Introduction to Managing Firmware Updates

Updating the firmware on the provisionable servers is a primary administrative task. Installing a firmware update on a provisionable server for the first time involves the following four-step process when you use the N1 System Manager:

1. Download and prepare the firmware update.

2. Copying the firmware update to the N1 System Manager. The N1 System Manager must have system access to the firmware update before the firmware update can be installed on the provisionable servers.

   By using the create firmware command, you can copy a firmware update from a web site or an accessible file system on the management server. Once a firmware update is copied, you can display the firmware update in the browser interface Shortcuts pane, or you can use the show firmware command.

3. Verify that the firmware update was copied successfully by displaying the firmware Shortcut in the browser interface or by using the show firmware command.

4. Installing the firmware update on the appropriate provisionable servers by using the browser interface, or by using the load server or load group command.

When importing firmware updates, you must specify the following metadata:

• Vendor – The name of the firmware update vendor

• Model – The model name of a valid hardware system for the firmware update

• Type – The type of firmware update, required only for Sun Fire V20z and V40z servers:

  • SP – Service Processor

  • BIOS – Server Platform BIOS

  • PIC – Service Processor Operator Panel

• Version – (Optional) The version number of the firmware update

Firmware version 2.2 and above for the Sun Fire V20z servers do not support the PIC firmware upgrade. The upgrade of PIC firmware will fail, and the job step will show an error message similar to the following: “This operation is not supported on server. Refer to the log file for more information.”