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Using Server Update Utility

Dell OpenManage Server Update Utility User's Guide

  What's New in This Release

  Terms and Definitions

  Icon Glossary

  Supported Operating Systems

  GUI and CLI

  Using the GUI

  Using the CLI

  Other Documents You Might Need

Dell™ OpenManage™ Server Update Utility (SUU) is an application that identifies and applies updates to your system. You can use SUU to update your Dell system or to view the updates available for any system supported by SUU.

SUU compares the versions of components currently installed on your system with update components packaged on the Dell Server Updates DVD. SUU then displays a comparison report of the versions and provides the option of updating the components.

NOTE: Only users with administrator (Microsoft® Windows®) or root (Linux) privileges can perform updates with SUU.

What's New in This Release

The following are the new features introduced in SUU 1.6:

• Migration of SUU to the DVD medium
  
  

SUU 1.6 is available in a DVD format. This DVD contains SUU for both Windows and Linux systems.

• Exporting the comparison report and saving it in an HTML/XML/CSV format
  
  
• Progress bar that SUU displays while making an inventory of the components in your system to generate the Comparison Report
  
  
• Support for the following operating systems:
  
  
• Microsoft Windows Server^® 2008 Standard and Enterprise Editions (x86) and (x86_64)
  
  
• Red Hat^® Enterprise Linux^® AS, ES, and WS (Version 4.5) (x86) and (x86_64)
  
  

Terms and Definitions

• Bundle is a set of Dell Update Packages.
  
  
• Comparison is a mechanism that SUU uses to determine the currently installed version of each component on a system. SUU then compares this version information with versions of the same component, for the same system in the repository. For example, the components currently installed on a Dell PowerEdge™ 2950 are compared with the component versions available in the repository for PowerEdge 2950 (see Figure 1-7).
  
  
• Downgrade is an operation by which SUU downgrades the version of a component currently installed on the system to the older version of that component present in the repository. The Enable Downgrade check box is enabled only when the SUU finds versions of components installed on the system that are newer than the version of the components in the repository. Downgrade is a one-time operation.
  
  
• Dell Update Packages are software utilities provided by Dell to update specific software components on your Dell system.
  
  
• Inventory is a list of components, such as the BIOS versions, firmware, and drivers installed on your system.
  
  
• Prerequisite is a minimum version requirement of components and dependencies that a system must meet before any updates can be performed.
  
  
• Repository is a database on the Dell Server Updates DVD that contains the updated Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), firmware, and driver components for Dell systems. The repository organizes these components into sets of updates for each supported system. When these updates are applied, all system components that require updates, are updated. Alternately, you can browse the repository for systems and components that can be updated without running the update application.
  
  
• Update is an operation that can include an upgrade or a downgrade. For example, you perform an update if you click the Upgrade button and apply a newer version of a component from the repository. You can also select the Enable Downgrade check box and downgrade from a newer version of a component in your system to the version of the component available in the repository. You can also perform an update by selecting the Enable System Set Update check box and clicking the Update button. For more information about the System Set Update feature, see Upgrading and Downgrading Components in a Single Session.
  
  
• Upgrade is an operation by which SUU applies a newer version of a component from the repository. An upgrade begins when you click the Upgrade button. The Upgrade button is enabled only when SUU finds newer version of the components in the repository as compared with those installed on the systems.
  
  

Icon Glossary

Table 1-1 lists the icons that indicate the update status for a component in the Comparison Report.

Table 1-1. Icons and Update Status 

Icon	Status
	The currently installed hardware component version or the Dell OpenManage component version is identical to the component version in the repository. No upgrade is needed.
	The currently installed component version is newer than the component version in the repository. Click the Downgrade button to update the currently installed component version to the version in the repository.
	The version of the currently installed component is older than the component version in the repository and it will be upgraded.
	The update has been successful. A restart of the system is required for the changes to be effective.
	This icon denotes any or all of the following scenarios: The update is not supported on this system. SUU will end the current session and you may need to restart SUU to continue. There is a hardware dependency error.
	A package has failed after an update operation.
	A hardware or software prerequisite failure.

Supported Operating Systems

SUU is supported on Dell PowerEdge systems running versions of Windows or Linux operating systems listed below.

For detailed information about the various Dell systems and operating systems that SUU is supported on, see the Dell Systems Software Support Matrix. This guide is available on the Dell Support website at support.dell.com or on the Dell Systems Documentation CD.

• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Standard and Enterprise Editions (32-bit x86) and (x64)
  
  
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter x64 Editions with SP2
  
  
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard and Enterprise Editions with SP2 (32-bit x86)
  
  
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Web Edition with SP2 (32-bit x86)
  
  
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems
  
  
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and Advanced Server with SP4
  
  
• Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Standard and Premium Editions
  
  
• Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 Express, Workgroup, Standard, and Enterprise x64 Editions
  
  
• Microsoft Windows Unified Data Storage Server 2003 Gold Standard and Enterprise x64 Editions
  
  
• SUSE^® Linux Enterprise Server 9 (x86_64)
  
  
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 (x86_64)
  
  
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS, ES, and AS (Version 4.5) (x86)
  
  
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS, ES, and AS (Version 4.5) (x86_64)
  
  
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 (x86)
  
  
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 5 (x86_64)
  
  

NOTE: Microsoft Windows Server 2008 is scheduled to be available in the first half of 2008. For latest information, see http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/default.mspx

GUI and CLI

SUU is both a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and a Command Line Interface (CLI) based application.

You can use the GUI to:

• View a Comparison Report that displays your system components and applicable components in the repository
  
  
• Perform an upgrade, downgrade, or an update
  
  
• Browse the repository
  
  

You can use the CLI to:

• Run commands for performing comparisons and updates.
  
  
• View the update progress. For more information about using the CLI, see Using the CLI.
  
  

Using the GUI

To launch the SUU GUI, insert the Dell Server Updates DVD into the DVD drive.

If SUU does not launch automatically, navigate to the Dell Server Updates DVD root directory and launch suulauncher.exe (for Windows systems) or type suu -g (for both Windows and Linux systems) in a command window.

In the GUI, you can start with a comparison of the components in your Dell system and the components in the Repository. You can then proceed to an upgrade, downgrade, update, or you can directly browse the repository.

Starting with SUU 1.6, whenever SUU inventories your system for the list components installed, a progress bar that shows the progress of the inventory collection is displayed. After the progress bar completes 100%, SUU displays the Comparison Report.

NOTE: On the Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server version 5 operating system, DVDs are auto-mounted with the -noexec mount option. This option does not allow you to use the autorun feature or run any executable from the DVD. You need to manually mount the DVD and then run the executables.

NOTE: Ensure that the path from which you run SUU does not exceed 260 characters on the Windows operating system. On Linux systems, ensure that the path from which you run SUU does not exceed 4096 characters.

Prerequisites

When you start SUU, SUU performs a prerequisites check. In the prerequisites check, SUU performs an update and scans your system to determine if a hardware or software update is required. When the scan is complete, SUU displays the list of components whose prerequisite conditions are not met. The list of components may comprise hardware components, the Dell OpenManage component (software component), or hardware and software components.

If the components in your system meet the prerequisite conditions, SUU does not display the prerequisite failure messages. SUU displays the Comparison Report instead.

Software Prerequisite Failure

If the list of components that failed the prerequisite check comprises the Dell OpenManage component (software component), SUU displays a software prerequisite failure message as shown in Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1. Software Prerequisite Failure Message

Install the Dell OpenManage component version 4.3 or later before proceeding with the software upgrade. If the Dell OpenManage component is of a version earlier than 4.3, the prerequisites check fails.

To install the Dell OpenManage component, see the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator User's Guide on the Dell Support website at support.dell.com or on the Dell Systems Documentation CD.

You can also click Continue to proceed with the update of hardware components, if applicable. If you click Continue, the row for the Dell OpenManage component is disabled in the Comparison Report as shown in Figure 1-2.

Figure 1-2. Dell OpenManage Component Disabled

Hardware Prerequisites Failure

If the list of components that failed the prerequisite check comprises hardware components, SUU displays a message as shown in Figure 1-3.

Figure 1-3. Hardware Prerequisite Failure Message

Install these prerequisites before proceeding with the upgrade, downgrade, or update. You can also click Continue to proceed with the upgrade of the Dell OpenManage component, if applicable. To install the hardware prerequisites, perform the following steps:

1. Go to the Dell Support website at support.dell.com.
   
   
2. In the Most Popular Selections section, click Drivers and Downloads.
   
   
3. In the Drivers and Downloads page, enter the service tag of your system in the Service Tag field or select the appropriate Dell system from the Product Type and Product Model drop-down menus.
   
   
4. Click Go.
   
   
5. In the Drivers and Downloads page, perform the following steps:
   
   
   1. From the Choose an Operating System and Choose a Language drop- down menus, select the appropriate operating system and operating system language for your system.
      
      
   2. Click Find Downloads.
      
      
6. From the table of results displayed, click Dell CD ISO - PowerEdge Updates Prerequisites v1.0 in the File Title column.
   
   
7. Click Download Now to save the PE Updates prereq cd.iso file on your system. Copy this file to a system that has a CD-burning program and create a bootable CD from the provided .iso file.
   
   

This creates the Prerequisites CD.

8. Use the Prerequisites CD to bring your system up to meet prerequisite levels.
   
   

NOTE: Set the boot order in your system BIOS such that the CD drive is placed ahead of the system hard drive.

9. Boot the system that fails to meet the prerequisites with the Prerequisites CD.
   
   

NOTE: An additional reboot may be required to complete the prerequisite update. Do not remove the CD until the information on the screen prompts you to do so.

10. When prompted, replace the Prerequisites CD with the Dell Server Updates DVD and reboot the system.
    
    

If you click Continue, all the rows for the hardware components are disabled in the Comparison Report. If the Dell OpenManage component requires an upgrade, the corresponding row is enabled in the Comparison Report as shown in Figure 1-4. You can proceed to upgrade the Dell OpenManage component.

Figure 1-4. Hardware Components Disabled

Software and Hardware Prerequisites Failure

If the list of components for which the prerequisites failed, comprises the Dell OpenManage component (software component) and the hardware components, SUU displays a prerequisite failure message as shown in Figure 1-5.

Figure 1-5. Software and Hardware Prerequisite Failure Message

You cannot proceed with any hardware or software upgrades without installing the Dell OpenManage component or the hardware prerequisites. To install the Dell OpenManage component, see the Dell OpenManage Server Administrator User's Guide on the Dell Support website at support.dell.com or on the Dell Systems Documentation CD. To install the hardware prerequisites, perform the steps in Hardware Prerequisites Failure.

You can click Continue to view the Comparison Report as shown in Figure 1-6. All the rows in the Comparison Report are disabled as both, the hardware and software components, failed to meet the prerequisite conditions.

Figure 1-6. Hardware and Software Components Disabled

Continuing with the Upgrade, Downgrade, or Update

When you perform an upgrade, downgrade, or update, SUU copies all the update packages into a local directory on the system. The directory is <%systemdrive%>:\dell\suu in Microsoft Windows and /var/log/dell/suu in Linux. You can select the packages you want to upgrade. You can also downgrade newer versions of components on your system to the corresponding component version contained in the Dell Server Updates DVD. For more information about downgrading components, see Downgrading Components.

NOTICE: Do not remove the Dell Server Updates DVD from the DVD drive when you are running SUU.

Comparing System Components With the SUU Repository Components

SUU compares the components installed on your system with the component versions available in the repository and displays the results in a Comparison Report. To view the Comparison Report, click your system's host name displayed in the left window directory tree.

NOTE: If your system's host name does not appear in the tree, either you do not have the correct user privileges, or your system does not support SUU. However, you can still browse the repository.

The Criticality column in the Comparison Report denotes the importance of applying the update. There are four levels of criticality: Urgent, Recommended, Optional, and Inapplicable. These levels are described in Table 1-2.

Table 1-2. Criticality Levels

For every component on your system that is current with the version in the SUU repository, SUU displays a green checkmark icon .

For system components that are newer than the repository version components, SUU enables the Enable Downgrade check box. Select the Enable Downgrade check box and click the Downgrade button to downgrade these system components to the repository versions. For information on downgrading components, see Downgrading Components.

NOTE: The Enable Downgrade check box is enabled only if there is a component on the system that is newer than the repository version component.

SUU displays the Inapplicable icon if the component version on your system equals the repository version. In that case, the update is not applicable on your system.

If the upgrade components are available, SUU enables the Upgrade button on the upper right corner of the Comparison Report (see Figure 1-7). For information on upgrading components, see Upgrading Components.

NOTE: You cannot use SUU to update any firmware or device driver installed on your system that does not match a comparable repository component. You must manually update components installed on your system that do not compare with the repository.

If the Upgrade, Downgrade, or Update button is disabled, one of the following may apply:

• The components on your system are current and do not need to be upgraded.
  
  
• The prerequisite check failed. See Prerequisites for more information.
  
  

NOTE: If the Comparison Report displays the same package name for more than one component in your system, and these components require an Upgrade, it means that a single execution of the package is sufficient to update all the components. Therefore, in the GUI, when you select/deselect one component, all other components that have the same package name are selected/deselected by default.

Figure 1-7. SUU Comparison Report

In this figure, the firmware, driver, and the Dell OpenManage components have been selected for an upgrade as the repository versions are newer than the current versions installed on the system.

One of the firmware components (Dell Remote Access Controller 4/I Firmware) is recommended for a downgrade as the currently installed version is newer than the version in the repository.

Upgrading Components

To upgrade components from the repository, perform the following steps:

1. Select the components that you want to upgrade.
   
   
2. Click the Upgrade button to apply the components that you have selected for your system. A Confirm Update dialog box displays asking for confirmation to upgrade the listed components as shown in Figure 1-8.
   
   

Figure 1-8. Upgrade Confirmation

3. Click Yes to continue or No to cancel.
   
   

While upgrading the components, SUU displays an update report as shown in Figure 1-9.

Figure 1-9. Upgrade Progress

4. After the upgrade is completed, SUU displays an Update Complete dialog box. Click OK to complete the upgrade.
   
   

The status of the upgrade is reflected in the Comparison Report.

Downgrading Components

To downgrade components from the repository, perform the following steps:

1. Select the Enable Downgrade check box.
   
   

SUU disables the Enable System Set Update check box and selects only those components that are newer than the repository version components and can be downgraded as shown in Figure 1-10. This is an automatic process and you cannot select/deselect individual packages.

Figure 1-10. Downgrade

2. Click the Downgrade button to start the downgrade. A Confirm Update dialog box displays asking for confirmation to downgrade the listed components.
   
   
3. Click Yes to continue or No to cancel.
   
   

While downgrading the components, SUU displays a progress report.

4. After the downgrade is completed, SUU displays an Update Complete dialog box. Click OK to complete the downgrade.
   
   

The status of the downgrade is reflected in the Comparison Report.

Upgrade/Downgrade/Update Messages

When the upgrade/downgrade/update operation completes, you may get a message prompting you to restart the system to complete the upgrade/downgrade/update process. If so, leave the Dell Server Updates DVD in the DVD drive during the restart.

NOTE: When you upgrade/downgrade/update the BIOS, you must restart immediately. SUU does not allow you to continue until you restart the system.

NOTE: When you restart the system, log in using the same user account or user privileges that you used during the previous boot.

After you log into the operating system, open a command window and type suu -g (for both Windows and Linux systems), or suulauncher.exe (for Windows systems) to restart the SUU GUI.

Updating Multiple Systems on the Network

You can run SUU from a network location and update components on multiple systems. This feature is called the network share support feature.

NOTE: You must be connected to the network to use the network share support feature.

To run SUU from a network location, perform the following steps:

1. Access the system on the network on which SUU resides.
   
   
2. Launch the SUU GUI. SUU displays the components to be updated in the Comparison Report.
   
   

From SUU 1.5, the network share support feature to update NIC drivers was introduced.

You can update NIC drivers when running SUU from a network location as shown in Figure 1-11.

Figure 1-11. SUU Running From a Network Location

3. You can choose to update all the components in a single session by selecting the Enable System Set Update check box or you can choose to perform only an upgrade or a downgrade. For more information on the System Set Update feature, see Upgrading and Downgrading Components in a Single Session.
   
   
4. Click the Update, Upgrade, or Downgrade button. SUU displays a dialog box asking for confirmation that you want to update, upgrade, or downgrade the listed components.
   
   
5. Click Yes to continue or No to cancel.
   
   

If you click Yes, SUU displays the Update dialog box that shows the progress of the update/upgrade/downgrade.

6. Click OK when the update/upgrade/downgrade is completed.
   
   

The updates are reflected in the Comparison Report.

NOTE: Running multiple instances of SUU from a network location, creates multiple copies of Java Runtime Environment (JRE) on your system.

NOTE: If you cannot update components when running SUU from a network location, try running SUU on your system. If you can run SUU successfully on your system, it indicates a problem with the network connection.

NOTE: While running SUU from a network location, it is strongly recommended that the network location be secure and be accessed only by an administrator or super-user who has read, write, and execute privileges. It is also strongly recommended that the network location be unmapped/unmounted after SUU has completed execution.

Ensure that the name of your report or the path in which you save the report does not exceed 260 characters if you are running SUU on Windows. On Linux systems, ensure that the name of your report does not exceed 255 characters or the path in which you save the report does not exceed 4096 characters

Upgrading and Downgrading Components in a Single Session

Using SUU, you can upgrade and downgrade components at the same time using the System Set Update feature. This saves you the time and effort of upgrading or downgrading components one at a time.

To upgrade and downgrade components at the same time, perform the following steps:

1. Select the Enable System Set Update check box. When you select this check box, SUU disables the Enable Downgrade check box and the Upgrade button changes to the Update button as shown in Figure 1-12.
   
   

Figure 1-12. Enable Downgrade Check Box Disabled

All the components that can be updated are selected in the Comparison Report.

NOTE: You cannot deselect individual components when you select the Enable System Set Update check box.

2. Click the Update button. SUU displays a Confirm Update dialog box that displays a list of components to be updated.
   
   
3. Click Yes to proceed with the update or No to cancel the update.
   
   

If you click Yes, SUU displays the Update dialog box that shows the progress of the update.

4. Click OK when the update is completed.
   
   

The updates are reflected in the Comparison Report.

NOTE: Do not click Update in SUU when the Comparison Report is displayed and an application other than the SUU is updating your system components. In such a scenario, restart SUU and then perform an update through SUU.

NOTE: The update status of some components will be effective only after you restart your system.

Upgrading Dell OpenManage Service Packs

From SUU version 1.5 onwards, you can upgrade Dell OpenManage service packs. The procedure to upgrade Dell OpenManage service packs is the same as that to upgrade the hardware components.

To upgrade Dell OpenManage service packs, perform the following steps:

1. Select the Dell OpenManage component.
   
   
2. Click the Upgrade button. SUU displays a Confirm Update dialog box.
   
   
3. Click Yes to proceed with the upgrade or No to cancel the upgrade.
   
   

If you click Yes, SUU displays the Update dialog box that shows the progress of the upgrade as shown in Figure 1-13.

Figure 1-13. Dell OpenManage Upgrade Progress

4. Click OK in the Update Complete dialog box to complete the upgrade.
   
   
5. Click OK in the Update dialog box.
   
   

Dell OpenManage service packs have been upgraded.

Continuing on Update Failures

From SUU version 1.5, you can choose whether to continue or stop updates if the package that you have selected for an update encounters an update failure.

To continue or stop updates, perform the following steps:

1. Select the components you want to update.
   
   
2. Select the Stop on Update Failures check box as shown in Figure 1-14.
   
   

Figure 1-14. Stop on Update Failures Option Selected

NOTE: The Stop on Update Failures check box is enabled only if you have selected more than one component for an update.

3. Click Upgrade.
   
   

SUU starts the upgrade of the components selected for upgrade. If SUU encounters a failure while updating the first component, SUU does not continue updating the other components. It displays the failure icon ( ) in the Update dialog box indicating that the update has failed. SUU also displays the icon in the Update dialog box denoting that the other components selected for update have not been updated.

After the update process, SUU displays an Update Error dialog box stating an update error as shown in Figure 1-15.

Figure 1-15. Failure of Update

If you do not select the Stop on Update Failures check box, and SUU encounters an update failure, then SUU continues updating the other components as shown in Figure 1-16.

Figure 1-16. Continue on Update Progress

In Figure 1-16, the first component was not updated because of an update failure. However, SUU has updated the second component because the Stop on Update Failures check box was not selected.

SUU then displays an Update dialog box that shows that the first component has not been updated but the second component has been updated. SUU also displays an Update Error dialog box that states an update failure as shown in Figure 1-17.

Figure 1-17. Continue on Update Error

4. Click OK in the Update Error dialog box.
   
   

SUU has updated/stopped the updates of components depending on whether or not you selected the Stop on Update Failures check box.

Exporting the Comparison Report

Starting with SUU 1.6, you can export the Comparison Report and save it on your system as a CSV, HTML, or XML file.

To export the Comparison Report, click Export Report.

Figure 1-18. Export Report

You can save the report in a .csv, .html, or .xml format on your system.

NOTE: Ensure that the name of your report or the path in which you save the report does not exceed 260 characters if you are running SUU on Windows. On Linux systems, ensure that the name of your report does not exceed 255 characters or the path in which you save the report does not exceed 4096 characters.

Viewing Package and Bundle Details

In SUU, you can view the details of the packages or bundles displayed in the repository.

To view the details of a package, select a package in the repository table. The details are displayed in the Package Summary section as shown in Figure 1-19. You can also use the up-arrow and down-arrow keys to view the details of a package.

Figure 1-19. Package Details of a Selected Package

You can also view the details of a bundle.

To view the bundle-level details, select any bundle under the repository tree on the left-hand side pane of the SUU GUI. SUU displays the information for the selected bundle in the System Summary section and the packages specific to this bundle in the repository table as shown in Figure 1-20.

Hardware packages are denoted by the icon and software packages are denoted by the icon.

NOTE: You can use the <Tab> key to navigate through the Comparison Report table or the package/bundle-level details table and the <Ctrl><Tab> keys to navigate from the Comparison Report table or the package/bundle-level details table to the tree on the left-hand side of the SUU GUI.

Figure 1-20. Bundle-Level Details

Sorting Columns

You can sort the columns in the Comparison Report and the repository table by clicking the column names. SUU sorts the columns in the ascending or descending order. The icon indicates that the column has been sorted in the descending order and the icon indicates that the column has been sorted in the ascending order.

Figure 1-21 shows the Package Name column sorted in the ascending order.

Figure 1-21. Package Names Sorted

Browsing the Repository

To browse through the repository, perform the following steps:

1. Double-click the Repository icon on the left side of the application interface.
   
   
2. Select your operating system.
   
   

NOTE: The Windows or Linux icon displays depending on your operating system.

A list of supported systems is displayed.

3. Click a system name to view the list of all available updates for that system.
   
   

Figure 1-22 shows all available components in the repository.

Figure 1-22. Repository

You can view the repository for all the systems that support Windows and Linux. See the DellSoftwareBundleReport.html in the repository directory for details on the contents of the repository.

Logging Events

SUU creates two event logs: update.log and support.log. The update log shows the status of each component updated. The support log contains trace and debug data and is only used by Dell Support.

The default location for the SUU logs in Microsoft Windows is <%systemdrive%>:\dell\suu. The default location for the Linux logs is /var/log/dell/suu.

NOTE: You can use the suu -d command in the CLI to change the default location of the SUU logs.

NOTE: The directory that you specify for the event logs must exist. SUU does not create the directory.

Using the CLI

To run SUU from the CLI, you must be in the Dell Server Updates DVD root directory. If you are running SUU on a network share, copy the Dell Server Updates DVD contents to a shared directory and run the CLI from the shared directory.

All CLI commands begin with the suu string followed by a space and then the short or long form of the command. If you type suu -? or suu -help or suu -h, the command line interface displays the syntax for SUU CLI commands:

Usage: suu [<command>] [-d | -directory <directory_name>]

Table 1-3 lists the SUU commands. To run a CLI command, open a command window and type the appropriate CLI command syntax at the command prompt.

Table 1-3. Server Update Utility CLI Commands 

Changing the Default Location of Logs

The default location for SUU event logs in Windows is <%systemdrive%>:\dell\suu. The default location for the logs in Linux is /var/log/dell/suu.

When you type suu with a command and a directory path, you can change the default location for logs for that session of SUU. To change the directory location for logs for a session of SUU, type:

suu <command> -directory <path>

For example, if you type suu -u -directory c:\tmp, SUU runs an update on the system and redirects logs to c:\tmp instead of c:\dell\suu.

Viewing the Comparison Report

To run the SUU comparison application, type suu -c. A welcome screen is displayed. While the comparison is in progress, the following message accompanied by a spinning bar is displayed:

| finding applicable system update set

When complete, the Comparison Report displays as in the following example:

========Comparison Results========

Component: BIOS

Component type: BIOS

current version: A11 < repository version A12

package name: PE1600SC-BIOS-WIN-Al2.exe

The Comparison Report provides a listing of the installed system components and the comparable SUU repository components. The comparison of the version levels is indicated with the arithmetic symbols > (greater than), < (less than), and = (equal to). The report also lists the available Dell Update Package to update the component.

Updating Components

NOTE: The update command from the CLI can be used for both an upgrade and a downgrade.

To update your system with the selected components, type suu -u. All components that are not up-to-date with the components in the repository are upgraded. System components with versions newer than the repository version are downgraded to the repository level versions.

Installing IPMI

The -installIPMI command installs/updates the OpenIPMI driver on your Linux system. If SUU detects that updates need the OpenIPMI driver to be installed and you run commands such as suu -g, suu -c, suu -u, or suu -p, an error message displays asking you to install the required OpenIPMI driver and SUU exits. Run the suu -g -installIPMI command to launch the GUI and install/upgrade the OpenIPMI driver automatically.

NOTE: The Dell Server Updates DVD contains the OpenIPMI driver for Linux.

If a lower version of the OpenIPMI driver is currently installed on your system, running the -installIPMI command updates the lower version to that of the OpenIPMI driver contained on the Dell Server Updates DVD.

If there is the same or higher version of OpenIPMI driver currently installed on your system, running the -installIPMI command does not affect the currently installed driver.

Viewing the Update Progress

To view the progress for your update, open another command shell and type suu -p.

A progress report similar to the following appears:

======update progress======

Package name : RAC_FRMW_WIN_R104824.EXE

Status : Update Successful

---------------------------------------

Package name: PE1750-BIOS-WIN-A11.exe

Status : Update is in progress

Viewing the Inventory Progress

To view the inventory progress when SUU is collecting information about the components on your system, open another command shell and type suu -iprog.

A progress report similar to the following appears:

====== system inventory progress ======

no progress available

====== system inventory progress ======

54% Complete

Stopping on Update Failure

From SUU version 1.5, you can choose to continue or stop further updates if the selected update packages encounter an update failure. To stop updates, type suu -u -s. If an update failure is encountered, SUU stops further package updates.

If you do not specify any parameter during the update, that is, if you type suu -u, SUU continues to update other packages even if it encounters an update failure.

Other Documents You Might Need

Besides this guide, you can find the following guides either on the Dell Support website at support.dell.com or on the Dell Systems Documentation CD:

• The Dell Update Packages User's Guide provides information about obtaining and using Dell Update Packages as part of your system update strategy. A Dell Update Package (DUP) is a self-contained executable in a standard package format. Each Update Package is designed to update a single software component on a Dell system. The Dell Update Packages User's Guide is also available on the Dell Server Updates DVD.
  
  
• The Dell OpenManage Installation and Security User's Guide provides complete information on installation procedures and step-by-step instructions for installing, upgrading, and uninstalling the following applications on supported operating systems:
  
  
• Dell OpenManage Server Administrator
  
  
• IT Assistant
  
  
• Dell Remote Access Controller
  
  
• Baseboard Management Controller
  
  

Dell OpenManage Server Administrator is a comprehensive, one-to-one systems management solution, designed for system administrators, to manage systems locally and remotely on a network.

• The Dell OpenManage IT Assistant User's Guide has information about installing, configuring, and using IT Assistant. IT Assistant provides a central point to monitor and manage systems on a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN). By allowing an administrator a comprehensive view across the enterprise, IT Assistant can increase system uptime, automate repetitive tasks, and prevent interruption in critical business operations.
  
  
• The Dell Systems Software Support Matrix has information about the various Dell systems available, the operating systems supported by these Dell systems, and the Dell OpenManage components that can be installed on these systems.
  
  

The readme files for SUU and Dell Update Packages ship on the Dell Server Updates DVD. These readme files contain the latest information about SUU and Dell Update Packages in addition to information about known issues.

The DellSoftwareBundleReport.html file in the repository directory (<%systemdrive%>:\suu\repository) contains details about the contents of the repository in a readable format. This is an HTML file that you can use as a quick reference for information about supported systems, packages, bundles, and other details.

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