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End-to-End Single-Node Deployment: Microsoft HCI Solutions from Dell Technologies
Single-node deployment
Single-node deployment
Operating system deployment
Install roles and features
Change the hostname
Registry settings
PAL and DPOR registration for Azure Stack
Joining cluster nodes to an Active Directory domain
Single-node configuration
Updating a standalone node before adding it to the cluster
Network connectivity for single node clusters
Creating the host cluster
Enabling Storage Spaces Direct
Updating the page file settings
Azure onboarding for Azure Stack HCI operating system
Best practices and recommendations
Dell OpenManage Integration with Windows Admin Center
Onboard Dell policies to Azure Arc from Windows Admin Center to monitor Azure Stack HCI clusters

Operating system deployment

Operating system deployment


  • Manual operating system deployment

    A step-by-step procedure for deploying the operating system is not within the scope of this guide.

    This guide assumes that:
    • You have access to the iDRAC virtual console of the physical server.
    Note: For information about installing the operating system using the iDRAC virtual media feature, see the Using the Virtual Media function on iDRAC 6, 7, 8 and 9 Dell Knowledge Base article.


    Factory-installed operating system deployment

    If the cluster nodes are shipped from Dell Technologies with a preinstalled operating system, complete the out-of-box experience (OOBE):

    • Select language and locale settings.
    • Accept the Microsoft and OEM EULAs.
    • Set up a password for the local administrator account.
    • Update the operating system partition size, and shrink it as needed.

    The Azure Stack HCI operating system factory image has multilingual support for these languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Polish, and Italian. To change language:

    • Run the following PowerShell commands. <LANGUAGE> can be en-US, fr-FR, ja-JP, ko-KR, de-DE, pl-PL, it-IT, or es-ES.

      • Set-WinUserLanguageList <LANGUAGE>
      • Set-WinSystemLocale -systemlocale <LANGUAGE>
    • Reboot after running the commands.
    Note: For all of the languages except Polish, the main screen changes to the appropriate font. For Polish, the English font is used.

    If you purchased a license for a secondary operation system to run your virtual machines, the VHD file is located in the C:\Dell_OEM\VM folder. Copy this VHD file to a virtual disk in your Azure Stack HCI cluster and create virtual machines using this VHD.

    Note: Do not run your virtual machine with the VHD file residing on the BOSS device (for example, c:\). It should always be on c:\clusterstorage\<VD1>

    Upgrade using sConfig (Standalone systems)

    Using a sconfig menu (Server Configuration from command prompt), you can update the servers one at a time. Customers who receive HCI OS 21H2 can update to 22H2 using this method so that a cluster can be created on 22H2 without having to upgrade after cluster creation.

    1. On the sconfig menu, select option 6 and update all quality updates.
    2. Once all quality updates are completed, go to Feature Updates on the sconfig menu and perform an OS upgrade from 21H2 to 22H2. After completing the OS upgrade, perform step 1 to install all the quality updates for 22H2. You may have to run this multiple times to get to the latest cumulative update.
    3. Use Windows Admin Center to update each node to the latest hardware support matrix. See Dell Integrated System for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI: End-to-End Deployment - Cluster Creation Using Windows Admin Center.
    4. When the operating system on all nodes is updated to the latest CU of 22H2, you may go to creating the cluster using PowerShell or Windows Admin Center.