Concept Guide

several tools. For example, the most common tasks such as provisioning, deploying, and updating required not only multiple tools and
multiple media format, but also searching the Web for tools such as drivers and firmware. This traditional delivery model resulted in
inefficient use of time, potential errors, and possible security risks. Lifecycle Controller-Remote Services addresses all these system
management issues.
Licensable features in Lifecycle Controller
The Web Services-Management (WS-MAN) License and Privilege Specification encompasses all the license and privilege information
required to utilize the WS-MAN API provided by the integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) with Lifecycle Controller.
It was delivered as part of the iDRAC (Express and Enterprise licenses, and vFlash SD card feature) starting with the 11
th
generation of
Dell PowerEdge servers. On 12
th
and 13
th
generation of PowerEdge servers, the vFlash feature is included with the iDRAC Enterprise
license, so you need not separately license vFlash with Lifecycle Controller 2.0 and later. The 12
th
and 13
th
generation of PowerEdge
servers of Dell use only Express or Enterprise licensing.
The Lifecycle Controller management capabilities are partitioned into distinct areas and represented by the Dell Common Information
Model (DCIM) profile specifications that provide comprehensive details about each manageability feature or capability. These features
may be free, partially licensed, or fully licensed. Also, the accessibility of a feature is defined by the credentials provided with the WS-MAN
request and maps to the user-assigned privilege credentials, such as administrator- or read-only access.
About iDRAC RESTful API with Redfish and Web
Service APIs
Web Services-Management (WSMan) is a Distributed Management Task Force's (DMTF) open standard, defining a Simple Object Access
Protocol (SOAP)—based protocol for managing servers, devices, applications, and various Web Services. WS-MAN provides a common
way for systems to access and exchange management information across the IT infrastructure.
DMTF is an industry organization that develops, maintains, and promotes standards for systems management in enterprise IT
environments. The DMTF data model is complex and typically requires multiple transactions to accomplish simple operations such as
specifying a user name and password, or giving administrator privileges to a user account. To reduce the number of transactions, Lifecycle
Controller also offers a Dell data model for management that is based on an attribute model.
The iDRAC RESTful API expands upon the DMTF Redfish standard with Dell EMC-specific operations. It includes RESTful server
configuration, modular server feature support, and detailed OS networking inventory and status. The Scalable Platforms Management
Forum (SPMF) has published the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF)'s Redfish API. It is an open industry standard specification
and schema which is designed to meet the needs of IT administrators for simple, modern, and secure management of scalable platform
hardware. Redfish is a NextGen management standard using a data model representation inside a hypermedia RESTful interface. The data
model is defined in terms of a standard and machine-readable schema, with the payload of the messages expressed in JSON and the
protocol using OData v4. Redfish is a hypermedia API, and can represent various implementations using a consistent interface. It has
mechanisms for discovering and managing data center resources, handling events, and managing long-lived tasks.
About Lifecycle Controller API
Lifecycle Controller-Remote Services is a standards-based interface that enables consoles to integrate, for example, bare-metal
provisioning and one-to-many operating system deployments for remotely located servers. Dell’s Lifecycle Controller takes advantage of
the capabilities of both Lifecycle Controller GUI and Lifecycle Controller-Remote Services to deliver significant improvement and
simplification of server deployment.
Introduction
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