Deployment Guide

Manual operating system deployment

Dell Lifecycle Controller and integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) provide options for operating system deployment. Options

include manual installation or unattended installation by using virtual media and the operating system deployment feature in Lifecycle

Controller.

The step-by-step procedure for deploying the operating system is not within the scope of this guide.

The remainder of this guide assumes that:

• Windows Server 2016 or Windows Server 2019 Datacenter operating system or Server Core installation on the physical server is

complete.

• You have access to the iDRAC virtual console of the physical server.

Factory-installed operating system deployment

If the cluster nodes are shipped from Dell with a preinstalled operating system, complete the out-of-box experience (OOBE):

• Select language and locale settings.

• Accept the Microsoft and OEM EULAs.

• Set up a password for the local administrator account.

• Update the operating system partition size, and shrink it as needed.

The OEM operating system is preactivated, and the Hyper-V role is predeployed. After completing the OOBE steps, perform the steps in

Installing roles and features on page 13 to complete the cluster deployment and Storage Spaces Direct configuration.

Installing roles and features

Deployment and configuration of a Windows Server 2016 or Windows Server 2019 Azure Stack HCI cluster requires enabling specific

operating system roles and features.

Enable these roles and features:

• Hyper-V service (not required if the operating system is factory-installed)

• Failover clustering

• Data center bridging (DCB) (required only when implementing fully converged network topology with RoCE and when implementing

DCB for the fully converged topology with iWARP)

Enable these features by running the Install-WindowsFeature PowerShell cmdlet:

Install-WindowsFeature -Name Hyper-V, Failover-Clustering, Data-Center-Bridging -

IncludeAllSubFeature -IncludeManagementTools - Verbose

NOTE:

Hyper-V role installation requires a system restart. Because subsequent procedures also require a restart, the

required restarts are combined into one (at the end of Changing the hostname on page 14).

Verifying firmware and software compliance with

the support matrix

Dell EMC Solutions for Azure Stack HCI are validated and certified with certain firmware versions that are related to the solution

infrastructure components.

Use the validated firmware and software, as specified in the support matrix, to ensure that the solution infrastructure remains supported

and delivers optimal performance.

You can verify compliance and update the nodes with an Azure Stack HCI online or offline catalog by using Dell EMC OpenManage

Integration with Microsoft Windows Admin Center. To verify compliance and to update firmware and drivers on a stand-alone node, see

the Dell EMC Solutions for Azure Stack HCI Operations Guide—Managing and Monitoring the Solution Infrastructure Life Cycle.

Solution Deployment