Users Guide

Key features
The key features of Lifecycle Controller are:
● Provisioning — Entire preoperating system configuration from a unified interface.
● Deploying — Simplified operating system installation with the embedded drivers on Lifecycle Controller. Unattended
installation mode is available for Microsoft Windows and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 operating systems.
● Download drivers for operating system installation from www.dell.com/support.
● Patching or updating — Operating system agnostic, and reduced maintenance downtime with direct access to updates
from . It simplifies firmware updates by maintaining a working version for rollback.
●
Servicing — Continuous availability of diagnostics without depending on a hard-disk drive. Ability to flash firmware
automatically, while replacing components such as a PowerEdge storage controller, NIC, and power supply unit. Support
for VLAN in network configuration.
● System erase — Deletes the server and storage-related data on selected components of a server. You can delete
information on BIOS, Lifecycle Controller data (LC logs, configuration database and rollback firmware versions), iDRAC
settings, and storage components on the server.
NOTE: You cannot delete the iDRAC license file.
● Security — Support local key encryption.
● Enhanced Security — Support for TLS 1.2, 1.1, and 1.0. To enhance security, default setting is TLS 1.1 and higher.
● Hardware inventory — Provides information about the current and factory system configuration.
● Lifecycle Controller logs for troubleshooting.
● CIFS operations — CIFS operations from LCUI uses SMBv2 protocol but is displayed as CIFS on the GUI.
Licensable features in Lifecycle Controller
Lifecycle Controller features are available based on the type of license (iDRAC Basic, iDRAC Express, iDRAC Express for Blades,
iDRAC Enterprise and iDRAC Datacenter) that you purchase. Only licensed features are available in the Lifecycle Controller GUI.
For more information about managing licenses, see the iDRAC User's Guide available at https://www.dell.com/idracmanuals .
The following table lists the Lifecycle Controller features available based on the license purchased.
Table 1. Licensable Features in Lifecycle Controller
Feature iDRAC Basic iDRAC Express (Rack
and Tower Servers)
iDRAC Express (Blade
Servers)
iDRAC Enterprise /
Datacenter
Firmware Update
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Secure Enterprise
Key Manager
— — — Yes (With SEKM
license)
Operating system
deployment
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Device
configuration
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Diagnostics
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Part replacement —
Yes Yes Yes
Local updates
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Driver packs
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Hardware inventory
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Remote services
(through WS-MAN)
— Yes Yes Yes
SupportAssist
Collection
Yes Yes Yes Yes
8 Introduction