Setup Guide

Introduction
Dell Lifecycle Controller provides advanced embedded systems management to perform various systems management tasks
using a Graphical User Interface (GUI). It is delivered as part of the integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) out-of-
band solution and embedded Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) applications in the latest Dell servers. iDRAC works
with the UEFI firmware to access and manage every aspect of the hardware, including component and subsystem management
that is beyond the traditional Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) capabilities.
It is developed on the industry standard interfaces such as:
● Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) platform
● Web Services for Management (WSMAN) interface
● Redfish management interface
Dell Lifecycle Controller Remote Services includes WSMAN and iDRAC RESTful API with Redfish management interfaces. It
helps to perform remote deployment, configuration, and updates integrated with Dell OpenManage Essentials and partner
consoles. It can be accessed over the network using the secure web services interfaces and can be used by applications and
scripts. Also, it provides a single view of all the system settings that can be imported and exported from the server to perform
one-to-many cloning operations.
Using Remote Services, you can perform the following tasks:
● Enable management consoles to perform one-to-many bare-metal server provisioning.
● Identify and authenticate the attached Dell system to the network.
● Integrate one‑to-many management consoles and reduce the manual steps to perform server setup and management.
● Deploy an operating system, perform remote update and inventory, and automate the setup and configuration.
Topics:
• Benefits of using iDRAC with Lifecycle Controller
• Benefits of using Lifecycle Controller Remote Services
• Key features
• Licensed features in Lifecycle Controller
• New in this release
• About iDRAC RESTful API with Redfish and Web Service API
• About Lifecycle Controller API
• About one-to-many management
Benefits of using iDRAC with Lifecycle Controller
The iDRAC with Lifecycle Controller technology in the server’s embedded management allows you to perform useful tasks such
as configuring BIOS and hardware settings, deploying operating systems, changing RAID settings, and saving hardware profiles.
Together, iDRAC and Lifecycle Controller provide a robust set of management functions that can be used throughout the entire
server Lifecycle.
Lifecycle Controller simplifies server Lifecycle management — from provisioning, deployment, patching and updating to
servicing — both locally and remotely. Lifecycle Controller includes managed and persistent storage that embeds systems
management features and Operating System device drivers directly on the server. This eliminates the media-based system
management tools and utilities traditionally needed for systems management.
The benefits include:
● Increased Uptime — Notifies the potential or actual failures quickly to prevent a server failure or reduce recovery time after
a failure.
● Improved Productivity and Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) — Extends the reach of administrators to larger number
of remote servers. This helps IT staff to be more productive and also reduces the operational expenses such as travel.
● Enhanced Security— Provides secure access to remote servers to help administrators perform critical management
functions while maintaining server and network security.
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4 Introduction