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Simplifying the Replacement of a Failed Motherboard
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Introduction
The motherboard is the one part of a host system that most customers do not want to fail.
Motherboard failures cost money and time, especially when considering productivity. DELL has created
the Backup and Restore solution to help simplify and reduce the impact of replacing a failed
motherboard. This licensed DELL feature provides the ability to apply a backup file to a system,
thereby restoring it to working condition while maintaining its identity, licenses certificates, and
operating parameters. The user need only set up the system as desired, and perform a server profile
backup to preserve the state in a backup file. Upon successful completion of a server profile backup,
the data can be preserved for that future replacement. Dell recommends that you perform the backup
operation for every system profile you think you might want to restore at some point.
Before you begin
Ensure that your system meets the following requirements:
Dell PowerEdge 11th generation servers
 iDRAC Enterprise with Lifecycle Controller revision 1.5 or higher
 Dell vFlash
Dell PowerEdge 12th generation servers or custom system based on 12th generation servers
 iDRAC Enterprise with Lifecycle Controller 2 revision1.0 or higher
 SD Card required for USC based usage
Backing up an image for future motherboard replacement
A backup image of the current motherboard settings and configuration should be captured by using the
WSMAN BackupImage() method of the LC service or the local Lifecycle Controller GUI Platform Export
option. The user specifies a device or network share to save the backup file to (including any
credentials needed to access the network share) via the WSMAN interface. The local LC GUI interface
is limited to using the vFlash media that must be placed in the service location marked with a wrench
symbol on the host system. To secure the data in the file, the user specifies a new passphrase for
encrypting portions of the backup file. After parameter validation the backup begins and server profile
data is written to a selected storage device or network share. Feedback on progress for backup file
generation and writing is provided as the job runs.
System components covered by backup include all components supported by Lifecycle Controller
firmware change management and comprehensive configuration capabilities. These components
include:
RAID Storage configuration, specifically, virtual disk configuration is included in the backup file. If
storage encryption is local only (Local Key Management (LKM)), the LKM passphrase is NOT included in
the backup file and must be provided after performing a Restore, Replace or Clone action.
Backup file encryption will be seeded by a combination of user-supplied passphrase and iDRAC
firmware-supplied seed. The user can choose to provide no passphrase, in which case the encrypted
portions of the backup file will be encrypted with an iDRAC firmware seed and default passphrase.