C H A P T E R  8

ILOM Firmware Update Operations

Topics

Description

Links

Learn about ILOM’s firmware update operations



Related Topics

For ILOM

Chapter or Section

Guide

  • IPMI and SNMP hosts
  • Configuring ILOM Firmware Settings

Oracle Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) 3.0 Management Protocols Reference Guide (820-6413)

  • CLI and Web interface (CMM only)
  • Firmware Update Procedures

Oracle Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) CMM Administration Guide for Sun Blade 6000 and Sun Blade 6048 Modular Systems (820-0052)

The ILOM 3.0 Documentation Collection is available at: http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/prod/int.lights.mgr30#hic



ILOM Firmware Compatibility and Update Operations

To download the latest version of ILOM or to determine the ILOM firmware compatibility for your server or chassis monitoring module (CMM), go to the following site:

http://www.sun.com/systemmanagement/ilom_platforms.jsp

For additional information about managing and updating ILOM firmware on the server SP or CMM, see these topics:

ILOM 3.0 Firmware on the Server SP

The ILOM 3.0 firmware on the SP provides administrators with full lights-out management for an Oracle server. This includes the ability to power cycle the server, set up a network connection, create and manage user accounts and roles, as well as monitor and maintain the server components locally or remotely.

ILOM 3.0 Firmware on the CMM

The ILOM 3.0 firmware on the CMM is the primary point of management for all chassis components and functions in a Sun Blade Modular System Chassis. It provides complete monitoring and management functionality for the components, including server module management, system power management, as well as hot-plug operations of infrastructure components such as power supply modules, fan modules, server modules, and network express modules.



Note - As of ILOM 3.0.10, a new feature is available to manage firmware updates for Oracle Sun Modular System Chassis components. For information and procedures for updating ILOM firmware on the CMM for chassis components, refer to the Oracle Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) CMM Administration Guide for Sun Blade 6000 and Sun Blade 6048 Modular Systems (820-0052).


ILOM Firmware Updates

To ensure that your system has the latest features and product enhancements installed, it is highly recommended that you update the ILOM firmware on your system with the latest ILOM firmware release that is available.

Updating the firmware on your system to a prior release is not recommended. However, if you determine you need to run an earlier version of the firmware on your system, you can update the firmware to any prior firmware release that is available for download.

Prior to updating the ILOM firmware, you should identify the ILOM firmware version that is running on the server SP or CMM.

If you determine you are running ILOM 3.0 firmware on your server or CMM, refer to any of the following ILOM 3.0 guides for instructions for updating the ILOM firmware.



Note - For information about the firmware version numbering scheme used for ILOM 3.0, see ILOM 3.0 Firmware Version Numbering Scheme.


If you determine that you have ILOM 2.x installed on your server or CMM and you are updating to a later ILOM 2.x version, you need to refer to the Oracle Integrated Lights Out Manager 2.0 User’s Guide to find the firmware update procedures for ILOM 2.x.

Process for Updating the Firmware

The process for updating the firmware version installed on your Sun server or CMM involves:

1. Downloading the firmware image for your server or CMM from the Sun platform’s product web site and place the image on your TFTP, FTP, or HTTP server.

2. If required by your platform, shut down the host operating system before changing the firmware on your server SP.

3. Logging in to ILOM using an Admin (a) role account.

4. Loading the firmware image on the server SP (or CMM) using the ILOM CLI or the web interface.

5. Optionally, preserve the current configuration in ILOM. For more information, see ILOM Firmware Update - Preserve Configuration Option

6. Verifying that the appropriate firmware version was installed after the system reboots.

ILOM Firmware Update - Preserve Configuration Option

When updating to a later firmware release, the Preserve Configuration option (when enabled) saves your existing configuration in ILOM and restores the configuration after the update process completes.



Note - The term configuration refers to the settings configured in ILOM by a user. These settings can include user management settings, SP network settings, serial port settings, alert management configurations, remote management configurations, and so on.


If you are updating to a prior firmware release and ILOM detects a preserved configuration for that release, the Preserve Configuration option (when enabled) reverts to the configuration for the prior release after the update process completes.

For example: If you update your system firmware from 3.0 to 2.0 and choose to enable Preserve Configuration during the update process, ILOM will:

However, in this example, if ILOM is unable to locate the snapshot of the 2.0 configuration, the update process is stopped and the following error is reported:

The configuration matching the version cannot be restored. Please retry without preserving config.

Firmware image update failed

load: Command Failed

->

To proceed, start the update process again and do not choose the Preserve Configuration option. When the update is complete and the system reboots, the ILOM default settings will be used.

Troubleshoot the Firmware Update Session If Network Failure Occurs

If you were performing the firmware update process using the ILOM web interface or CLI and a network failure occurs, ILOM will not reboot. You should not reboot the system. However, you should do the following:

1. Address and fix the network problem.

2. Reconnect to the ILOM SP.

3. Restart the update process.