I have both Dell Repository Manager v1.9.1 and Dell Open Manage Essentials v2.0.0 installed and after a lot of testing and different attempts, I still haven't found one software package that will install the latest dell firmware and bios updates on an ESXi host without a lot of issues.
Here are just some of the issues I have found when trying to update out R720s (amongst other models):
Even though Dell repository manager syncs with Dell, the bootable ISO it builds when selecting a specific model (R720 for example) does not include the latest updates available.
Dell Open Manage Essentials can update some firmwares and does appear to get the latest available updates but can't still can't do drive firmware updates or any updates requiring inline updates since updates on ESX hosts must be done out of band.
Doing firmware updates on the power supplies with Dell Open Manage Essentials is flaky at best as most of the time, it fails and powers the server off. Trying to power the server back on through the idrac usually just fails and the server powers itself off again. Usually pulling the power cables is the only way to fix this.
Even though the idracs have the latest firmware (1.57.57), they still crash sometimes during updates and require the power cables to be pulled to reset the drac. When managing servers at a remote site, this can be quite challenging.
a very frustrated dell customer.
