BLADESYSTEM FIRMWARE UPDATES BEST PRACTICES

BLADESYSTEM FIRMWARE UPDATES BEST PRACTICES

BLADESYSTEM FIRMWARE UPDATES BEST PRACTICES Session 3547 Greg Fields Hewlett Packard Account Support Manager Minneapolis, Minnesota 2011 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice

My Background Greg Fields 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. 3

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 5

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 6

BladeSystem Firmware Release Sets http://hp.com/go/bladesystemupdates 7

Smart Update Firmware DVD=3 Tools all in 1 ISO! 8

Firmware Best Practices Implementer s Guide 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 9

ONBOARD ADMINISTRATOR UPDATE

To Do Items Before Updating Firmware 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 11

To Do Items Before Updating Firmware 12

Onboard Administrator Backup Alternative 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 13

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THE ORDER OF UPDATING

In What Order do you Update Firmware? If an operating system has already been installed: 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*) *Can update all ilo easily with OA command update ilo 16

AUTOMATIC MODE

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 18

Automatic Mode 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 19

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 Emulex, QLogic and Brocade Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter Firmware Tape Blade Firmware Onboard Administrator Firmware Virtual Connect Firmware No Yes Yes No No 20

Updating Multiple Blades At Once OA ILO on blade ILO on blade ILO on blade ILO on blade Using OA USB key port to mount image for deployment through ILO Virtual Media to multiple blades at once 21

Automatic Mode 22

Onboard Administrator DVD Screen 23

INTERACTIVE MODE

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 25

What can Interactive Mode do? Firmware Types System ROM ilo 2 Firmware Broadcom NIC Firmware NetXen NIC Firmware Power PIC Firmware Smart Array controller Firmware SAS and SATA hard drive Firmware behind Smart Array controllers SAS and SATA hard drive Firmware behind non-smart Array controllers Emulex, QLogic and Brocade Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter Firmware Tape Blade Firmware Onboard Administrator Firmware Virtual Connect Firmware Supported by Interactive Mode of the HP Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO (offline only) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Not in offline mode; can use the online mode of the HP Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO to update this type of 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 26

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Interactive Mode 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 29

USB Key Creator 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 30

ONLINE MODE

Online Mode (1of 4) 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 32

Online Mode (2 of 4) 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 33

Online Mode (3 of 4) Windows: Must have true Administrator login Linux: A root equivalent user is needed Windows: Must have WMI enabled Linux: ssh must be enabled See Smart Update Firmware DVD User Guide at: ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/c-products/servers/management/smartstart/ 34

Online Mode (4 of 4) 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 35

What can Online Mode do? Firmware Types System ROM ilo 2 Firmware Broadcom NIC Firmware Intel NIC Firmware NetXen NIC Firmware Power PIC Firmware Smart Array controller Firmware SAS and SATA hard drive Firmware behind Smart Array controllers SAS and SATA hard drive Firmware behind non-smart Array controllers Emulex, QLogic and Brocade Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter Firmware Tape Blade Firmware Onboard Administrator Firmware Virtual Connect Firmware Supported by HP Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO (Online mode, supports both local and remote deployment) Yes Yes, both server-based and directly to the ilo Management port Yes Not in online mode. Must boot to the HP Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO to update this type of firmware Not in online mode. Must boot to the HP Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO to update this type of firmware Yes Yes Yes, some older SATA drives might not be supported if they are for offline only deployment No Not in online mode. Must boot to the HP Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO to update this type of firmware Yes Yes Yes 36

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VIRTUAL CONNECT UPDATE

Virtual Connect Updates 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 39

VCSU Pre-Update Tasks 40

VCSU Update 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###. 41

VCSU Update Status Summary Actual Update 42

VCSU Update Results As Seen From VC Manager 43

Virtual Connect Notes (1 of 2) 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! 44

Virtual Connect Notes (2 of 2) 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! 45

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