Dell Products Inc.

Wayne Robert Weilnau, Jr

Chandrasekhar Mugunda

Syama Poluri

Weijia Zhang

Theodore Stratton Webb

Kevin D Noreen

Mukund Purshottam Khatri

Sudhir Vittal Shetty

Marshal F Savage

Shawn Joel Dube

Akkiah Choudary Maddukuri

Jason Matthew Young

Mark W Shutt

Sanjeev Dambal

Anil Venkatasubba Rao

Philip Dale Chidester

Terry Wayne Liles

Scott Michael Ramsey

Christopher Abella Poblete

William C Edwards

Sruthi Reddy Mothukupally

Satyajit Dipakbhai Desai

Robert A Contreras

Carl W Kagy

Krishna P Mohan

Jordan P Hargrave

Systems and methods for enabling license management in pre-boot environments are described. In some embodiments, a method may include: loading, by a Basic System Input/Output (BIOS) of an Information Handling System (IHS), prior to the booting of any Operating System (OS) by the IHS, a license manager Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) driver; and executing, by the BIOS, a command received from a component or device coupled to the IHS following a license management protocol provided by the UEFI driver, where the command is to obtain or verify license data.

License management in pre-boot environments

A method, an information handling system (IHS) and a license file generating system for generating a license file. The method includes receiving, via a processor of a first information handling system (IHS), a plurality of input parameters associated with a product and generating license data at least partially based on the input parameters. The license data is transmitted to a hardware security module (HSM). The method further includes triggering the HSM to retrieve a certificate containing allowable use data. The allowable use data at least partially identifies a permitted installation of a license for the product. The HSM is triggered to embed a signer identifier within the certificate and the HSM is triggered to sign the certificate. The method further includes receiving a signed certificate from the HSM and generating a license file including the license data and the signed certificate. The license file is transmitted to a second IHS.

Generating license files in an information handling system

An information handling system (IHS) and a method for a host application to access and verify contents within all non-volatile storage of the IHS. The method utilizes an access controller that has access to non-volatile storage which cannot be directly accessed from a host operating system. The access controller, upon receiving a request from the host application to view contents in a non-volatile storage that is not accessible to the host application, copies the contents of the un-accessible non-volatile storage to a storage medium communicatively coupled to the access controller. The access controller then presents the storage medium as a virtual storage device to the host application, enabling the host application to access the copied contents of the un-accessible non-volatile storage.

System and method for a host application to access and verify contents within non-volatile storage of an information handling system

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, an information handling system may include a host system comprising a host system processor and a management controller communicatively coupled to the host system processor and configured to provide management of the information handling system. The management controller may be further configured to read a features-to-fixes database having one or more entries, each entry of the features-to-fixes database setting forth an association between an information handling resource feature and one or more firmware fixes, read a usage database having one or more entries, each entry of the usage database setting forth usage of information handling resource features by the information handling system, and compare entries of the features-to-fixes database and the usage database to determine at least one of a criticality and an applicability of the one or more firmware fixes to the information handling system.

Systems and methods for usage driven determination of update criticality

A method may include, receiving, by a controller integral to a chassis, a user request to apply a switch configuration. The method may also include communicating from the controller to a remote access controller (RAC) integral to at least one module disposed in a plurality of slots of the chassis an indication that a user has requested application of a switch configuration. The method may further include receiving at the controller, in response to the indication, a request to download a switch configuration file from the controller to the RAC. The method may additionally include transferring from the controller, in response to the request to download the switch configuration file, the switch configuration file to the RAC such that the RAC applies parameters set forth in the switch configuration file in order to configure an in-band switch associated with the module comprising the RAC.

Methods and systems for network switch configuration for a modular component carrying one or more information handling systems

A method includes a service processor of an information handling system downloading code, including device drivers, and transferring the code to an operating system of the information handling system without rebooting the operating system. In some embodiments, a daemon of the operating system may request device drivers for newly-inserted devices and the service processor may make the device drivers available to the operating system in response to the requests. In some embodiments, the service processor may download updated device drivers and may inform the daemon. The updated device drivers may be automatically provided to the operating system or made available upon a request of a user. The service processor may make code available to the operating system by exposing a portion of its non-volatile memory to the operating system as a virtual device.

Obtaining device drivers from an out-of-band management network

Systems and methods for provisioning the infrastructure of modular information handling systems, such as modular blade server chassis systems, using one or more pre-defined templates. IT service templates may be initially loaded and present in local memory or storage of a modular information handling system to define the system infrastructure configuration that ship with the modular chassis platform, or may be later downloaded or otherwise received in local memory or storage later from an external source after system installation to specify the desired end-state of the system infrastructure configuration.

Systems and methods for infrastructure template provisioning in modular chassis systems

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a system may include a chassis configured to receive a plurality of modular information handling systems, wherein each modular information handling system comprises a remote access controller and a management controller disposed in the chassis. The management controller may be configured to be communicatively coupled to one or more remote access controllers of the one or more modular information handling systems received in the chassis and further configured to share a single remote access controller firmware image such that each of the one or more remote access controllers loads and executes the single remote access controller firmware image.

Systems and methods for sharing a single firmware image in a chassis configured to receive a plurality of modular information handling systems

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a controller may be communicatively coupled to a media interface and to each of a plurality of slots of a chassis, and may be configured to identify information handling systems instantiated within the chassis which require network configuration, read network configuration deployment information from a computer-readable medium received at the media interface, and for each information handling system instantiated within the chassis which requires network configuration, deploy network configuration parameters for the information handling system based on information set forth in the network configuration deployment information.

Methods and systems for deploying network configuration information for multiple information handling systems

A system and method of selectively installing software onto a computer system which includes reading a configuration file that contains computer system information, determining an encryption key from data contained in the configuration file, and deciphering data stored on a nonvolatile storage device using the encryption key. The computer system information includes system specific information that may be used to determine whether the computer system was purchased from a particular vendor. In a Windows&#x2122; based application, the configuration file includes a BIOS/DOS file that includes computer system specific information and the encryption key is optionally stored in a registry file to provide for repeated uses of the encryption key if more than one data file are being deciphered. In another embodiment, the data file is stored on a World Wide Web page accessible over a global computer network, such as the Internet, to install and decipher encrypted data files stored on a Web server.

System and method for installing system manufacturer provided software

An information handling system is provided with a BIOS and a baseboard management controller. The baseboard management controller is provided with non-standard functionality that enables the BIOS to request sensor data records of a specific type. Thus the BIOS can ask for specific kinds of sensor data, such as those for memory sensors only.

Growing community of inventors

Austin, TX, United States of America

Wayne Robert Weilnau, Jr