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different firmware file format but same thing?
I mean,
if i'm using a R750 server which has VMware ESXi running on it and the I350 network interface card on the server requires firmware version update then i can found different file format, such as .BIN and .exe, for the same firmware version.
However, using .BIN file isn't convenient to update comparing to the .exe file, which is accepted by the iDRAC web GUI to upload directly.
So the question is, despite firmware file formats are different but they still provide the same content, right?
for example, i can use .exe format file to update the server's NIC despite the linux OS is running on it, and it is equivalent to .bin format file ?
Origin3k
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July 9th, 2024 06:31
Both formats are just a "container". The iDRAC supports the *.exe regardless what kind of OS you have installed. Think about that Server ships without a OS.
If you take a look to the first lines of a *.bin you will see that it depends on certain linux standards. I assume that the ESXIi busybox doesnt support a standard *.bin. I have seen that HPE, Fujitsu often have a ESXi "*.bin" for some HW, but its not so common for Dell.
Btw: if you have more than one Dell Server around take a look to OpenManageEnterprise(OME)*. Yes because of a missing license you cant use the OMEVV Plugin for vCenter but it can be used to patch trough iDRAC Enterprise. Dell also offer different versions of the catalog.xml.gz like standard, ESXi, vSan Ready Nodes. So for a gives ESXi Build you get the certified Firmware for the devices.
* You can reduce the ressource requirements when not using all of the plugins
Regards,
Joerg