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Once we have setup our Azure Stack HCI cluster, we need to provide simple, automated ways to keep all the software, drivers, and firmware in a validated stated, certified by Dell and Microsoft, updated to the right version and compatible with the rest of the pieces that conform the solution.
To reach this goal, the platform periodically queries both Dell and Microsoft to discover applicable updates. These will appear in the Updates tab of Dell’s APEX Cloud Platform extension in Windows Admin Center within 4 hours of being released.
Figure 35. Updates available for Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure
From there we can apply the updates through an orchestrated process. All the updates published have been jointly tested by Microsoft and Dell in our labs.
Figure 36. Dell APEX Cloud Platform for Microsoft Azure showing lifecycle management components
Through this automated process we can update, not only the Azure Stack HCI solution, but the BIOS, iDRAC, firmware, and drivers of the MC nodes.
To ensure all component versions are compliant with the platform’s current known good state and that the cluster MC nodes are powered on and do not have any pending or running jobs in their iDRAC job queries, we ran a series of prechecks.
Note: Dell Infrastructure Lock gets automatically disabled during the update process and re-enabled after the updates are completed. We will expand on this and other security features in the Security section.
Figure 37. Prechecks completed to validate the launch of the update process
All these updates are applied to the Azure platform in a non-disruptive manner, placing nodes into maintenance mode and orchestrating reboots, one at a time, to avoid disrupting workloads running in the Azure Stack HCI cluster.
Figure 38. Phased update to a four node Azure Stack HCI cluster
The update process described takes around 90 steps to complete. All these steps have been automated by this Dell APEX Cloud Platform Foundation Software. That represents huge time savings, and much lower chances for a human error.
Through the compliance task we can confirm the update has been completed successfully and the Azure Stack HCI cluster is now fully compliant, as see in the following capture:
Figure 39. Automated updated process completed, showing a fully compliant Azure Stack HCI cluster