Dell Idrac9 Virtual Media Solution For Iso And Img User Guide

DELL iDRAC9 Virtual Media Solution for ISO and IMG

iDRAC9 Virtual Media Solution supports HTML5 Virtual Media and Remote File Share which allows attaching of both and ISO and IMG file to Host as CD/DVD or Disk Drive. This Whitepaper captures Virtual Media Solution Enhancement and use cases.
December 2022
Version 1.0

Revisions

Acknowledgments

• Author: Jitendra Kumar
• Support: Rajesh Kumar Patel
• Other: Sindhu Karri, Texas Roemer

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Copyright © November 2022 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. Dell Technologies, Dell, EMC, Dell EMC and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be trademarks of their respective owners. [12/23/2022] [White Paper] [Document ID: 559]

Executive summary

The iDRAC Virtual Media Solution supports HTML5 Virtual Media and Remote File Share (RFS) that allow both ISO and IMG file attach to Host as Virtual CD/DVD or Disk Drive. Existing iDRAC Virtual Media supports one instance of Remote File Share (RFS).
iDRAC Firmware Version 6.00.02.00 and greater supports two Instances of Remote File Share (RFS).
It also allows user to use HTML5 Virtual Media (local file) and Remote File Share concurrently.

Technical White Paper: Virtual Media Solution

Technical White Paper

Two major enhancements are added as part of iDRAC 6.00.02.00:

1. iDRAC 6.00.02.00 extends Virtual Media solution to support Two Instances of Remote File Share along with HTML5 Virtual Media as listed below
   1. HTML5 Virtual Media
   2. Remote File Share 1 (RFS1)
   3. Remote File Share 2 (RFS2)
      Both RFS1 & RFS2 allows user to attach either of ISO or IMG Image File hosted by Remote Share Location. Remote Share Location covers NFS/ CIFS/ HTTP/ HTTPS File Shares.
      
2. HTML5 Virtual Media allows user to attach both local ISO and IMG image through HTML5 based vMedia and remote file share concurrently. That is, iDRAC allows user to use HTML5 Virtual Media, RFS1 and RFS2 concurrently. All four images can be seen with remote host server concurrently.
   To use HTML5 Virtual Media, RFS1 & RFS2 concurrently, HTML5 Virtual Media Session needs to be started before attaching RFS1.
   RFS2 has no dependency on HTML5 Virtual Media and RFS1 and can be started irrespective of HTML5 Virtual Media and RFS1.

Detailed Description

HTML5 Virtual Media, RFS1 and RFS2 Concurrent Sessions

HTML5 Virtual Media, RFS1 and RFS2 concurrent session are controlled as per Connection Matrix in Table 1.

Table 1 Connection Matrix 

(*Note: Before connecting Virtual Media, if there is existing session with RFS1, Virtual Media (local file) will be blocked.)

Limitation
In iDRAC firmware, prior to 6.00.02.00, HTML5 Virtual Media & RFS are mutually exclusive and both HTML5 Virtual Media & RFS exposes Virtual USB Device into Host with Product String i.e., Virtual CD/DVD and Virtual Floppy.
To maintain compatibility, when RFS1 is connected, the HTML5 Virtual Media Session launch will fail. RFS1 will expose Virtual USB device into Host either with “Virtual CD/DVD” or “Virtual Floppy” based on Image file.

iDRAC Interfaces Supporting HTML5 Virtual Media/ RFS1/ RFS2

iDRAC provides multiple interfaces to access BMC and Table 2, captures Interfaces which allow HTML5 Virtual Media/ RFS1/ RFS2 access.

Interfaces Supporting HTML5 Virtual Media/RFS1/RFS2

Table 2 Interfaces Supporting HTML5 Virtual Media/RFS1/RFS2 

Boot Host using HTML5 Virtual Media/ RFS1/ RFS2
The following is required to support Host boot using HTML5 Virtual Media and RFS1 & RFS2 session.
The product string with which Virtual USB Device would be exposed in to Host has been extended to include “Virtual Net File” and “Virtual NetFile2.” “Virtual Net File” and “Virtual NetFile2” will be used along with “Virtual CD/DVD” and “Virtual Floppy.”

iDRAC First Boot Device list has been extended to allow Host boot using HTML5 Virtual Media, RFS1 & RFS2 as per Table 3:

Table 3 First Boot Device Mapping

Booting Host using HTML5 Virtual Media
HTML5 Virtual Media will use fixed Product String “Virtual CD/DVD” and “Virtual Floppy.” Host would boot to attached ISO and IMG file as per Table 4, by selecting corresponding First Boot Device.

Table 4 Frist Boot Device for HTML Virtual Media

Booting Host using RFS1
For RFS1, First Boot Device Selection will vary based on HTML5 Virtual Media Connection State and Type of Image file attached using RFS1. Host would boot to attached ISO and IMG Image file as per Table 5, by selecting corresponding First Boot Device.

Table 5 First Boot Device for RFS1

Booting Host using RFS2
RFS2 will use fixed Product String that is, “Virtual NetFile2” and Host would boot to attached ISO and IMG file as per Table 6, by selecting corresponding First Boot Device.

Table 6 First Boor Device for RFS2

How to use RFS 1 & RFS2

How to use RFS1
RACAMD/ Redfish/GUI allows commands and interface to manage RFS1.

RACADM
Use following RACADM commands to Manage RFS1 Session.

Redfish
Use following Redfish URIs to Manage RFS1 Session.

UI
iDRAC UI allows users to manage RFS1 using IDRAC UI->Configuration->Virtual Media->Remote File Share 1

How to use RFS2
RACAMD/ Redfish/GUI allows commands and interface to manage RFS2.

RACADM
Use following RACADM commands to Manage RFS2 Session.

Redfish
Use following Redfish URIs to Manage RFS2 Session.

UI
iDRAC UI allows users to manage RFS2 using IDRAC UI->Configuration->Virtual Media->Remote File Share 2

Use Cases
Operating system Deployment using RFS1 & RFS2
With RFS1 & RFS2, it is possible to automate operating system Deployment process.
To automate operating system deployment, configure First Boot Device to allow Host boot with RFS1. Next, with RFS2, attach Configuration File/ Kick Start File/ Driver required by operating system installer during deployment.
See Appendix B for Redfish Method of operating system Deployment using RFS1 & RFS2.

Configuration details
Table 7 Component table

Operating system Deployment Example using RFS1 And RFS2

Operating system Deployment workflow example using Redfish API for RFS1 & RFS2
This workflow will be attaching Windows ISO and IMG image (contains operating system drivers) simultaneously using Redfish DMTF actions. ISO and IMG image have already been copied over to Apache Webserver. For each Redfish command below, used “Postman” but this overall workflow can be easily automated using Python, Power-shell, or Curl commands.

1. First step is to run GET on URIs “redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1/Virtual Media/1” and “redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1/Virtual Media/2,” confirm no devices are currently attached.
   Note: To simplify this process and only run one GET command, use $expand query parameter to get details for both URIs (example: redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1/Virtual Media?$expand=*($levels=1)
   
2. Once you validated no devices are attached, let us first attach the ISO for virtual device ID 1 using POST action “VirtualMedia.InsertMedia.”
   URI: redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1/VirtualMedia/1/Actions/VirtualMedia.InsertMedia Command: POST
   Header: content-type application/json
   Body: {“Image”: “<your URI network path with ISO name>”, “Inserted”:true,”WriteProtected”:true}
   
3. Run GET on “redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1/VirtualMedia/1,” you should now see attached information about the ISO.
   
4. Using the same POST action, let us attach IMG file now but we need to make sure we use index ID 2 URI.
   URI: redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1/VirtualMedia/2/Actions/VirtualMedia.InsertMedia Command: POST
   Header: content-type application/json
   Body: {“Image”: “<your URI network path with IMG file name>”, “Inserted”:true,”WriteProtected”:true}
   
5. Run GET on “redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1/VirtualMedia/2,” you should now see attached information about the IMG image file.
   
6. Next step is to set next onetime boot to the ISO to start the operating system installation using PATCH.
   Command: PATCH
   URI: redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1
   Header: content-type application/json
   Body: {“Boot”:{“BootSourceOverrideTarget”:”Cd”,”BootSourceOverrideEnabled”: “Once”}}
   
7. Final step in the workflow is to reboot the server using POST. Once the server has been rebooted, flag will be set in POST to onetime boot to the ISO, and start the operating system install. Command: POST
   URI: redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1/Actions/ComputerSystem.Reset
   Header: content-type application/json
   Body: {“ResetType”: “ForceRestart”}
   
8. Once you have completed the operating system installation, you need to eject or detach the ISO. To detach the ISO, use action VirtualMedia.EjectMedia and URI index ID 1.
   Command: POST
   URI: redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1/VirtualMedia/1/Actions/VirtualMedia.EjectMedia Header: content-type application/json
   Body: {}
   
9. Using same action to detach, pass in URI for index ID 2 to detach the IMG image.
   Command: POST
   URI: redfish/v1/Systems/System.Embedded.1/VirtualMedia/2/Actions/VirtualMedia.EjectMedia
   Header: content-type application/json
   Body: {}
   

Technical support and resources

Dell.com/support is focused on meeting customer needs with proven services and support.

Related resources
iDRAC9 User Guide 6.00.02.00 (6.xx series) onwards
Link: https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us?app=manuals

iDRAC Redfish FAQ:
Link: https://dl.dell.com/content/manual16004247-idrac-redfish-faq.pdf?language=en-us
Redfish API guide: https://developer.dell.com/apis

iDRAC9 Virtual Media Solution for ISO and IMG | Document ID: 559

References

• Support | Dell US
• Dell Technologies Developer
• Manuals | Dell US