NOTICE:   IF THESE STEPS ARE PERFORMED INCORRECTLY OR WITHOUT TESTING IT IS POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO WIPE OUT YOUR XENSERVER DATA LOSING ALL STORAGE REPOSITORIES.  TAKE GREAT CARE WHEN FOLLOWING THESE INSTRCUTIONS. Strickland Networks is not responsible for someone erasing their virtual disks by mistake.

Now that that is over, let the fun begin!

I was updating a 6 server XenServer Farm yesterday and came across a memory error.   It started out as a hardware (HW) error and then turned into a BIOS problem.  The Dell Engineer then began to search for the updates that I would need for my Server.  The Dell representative was very helpful and began putting together a list of updates that I would need...  I began to ponder the multitude of different servers that I had to update after I finished with these six.  I also know that I have a Windows update DVD that will update all the Dell hardware on my Windows Server plus the drivers. 

I asked the question to the Dell Tech and he replied that yes there was a solution.  You need these two DVDs:

DVD 1 (System Management Tools and Build - DVD):

ftp://ftp.dell.com/secure/sysman/OM_6.3.0_SMTD_A00.iso.001

ftp://ftp.dell.com/secure/sysman/OM_6.3.0_SMTD_A00.iso.002

DVD 2 (BIOS and Firmware Images - Dual Layer DVD)

ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/sysman/om631_suu_a00.iso.001

ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/sysman/om631_suu_a00.iso.002

ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/sysman/om631_suu_a00.iso.003

ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/sysman/om631_suu_a00.iso.004

This tool can join the files for you:

http://www.treepad.net/download/hjsplit.zip

Proceed down to see the process.

It should be noted that this same process can be run on any Linux Server.  It is not recommended on Windows Servers due to possible driver incompatibilities.

With all of the new features of XenServer 5.6, I have been very excited about rolling it out.  There has been one thing though.  OpenManage and XenServer haven't been the best pals.  When we had been trying to rollout any XenServer on a Dell Server, it seems that we had to jump through hoops to make OpenManage work.  Well Dell has really worked on being more XenServer Friendly and released a Supplemental Pack for XenServer. 

A Supplemental Pack is an install package that can be slipstreamed into the install of XenServer.  So if you were installing XenServer you would simply start with the install CD, then use the Linux Templates Supplemental CD, and then use the Dell OpenManage CD when it asks for you to continue the install.  It is great!

I had to call Dell to get a copy of the ISO because it was not yet available on the website.  Here is the link so that you too can enjoy some Dell and Citrix Xen!

http://ftp.dell.com/sysman/OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-LX-6.3.0-2075.XenServer56_A00.10.iso

By the way, Thank You! Johanness Far (Dell Enterprise Technical Support Senior Analyst) for getting me the link.