Dell Nautilus Firmware Update Utility: Bootable media for automatic Hard Drive updates

Note: This article is part of the Server Tutorials: "RAID and Disks" available here.

The Dell Nautilus Firmware Update Utility is flexible and easy to use as it contains all the latest, relevant firmware updates for hard drives in your Dell server. To use the utility, you must follow these three steps:

1. Download the latest version, which is a self-extracting .zip file, from the Dell Drivers and Downloads page

   Note: How to download the latest Nautilus version?
   These files are updated every quarter. If you want to look for a newer version you can go to the Dell Support Site and enter your service tag to go directly to your system’s pages. Go to the Get drivers and downloads section, expand the SAS Drive category and look for the Dell Nautilus Firmware Update Utility.

2. Once you have downloaded and extracted the file, you should run the UsbMake.exe file, located in the folder you extracted the files to, which gives you the option to create a bootable USB stick, or a bootable image which you can either mount as a virtual drive or burn to a CD or DVD to boot from. Choose the option that best suits you.

3. Boot from the media you created and follow the on-screen instructions.

   Warning: This update will not run if any of the following conditions exist:

   1. Boot mode is not set to UEFI in the BIOS setup boot settings.
   2. Any Virtual Disk that is not optimal.
   3. RAID container that is performing a Background Initialization or Consistency Check.
   4. A Rebuild, Resync, or copyback function is taking place.
   5. A RAID set that is Partially Degraded or in a Degraded state.

Additional: Walkthrough of Nautilus Installation using iDRAC Virtual Media

1. Download the EFI Hard Drive Firmware Update Utility from the Dell Drivers and Downloads page

2. Perform the downloaded file to start the self-extractor

3. Insert a USB drive into the system that the files were extracted to

4. Browse to the extracted files and run USBMake.exe as Administrator by right clicking on the file and choosing 'Run As Administrator'.
   If your USB drive is not listed click 'Find USB Drives', then select your USB drive and click Install to USB Flash Drive (this will format the USB drive)

   

5. Once the file copy to the USB drive is completed Exit the USBMake utility

6. Connect to the target server's iDRAC and open a remote console session

    

   Note: The following steps assume either the "Native" or "Java" plug-in type option is selected for the remote console. Steps for the "HTML5" option may differ slightly.

    

7. Connect virtual media and map the USB drive (depending on your iDRAC firmware the location of the virtual media may differ)

   

8. Reboot the target server and press F11 to enter the Boot Manager

   

9. After entering the BIOS Boot Manager select UEFI Boot Menu

   

10. Then select Virtual Floppy Drive (mounting a USB drive through the iDRAC uses floppy emulation)

    

11. If there is no user interaction the firmware update utility loads automatically

    

12. Once loaded press Update Firmware to begin the update process

    

13. Once completed, the results are displayed, now you can exit the utility and reboot the target server by pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL or, if using the iDRAC console, selecting Power | Reset System (warm boot) from the console menu options.