Dell Client Configuration Utility (DCCU) 3.0 allows client administrators to modify BIOS settings and perform BIOS upgrades on Dell Latitude, OptiPlex, and Precision models.The browser-based tool can be used to create an executable that you can deploy with any basic software distribution system. The compiled executables can set a large variety of BIOS settings on clients such as Wake On LAN, boot devices, wireless devices, and so on. This chat provides a discussion of changes from previous versions, including:

  • New User Interface
  • New BIOS upgrade options
  • Additional BIOS settings now available
  • Command-line options for all settings
  • Executables now persistent

Technical Community - Background Reading

Chat Transcript

DELL-ScottH Hey guys! All these people just hanging out. What has this place come to? :-)
bjm Hey
ron I've got a fever
DELL-ScottH Ha ha. Official chat starts in about 39.24567 minutes
DELL-ScottH Hey Dennis, just us geeks hanging out
DennisAbbott Yes just testing this before we get started :-)
DELL-ScottH Hey Greg :-)
ramseyg_Dell Hey Blue :)
ramseyg_Dell (Testing my clickability) on a link because I always mess this up. I *believe* that you right-click to open a link—otherwise you get ejected from the chat
DELL-ScottH Yup
ramseyg_Dell Scott will set us right in a little while :)
ramseyg_Dell www.delltechcenter.com/page/enable+wake+on+lan+with+dccu
DennisAbbott Oops, there he goes
ramseyg_Dell Ha! but also, if you right-click, you have to click the allow pop-ups, or you get ejected too
DELL-ScottH Can't tell your left from your right?
ramseyg_Dell (testing again)
ramseyg_Dell www.delltechcenter.com/page/enable+wake+on+lan+with+dccu
ramseyg_Dell Yes, that's the trick. If you right-click a link, and you get the IE notice for pop-up being blocked and you hit Allow, it refreshes your page, and you get ejected from the chat. But now that I have "always allow pop-ups from this site," it's working fine
ramseyg_Dell (/test) :)
DELL-ScottH Everybody have a great break and some time off? Oh and hook 'em horns!
ramseyg_Dell My Buckeyes almost made it. I think they surprised a lot of Longhorns.
DennisAbbott What is a Buckeye anyway?
DELL-ScottH Yeah, what kind of mascot is that?
ron It's a flower?
ramseyg_Dell :) A tree. But we also make buckeye candy...very tasty. We'll save that for a chat on the food channel though
DennisAbbott Longhorns eat flowers
DELL-ScottH Hello Mtp, Andrew, Bjm, Dennis, Depping, Francois, and helllooo Ron!
bjm Hi
DELL-ScottH Seven minutes until the official chat starts. Dennis is leading today. Who thinks he needs a Twitter account?
DELL-ScottH Hello Gary
garyrm Howdy
ron Yes he needs a Twitter account
DELL-ScottH Hello Jas
DennisAbbott ...and I don't do Facebook either ::tongue
jas Hello
DELL-ScottH My wife told me I can't post photos to Facebook; will crack my computer screen
DELL-ScottH Hello mharal and mmurray
ramseyg_Dell Feels like Twitter is hitting capacity or something crazy
mmurray Hello
DELL-ScottH Yeah, is picking up steam
DELL-ScottH Hello Angie!
angie_dell Hello Scott :)
Donnie-Dell Heya gang
DELL-ScottH Hey Donnie!
angie_dell There goes the neighborhood
DELL-ScottH Three minutes to the start...get it all out
angie_dell Happy New Year everyone! ::laugh
DELL-ScottH Hello Ed
DELL-ScottH Hello Brian
BrianMason Hello!
Ed_A_SMS_MVP Hey! Looking forwardd to this
Donnie-Dell Do we really need Ed and Brian? Make me an admin so I can kick them
DELL-ScottH Play nice in the sandbox
DennisAbbott Howdy Ed
Ed_A_SMS_MVP OMG! Hey Dennis!
DELL-ScottH Hey Roger
DELL-ScottH Alright, let’s get this thing kicked off
Dell-RogerF Afternoon all
DELL-ScottH Welcome all to the first of the year Dell TechCenter chat session. A few quick things. Right-click on all links, or you will get kicked out and we all laugh at you :-) Every session is recorded, and you can view the transcript at our main site to get all the links you missed. Today's session is on the Dell Client Configuration Utility 3.0
Ed_A_SMS_MVP Access the transcript from the same URL as we used to join?
DELL-ScottH Led by Dennis with his cohorts in crime, Greg, Angie, and Donnie
DELL-ScottH Yes
Ed_A_SMS_MVP <Closing notepad now!>
DELL-ScottH Dennis, please introduce yourself and the team and get it going
DennisAbbott Hi everyone, I am Dennis Abbott. I work in Dell's internal IT, focusing on client manageability and software distribution.
DELL-ScottH And everyone ask questions and join in at any time; it is not rude to interrupt
DennisAbbott We will shorten that to DCCU
DELL-ScottH Hello Greg. Just started. Use Action, Recent Room History to catch up
DennisAbbott Let me throw out a link to the DCCU
DennisAbbott ftp://ftp.dell.com/sysman/dccu_3.0_a01.exe
DELL-ScottH Hello Rod!
DELL-ScottH Just started. Use Action, Recent Room History to catch up. Hello Thomas and Jeff too
DennisAbbott You can also find the most recent version of the DCCU by going to support.dell.com and performing a search on "DCCU"
rodtrent Hi hao
DennisAbbott The current release is 3.0 A01; older versions are out there, so watch out
Donnie-Dell (Remember to right-click on links in the chat, or else it will boot you—for the late joiners)
DennisAbbott DCCU allows you to configure BIOS settings on Dell client systems including BIOS upgrades. We have two articles linked to the chat that walk through the various aspects as well
DELL-ScottH Hello Tommy. Just started use Action, Recent Room History to catch up
ramseyg_Dell Dennis, what is this DCCU? And how does it make my life easier?
DELL-ScottH Yeah, why am I downloading all this stuff you linked to?
DennisAbbott The DCCU can allow you to modify BIOS settings across thousands of assets when combined with your software distribution tool. For example, setting the Wake On LAN bit in the BIOS so that you can perform wakeups of powered-down systems. Most settings do not even require a reboot, so it is seamless and quiet to the end user. Another big plus is BIOS upgrades
rodtrent BIOS upgrades sounds dangerous. Is there a fallback procedure?
DennisAbbott Yes, the fallback is that the BIOS stays the same. New with DCCU is an option to disallow back revving the BIOS to an older version if a new version is already in place.
Ed_A_SMS_MVP Nice!
rodtrent I'm guessing this works in conjunction/integrates with ConfigMgr?
BrianMason I take it this works only for newer machines? Does it work for all servers too?
DennisAbbott The one caveat with the BIOS upgrade is that it really needs a reboot at the time of deployment. DCCU can be used with any and all software dist tools
Donnie-Dell Rod, it will work with any software distribution tool
DennisAbbott It creates a simple executable that you execute
BrianMason But of course works best with SCCM! :)
ramseyg_Dell With the DCCU, you create an EXE, and then do what you wish
rodtrent Cool. Is there custom inventory, or is ConfigMgr enough?
ramseyg_Dell You can run it manually, psexec, batch, ConfigMgr, etc.
DennisAbbott The DCCU will work on many older systems, but only clients: Latitude, Precision, and OptiPlex
thomas_g With DCCU, will it work on Vostro's or not?
ramseyg_Dell @brianmason: OptiPlex, Precision, and Latitude
DennisAbbott I have used it on old Gx240s
ramseyg_Dell Yeah, what Dennis said :)
Donnie-Dell Brian, when I do the talk on the Dell Deployment Kit for ConfigMgr, we will cover BIOS and servers
DennisAbbott It probably will work on Vostro; you should test first
thomas_g Ok
DennisAbbott Most of the settings are very generic, such as WOL [Wake on LAN]. If the BIOS register does not exist then it does no harm
ramseyg_Dell You can also use DCCU to change boot order, correct?
DennisAbbott You can run this against an HP box and it does nothing
DennisAbbott Yes, in fact the Boot Order screen in this version is much improved
DELL-ScottH Hello, dackerman and Henry, use Action, Recent Room History to catch up on the chat, or the transcript will be posted tomorrow on same page
DennisAbbott Very intuitive compared to early version
ramseyg_Dell Looks like you can also create an EXE to force “Pxe on next boot”; could be helpful in OSD
DennisAbbott Yes, the nice thing about the setting is that it is single use; it will revert back. Another big added feature is that there is a command-line setting now
ramseyg_Dell You can also enable/disable on-board devices, like NIC, sound, microphone
DennisAbbott Therefore, DCCU is now sort of scriptable
DennisAbbott Also disable USB
rodtrent That's neat
Donnie-Dell Lot easier than filling the USB ports with epoxy :)
ramseyg_Dell Yea, so you can pass command-line arguments
DennisAbbott The first time I used it years ago I turned on the internal speaker on all systems
rodtrent What will an upgrade do against a machine it wasn't intended for? That is, wrong model
DennisAbbott I also set the Auto-on for 7:00 am as a poor man’s wake up :-)
ramseyg_Dell I see one that I haven't used yet—"password Bypass"—looks like you can set a "reboot bypass," "resume bypass,"...
DennisAbbott It will release a non-zero exit code and do nothing. Yes, there are probably two dozen new BIOS attributes, and many are focused around new wireless features
jas What is the BIOS inventory package?
DennisAbbott If you are an XML junkie, Dell fully supports digging through the XML to discover all the properties
angie_dell Has anyone released the links to the docs and the tool yet in this chat session?
DennisAbbott This is outlined in the Help file. The install does include the docs: ftp://ftp.dell.com/sysman/dccu_3.0_a01.exe
jas Ah, thanks. Found it
DennisAbbott www.delltechcenter.com/page/dell+client+configuration+utility+3.0
Donnie-Dell Link to the Techcenter System Center main area: www.delltechcenter.com/page/microsoft+system+center
ramseyg_Dell www.delltechcenter.com/page/enable+wake+on+lan+with+dccu
DennisAbbott And here is the walk-through for creating the WOL executable: www.delltechcenter.com/page/enable+wake+on+lan+with+dccu
rodtrent Thanks guys! Gotta go
jas Thanks
DennisAbbott If you have a password set on the BIOS you can still manage those assets, but it is much easier if it is a single password
thomas_g I haven't yet brought up SCCM (still planning it out) but I am assuming that the DCCU has to be on the SCCM, or can it reside on a separate server?
Ed_A_SMS_MVP Hey, a few tips around deployment of DCCU agent I ran into that caused some aggravation...
DennisAbbott It is completely stand-alone. No infrastructure
thomas_g Thank you
DennisAbbott You’re basically creating self-running scripts that load a driver on the fly
Ed_A_SMS_MVP When deploying a new version (upgraded existing), and tried deploying a change to BIOS, it caused the client some issues
angie_dell Although you can leverage SCCM to deploy the EXEs you create
DennisAbbott The driver is completely removed after running
Ed_A_SMS_MVP Resolution turned out to need to reboot the client after the new agent was installed, but before deploying a BIOS change to that client
DennisAbbott The other alternative is the Open Manage Client Instrumentation, but that stays installed and you have to write WMI scripts to get the work done
Ed_A_SMS_MVP Installing agent *new* to a system, we could deploy a BIOS change without rebooting the post-agent install
DennisAbbott Correct with OMCI; you have to get that driver enabled under WMI
ramseyg_Dell (We'll have a couple of chats on OMCI soon)
Ed_A_SMS_MVP Can you explain briefly the difference between DCCU and OMCI?
DennisAbbott OMCI is more flexible but adds some maintenance to the equation
ramseyg_Dell If you don't want to leave a footprint, use DCCU
DennisAbbott DCCU—on-the-fly, self-contained script
DennisAbbott OMCI—permanently install agent
ramseyg_Dell But, you'll find a lot of interesting stuff with OMCI
Donnie-Dell OMCI is the OpenManage Client Instrumentation. It is a bigger beast, putting settings in WMI, interfacing with SMBIOS, etc.
Donnie-Dell www.delltechcenter.com/page/using+omci+with+configmgr
Ed_A_SMS_MVP Ah, then my earlier comment around deploying "agent" was in fact OMCI and not DCCU...mea culpa...going silent now! :-)
ramseyg_Dell After you’ve installed, you can modify the Sms_def.mof to inventory Dell-specific hardware information, and you can also write VBScripts to make the same kind of changes that you can with DCCU
Donnie-Dell What Greg is talking about is in the link I just sent
gabrie Yeah! I made it :-) Seemed to be wrong java-version installed :-)
DELL-ScottH Hey Gab !
DennisAbbott If you simply want to change a handful of settings, and you are not concerned with inventory, DCCU is the way to go—plus there is very little effort to get deployed
gabrie Hi Scott
DELL-ScottH Use Action, Recent Room History to catch up, or just ask all the "annoying" questions :-)
Ed_A_SMS_MVP Any chance either of these tools will ever attempt to set WOL settings on the NIC in addition to BIOS?
ramseyg_Dell @Ed - :) That's a dream, but a good dream :)
DennisAbbott Yes, it will even set WOL on wireless
gabrie Ha ha ha okay :D
ramseyg_Dell We are working with the OMCI team to get enhanced functionality
DennisAbbott Or add in NICs, if they are instrumented properly. Good luck with that
angie_dell Any platform limitations with OMCI
ramseyg_Dell OMCI is supported on all business client systems: OptiPlex, Latitude, and Precision Workstation, same as DCCU. (Side note: I'm working on a SCUP install for OMCI; we'll have that chat in a couple of weeks.)
DennisAbbott One of the neat examples in the Help file is setting customer-specific asset tags into the BIOS by scripting DCCU—well worth a look if asset management is your cup of tea
Ed_A_SMS_MVP Now that is cool!
ramseyg_Dell Yeah, and I think the command-line arguments are a great function because then you could use it during OSD process. (OSD = Operating System Deployment)
DennisAbbott Yes, and with the command line you don't even need to make a new EXE; just tag it on the command line to your current deployment
Dackerman A script to “automagically” enable WOL during OSD...I like the sound of that :)
Ed_A_SMS_MVP ...Then boot to PXE
DennisAbbott You don't need separate executables for multiple settings; the sky is the limit. With one EXE you can set WOL, PXE, asset tag, and turn off chassis intrusion notification
Ed_A_SMS_MVP Yeah, don’t forget that chassis intrusion bit!
Donnie-Dell Especially when deployed OMCI, which defaults to alerting the local machine about chassis intrusion
DennisAbbott I also noticed that we added quite a few attributes for our X1 tablet as well
DELL-ScottH Hello Todd
DennisAbbott XT
ramseyg_Dell @donnie, we have a script to take care of that too :)
Donnie-Dell Of course you do Greg, you have a script for everything :P
Ed_A_SMS_MVP Anything for my new HDTV? ::laugh
DennisAbbott You can clear those BIOS logs in OSD as well
ramseyg_Dell Is it a Dell HDTV? :) oops!
Donnie-Dell Hah
DennisAbbott Ed knows what a TV is?
searles I thought he helped invent them
Donnie-Dell He he
Ed_A_SMS_MVP ::laugh ::laugh 1080p all the way here!
ramseyg_Dell Dennis, where do you need to install DCCU? Any workstation? XP, Vista okay, right?
DennisAbbott It specifies XP SP2, but I have it running just fine on Vista with no issue You need .NET installed first: www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=ab99342f-5d1a-413d-8319-81da479ab0d7&displaylang=en. The tool itself is very lightweight and is a very simple browser-based tool. Oh, if you can't find the item on your Start menu it is because it is listed under Altiris not Dell!
Ed_A_SMS_MVP Say what?
DennisAbbott Altiris built and supports the tool. If you have Altiris Notification Server you get a little more with reporting inventory using NSE files—that is about all though
BrianMason Altiris :(
Reed Did I miss anything?
Ed_A_SMS_MVP Okay, I'm lost. What is found under Altiris?
ramseyg_Dell Welcome Reed
DennisAbbott DCCU is built by Altiris
ramseyg_Dell Action, Recent Room History
Reed Thanks
Ed_A_SMS_MVP Well, that was something I never knew!
DennisAbbott It does not require Notification Server or any Altiris infrastructure
BrianMason Can we hack out the name?
ramseyg_Dell (Built by Altiris) and free from Dell
BrianMason I'm serious too
ramseyg_Dell Well, you could probably repackage it :)
DennisAbbott This is our alternative for folks that don't want to deploy the Dell-branded full Notification Server.
BrianMason I'm trying to kill Altiris, and those boys running it would have a good laugh if they saw us using it
DennisAbbott You can rename the menu item :-)
Ed_A_SMS_MVP Okay, are we about done with the Secret Squirrel stuff here?
Ed_A_SMS_MVP Gotta run
DennisAbbott It is a Dell-branded tool
DennisAbbott Okay, see you later, Ed
Donnie-Dell We know where to find ya, Ed. I think we are about done
DennisAbbott Any other questions on DCCU? How it is used?
Ed_A_SMS_MVP Seriously, this is a great session. As you guys know, WOL=on is a big deal for us. Every little bit helps! Thanks again!
Donnie-Dell Cya, Ed
BrianMason I gotta run too. Thanks everyone
angie_dell Happy New Year, Ed!
DELL-ScottH Before we lose everybody, the transcript will be posted tomorrow on the same link that got you here—you can browse the chat and click all the links
DennisAbbott You can message me from links on the bottom of the articles
Ed_A_SMS_MVP U2...all of ya
DennisAbbott What is our next chat? OMCI? Greg?
Donnie-Dell Link to main area of the Dell TechCenter for Microsoft System Center: www.delltechcenter.com/page/microsoft+system+center
ramseyg_Dell OMCI and ConfigMgr
ramseyg_Dell Our OMCI team has done a super job of building our MOF edits for ConfigMgr. So if you have OMCI installed, simply add the Dell MOF edits to the Sms_def.mof file. And then treat it like you always do—your MOF file (with respect)—set True and False values to determine what to inventory. We'll have a separate OMCI chat later to discuss scripting OMCI using VBScript
Donnie-Dell Don't give it all away yet, Greg :)
DELL-ScottH Yes, next chat is OMCI—link to all upcoming chats and previous chats: www.delltechcenter.com/page/chat+topics+and+transcripts
Reed We'll still respect you in the AM, honest
DennisAbbott He can't wait ::biggrin
ramseyg_Dell :) Yes, bring all your OMCI questions!
bjm Thanks everyone.
Donnie-Dell Thanks again everyone for joining. We will hang out for a few more minutes so you can pick Dennis's brain
ramseyg_Dell Thank you, everyone!
DELL-ScottH Thanks to all! Next week, same bat-time, same bat-channel
DennisAbbott What's left of it
DELL-ScottH Lol
Reed Once again the best Java client chat going—bar none!
DennisAbbott Too much holiday cheer
DELL-ScottH You only need 10 percent of that brain anyways, right?
DennisAbbott Nine percent
DELL-ScottH Overachiever
Donnie-Dell No, you are right, Scott. But asking the guy only using 9 percent doesn't seem like a good idea :)
DELL-ScottH :-)
Donnie-Dell Heading out, team—talk to you all later!
ramseyg_Dell Thanks all! Bye!
angie_dell Goodbye everybody, Thanks
DELL-ScottH Thanks, everyone
Dell-RogerF Bye