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Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter with Dell Repository Manager
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Executive summary
The Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter virtual appliance is a tool for keeping Dell hosts in
vCenter environments up to date with the latest firmware from Dell or for applying the latest firmware
baseline recommended by your organization.
The Dell Management Plug-in provides firmware update capabilities from directly inside the vSphere
client and manages the firmware update download and installation, as well as monitoring progress of
the updates and management of the host while the updates occur. This includes putting the host into
maintenance mode and keeping progress of the updates in the vSphere Recent Tasks pane.
By default, the Dell Management Plug-in uses the online Dell repository of updates. Advanced users can
leverage the Dell Repository Manager to create and manage custom firmware repositories for the Dell
Management Plug-in to reference.
Integration between Dell Repository Manager and the Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter
allows a high level of control over the firmware update process, and enables establishment of
enterprise-wide firmware baseline.
Introduction
The Dell Management Plug-In for VMware vCenter remotely updates Dell PowerEdge 11
th
and 12
th
generation servers by leveraging the Dell Lifecycle Controller using the Dell iDRAC. The Dell
Management Plug-in provides a Firmware Update wizard on the server management tab to make
selection and application of updates easy and convenient.
The Dell Management Plug-in consumes updates from using the update Web site from Dell, the custom
repository created by Dell Repository Manager, or single hotfix updates from a user share.
Configuring updates with a repository share allows a step of indirection between Dell releases of
firmware and the customer environment. You can use Repository Manager to check for the latest
updates and pick and choose which updates are added into your baselines.
Additionally, Dell Repository Manager also supports Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter
integration. Dell Repository Manager can pull the list of hosts from the Dell Management Plug-in and
create a custom repository automatically, allowing users to easily establish a custom repository based
off of their environment.
Using Dell Repository Manager
Dell Repository Manager is available free, online.
Dell Repository Manager lets you easily manage system updates and provides a searchable interface
used to create custom collections known as bundles and repositories of Dell Update Packages (DUPs).
These bundles and repositories allow for the deployment of multiple firmware updates at once.
Bundle limitations
The Dell Management Plug-in for VMware vCenter consumes Dell bundles, which are logical collections
of updates for a given system or configuration. Dell releases official firmware bundles for enterprise