How To Troubleshoot Firmware Updates in iDRAC9

This video will demonstrate the how to troubleshoot a failed firmware update on your iDRAC.

Hello. In this video we'll be covering some steps on firmware troubleshooting. When updates fail the first place to look is in the lifecycle controller log. Here you can often find specific error codes that you can then look up in the knowledge base. Now, let's look at some different scenarios for update issues. First we'll talk about the catalog based update method. Let's say someone wanted to update the entire server, but the update job fails.

We could attempt updating a single package instead of the entire system, if so do we get a different error message for the single package? We could also utilize other methods of update that is outside the catalog. If we try the single package locally on the iDRAC and it does work we should then check the catalog for issues. One thing to check would be is the file in the downloads.dell.com location where it's supposed to be? Now let's think about the network based update method.

Similarly we should ask if a single update package shows the same or different error message? We can attempt a local update on the iDRAC itself as well. If the local update works then we need to suspect ports or protocols being blocked by the firewall. Keep in mind that we may need to collect a packet capture to prove that it is the network facing the issues. Next we'll talk about that single update method in more detail. First attempt a different update that doesn't require a reboot like the iDRAC or the diagnostics.

If no update applies the issue is more likely to be with the iDRAC or lifecycle controller. If only a specific update fails we should look at the specific update package or the component. The next thing to try would be to re-flash the same firmware for that component instead of doing an upgrade. If the re-flash is successful then the component and the lifecycle controller should be good, but if the component fails to apply the same firmware then we need to try some other steps.

We could try to drain the flea power, re-seat the component, swap with a known good, or ultimately we may have to replace that component. Another troubleshooting method is to forcibly clear the job queue. There are two commands I will demonstrate here. I suggest running both of these as sometimes one will work and not the other. If neither command will work, or if the iDRAC appears to be completely locked up try rebooting the iDRAC and then rerun the commands.

Let's finish up by talking about update package debugging. First question to ask is does this package fail on multiple systems? Assuming the answer is yes we can extract the exe and look at the package.xml file to confirm that it is indeed valid for the system type and specific component we're updating. If the package looks okay try running it inside the OS or try a bootable ISO. Should the OS update fail you can follow the steps to debug the DUP file from the included link. If the update only fails to apply via the iDRAC, but it works for other methods please collect a TSR with debug logs.

To wrap up this video I will demonstrate how to extract the update package. Once the file has been extracted open the package.xml file. Here we can search for specific components. Let's say we want to look for the 5719 here we can see a couple of them. Thank you for viewing this training video on iDRAC firmware troubleshooting.