Scheduled Automatic Search using Dell Repository Manager

Transcription

1 Scheduled Automatic Search using Dell Repository Manager A Dell Technical White Paper Dell, Inc. Dell Repository Manager Team

2 THIS WHITE PAPER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND MAY CONTAIN TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND TECHNICAL INACCURACIES. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this material in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden. For more information, contact Dell. Dell, the DELL logo, and the DELL badge, PowerConnect, and PowerVault are trademarks of Dell Inc. Symantec and the SYMANTEC logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the US and other countries. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Server, and Active Directory are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and trade names other than its own. March 2013 ii

3 Contents Introduction... 4 Using Scheduled Automatic Search... 5 Set Search Criteria... 6 Set Output... 7 Set schedule Time and Recurrence... 9 Save the Automatic Search Settings Summary Figures Figure 1 Launch Automatic Search Wizard... 5 Figure 2 Automatic Search Wizard... 5 Figure 3 Search Criteria... 6 Figure 4 Select Search Options... 6 Figure 5 Search Availability... 7 Figure 6 Action Tab... 7 Figure 7 Import to new Repository... 8 Figure 8 Export to local Repository... 8 Figure 9 Export Lightweight Deployment Package... 8 Figure 10 Schedule Tab... 9 iii

4 Introduction Dell Repository Manager (DRM) is a Windows application that helps manage system updates easily and effectively. The Official Dell Support site ( provides access to all the latest updates for different platforms in one single place. Searching the site for updates meant for different platforms and manually importing them to Dell Repository Manager can be a time consuming and difficult task. Dell Repository Manager v1.5 adds a new feature to search and build repositories from the latest updates available at the Dell support site. There are two ways to use this new feature: interactive mode and non-interactive mode. Interactive mode allow a user to directly search for the latest updates available from the Dell support site ( for Dell supported platforms based on Brand and Model or a Service Tag and download them. Non-interactive mode, or Automatic Search, allows you to schedule the search for the latest updates available from the Dell support site at specific time with the option to repeat daily, weekly or monthly. This paper will describe the non-interactive mode referred to as Automatic Search. More information about Interactive mode is available in the paper titled Using DRM to search Dell Support Site. Automatic Search makes it easy to access the latest updates not available in the Dell FTP Catalog. The benefits of using Dell Repository Manager to schedule the automatic download and/or build an update repository from Dell Support site are: Automatic Search can be configured to download update files after normal work hours or when the user s system or network is not busy since, the results of a search can be quite large depending on the search criteria. Automatic Search can be used to keep the latest updates downloaded and ready for deployment. A saved repository can always be ready with the latest updates for use with system management tools such as OpenManage Essentials. Results can be saved as a new repository in the DRM database. Repositories created using Automatic Search can be used to update your custom repositories Results can be packaged in a Light Weight Deployment Pack (LWDP) available to be used to directly update your systems. The Automatic Search feature uses the the Windows Task Scheduler service and requires it to be started. Searching for updates requires an internet connection. The System hosting Dell Repository Manager must be running at the time the search is scheduled. 4

5 Using Scheduled Automatic Search To launch the Automatic Search Scheduler from Dell Repository Manager Click on the drop down menu Source -> Schedule Automatic Search. Figure 1 Launch Automatic Search Wizard DRM will launch the Automatic Search Wizard. The wizard has three tabs to schedule an Automated Search job; Search tab, Action tab, and Schedule tab. Figure 2 Automatic Search Wizard 5

6 Set Search Criteria On the Search tab, Dell Repository Manager provides two methods to configure the automatic search. The user can select either of these two options. The first option is selected by default. Get updates by selecting systems and devices sorted by brand. One or more can be selected. Get updates for a single service tag Figure 3 Search Criteria Follow these steps to configure the search criteria: 1. Select the Brand or Service Tag option. If you select the Service tag option, enter a Service tag in the box provided and skip to step 6. Only one service tag can be used in the search. 2. Select a particular brand from the list of brands listed. The list can vary based on the mode Dell Repository Manager is started (Data Center version or Business client version). 3. Next select the particular model for the selected brand. User can select single or multiple models from same brand or different brands. 4. Click Add to include the model in the list of selected models for search on the right. 5. Go back to step 2 add another model from a different brand or go back to step 3 to add from the same brand. Continue with step 6 once all models of interest have been selected. Check the checkboxes for the Update Type, Criticality, and Operating Systems for the type of update files as needed. Operating system refers to the OS that the update executable supports. 6 Figure 4 Select Search Options 6

7 6. Select the availability. Here you can select all update files that meet the search criteria or just the files that meet the search criteria and not available in the latest FTP Catalog. Set Output Figure 5 Search Availability The Action tab lets you define what will be done with the updates found using the search criteria defined on the Search tab. Figure 6 Action Tab There are three actions that can be scheduled for the updates found. Multiple actions can be selected. 7

8 1. Import updates to a new repository in Dell Repository Database Figure 7 Import to new Repository Updates are added to a new repository created each time the Automatic Search is invoked. The new repository name will include the date the search results were created appended to the prefix entered. Individual updates will only be downloaded once to the file store and not downloaded again each time automatic search is invoked. Each repository will contain all files that fit the search criteria. Resulting Repositories created by automatic Search can be compared to find individual changes. This option is selected by default. 2. Export updates to a local repository. Figure 8 Export to local Repository This option will export the search results to a local repository. The local repository will not go into the DRM database; it will be saved to the specified folder. The local repository contains all the update files as well as the catalog.xml. Each export will be created in a folder with the date the search results were created as part of the name. These folders can be shared for tools such as Dell Open Manage Essentials (OME). This option will create a new folder each time Automatic search runs and previous exported folders will not be deleted. Multiple folders can use a large amount of disk space. 3. Export updates as a Lightweight Deployment Package (LWDP) Figure 9 Export Lightweight Deployment Package This option will export the update files with deployment scripts. Each export will be created in a folder with the date the search results were created as part of the name. All update file that meet the search criteria will be download into the LWDP folder. Previous LWDP folders will not be deleted. Multiple folders can use a large amount of disk space. 8

9 Set schedule Time and Recurrence The Schedule tab lets you select when Automatic Search will run and how often Figure 10 Schedule Tab 1. Enable the automatic search feature by checking the Enable automatic searching for update files for Dell Support Site checkbox. This checkbox can be unchecked to disable Automatic Search. This checkbox cannot be checked if the search criteria has not been configured on the Search tab. 2. Set the start date and time that Automatic Search will run. The system hosting Dell Repository Manager must be running at the time the search is scheduled. 3. Select the schedule. The Automatic Search can be set to run only once or a recurring daily, weekly or monthly schedule. if a recurring scheduled search is missed, because for example the system hosting DRM is not running, Automatic Search will run the next time it reaches the scheduled time. For example, Automatic Search is scheduled to run every Monday at 1:00AM and the system hosting Dell Repository Manager is not running, it will attempt the search again on the following Monday at 1:00AM. 4. Select the Security Option. Use this option to set if the search can run anytime or only when the user is logged on. The user id and password must be provided to run when logged off. The prompt for user credential will be seen after the Save button is selected. 9

10 Save the Automatic Search Settings. Click Save and answer the confirmation pop-ups. Summary Dell Repository Manager makes it easy to set up a schedule to download the latest updates for the user s specific systems. System administrator can be ready with new updates as they need them. Whether searches are run every day to quickly learn on new updates or run once a month to prepare to apply system updates on a regular schedule. 10