Flash-Updating Your Server

This chapter describes how to update your to Release 1.3 from earlier releases. See the following sections:

Flash Updating Your Server

Verifying the Firmware Version

Recovering from a Failed Flash Update

Updating LSI Firmware and BIOS

Caution - Be sure that you apply only M2 updates to your M2 server. If your server is not an M2 server, be sure to get the correct downloads and documentation. For details on how to tell whether you have an M2 server or an earlier Sun Fire X4100/X4200 family server, refer to Methods to Differentiate Sun Fire X4100 and X4200 from Sun Fire X4100 M2 and X4200 M2 Servers, 820-0373.

Flash Updating Your Server

The Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) firmware (FW) and BIOS are tightly coupled and are always updated together. This release update contains new ILOM FW and BIOS updates, plus a number of optional enhancements to software shipped with earlier releases.

Summary of ILOM SP/BIOS Flash Update Steps

Caution - To ensure a successful flash update, do notattempt to modify the ILOM configuration, or use other ILOM GUI, CLI, SNMP, or IPMI interfaces, during the flash update process. Wait until after the flash update succeeds to make further ILOM configuration changes. The update requires the server to reset, and takes about 20 minutes.

Note - The LSI firmware version and the BIOS version must be from the same software release.

1. Determine the current version of the ILOM firmware. See Verifying the Firmware Version.

2. Review the section Software Release Special Considerations for known issues and considerations regarding the flash update.

3. Download the latest flash image from the following location:

http://www.sun.com/servers/entry/x4100/downloads.jsp

4. Use the ILOM GUI, the ILOM CLI load command, or N1 System Manager to perform the flash update.

Due to the increased memory use during Web-based GUI operations, you might need to use N1 System Manager or the ILOM CLI load command to update the ILOM firmware. For details, refer to the N1 System Manager documentation or the Integrated Lights-Out Manager Administration Guide for ILOM 1.1.1, 820-0820-10.

From the ILOM CLI, use the following command:

load -source tftp://tftpserver/firmware.ima

where tftpserver is the server that contains the update and firmware.ima is the image file, for example, ilom.x4100.1.1.1-r15632.ima.

Online documentation for Sun N1 System Manager can be found at:

http://docs.sun.com/coll/1283.2

For more details on performing a flash update, refer to the Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) Administration Guide for ILOM 1.1.1, 820-0820-10, at:

http://www.sun.com/products-n-solutions/hardware/docs/Servers/x64_servers/x4100/index.html

5. If you have any problems with the flash update, refer to the sectionRecovering from a Failed Flash Update.

Verifying the Firmware Version

There are three alternate procedures in this section that you can use:

Verifying the Firmware Version Using the CLI Through the Management Ethernet Port

Verifying the Firmware Version Using the CLI Through the Serial Port

Verifying the Firmware Version Using the Web GUI

Verifying the Firmware Version Using the CLI Through the Management Ethernet Port

1. Connect an RJ-45 Ethernet cable to the NET MGT Ethernet port on the back panel.

2. Establish an SSH connection using the following command, then enter the default password (changeme) when you are prompted:

# ssh -l root sp_ip_address

changeme

After you have successfully logged in, the SP displays its default command prompt:

->

3. Type the version command, which returns output similar to the following:

-> version

SP firmware version: 1.0

SP firmware build number: 10644

SP firmware date: Tue Sep 13 12:50:37 PDT 2006

SP filesystem version: 0.1.13

The ILOM firmware build is listed above.

Verifying the Firmware Version Using the CLI Through the Serial Port

1. Configure your terminal device or the terminal emulation software running on a laptop or PC to the following settings:

8N1: eight data bits, no parity, one stop bit

9600 baud

Disable hardware flow control (CTS/RTS)

Disable software flow control (XON/XOFF)

2. Connect a serial cable from the RJ-45 SER MGT port on your server's back panel to your terminal device or PC.

3. Press Enter on the terminal device to establish a connection between that terminal device and the server's SP.

The SP displays a login prompt.

SUNSP0003BA84D777 login:

In this example login prompt, 0003BA84D777 is the Ethernet MAC address of the SP. This will be different for each server.

4. Log in to the ILOM SP and type the default user name (root) with the default password (changeme).

After you have successfully logged in, the SP displays its default command prompt:

->

5. Type the version command, which returns output similar to the following:

-> version

SP firmware version: 1.0

SP firmware build number: 10644

SP firmware date: Tue Sep 13 12:50:37 PDT 2006

SP filesystem version: 0.1.13

The ILOM firmware build version is the build number listed above.

Verifying the Firmware Version Using the Web GUI

1. Connect to the ILOM Web GUI by typing the IP address of the server's SP into your browser's address field. For example:

https://129.146.53.150

2. Log in to the ILOM SP and type the default user name (root) with the default password (changeme).

The first Web page presented is the System Information -> Versions page, which includes the Build Number.

Locating ILOM SP Addresses

There are several methods you can use to locate ILOM SPs and their IP addresses.

Sun N1 System Manager. Sun N1 System Manager provides the capability to display the ILOM SP addresses of managed systems with the n1sh command.

For example, the following command can be used to create a list of Sun Fire X4100/X4200 servers:

n1sh show server | grep 'X4[12]00'

DHCP server. See "ILOM Initial Setup" in the refer to the Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) Administration Guide for ILOM 1.1.1, 820-0820-10, for instructions on how to determine the IP address of a single server.

Linux and Solaris open-source nmap command. The open-source nmap command provides a -p port option to scan for port 623, which can be used to quickly detect IPMI-enabled devices on a network. For example:

nmap -p 623 10.6.154.1/24

How to Reset the SP

To reset the ILOM SP:

From the ILOM SP graphical web interface, navigate to the Maintenance tab, then use the Reset SP action.

From the ILOM CLI, use the following command:

reset /SP

Using IPMItool, use the following command:

ipmitool -U root -P password -H sp_ipaddress bmc reset cold

You can also reset the ILOM SP by shutting down the host, then removing and restoring AC power cords to the system.

For more on this topic, refer to the Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) Administration Guide for ILOM 1.1.1, 820-0820-10.

Recovering from a Failed Flash Update

Several issues have been identified with the firmware update, which could result in a failed or incomplete firmware update. This section describes how to recover from a failed ILOM firmware update.

Use the following procedure to recover from a failed firmware update. Note that in a small percentage of cases (such as when no output is displayed on the SP serial port), the Graphics Redirect and Service Processor (GRASP) board must be replaced.

Prerequisites:

A trivial file-transfer protocol (TFTP) server is required to reload the ILOM firmware.

The host system must also remain powered off for the duration of the recovery process.

Note - Numbers printed below are in hexadecimal unless otherwise noted.

Recovery Steps:

1. Determine if the ILOM SP first-level booter (referred to in this procedure as U-Boot) is intact. Follow documented procedures to connect to the SP serial port, apply power to the system, and observe the initial ILOM boot messages.

Refer to the Sun Fire X4100/X4100 M2 and X4200/X4200 M2 Servers Installation Guide, 819-1155, for details.

If no screen output is displayed, stop here. The GRASP board must be replaced. Refer to the Sun Fire X4100/X4100 M2 and X4200/X4200 M2 Servers Service Manual, 819-1157, for instructions.

If screen output is displayed, continue to the next step.

2. Enter the ILOM SP U-Boot command interpreter with xyzzy.

When the message, Booting linux in 2 seconds... is displayed, during ILOM initial boot, type xyzzy to enter the U-Boot command interpreter.

Note - The characters typed will not echo. Cutting and pasting the characters improves the chance of success. You might need to try the process of applying power to the system and entering xyzzy several times.

3. Disable automatic reboot.

Set the U-Boot environment variable, bootretry, to -1 to temporarily disable automatic reboot:

set bootretry -1

4. Configure the network for TFTP access.

a. Copy the ILOM SP firmware image to a TFTP server that is accessible on the same IP subnet as the ILOM SP network port.

b. Set the IP address for the ILOM SP and the TFTP server IP address by setting the ethaddr and serverip U-Boot variables.

set ipaddr n.n.n.n
set serverip n.n.n.n

5. Use the U-Boot tftp command to download the ILOM firmware image.

tftp 100000 firmware image

Note - If the TFTP server or filename is incorrect, you might need to enter ^C to halt the tftp command, then repeat this recovery procedure.

Be sure that the complete flash image is actually downloaded successfully before proceeding. You should see a message similar to:

=> tftp 100000 r10644.rom.imaUsing FCC1 ETHERNET deviceTFTP from server 10.6.154.8; our IP address is 10.6.154.99Filename 'r10644.rom.ima'.Load address: 0x100000

Loading:###########################################################

###########################################################

###########################################################

###########################################################

##########################

done

Bytes transferred = 13107200 (c80000 hex)

6. Confirm that the download succeeded:

a. Confirm that the tftp command output ends with
Bytes transferred = ByteCount

b. Use the md command and confirm that its output displays strings from the beginning of the firmware image file. For example:

=> md 100000

00100000: 244d4f44 554c4524 01004000 00000200    $MODULE$..@.....

00100010: 00000000 000000f2 67726173 70000000    ........grasp...

00100020: 01000200 40000000 61000000 0000ffff    ....@...a.......

00100030: ffff0000 00000100 00000000 0000aa55    ...............U

00100040: 46575f56 45525349 4f4e3d31 2e302e31 FW_VERSION=1.0.1

00100050: 0a46575f 44415445 3d4d6172 20203320 .FW_DATE=Mar  3

00100060: 32303036 0a46575f 4255494c 4454494d    2006.FW_BUILDTIM

00100070: 453d3130 3a35363a 30370a46 575f4445    E=10:56:07.FW_DE

00100080: 53433d57 41524e49 4e47203a 20554e4f    SC=WARNING : UNO

00100090: 46464943 49414c20 4255494c 44212120    FFICIAL BUILD!!

001000a0: 0affffff ffffffff ffffffff ffffffff    ................

7. Erase the existing ILOM flash image:

Caution - Interrupting the flash recovery process from this point onwards, or entering an incorrect U-Boot command, might result in a disabled service processor, which will require replacement. DO NOT stop or remove power from the system from this point onward.

a. Erase the exiting flash image with the erase ff380000 ffffffff command.

A series of dots will be displayed indicating the progress of the erase. For example:

=> erase ff380000 ffffffff

.................................................................................Erased 200/200 sectors

b. If a failure occurs, retry the erase command repeatedly until it succeeds.

Note - If a persistent failure occurs, the service processor is not flash-updatable, and must be replaced. Refer to the Sun Fire X4100/X4100 M2 and X4200/X4200 M2 Servers Service Manual, 819-1157, for details on replacing the GRASP board.

8. Program the new ILOM firmware image:

a. Use the U-Boot cp.b command to copy the new ILOM firmware image from the download location at 100000 to ff380000, until end address ffffffff.

For example:

=> cp.b 100000 ff380000 ffffffff

Copy to Flash .............................................................................................................................................done

b. Use the fmh command to verify the new ILOM firmware image.

Before resetting, make sure the copy succeeded, using the fmh command, which should display firmware sections. For example:

=> fmh

Listing FMH Modules

Flash Size : 32768 KB

Erase Size : 64 KB

Sector Count : 512

FMH Located at 0xff380000 of Size 0x00020000

Name    : grasp

Ver     : 1.0

Type    : 0x0002

Flags   : 0x0000

Size    : 0x00000061

Location: 0xff380040

LoadAddr: 0xffffffff

CheckSum: Not Computed

--------------------------------------------------

FMH Located at 0xff3a0000 of Size 0x00120000

Name    : sysbios

Ver     : 1.31

Type    : 0x0000

Flags   : 0x0100

Size    : 0x00100000

Location: 0xff3c0000

LoadAddr: 0xffffffff

CheckSum: Valid

--------------------------------------------------

FMH Located at 0xff4c0000 of Size 0x000c0000

Name    : osimage

Ver     : 1.0

Type    : 0x0006

Flags   : 0x0119

Size    : 0x000ac9c8

Location: 0xff4c0040

LoadAddr: 0x00c00000

CheckSum: Valid

...

Note - If the command output does not show anything, you may have entered an incorrect memory address. Repeat the tftp, erase and cp.b commands until the image is properly copied. Note that you must erase the existing firmware image before attempting to copy a new image.

9. Reset the ILOM service processor.

Once you are certain that the service processor firmware image has been recovered, you can restart the service processor with the reset command.

=> reset

10. Recover the system BIOS.

Note - This manual ILOM SP recovery process does not reflash the system BIOS. Repeat the firmware update process, using the ILOM GUI or CLI procedures as described in Flash Updating Your Server and the refer to the Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) Administration Guide for ILOM 1.1.1, 820-0820-10.

Be sure to reset your service processor and BIOS configuration settings as needed, because they might be lost during this recovery.

Downgrading to a Previous ILOM Release

The ILOM flash update in this release has a very new and different structure that is designed to be more reliable. However, should you use this update and later find that you need to downgrade to a previous release, you may need perform the flash downgrade twice to reformat the flash layout to the old format. If so, a message will prompt you. This is not a failure. Just repeat the procedure as instructed and the process will succeed.

Updating LSI Firmware and BIOS

For information about the LSI FW and BIOS, see the documentation files that accompany the LSI download. For LSI firmware versions included in this release, see Component Versions By Release.