and hence the rollout job can fail. Verify the DUP log on the managed server to check the reason for failure. The logs for the DUPs applied can be found in the following location: a. In a managed server with Windows OS: C:\dell\UpdatePackage\log\support b. In a managed server with Linux OS: /var/log/dell/updatepackage/log/support 4. The managed server should be selected under the Altiris Agent enabled target i.e., either under Linux Targets or Windows Targets in the Stage and Distribute Wizard. 5. The DUPs Update Preference Settings might not be set to Apply Updates using Altiris Agent in the Solution Global Settings / Dell Vendor Configuration page. The following scenarios are applicable only when the Dell Management Console is upgraded from the previous version: 1. The Altiris Agent on the managed servers have to be updated to the latest version (version ) before running any of the tasks related to the Dell Patch Management Solution. 2. The Dell Updates Catalog and the Inventory Collector have to be downloaded again after upgrading Dell Management Console.

8 3. If the update that is being applied was staged before upgrade of Dell Management Console, then the update will need to be staged again. Navigate to Manage -> Jobs and Tasks -> System Jobs and Tasks -> Software -> Patch Management for Dell Servers -> Server and select the Download software update package and re-run all the instances present. WHY IS THE LIFECYCLE CONTROLLER ENABLED ROLLOUT JOB FAILING FOR THE TARGET MANAGED SERVER? The Lifecycle Controller Enabled rollout job can fail on the target managed server for the following reasons: 1. All the pre-requisites for performing an update via Lifecycle Controller are not met. Please meet all the pre-requisites for applying update throught Lifecycle Controller. 2. The idrac6 Enterprise and the Lifecycle Controller of the device should meet certain minimum version requirements. idrac6 Express Edition is not supported for patching through Lifecycle Controller. 3. The Lifecycle Controller might not be functioning correctly (might be corrupted due to a certain update being performed). Please repair the Lifecycle controller and apply the update again. 4. The Lifecycle Controller might already have an update task scheduled for the same component being updated. Verify if the task is present in the job store of the Lifecycle Controller and if present, please clear the Lifecycle Controller job store before applying the update again. 5. In the Stage and Distribute window, the managed server should be selected under the Lifecycle Controller Enabled Targets. 6. The DUPs Update Preference Settings has to be set to Apply Updates using Lifecycle Controller in the Solution Global Settings / Dell Vendor Configuration page. This is only applicable when a server supports patching through both Altiris Agent and Lifecycle Controller channels. 7. The WS-MAN connection profile that is selected in the Stage and Distribute wizard might not have admin privileges to the idrac6 of the managed server. The following scenario is applicable only when the Dell Management Console is upgraded from the previous version:

9 1. If the update that is being applied was staged before upgrade of Dell Management Console, then the update will need to be staged again. Navigate to Manage -> Jobs and Tasks -> System Jobs and Tasks -> Software -> Patch Management for Dell Servers -> Server and select the Download software update package and re-run all the instances present. 2. The Dell Updates Catalog has to be downloaded again after upgrade before running any of the Patch Management Solution related tasks HOW DO I REPAIR THE LIFECYCLE CONTROLLER? The Lifecycle Controller can be repaired using the idrac6 console.the following are the steps to repair the Lifecycle Controller (USC): 1. Launch the idrac6 console ( of the managed server and log into the the console. 2. Navigate to Remote Access -> Update. Click on Browse and select the USC_1.3.0_Rep_Pack_A00.usc repair package. Upload the package and apply it. 3. After the Lifecycle Controller repair package is applied, reboot the managed server and boot to the System Services by pressing F10. HOW DO I CHECK THE JOBS THAT ARE PRESENT IN THE JOB STORE OF THE LIFECYCLE CONTROLLER? The jobs present in the job store of the Lifecycle controller can be viewed by following the below mentioned procedure: 1. Install WinRM 1.1 on any Windows server (need not be installed on the managed server). 2. Run the following command in the command prompt : winrm set true } 3. To view all the jobs present in the job store of the Lifecycle Controller, run the following command : winrm e cimv2/root/dcim/dcim_lifecyclejob -u:root -p:calvin - r: IP/wsman:443 -SkipCNCheck -SkipCACheck - auth:basic -encoding:utf-8 HOW DO I CLEAR THE JOB STORE ON THE TARGET MANAGED SERVER?

10 The job store on the Lifecycle Controller of the managed server can be cleared by following the below mentioned procedure: 1. Install WinRM 1.1 on any Windows server (need not be installed on the managed server). 2. Run the following command in the command prompt : winrm set true } 3. To clear the job store on the Lifecycle Controller, run the following command : : winrm invoke DeleteJobQueue cimv2/root/dcim/dcim_jobservice?creationclassname=dcim_jobse rvice+name=jobservice+systemname=idrac+systemcreationclassn } -u:root - p:calvin -r: IP/wsman:443 -SkipCNCheck - SkipCACheck -auth:basic -encoding:utf-8 WHAT ARE THE SUPPORTED WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEMS FOR PATCHING THROUGH ALTIRIS AGENT? The following Windows operating systems are supported for Altiris Agent installation in Dell Management Console 1.1: 1. Windows Server 2000 SP4 2. Windows Server 2003 SP2 32-bit 3. Windows Server 2003 SP2 64-bit 4. Windows Server 2003 R2 5. Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2 32-bit 6. Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2 64-bit 7. Windows Server bit 8. Windows Server bit 9. Windows Server 2008 SP2 32-bit 10. Windows Server 2008 SP2 64-bit 11. Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit 12. Windows Server 2008 Core Edtion 13. Windows Server 2008 R2 Core Edition The following Windows operating systems are not supported for Altiris Agent installation: 1. Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2003 R2 32-bit 2. Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2003 R2 64-bit

11 3. Windows Hyper-V Server Windows Essential Business Server (EBS) Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2008 WHAT ARE THE SUPPORTED LINUX OPERATING SYSTEMS FOR PATCHING THROUGH ALTIRIS AGENT? The following Linux operating systems are supported for Altiris Agent installation in Dell Management Console 1.1: 1. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 ES x86/x64 2. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 AS x86/x64 3. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 WS x86/x64 4. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 ES x86/x64 5. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 AS x86/x64 6. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 x86/x64 7. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 Server x86/x64 8. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.1 x86/x64 9. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.1 Server x86/x Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 x86/x Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 Server x86/x Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 x86/x Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 x86/x Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 x86/x Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 x86/x64 The following Linux operating systems are not supported for Altiris Agent installation: 1. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 x86/x64 2. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.4 Server x86/x64 3. Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 x86 4. Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 x86/x64 Firmware/Application Pre-requisites The following are the minimum firmware/application version pre-requisites for patching via OOB or Lifecycle Controller: Monolithic Servers (Ex: PER410, PET610): 1. idrac6 firmware version: 1.3 A-rev (Build 24)

12 2. Unified Server Configuration (USC): 1.3 A-rev (Build 350) Modular Servers (Ex: PEM710,PEM610): 1. idrac6 firmware version: 2.20 A-rev 2. Unified Server Configuration (USC): 1.3 A-rev (Build 350)