BLADESYSTEM FIRMWARE UPDATES BEST PRACTICES

©2011 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice

BLADESYSTEM FIRMWARE UPDATES BEST PRACTICESSession 3547

Greg Fields Hewlett Packard Account Support ManagerMinneapolis, Minnesota

My Background

• Title: Account Support Manager

• Years at HP: 26

• Email: greg.fields@hp.com

• Current job responsibilities: Work with customers who have Critical Service, Proactive 24, or Proactive Select support in the upper Midwest. Provide proactive support to ensure best practices and to avoid known problems in environments ranging from Superdomes to ProLiants.

Greg Fields

6/27/20113

BLADESYSTEM FIRMWARE RELEASE SETS

HP Firmware Strategy Overview

Where we’ve been…• Insight Foundation

• SmartStart

• ProLiant Support Packs

• Smart Update Firmware DVD

Where we are…

• HP BladeSystems

Release Sets on FW DVD

• Redefining Firmware Best Practices

Where we’re going!

• HP Service Packs for ProLiant

• HP SUM, OA & VC Improvements

• Product Development and Testing Improvements

6/27/20115

BladeSystem Firmware Release Sets

• HP now releasing firmware release sets

–

First release set was January 2010

–

Most current and two back are supported

• Customers will be asked to update ONLY if a feature/fix is needed

• If an individual component is released after the current release

set is made available, it will be tested and supported with the current release set

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BladeSystem Firmware Release Sets

http://hp.com/go/bladesystemupdates

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Smart Update Firmware DVD=3 Tools all in 1 ISO!

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•

Comprehensive information including:–

Quick start–

Example scripts–

Best practices scenarios–

Troubleshooting–

Step-by-step installation instructions–

A living document

Available on BladeSystem Firmware Maintenance Page http://www.hp.com/go/bladesystemupdates

Firmware Best Practices Implementer’s Guide

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ONBOARD ADMINISTRATOR UPDATE

• Back up Onboard Administrator configuration

• Back up Virtual Connect configuration

• Update O/S drivers in Blade O/S

• Search www.hp.com/bizsupport

for different the items you are updating to see if there are any support advisories to which you should be aware

• Read the release notes for the updates

To Do Items Before Updating Firmware

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To Do Items Before Updating Firmware

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• To save the settings of the enclosure:

–

Start Capture mode of terminal emulation, i.e. Putty Logging

–

OA > show all

–

Stop Capture mode of terminal emulation and save file

–

Also do the same to capture the inventory of the enclosure:

• OA > show config

Onboard Administrator Backup Alternative

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THE ORDER OF UPDATING

In What Order do you Update Firmware?

Virtual Connect Ethernet firmware >=1.34, or no VC• Update the OA first. • Update Blades next. Use the Automatic or Interactive Modes to update any offline only firmware.

(If iLO < 1.78 update iLO first*)• Update VC firmware using the VCSU last.

Virtual Connect Ethernet firmware < 1.34

• Update VC firmware using the VCSU first • Update the OA next• Update the Blades last. Use Automatic or Interactive Modes to update any offline only firmware.

(If iLO < 1.78 update iLO first*)

If an operating system has already been installed:

*Can update all iLO easily with OA command “update ilo”

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AUTOMATIC MODE

• The Smart Update DVD Automatic Mode is the Firmware Deployment Tool (FDT)

–

This is on the Smart Update DVD

• Automatic Mode has been designed for those customers who do not have an installed operating system on their server blades yet or who want an unattended method of deploying firmware in an offline environment

• You have no control over what it will install

Automatic Mode

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• When using Automatic Mode, all feedback is provided through the UID lights

• Upon completion, the UID light is set to one of two states:

–

UID light is OFF

• The update process has completed and the server operating system

can be installed or the server restarted to its previous operating system

• UID blinks only while updating

• It can take a bit before the UID starts to blink

–

UID light is SOLID

• A firmware update failure has occurred requiring user attention

Automatic Mode

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What Can Automatic Mode Update?

Firmware Types Supported by Automatic Mode of the HP Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO (offline only)

System ROM Yes

iLO 2 Firmware Yes

Broadcom NIC Firmware Yes

NetXen

NIC Firmware Yes, beginning with version FDT 1.70

Power PIC Firmware Yes, beginning with version FDT 1.70

Smart Array controller Firmware Yes

SAS and SATA hard drive Firmware behind Smart Array controllers Yes

SAS and SATA hard drive Firmware behind non-Smart Array controllers No

Emulex, QLogic

and Brocade Fibre

Channel Host Bus Adapter Firmware Yes

Tape Blade Firmware Yes

Onboard Administrator Firmware No

Virtual Connect Firmware No

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Updating Multiple Blades At Once

OA

ILO on bladeILO on bladeILO on bladeILO on blade

Using OA USB key port to mount image for deployment through ILO Virtual Media to multiple blades at once

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Automatic Mode

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Onboard Administrator DVD Screen

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INTERACTIVE MODE

• In Interactive Mode, the HP Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO boots a small Linux kernel and enables firmware updates to take place on a single server using the embedded HP SUM software

• Because of the special boot environment, support for remote servers and hosts is not available

Interactive Mode

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What can Interactive Mode do?

Firmware Types Supported by Interactive Mode of the HP Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO (offline only)

System ROM Yes

iLO 2 Firmware Yes

Broadcom NIC Firmware Yes

NetXen

NIC Firmware Yes

Power PIC Firmware Yes

Smart Array controller Firmware Yes

SAS and SATA hard drive Firmware behind Smart Array controllers Yes

SAS and SATA hard drive Firmware behind non-Smart Array controllers No

Emulex, QLogic

and Brocade Fibre

Channel Host Bus Adapter Firmware Yes

Tape Blade Firmware Yes

Onboard Administrator Firmware Not in offline mode; can use the online mode of the HP Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO to update this type of Firmware

Virtual Connect Firmware Not in offline mode; can use the online mode of the HP Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO, or VCSU, to update this type of Firmware

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Single title placeholder

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• Do not mount the DVD ISO image via the iLO vmedia

–

This is only supported in Automatic Mode

• Mount the DVD via the dongle hooked to a DVD player or use the USB Key Utility to burn the ISO to a USB stick

• Do NOT try to attach to the iLO during the iLO update!!!!!!

• You can hook a monitor, keyboard and mouse along with the USB key via the dongle using a USB hub

Interactive Mode

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• Use the USB Key Creator v1.50 or later to create a USB key of the Smart Update Firmware DVD

• Available at www.hp.com/bizsupport–

Search on “USB Key Utility”

or look hp.com

under Drivers and Support for a specific blade. It will be shown Utility-Tools section for the blade when a Windows O/S is chosen.

• In the \hp\swpackages

directory you can add:

–

.scexe

(Linux FW components)

• HPSUM will automatically identify the additions

USB Key Creator

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ONLINE MODE

• The HP Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO is a collection of HP Smart

Update Manager (HP SUM), firmware smart components and the latest available driver smart components for Windows that have been tested together to ensure compatibility

• The Windows driver smart components are provided as a convenience for those customers who might not want to deploy a full PSP, but need the drivers to perform firmware update operations

• Online updates require an operating system installed on each target server

Online Mode (1of 4)

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• The BladeSystem Firmware Update Bundles are meant to be deployed

from a Windows or Linux workstation, PC, or server to servers running a

supported version of the same operating system

–

Deployment from a Windows workstation to a Linux server or from a Linux server to a Windows workstation is not supported at this time.

• For workgroup-level deployments of up to 20 servers or network-based devices such as OA and iLO 2, HP SUM should be used to update firmware

Online Mode (2 of 4)

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• Windows: Must have true Administrator login

• Linux: A root equivalent user is needed

• Windows: Must have WMI enabled

• Linux: ssh

must be enabled

Online Mode (3 of 4)

See Smart Update Firmware DVD User Guide at: ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/c-products/servers/management/smartstart/

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• Since Online Mode doesn’t provide the ability to update all possible firmware types, additional deployment deliverables must be used to ensure

all firmware is updated within a BladeSystem enclosure and to align with the HP BladeSystem Compatibility Chart

• To update the firmware that cannot be updated by Online Mode, use the Automatic Mode or Interactive Mode

• Beware Trusted Platform Module (TPM)

–Check the Smart Update Firmware DVD User Guide

Online Mode (4 of 4)

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What can Online Mode do?Firmware Types Supported by HP Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO

(Online mode, supports both local and remote deployment)System ROM YesiLO 2 Firmware Yes, both server-based and directly to the iLO Management portBroadcom NIC Firmware Yes

Intel NIC Firmware Not in online mode. Must boot to the HP Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO to update this type of firmware

NetXen

NIC Firmware Not in online mode. Must boot to the HP Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO to update this type of firmware

Power PIC Firmware YesSmart Array controller Firmware YesSAS and SATA hard drive Firmware behind Smart Array controllers

Yes, some older SATA drives might not be supported if they are for offline only deployment

SAS and SATA hard drive Firmware behind non-Smart Array controllers No

Emulex, QLogic

and Brocade Fibre

Channel Host Bus Adapter Firmware

Not in online mode. Must boot to the HP Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO to update this type of firmware

Tape Blade Firmware YesOnboard Administrator Firmware YesVirtual Connect Firmware Yes

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VIRTUAL CONNECT UPDATE

• There are multiple ways to update Virtual Connect Modules• Smart Update Firmware DVD Online Method• Virtual Connect Support Utility(VCSU)*• Virtual Connect Manager Interface < 3.0 version

• *VCSU is a Windows, Linux (Redhat

4 & 5, SLES 10 & 11 for x86), and HP-UX 11.31based CLI -

Latest release is 1.5.2• Available at www.hp.com/bizsupport

• Search for Virtual Connect Support Utility

Virtual Connect Updates

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VCSU Pre-Update Tasks

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• The "update" action is used to update the firmware on supported VC-Enet

and VC-FC modules in the enclosure

–

The update process takes approximately 20 minutes for each VC-Enet

module and 5 minutes for each VC-FC module that will be updated (Your time may vary!)

• Do not close the console application if a firmware update is in progress

–

If the application is closed before the update completes, it may

cause module firmware to not be updated properly and could result in the module firmware being inoperative

• C:> vcsu

-a update –i <Active OA> –u <OA user> -p p<OA password> -l d:\vcfw###.

VCSU Update

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VCSU Update

Actual Update

Status Summary

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VCSU Update Results As Seen From VC Manager

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• Onboard Administrator firmware 1.30 or higher is required on the

target enclosure for VCSU

• During firmware update operations, the modules are unavailable for use

• During a firmware update session, only use a single client to update modules in a specific remote enclosure

• If the firmware update client is interrupted or loses network connectivity during the update, reset the affected module and restart the firmware update process–

Power off/on enclosure as a last resort!

• Do not reset or update OA while updating VC!

Virtual Connect Notes (1 of 2)

6/27/201144

• The utility displays a progress message indicating that an update is in progress and the percentage completed

• If a firewall is getting in the way of workstation running VCSU and OA/Ethernet VC hook PC directly to OA on the back of the enclosure

• If update is interrupted reset VC module

–

Power enclosure on/off as last resort!

Virtual Connect Notes (2 of 2)

6/27/201145

Find out more

Attend these sessions

•

Session ID, Title

Date and time •

Session ID, Title

Date and time•

Session ID, Title

Date and time

Visit these demos After the event

•

Demo name

Location •

Demo name

Location •

Demo name

Location

•

Visit www.hp.com/go/...•

Contact your sales rep•

Schedule a __________

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THANK YOU