Dell Drac 5 User Manual

							Using and Configuring Virtual Media181
Using Virtual Media When the Server’s Operating System Is Running
Windows-Based Systems
On Windows systems, the virtual media drives are automounted and 
configured with a drive letter. 
Using the virtual drives from within Windows is similar to using your physical 
drives. When you connect to the media at a management station, the media 
is available at the system by clicking the drive and browsing its content.
Linux-Based Systems
On Linux systems, the virtual media drives are not configured with a drive 
letter. Depending on the software installed on your system, the virtual media 
drives may not be automounted. If your drives are not automounted, 
manually mount the drives.
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 that requires an external client connection or 
functional device in the host system, implementing Virtual Flash only requires 
the DRAC 5 persistent Virtual Flash feature. The 16 MB of flash memory 
appears as an unformatted, removable USB drive in the host environment.
Use the following guidelines when implementing Virtual Flash:
 Attaching or detaching the Virtual Flash performs a USB renumeration, 
which attaches and detaches all Virtual Media devices, respectively (for 
example, CD drive and floppy drive).
 When you enable or disable Virtual Flash, the Virtual Media CD/floppy 
drive connection status does not change.
 NOTICE: The Detach and Attach procedures disrupt active Virtual Media read and 
write operations. 
						

							182Using and Configuring Virtual Media
Enabling Virtual Flash
To enable Virtual Flash, open a command prompt, type the following 
command, and press :
racadm config -g cfgRacVirtual -o 
cfgVirMediaKeyEnable 1
Disabling Virtual Flash
To disable Virtual Flash, open a command prompt, type the following 
command, and press :
racadm config -gcfgRacVirtual -o cfgVirMediaKeyEnable 0
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 disabled. After you download the image and re-enable the 
Virtual Flash drive, the system and BIOS recognize the Virtual Flash.
Configuring a Bootable Virtual Flash
1Insert a bootable diskette into the diskette drive or insert a bootable CD 
into the optical drive.
2Restart your system and boot to the selected media drive.
3Add a partition to Virtual Flash and enable the partition.
Use 
fdisk if Virtual Flash is emulating the hard drive. If Virtual Flash is 
configured as Drive B:, the Virtual Flash is floppy emulated and does not 
require a partition to configure Virtual Flash as a bootable drive. 
						

							Using and Configuring Virtual Media183
4Using the format command, format the drive with the /s switch to transfer 
the system files to the Virtual Flash. 
For example:
format /s x
where x is the drive letter assigned to Virtual Flash.
5Shut down the system and remove the bootable floppy or CD from the 
appropriate drive.
6Turn on the system and verify that the system boots from Virtual Flash to 
the 
C:\ or A:\ prompt.
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 virtualizing physical drives, only one session 
can access a given physical drive at a time.
 Removable media devices or image files that are consistent with the 
Virtual Media plug-ins
 Automatic termination when the DRAC firmware boot once option is 
enabled. 
 Secure communications to the DRAC 5 using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
Before you run the utility, ensure that you have Virtual Media user privilege 
to the DRAC 5 in the remote system.
If your operating system supports administrator privileges or an operating 
system-specific privilege or group membership, administrator privileges are 
also required to run the VM-CLI command. 
The client systems administrator controls user groups and privileges, thereby 
controlling the users who can run the utility. 
						

							184Using and Configuring Virtual Media
For Windows systems, you must have Power User privileges to run the 
VM-CLI utility.
For Linux systems, you can access the VM-CLI utility without administrator 
privileges by using the sudo command. This command provides a centralized 
means of providing non-administrator access and logs all user commands. To 
add or edit users in the VM-CLI group, the administrator uses the visudo 
command. Users without administrator privileges can add the sudo command 
as a prefix to the VM-CLI command line (or to the VM-CLI script) to obtain 
access to the DRAC 5 in the remote system and run the utility. 
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 diagnostics, storage 
management, remote access service, and the RACADM utility. This DVD also 
contains readme files, which provide the latest systems management software 
product information.
Additionally, the Dell Systems Management Tools and Documentation DVD 
includes vmdeploy—a sample script that illustrates how to use the VM-CLI 
and RACADM utilities to deploy software to multiple remote systems. For 
more information, see Deploying Your Operating System Using VM-CLI.
Command Line Options
The VM-CLI interface is identical on both Windows and Linux systems. The 
utility uses options that are consistent with the RACADM utility options. For 
example, an option to specify the DRAC 5 IP address requires the same 
syntax for both RACADM and VM-CLI utilities.
The VM-CLI command format is as follows:
racvmcli 
[parameter] [operating_system_shell_options]
 NOTE: You need Administrator privileges to run the racvmcli command. 
						

							Using and Configuring Virtual Media185
All command-line syntax are case sensitive. See VM-CLI Parameters for 
more information. 
If the remote system accepts the commands and the DRAC 5 authorizes the 
connection, the command continues to run until either of the following occurs: 
 The VM-CLI connection terminates for any reason.
 The process is manually terminated using an operating system control. For 
example, in Windows, you can use the Task Manager to terminate the 
process. 
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 port) is used. The 
optional SSL port is not required unless you change the DRAC 5 default 
SSL port.
DRAC 5 User Name 
-u  
This parameter provides the DRAC 5 user name that will run Virtual Media.
The 
 must have the following attributes:
 Valid user name
 DRAC Virtual Media User permission
If DRAC 5 authentication fails, an error message appears and the command is 
terminated. 
						

							186Using and Configuring Virtual Media
DRAC User Password 
-p  
This parameter provides the password for the specified DRAC 5 user. 
If DRAC 5 authentication fails, an error message displays and the command 
terminates. 
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 system)
If the file is not write-protected, Virtual Media may write to the image file. 
Configure the operating system to write-protect a floppy image file that 
should not be overwritten. 
For example, a device is specified as:
-f a:\ (Windows system)
-f /dev/sdb4 # 4th partition on device /dev/sdb (Linux 
system)
If the device provides a write-protection capability, use this capability to 
ensure that Virtual Media will not write to the media. 
Additionally, omit this parameter from the command line if you are not 
virtualizing floppy media. If an invalid value is detected, an error message 
displays and the command terminates.  
						

							Using and Configuring Virtual Media187
CD/DVD Device or Image File 
-c { | }
where 
 is a valid CD/DVD drive letter (Windows systems) 
or a valid CD/DVD device file name (Linux systems) and 
 is 
the file name and path of a valid ISO-9660 image file.
This parameter specifies the device or file that will supply the virtual 
CD/DVD-ROM media: 
For example, an image file is specified as:
-c c:	emp\mydvd.img (Windows systems)
-c /tmp/mydvd.img (Linux systems)
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 generates an error. 
Version Display
-v 
This parameter is used to display the VM-CLI utility version. If no other 
non-switch options are provided, the command terminates without an error 
message.
Help Display
-h 
This parameter displays a summary of the VM-CLI utility parameters. 
If no other non-switch options are provided, the command terminates 
without error.  
						

							188Using and Configuring Virtual Media
Encrypted Data
-e
When this parameter is included in the command line, the VM-CLI utility 
will use an SSL-encrypted channel to transfer data between the management 
station and the DRAC 5 in the remote system. If this parameter is not 
included in the command line, the data transfer is not encrypted. 
VM-CLI Operating System Shell Options 
The following operating system features can be used in the VM-CLI 
command line:
 stderr/stdout redirection — Redirects any printed utility output to a file. 
For example, using the greater-than character (>) followed by a filename 
overwrites the specified file with the printed output of the VM-CLI utility. 
 NOTE: The VM-CLI utility does not read from standard input (stdin). As a result, 
stdin redirection is not required.
 Background execution — By default, the VM-CLI utility runs in the 
foreground. Use the operating systems command shell features to cause 
the utility to run in the background. For example, under a Linux operating 
system, the ampersand character (&) following the command causes the 
program to be spawned as a new background process. 
The latter technique is useful in script programs, as it allows the script to 
proceed after a new process is started for the VM-CLI command (otherwise, 
the script would block until the VM-CLI program is terminated). When 
multiple VM-CLI instances are started in this way, and one or more of the 
command instances must be manually terminated, use the operating system-
specific facilities for listing and terminating processes. 
VM-CLI Return Codes 
0 = No error
1 = Unable to connect 
2 = VM-CLI command line error
3 = RAC firmware connection dropped
English-only text messages are also issued to standard error output whenever 
errors are encountered. 
						

							Using and Configuring Virtual Media189
Deploying Your Operating System Using VM-CLI
The Virtual Media Command Line Interface (VM-CLI) utility is a 
command-line interface that provides Virtual Media features from the 
management station to the DRAC 5 in the remote system. Using VM-CLI 
and scripted methods, you can deploy your operating system on multiple 
remote systems in your network. 
This section provides information on integrating the VM-CLI utility into 
your corporate network.
Before You Begin
Before using the VM-CLI utility, ensure that your targeted remote systems 
and corporate network meet the requirements listed in the following sections.
Remote System Requirements
 DRAC 5 card is installed in each remote system
 The virtual device in each remote system is the first device in the BIOS 
boot order.
Dell Custom Factory Integration
When you order your Dell™ system using the Dell Custom Factory 
Integration (CFI) options, Dell can preconfigure your system with a DRAC 5 
card that includes a DDNS name and a preconfigured system BIOS that is 
enabled for Virtual Media. Using this configuration, your system is ready to 
boot from its Virtual Media devices when installed into your corporate network. 
For more information, see the Dell website at www.dell.com.  
						

							190Using and Configuring Virtual Media
Network Requirements
You must have a network share containing:
 Operating system files
 Required drivers
 Operating system boot image file(s)
The image file must be a floppy image or CD/DVD ISO image with an 
industry-standard, bootable format. 
Creating a Bootable Image File 
Before you deploy your image file to the remote systems, ensure that a 
supported system can boot from the file. To test the image file, transfer the 
image file to a test system using the DRAC 5 Web user interface and then 
reboot the system.
The following sections provide specific information for creating image files 
for Linux and Windows systems.
Creating an Image File for Linux Systems
Use the Data Duplicator utility to create a bootable image file for your Linux 
system.
To run the utility, open a command prompt and type the following:
dd if=
 of=
For example: 
dd if=/dev/fd0 of=myfloppy.img
Creating an Image File for Windows Systems
When choosing a data replicator utility for Windows image files, select a 
utility that copies the image file and the CD/DVD boot sectors.