Dell Drac 5 User Guide

Using and Configuring Virtual Media191
Attaching, Auto-Attaching, and Detaching Virtual Media using the Web browser
You can set the status of a virtual media to Attach, Auto-Attach, or Detach. 
Based on this status, the devices in the remote system are displayed in the 
DRAC 5 GUI.
•Attach—If the status is Attach, DRAC 5 automatically attaches all devices 
of the remote system to the server. When you connect to the server, the 
devices available in the remote system are displayed in the DRAC 5 GUI.
•...

192Using and Configuring Virtual Media
Booting From Virtual Media
On supported systems, the system BIOS enables you to boot from virtual optical 
drives or virtual floppy drives. During POST, enter the BIOS setup window 
and verify that the virtual drives are enabled and listed in the correct order.
To change the BIOS setting:
1
Boot the managed system.
2Press  to enter the BIOS setup window. 
3Scroll to the boot sequence and press .
In the pop-up window, the virtual optical drives and virtual floppy...

Using and Configuring Virtual Media193
Installing Operating Systems Using Virtual Media 
This section describes a manual, interactive method to install the operating 
system on your management station that may take several hours to complete. 
A scripted operating system installation procedure using Virtual Media may 
take less than 15 minutes to complete. See Deploying Your Operating 
System Using VM-CLI on page 202 for more information.
1
Ve r i f y  t h e  f o l l o w i n g :
• The operating system...

194Using and Configuring Virtual Media
Using Virtual Flash
The DRAC 5 provides persistent Virtual Flash—16 MB of flash memory that 
resides in the DRAC 5 file system that can be used for persistent storage and 
accessed by the system. When enabled, Virtual Flash is configured as a third 
virtual drive and appears in the BIOS boot order, allowing a user to boot from 
the Virtual Flash.
 NOTE: To boot from the Virtual Flash, the Virtual Flash image must be a 
bootable image.
Unlike a CD or floppy drive...

Using and Configuring Virtual Media195
Storing Images in a Virtual Flash
The Virtual Flash can be formatted from the managed host. If you are 
running the Windows operating system, right-click the drive icon and select 
Format. If you are running Linux, system tools such as format and fdisk allow 
you to partition and format the USB. 
Before you upload an image from the RAC Web browser to the Virtual Flash, 
ensure that the image file is between 1.44 MB and 16 MB in size (inclusive) 
and Virtual Flash is...

196Using and Configuring Virtual Media
Using the Virtual Media Command Line 
Interface Utility
The Virtual Media Command Line Interface (VM-CLI) utility is a scriptable 
command-line interface that provides virtual media features from the 
management station to the DRAC 5 in the remote system. 
The VM-CLI utility provides the following features:
• Supports multiple, simultaneously-active sessions. 
 NOTE: When virtualizing read-only image files, multiple sessions may share 
the same image media. When...

Using and Configuring Virtual Media197
Utility Installation
The VM-CLI utility is located on the Dell Systems Management Tools and 
Documentation DVD, which is included with your Dell OpenManage System 
Management Software Kit. To install the utility, insert the Dell Systems 
Management Tools and Documentation DVD into your system’s DVD drive 
and follow the on-screen instructions.
The Dell Systems Management Tools and Documentation DVD contains the 
latest systems management software products, including...

198Using and Configuring Virtual Media
VM-CLI Parameters
DRAC 5 IP Address 
-r [:] 
where  is a valid, unique IP address or the DRAC 5 
Dynamic Domain Naming System (DDNS) name (if supported). 
This parameter provides the DRAC 5 IP address and SSL port. The VM-CLI 
utility needs this information to establish a Virtual Media connection with 
the target DRAC 5. If you enter an invalid IP address or DDNS name, 
an error message appears and the command is terminated.
If  is omitted, port 443 (the default...

Using and Configuring Virtual Media199
Floppy/Disk Device or Image File 
-f { | }
where  is a valid drive letter (for Windows systems) or a 
valid device file name, including the mountable file system partition number, 
if applicable (for Linux systems); and  is the filename and 
path of a valid image file.
This parameter specifies the device or file to supply the virtual floppy/disk media. 
For example, an image file is specified as:
-f c:	emp\myfloppy.img (Windows system)
-f /tmp/myfloppy.img (Linux...

200Using and Configuring Virtual Media
For example, a device is specified as:
-c d:\ (Windows systems)
-c /dev/cdrom (Linux systems)
Additionally, omit this parameter from the command line if you are not 
virtualizing CD/DVD media. If an invalid value is detected, an error message 
is listed and the command terminates. 
Specify at least one media type (floppy or CD/DVD drive) with the 
command, unless only switch options are provided. Otherwise, an error 
message displays and the command terminates and...