User's Manual

Update and Rollback in Lifecycle Controller

Enabled Server

Dell Lifecycle Controller Enabled Server is an embedded configuration utility that enables systems and storage

management tasks from an embedded environment throughout the life cycle of a system..

Residing on an embedded flash memory card, Lifecycle Controller is similar to a BIOS utility in that it can be started

during the boot sequence and can function independently of an installed operating system.

Using Lifecycle Controller, you can quickly identify, download, and apply system updates without searching the Dell

Support website. You can also configure the system BIOS and system devices (such as NIC, RAID, and iDRAC), deploy

an operating system, and run diagnostics to validate the system and the attached hardware.

NOTE: Certain platforms or systems may not support the full set of features provided by Lifecycle Controller.

Update in Lifecycle Controller

You can update the system BIOS, iDRAC firmware, power supply firmware, RAID firmware, and NIC firmware. Use the

wizard to display a list of available updates for the system Platform Update

You can define a location to search for available updates from the following options:

• The Dell File Transfer Protocol (FTP) system (ftp.dell.com). You can use a proxy system to access ftp.dell.com.

• A USB device. When accessing updates from a local USB device, the USB device must be plugged in before

selecting the Platform Update option in Lifecycle Controller. For more information on updating the platform, see

the

Dell Life Cycle controller User Guide

available at dell.com/support/manuals.

After you select the updates you want to apply, Lifecycle Controller downloads and applies the updates. If you decide to

update any device in Lifecycle Controller, the update package of the corresponding device is downloaded. After

successfully downloading, verifying, and extracting the DUPs, the corresponding devices are updated. If the update

fails, error messages are displayed.

Rollback in Lifecycle Controller

You can update any component, for example BIOS, in both Lifecycle Controller and the operating system environment.

After the update is successful in the operating system environment using DUPs, you can enter Lifecycle Controller and

revert the component to the version that was previously installed before the update occurred.

Lifecycle Controller supports platform firmware rollback to the previous version. If the operating system has a non–

functioning application because of a BIOS or firmware flash, reboot to Lifecycle Controller and roll back to the previous

version.

NOTE: Only BIOS and firmware can be rolled back. The Lifecycle Controller application, the Dell Diagnostics

application, and drivers required for operating system installation cannot be rolled back to an earlier version.

If you have updated the BIOS or firmware of the system only once, the rollback feature offers the option of reverting to

the factory-installed BIOS or firmware images. If you have updated the BIOS or firmware to multiple versions, the

factory-installed images are overwritten and you cannot revert to them.