BladeSystem Firmware Update Procedure

BladeSystem Firmware
Update Procedure
Revision 3.7
The BladeSystem Update Procedure is a step by step guide on how to update the different components
of a BladeSystem enclosure.
BladeSystem Firmware Update Procedure
Contents
Revision History ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Pre-Update Tasks .......................................................................................................................................... 4
Backup OA Configuration and Inventory .................................................................................................. 4
Backup Virtual Connect Configuration...................................................................................................... 5
Download Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO or Service Pack for Proliant ............................................... 5
Order of Updates .......................................................................................................................................... 6
If an operating system has already been installed ................................................................................... 6
Updating iLO Firmware ................................................................................................................................. 8
Update iLO Command ............................................................................................................................... 8
Onboard Administrator (OA) Update.......................................................................................................... 11
Method 1 ................................................................................................................................................ 11
Updating via the OA GUI ..................................................................................................................... 11
Method 2 ................................................................................................................................................ 12
Updating via HPSUM ........................................................................................................................... 12
Method 3 ................................................................................................................................................ 13
OA CLI Update Image Command......................................................................................................... 13
Updating Blade Firmware Offline Using the Automatic or Interactive Method ......................................... 16
Method 1 ................................................................................................................................................ 17
Mounting iLO Media for Automatic Update ....................................................................................... 17
Powering on the Blade ........................................................................................................................ 18
Method 2 ................................................................................................................................................ 22
Making a Bootable USB Stick .............................................................................................................. 22
Using the Bootable USB Stick Interactively ......................................................................................... 23
Method 3 ................................................................................................................................................ 26
Automatic Update via the OA USB Port .............................................................................................. 26
Method 4 ................................................................................................................................................ 27
Automatic Update using Enclosure Firmware Management (EFM) ................................................... 27
Offline Updates for Gen 8 servers .............................................................................................................. 31
Method 5 .................................................................................................................................................... 35
Online Updates ....................................................................................................................................... 35
Online Updates using SIM 7.X & VCRM 7.X ............................................................................................ 42
December 2012 Page 2

Integrity i2 Blades Update .......................................................................................................................... 45
Virtual Connect Update .............................................................................................................................. 52
VCSU Tool and VC Firmware ................................................................................................................... 52
Backing up the VC ................................................................................................................................... 54
Healthcheck Command ........................................................................................................................... 55
Resetvcm Command .............................................................................................................................. 56
Update Command ................................................................................................................................... 57
Downgrading Firmware .............................................................................................................................. 63
Pass-thru Updates ....................................................................................................................................... 65
Modifying Firmware ISO ............................................................................................................................. 68
Revision History
Version Change
2.7 Clarified where VC updates can be downloaded in VC Tool & Firmware section
2.8 Added Pass-thru updates & vcsu –a update –oe parallel –of parallel options in VC
Update Command section
2.9 Added notes for live VC updates in VC Update Command section
3.0 Added notes on iLO updates in Order of Updates section
3.1 Added new section on how to modify the firmware ISO in section Modifying Firmware
ISO
3.2 Added a section on updating i2 Integrity Blades. Also added the Service Pack for
Proliant as a new tool that can be used to update firmware.
3.3 Updated Method 4 Online Updates to show new SUM process
3.4 Updated USB Key Utility section
3.5 Added section on using SIM to update to the SPP and Gen 8 offline updates
3.6 Clarified update order steps
3.7 Added Method 4 Automatic Update using Enclosure Firmware Maintenance (EFM)

Pre-Update Tasks
Backup OA Configuration and Inventory
a) Use the first highlighted “Click here” to save the OA settings. This can also be accomplished
via the OA CLI capturing the output of command “show all”.
b) Use the second highlighted “Click here” to save the OA inventory. This can also be
accomplished via the OA CLI capturing the output of command “show config”. This is a good
reference for a before/after look of what the OA sees after an update if problems are
encountered.

Backup Virtual Connect Configuration
Use the Virtual Connect (VC) Browser to backup the configuration as shown here. VCSU (Virtual
Connect Support Utility) can also be used to save the VC configuration with this command:
vcsu -a configbackup -i <OA IP> -u <OA user> -p <OA password>
Download Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO or Service Pack for Proliant
1. Go to http://hp.com/go/bladesystemupdates
At the bottom of the Compatibility tab is the download for the Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO.
Note the downloaded ISO is the most recent Release Set as shown in the Compatibility chart.
2. Starting September 2011 a new option is available called Service Pack for Proliant (SPP). The
SPP will have the Smart Update Firmware in it as well as the Proliant Support Pack for Windows
and Linux. The SPP ISO can be used for offline or online installations just like the Smart Update
Firmware ISO. The SPP is available at www.hp.com/go/spp. The SPP and the Release Set will run
in parallel until mid 2012. From that point forward the SPP will be the go forward tool for
firmware updates.

Order of Updates
If an operating system has already been installed

Virtual Connect Ethernet firmware >=1.34, or no VC
− Update the OA first. (See note below on iLO updates.)
− Update the blades next. (See note below on iLO updates.) Before updating
blades firmware update OS drivers. For VMware check for updated network
drivers, FC drivers, and storage array controller driver for the ESX host. Also
make sure NMI driver is installed.
− Use the offline Automatic or offline Interactive Modes to update any offline only
HBA
− Update VC firmware last using the Virtual Connect Support Uility (VCSU) last.
Virtual Connect Ethernet firmware < 1.34
− Update VC firmware using the Virtual Connect Support Utility (VCSU) first.
− Update the OA next. (See note below on iLO updates.)
− Update the blades last. (See note below on iLO updates.) Before updating
blades firmware update OS drivers. For VMware check for updated network
drivers, FC drivers, and storage array controller driver for the ESX host. Also
make sure NMI driver is installed.
− Use offline Automatic or offline Interactive Modes to update any offline only
HBA firmware
If no operating system has been installed

This is a corner case for an enclosure that has set offline for quite some time. This proceure doesn’t
apply to new enclosure/blades without an OS since those come in with the current firmware. See
*Note below.
Virtual Connect Ethernet firmware >= 1.34
• Update the OA first (See note below on iLO updates.)
• Update VC firmware using the Virtual Connect Support Utility (VCSU) next.
• Use offline Automatic or offline Interactive mode to update the blades last.

Virtual Connect Ethernet firmware < 1.34
• Update VC firmware using the Virtual Connect Support Utility (VCSU) first.
• Update the OA next. (See note below on iLO updates.)
• Use offline Automatic or offline Interactive mode to update the blades last.
*NOTE: Because an enclosure may not have a supported level of firmware on the OA, VC, and blades,
especially if they have sat on a shelf for a while before deployment, HP typically recommends the OA
firmware be updated first. These recommendations are being made because out-of-date OA and VC
firmware can cause issues that prevent blade servers from even powering on. Thus, using the Smart
Update Firmwarea DVD to update the OA firmware should be the first step in updating the enclosure
firmware. The second step should be to update the VC firmware in the firmware update strategy for
enclosures without an existing OS installed.
NOTE: iLO Updates There are several things to consider for the iLO.
1. If the iLO < 1.78 it is a good idea to update all the blade’s iLO before updating the OA. This is to
avoid going from a very old OA to a current OA that has problems understanding the old iLO
version. See the next section on updating the iLO.
2. If the iLO < 1.78 the iLO should be updated before updating the entire blade to avoid problems
with the Blade’s Power Maintenance Control update. Customer Advisory c01668472 covers this.
See the next section on updating the iLO.
3. Updating the iLO before updating the other items in the blade is a good way to uncover any
problems that may exist with the iLO that may require physically reseating the blade or cutting
power to the blade using the “reset server” command from the OA CLI. These iLO problems can
be seen with older blades that haven’t been updated in quite some time. See the next section
on updating the iLO.

Updating iLO Firmware

If the iLO < 1.78 it is recommended to first update the iLO before because the Power Management
Control (PMC) depends on having the iLO > = 1.78.
Update iLO Command
1. The iLO can be updated via the iLO Web Administration interface but it is very easy to do
multiple iLOs via the OA CLI. The iLO bin file can be made available to the OA via HTTP,
HTTPS, TFTP, and FTP. To get the iLO update file go to
http://hp.com/go/bladesystemupdates Under the Compatibility tab you will see the
download link for the iLO. Pick the windows link for the iLO bin file. Get into the OA CLI
using ssh or telnet. Your user login must have full Administrator capability for the OA. If
you serve up the iLO bin file via anonymous ftp this is what it would look like using
command:
update ilo (Bay# or all) ftp://adress/ilo#_XXX.bin

2. Upon completion you will see this result.

3. Now check the success of the update using this command:
show server info ( Bay # or all)
The updated version of the iLO takes a couple of minutes before it is visible.

Onboard Administrator (OA) Update

The OA can be updated online using one of several methods:
1. Using the OA GUI go to Active Onboard Administrator menu and then to Firmware Update.
2. Using HPSUM
3. Using the OA CLI (This requires the least amount of steps.)
Method 1
Updating via the OA GUI
1. Log into the OA GUI. Go to the Active Onboard Administrator and then to “Firmware Updates”.
The highlighted choice below is used to browse to the OA .bin file to update both the Active and
Standby OA. To get the OA update file go to http://hp.com/go/bladesystemupdates Under the
Compatibility tab you will see the download link for the OA. Download the Windows version to
obtain the .bin file.

Method 2
Updating via HPSUM
See Blade Updates Method 4: Online Updates for an example of how to update the OA.

Method 3
OA CLI Update Image Command
1. Log into the OA and use the “update image” command. Note that “sync” is used after specifying
the anonymous ftp server. The sync option will update both the Active and Standby OA. To get
the OA update file go to http://hp.com/go/bladesystemupdates Under the Compatibility tab you
will see the Windows download link for the OA. The sync option will update both the active and
standby OA. Use ssh or telnet to get into the OA. Your user must have full Administrator rights
for the OA. The process will look like this.

2. The process will complete as shown. Note the connection to the OA is dropped after the update.
3. Once the OA has been updated the version can be checked with the “show oa info” command.

4. The OA firmware version can also be checked via the OA GUI “Rack Firmware”.

Updating Blade Firmware Offline Using the Automatic or Interactive

Method
There are multiple ways to update blade firmware offline:
1. Mount the Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO or full SPP ISO via the iLO Virtual Media and update
the blade offline Automatically.
2. Making a bootable USB stick with the Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO or the full SPP ISO using
USB Key Util and update the blades offline Interactively. Requires physical access to the blade
enclosure.
3. Copying the Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO or the full SPP ISO to a FAT32 formated USB stick
and plug into the active OA USB port. The iso can then be mounted to the blades via the OA’s
DVD drive screen to update the blades offline Automatically. Requires physical access to the
blade enclosure.
4. Update using Onboard Administrator Enclosure Firmware Management (EFM) This requires OA
firmware 3.60 or higher.
5. Update the blade online Interactively using either the Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO or the
appropriate SPP ISO. This requires an O/S installed on the server. An ESX/ESXi host can NOT be
updated online until 2H 2012 and then it will be ESX 5.0. It must be done offline with either
method 1, 2, or 3.
Gen 8 blades can use the built in Intelligent Provisioning to update the blade offline.

Method 1
Mounting iLO Media for Automatic Update

1. Go into the blade’s Integrated Remote Console (iLO) and mount the Smart Update Firmware
DVD ISO or full SPP ISO by clicking on the Virtual Media icon as shown. Use the Image mount.
Note: This method requires a sold network connection between the blades’ iLO and the laptop
this is being run from.

Powering on the Blade

2. Power on the blade using the iLO power button as seen in the previous screen. After the blade
boots you will see this screen showing the boot progress.

3. Next you will see a screen saying the system is being analyzed.

4. The next screen will look like this. When the iLO is updated the iLO connection will be dropped.
DO NOT attempt to log back in until after the blade has rebooted. Instead go to the OA “Rack

Firmware” screen to see when the blade has been updated. Trying to get into the iLO too soon
could result in an interrupted update process and possibly a need to replace the blade’s system
board.
The blue UID light on the front of the blade will flash while the iLO is being updated. Once all the
blade updates are complete the UID light will turn off. If it stays on solid then the update failed.
If possible log back into the iLO to see the error.

Method 2
Making a Bootable USB Stick
1. Download the USB Key Utility from www.hp.com/bizsupport or go to www.hp.com and click on
“Support and Drivers”, type in your blade type such as BL460c, download drivers and software,
and then choose one of the Windows operating systems. Here you will find the USB Key Utility.
After installing the USB Key Utility run it.
2. Create a bootable USB stick from the Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO or full SPP ISO.

Using the Bootable USB Stick Interactively

3. Using the dongle cable that came with the blade enclosure hook up the USB stick to a blade.
Now boot the blade by powering it on via the OA Device Bays Virtual Power setting. You can also

hook up a display, USB keyboard, and a USB mouse to the dongle. A USB hub will be needed to
hook up all three USB devices. As an alternative you can use the iLO to get to the blade console
but when the iLO is updated your connection will be dropped. Do not log back into the iLO until
after the blade has rebooted or you risk interrupting the update process, which could result in a
need to replace the blade system board. This is what you will see upon boot. (In this example
SmartStart 8.40 was also burned to the USB stick.)

4. Note the next screen will show automatic as the default choice. To do the update interactively
and pick the items that will be updated use the keyboard down arrow key to get into Interactive
mode. The screens that follow will allow you to pick what will be updated on the blade.

Method 3
Automatic Update via the OA USB Port
1. Note: OA must be >=2.32 for this to work. To boot a USB stick from the Active OA USB port do
the following:
a) Format a USB stick for FAT 32 file system
b) Copy the Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO or full SPP ISO to the stick
c) Plug the USB stick into the Active OA USB port
d) In the OA GUI go to the “DVD Drive” under Enclosure Settings. Use the pull down for DVD
and you will see the Smart Update Firmware DVD ISO or SPP ISO. Mount this to the desired
blades but no more than 8 blades at a time or you risk encountering an error. Now power
on the blades via the OA Device Bays Virtual Power setting. The blades will automatically
start to update and once finished will reboot. You can confirm the firmware was updated via
the OA GUI “Rack Firmware” screen.
Note: If you see a sticker over the USB port on the OA that says “Intended for Future Use”
you need to pull the sticker off. Underneath you will find the USB port. The USB port was
enabled in OA firmware 2.00.

Method 4
Automatic Update using Enclosure Firmware Management (EFM)
Starting with Onboard Administrator firmware 3.60 a new feature has been added called Enclosure
Firmware Management (EFM). EFM can be used to update blade firmware and also to give more
firmware details of the different pieces of the blade that previously were not reported when looking at
the Rack Firmware tab in the OA. Items like LOM, mezzanine cards, smart array, and disk drive firmware
are now reported. Here is an example of what is reported when using EFM to update or discover
firmware.
If you have the original OA EFM isn’t support because of memory restrictions. You will see this message
when looking at EFM if the OA isn’t support.
Enclosure Firmware Management is not supported on the following Onboard Administrator hardware
modules:
 HP BladeSystem c3000 Onboard Administrator (PN# 448589-B21, 461514-B21)

 HP BladeSystem c7000 Onboard Administrator (PN# 412142-B21)
To get the extended firmware report as shown above you can use EFM to update or discover the
firmware. The following example shows a manual update using EFM.

1. First go the EFM Settings tab to configure the options. You can use a URL to provide the SPP ISO
to the blades or a USB stick with the SPP ISO on it plugged into the active OA USB port. You can
also use a DVD drive hooked up to the enclosure with bootable disk made from the SPP. In this
example a USB stick with the ISO was used.
You need to configure how the blade firmware will be updated and discovered.
Finally you chose which blades will use EFM. If you want to do all blades just click on the top box for
“Firmware Manage All Servers”.

2. To manually update the blades go to the EFM Manual Update tab. The division has stated you
should not do more than 8 blades at a time when updating.
3. When you hit “Start Manual Update” you will see the rack view of the blades shows a spinning
circle for each blade being updated.

If you look at the information tab of a blade being update it will report Enclosure Firmware Maintenance
when looking at the blade’s status.
4. If you are watching the iLO console you will see this screen twice. You don’t need to do anything
when this appears. Just leave it alone and the update will continue.
Using EFM to update does take longer because it first does an update and then it boots again to do the
discovery of the firmware versions of the different pieces within the blade. The screen above is seen
twice because the first time is when it is updating and the second time is during the discovery process.
You can use EFM to just do a manual discover to see all the firmware versions. It is not required to
update to see all the firmware versions. A manual discover does take downtime since the blade needs to
boot from the SPP ISO.

Offline Updates for Gen 8 servers
Gen 8 servers have a built in option that can be used to update firmware offline. It will use the latest
available SPP to update the firmware. During boot hit the F10 key to get into Intelligent Provisioning.
You will see this screen next. Pick Perform Maintenance.
NOTE: You can also set up a local web server to provide an SPP for the Gen 8 server to use instead of it
going to HP for the bits. This way you could pick which SPP you want the Gen 8 to update from. Look at
page 43 of the Intelligent Provisioning manual available here:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c03182305/c03182305.pdf

The next screen will appear. Click on Firmware Update

The system will now communicate with HP via the Internet to compare the installed firmware to the
available firmware. NOTE: You will need Internet access so it can talk to HP.

The next screen will show you if there are any updates to be applied. Click on the items you want to
update and click on Install in the lower right hand corner.
The update will continue with progress being reported. Once it is complete hit the Reboot button.

Method 5
Online Updates
1. Extract the SPP ISO to your disk drive by mounting the ISO via a utility available from the web
such as Virtual CloneDrive, which is free. Do not use a Release Set ISO for this. Starting with SPP
2012.01.0 HP SUM 5.0 is used, which has many improvements. Within the extracted ISO go to
directory hp\swpackages. You can update both Windows and Linux servers from a Windows
workstation running hpsum starting with SPP 2012.01.0. If you run hpsum on a Linux
workstation you can only update Linux blades. Here you will run hpsum to start the Smart
Update Manager. ESX 5 servers can be done online with a later release of the SPP.

2. Go through the introduction screens until you see the repositories screen. Here you will see the
default repository is what the SPP ISO provides.

3. Highlight the default repository and click Edit Repository. Here you can pick if you want to do
firmware, software, or both.

4. Next you can add the targets you want to update. If you put in the OA it will self discover the
Virtual Connect and all iLOs in the enclosure. You will need to add a network address for each
blade so it can update all other firmware items in the blade. You can add a single target or a
range of IP addresses to search.

5. Here is an OA being added.
6. Here is a single blade after it has been added.

7. Here is the self discovery that is done after the OA is added. Note that it finds the VC & all iLO.
8. You will need to add the credentials for the VC separately. It will do a health check on the VC
before adding it to the list of items to be updated. If it fails the health check it will NOT update.

9. You can define the reboot options or you can pick Reboot Now button at the end of the process.
10. Last, check all items in the list and click on install. You will get progress messages as it updates.

11. Once the update is done you can see the results and click on View Log to get the details.
Online Updates using SIM 7.X & VCRM 7.X
Systems Insight Manager (SIM) can use the SPP to update servers. This can be advantageous since the
servers are already discovered in SIM and if the credentials are set up in SIM they wouldn’t need to
entered as they are with Software Update Manager (SUM).
First you must set up a Version Control Repository (VCRM) to hold the SPP. The VCRM can be on the SIM
server or it could be on another server separate from SIM. Here are the steps.
1. Download the SPP

2. Unzip the update zip file to your PC
3. Get into the System Management Homepage (SMH) of the server that will provide the Version
Control Repository (VCRM) that will contain the SPP. This can be the same server where SIM is running.
To get into SMH go to https://server:2381
4. Click HP Version Control Repository Manager on the System Management Homepage.
NOTE: HP SPP requires VCRM version 7.0 or later.
7. Click Upload a support pack. Browse to the hp/swpackages folder where you unzipped the SPP.
8. After the SPP is uploaded it will rebuild the repository catalog. When the catalog is complete you
should see the SPP listed under the catalog tab.

9. Now tell SIM where your VCRM is. Go to Options->Software/Firmware->Version Control Repository
10. Click on the server you will use for your VCRM and hit ok.
11. Click on the system or systems you wish to update. Then go to Deploy->Software/Firmware
Baseline->Manage Software/Firmware Baselines

12. Hit Assign to Baseline, pick your baseline, and then hit Save
13. You will now see the system is assigned to a baseline. Next you can hit Update to Baseline to
update the firmware and drivers.
14. A new window will pop up for your update dialog. Note you have several options to choose
from for Windows systems regarding the Version Control Agent (VCA) when doing an online SPP
deployment. Once you have picked your option hit Run Now in the lower right hand corner. This
will update firmware and drivers and reboot the server if you checked the “Reboot systems if
necessary after successful install” box.

Integrity i2 Blades Update
Integrity blades use HPSUM to update. The i2 blade firmware is not in the Service Pack for Proliant. I2 blades
have their own firmware packaged with HPSUM.
I2 blades have their own Integrity Release Sets. Those can be seen at:
http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/blades/integrity-release-sets.html
Download HPSUM that contains the i2 blade firmware. It would be a link something like this:
2011.09, 2011.10 (HPSUM Windows bundle with OA)

2011.09, 2011.10 (HPSUM Linux bundle with OA)

Download the version that matches the workstation you will run HPSUM on. Unzip the package and click on
hpsum.exe for Windows or ./hpsum for Linux. Be aware the blade must be rebooted in order for the firmware
update to take place. You will be presented with a few screens that contain general information and then you
will get to this screen:
Click Next

Click Add Single Target. Input the address of your iLO. (Excuse the scribbles!)

Adding the iLO

After adding targets click Next and then click reboot options
Note the reboot delay and the reboot message do not apply to Integrity Servers. When you get back to the
main screen click Install.

The installation starts. The time depends how big the blade is. BL860c i2 blades are the quickest because they
are a single blade.

Once it is finished it will show the status. You can click on View Log to get more details. Confirm from the OA
Rack Firmware page the blade firmware has been updated.

Virtual Connect Update

Starting with version 3.X the Virtual Connect (VC) must be updated using Virtual Connect Support Utility
(VCSU). The VC Manager can no longer be used to update the VC starting at version 3.00 and beyond.
NOTE: You run hpsum online to update VC firmware also. Go to Method 4: Online Update for details.
VCSU Tool and VC Firmware

1. Go to www.hp.com , click on SUPPORT AND DRIVERS, and enter your model of Virtual Connect.
Here is an example of searching on Virtual Connect Flex 10.

You can click on one of the O/S links to get the VC bin file. You will also need to download the Virtual
Connect Support Utility (VCSU) from many of the O/S links. You should always use the latest version of
VCSU when doing update. Here is what the VC bin file looks like.

Backing up the VC
2. First backup the VC configuration. Note: The VCM Domain user credentials vcsu asks for after
the initial command must have full Adminstrator capabilities for the VCM domain. This is true
for all vcsu commands. If you are using VC Enterprise Manager (VCEM) this step is not necessary.
NOTE: Any enclosure managed by VCEM must first be put into maintenance mode before
using VCSU!
vcsu -a configbackup -i <Active OA IP> -u <OA user> -p <OA password or *>
Note that * can be used in place of the password so the password isn’t shown in clear text.

Healthcheck Command
3. After backing up the VC configuration run a healthcheck to confirm all is well.
vcsu -a healthcheck –i <Active OA> -u <OA user> -p <OA password or *>

Resetvcm Command
4. The results of the healthcheck should look like this. Each module should show Passed and In
Sync. If it doesn’t show a status of In Sync then try this command to sync them.
vcsu -a resetvcm -i <Active OA IP> -u <OA user> -p <OA password or *>
Do not update until the healthcheck passes!

Update Command
5. Now do the VC update online using the update command. If VCEM is being used the domain
group must be put into maintenance mode first.
vcsu -a update –i <Active OA> –u <OA user> -p <OA password or *> -l d:\vcpackage –we 5
Note: The .bin file was used to upgrade the VC. The .bin file can be downloaded from the web at
http://hp.com/go/bladesystemupdates
 The –we 5 option is needed when doing an online update to delay the booting of the VC
Ethernet modules
 Redundant network and fabric paths needed for online updates
 Ensure NIC and FC HBA drivers are up to date
 Disable HA mode in ESX to prevent failover
 There will be a brief interruption (Up to 12 seconds) as Ethernets fail over when using
redundant Ethernet modules
If items fail to update see items below.

If you have downtime for the entire enclosure you can cut the update time almost in half by using the
parallel options for Ethernet and Fiber Channel modules. Using these options will cause a reset on the
modules so you MUST have downtime or you will have network or FC interruptions.
vcsu -a update –i <Active OA> –u <OA user> -p <OA password or *> -l d:\vcpackage –oe parallel –of
parallel
 If modules won’t update disable the firewall on your PC.

 If modules still will not update power them off, physically reset the module, and try the update
again.
 If certain modules still won’t update do them one at a time:
vcsu –a update –i <Active OA> –u <OA user> –p <OA password> –l d:vcpackage –b <bay
number> –f health,version –q –vcu <VCM User> -vcp <VCM password>
6. Notice it confirms what modules will be updated.

7. The progress is shown starting in step 2.

8. The progress continues in step 3.

9. Success!

10. Check the firmware levels via the OA GUI using “Rack Firmware” link. Also, log into the VC
Manager and confirm the VC Manager can talk to all the VC modules. (Log into VCEM if using it.)
If it can’t there will be a ? next to each module. If that is the case follow the instructions shown
when drilling down into the Ethernet module. This will show you how to get the VC to log into
the OA again.
11. One final check can be done by running the vcsu –a healthcheck command again to confirm
everything looks ok.

Downgrading Firmware
To downgrade the current revision of firmware fall back to an earlier Smart Update Firmware DVD IS,
SPP ISO, or load the individual component you wish to downgrade to. If you are doing the downgrade
online using HPSUM place the Windows or Linux version of the individual component firmware into the
hp/swpackage sub directory where the ISO was extracted to. Whether you pick Windows or Linux
depends on the OS of the workstation where you are running HPSUM from. If the downgrade is done
offline with a bootable USB stick place the Linux component in the hp/swpackages of the USB stick. (The
Windows version of the individual component will not work if put on the USB stick.)
Before getting to the screen shown here make sure you do not pick a specific bundle when given the
choice. HPSUM will recognize the individual piece of firmware you copied into hp/swpackages if you do
not pick a bundle.
When running either online or offline interactively you will get to a screen like this that shows what
version of the firmware is installed and available. Click on the “Installation Options” on the right hand
side and click both boxes as shown. Note here the Smart Array has an earlier version available.

Click on the item you wish to downgrade as shown in this example for the Smart Array. CAUTION!
Always be aware of the dependencies the piece you are downgrading has with the other BladeSystem
pieces. Check dependencies at http://hp.com/go/bladesystemupdates under the Compatibility tab.

Pass-thru Updates
If you have Ethernet or Fiber Pass-thru devices in your Interconnect Bays use this procedure to update
them. One word of caution! This is not an on-line update. You must plan on a reset to the Pass-thru
modules when you are updating them.
After the OA has been upgraded you will have the latest Pass-thru firmware because it is included with
the OA update. From the OA CLI it is an easy process to update the firmware. In this example 2.4.3 is the
current version and 2.10.3 is the new version.
First look at the current version Pass-thru firmware from the OA CLI using the update show command.
OA -> update show

Now update the firmware in the Pass-thu using the update command. The same syntax is used for both
Ethernet and Fiber Pass Thru.
OA -> update device icbay 3a
Do the same for the other bays using Pass-thru.
OA -> update device icbay 4a

Finally, confirm the updates show as the current version.
OA -> update show

Modifying Firmware ISO

The contents of the ISO can be modified to customize the installation. You will need a tool that can
mount an ISO, modify it, and recreate it. In this example UltraISO is used. UltraISO requires you purchase
a license to allow you to edit a large ISO.
You can also modify a USB stick made with the USB Key Utility in much the same manner except you will
be modifying the USB stick itself, which means a utility like UltraISO is not needed.
Note: If you modify the ISO you could be taking it out of what was tested with the Release Set. In this
example the external storage vendor didn’t support the latest Emulex update so a modification was
necessary.
1. Mount the Firmware ISO using UltraISO. Find the xml file that is for Linux Blades and extract it to
a location so you can edit it with WordPad.

2. This is the xml file you should edit as seen by clicking on the xml file. Notice how it is for Linux
and Blades.

3. In this example the Emulex FC firmware will be changed to a release the storage vendor
supports. (The current version provided with the release set was too new for the storage vendor
so the file was edited to the previous version.) Find the line that shows the current version,
which is CP014480 and edit it to be the previous version. The previous version is
CP013352.scexe.
Edit this line to read CP013352.scexe.

4. Delete the original bp000913.xml file and drop in your edited bp00913.xml back into the ISO.
5. Find the Emulex update you are changing and delete it. CP014480.scexe is the one that came
with the Release Set. Note: Always modify the .scexe since offline updates are done using a
Linux kernel. All .exe files are for online Windows updates, not offline updates.

6. Drop in CP013352.scexe so the ISO will use this update for the Emulex.
7. Go to menu item File -> Save As to save your modified ISO. The ISO can now be used to update
blades. It will put on the Emulex firmware provided in CP013352.scexe.

BladeSystem Firmware Update Procedure

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BladeSystem Firmware

December 2012 Page 2

Update Command section

2.9 Added notes for live VC updates in VC Update Command section

3.0 Added notes on iLO updates in Order of Updates section

3.3 Updated Method 4 Online Updates to show new SUM process

3.4 Updated USB Key Utility section

3.6 Clarified update order steps

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Backup OA Configuration and Inventory

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Backup Virtual Connect Configuration

vcsu -a configbackup -i <OA IP> -u <OA user> -p <OA password>

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If an operating system has already been installed

− Update the OA first. (See note below on iLO updates.)

Virtual Connect Ethernet firmware < 1.34

− Update the OA next. (See note below on iLO updates.)

If no operating system has been installed

Virtual Connect Ethernet firmware >= 1.34

• Update the OA first (See note below on iLO updates.)

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• Update the OA next. (See note below on iLO updates.)

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Updating iLO Firmware

Update iLO Command

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2. Upon completion you will see this result.

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show server info ( Bay # or all)

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Onboard Administrator (OA) Update

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Updating Blade Firmware Offline Using the Automatic or Interactive

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Mounting iLO Media for Automatic Update

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Powering on the Blade

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Using the Bootable USB Stick Interactively

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 HP BladeSystem c3000 Onboard Administrator (PN# 448589-B21, 461514-B21)

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Offline Updates for Gen 8 servers

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The next screen will appear. Click on Firmware Update

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