Users Guide

Backup server profile

Use this licensed feature to perform the following and store the backup image files in a vFlash SD card:

• Back up the following:

– Hardware and firmware inventory such as BIOS, NDCs, Lifecycle Controller supported add-in NIC cards, and Storage

Controllers (RAID level, virtual disk, and controller attributes)

– System information

– Lifecycle Controller firmware images, data and configuration, and iDRAC firmware and configuration

• Optionally, secure the backup image file with a passphrase.

Related links

System or feature behavior during backup

Backing up the server profile

Before you back up the server profile, make sure that the following prerequisites are met:

• A software license for Dell PowerEdge servers is installed on the server. For more information about managing licenses using the

iDRAC web interface, go to

Overview → Server → Licenses, and see the iDRAC Online Help.

• The server has a valid Service Tag (seven characters).

• vFlash SD card is installed, initialized, and enabled.

• vFlash SD card has a minimum free space of 384 MB.

To back up the server profile:

1. Start Lifecycle Controller. For more information, see Starting Lifecycle Controller.

2. In the left pane, select Platform Restore.

3. In the right pane, select Backup Server Profile.

4. To generate the backup file without entering the passphrase, click Finish.

Alternatively, to generate an encrypted backup file using a passphrase, enter the passphrase and click Finish. In the absence of

a passphrase, Lifecycle Controller encrypts the backup image file with a default passphrase (internally generated).

5. In the Backup File Passphrase field, enter a passphrase. For example, Rt@#12tv.

NOTE: A valid passphrase contains 8–32 characters. It must include a combination of uppercase and lowercase

letters, numbers, symbols, and must not have white spaces. The passphrase is optional and if used for backup, it

must be used during restore.

6. In the Confirm Passphrase field, re-enter the passphrase and click Finish.

The system restarts and Lifecycle Controller is disabled. You cannot access Lifecycle Controller until the backup process is

complete. A success message is displayed when you start Lifecycle Controller after backup is complete.

NOTE: You can check the Lifecycle logs in the iDRAC web interface for backup server profile status. To view the log

in Lifecycle Controller after the backup is completed, click Lifecycle Log → View Lifecycle Log History.

NOTE: If FIPS is enabled, you cannot perform any actions associated with the vFlash SD card, such as exporting or

backing up server profile to the vFlash or importing server profile using vFlash.

System or feature behavior during backup

• Lifecycle Controller is disabled.

• A partition with a label name SRVCNF is automatically created on the vFlash SD card to store the backup image file. If a partition

with the label name SRVCNF exists, it is overwritten.

• Takes up to 45 minutes depending on the server configuration.