What's the best way to update a Dell client BIOS?
Q:
Josh asked, "Can you tell me the best way to update the BIOS on the Dell clients that I'm responsible for?"
A:
Hey Josh, most BIOS updates today for Dell client machines are available as Windows executables from support.dell.com. It's very easy to download these updates to a system and then run them within Windows to apply the BIOS update.
The Dell Client Configuration Utility (DCCU) can also be used by IT administrators to create Windows executable files for Dell update packages. These executables can be deployed to many machines at once as a software delivery task with either Altiris Deployment Solution (ideal for updating the BIOS as part of a deployment or hardware refresh) or Altiris Software Delivery Solution (ideal for applying the BIOS to Dell hardware already in production). Altiris Software Delivery Solution allows administrators to target BIOS updates to Dell machines of a specific model and BIOS revision level (i.e., you may want to apply the A16 BIOS rev to all Dell Latitude laptops not already running it). You can read more about this tool (and download a free copy) at www.dell.com/openmanage (click the "Resources" link under the "Client Management" section).
The new Altiris Dell Client Manager tool listed earlier in this FAQ also supports some functionality for rolling out BIOS updates in a one-to-many scenario.
Interesting but I wonder if
Interesting but I wonder if some IT admin has tried to update with success BIOS updates?
Did you have notice about issues during installation?
Thanks
We've used it.
Actually, we are almost exclusively a Dell shop now and have used the DCCU with great success in both pre and post production environments.
As our BIOS do not come preconfigured for our PXE environment, we incorporated the BIOS changes we wanted to make onto an imaging DVD and ran a simple batch file once the new machine booted to Windows. Worked pretty effectively and significantly reduced the error rate of an unconfigured BIOS (we have non-IT student workers who screw things up if we're not careful)
Useful tool, but awkward interface
This seems like a very handy tool. I just downloaded it - just google for the "Dell Client Configuration Utility" - and installed it on my Altiris server. The interface is a simple, perhaps too simple and the documentation is a little lacking, but I should have it working soon enough. I wonder if anyone has posted a sample Altiris task for Deployment Solutions?
Jeff
The newest version of the
The newest version of the DCCU can be found here: http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download...
It's version 3.0
How do you distribute through Altiris Deployment Solution
Once I compile the exe package through DCCU how do I use Altiris DS to distribute it to my clients?
Can I just make a new Distribute Software Task and select that EXE as the software? I tried doing that and I got an error "The file specified doesn't appear to be a valid RapidInstall or PC Transplant Package".
Just wondering if it is as simple as that or do I have to rebuild the package somehow beforehand.
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