Flash-Updating Your Server |
This chapter describes how to update to Release 1.3 from earlier releases. See the following sections:
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 the software that was shipped with earlier releases.
This release contains ILOM Service Processor firmware version 1.1.1, which includes service processor build 15632 and BIOS 39. The following enhancements are available:
Note - You must have LSI firmware fw1.16.00-bios6.10.00B installed to use BIOS 39. |
Caution - If your current software is earlier than Release 1.2, you must use the preflash script (see Running the Preflash Script) to avoid possible corruption of the SP. The flash recovery process from this corruption is complicated and might not succeed, requiring replacement of the SP hardware (see Recovering from a Failed Flash Updatefor details). |
1. Determine the current version of the ILOM firmware. See Verifying the Firmware Version.
2. Download and run the ilom.X4100-preflash_1.2.sh (or later) preflash script file to prepare your server for the flash update.
For detailed instructions, including automated procedures for running the preflash script on multiple servers, see Running the Preflash Script. Download the file at:
http://www.sun.com/servers/entry/x4100/downloads.jsp
3. Review the section Software Release Special Considerations for known issues and considerations regarding the flash update.
Note - The LSI firmware version and the BIOS version must be from the same software release. |
4. Download the ilom.X4100-1.0.5a.ima flash image at:
http://www.sun.com/servers/entry/x4100/downloads.jsp
5. 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.
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 full instructions on performing a flash update, refer to the Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) Administration Guide for ILOM 1.1.1, 820-0820, at:
http://www.sun.com/products-n-solutions/hardware/docs/Servers/x64_servers/x4100/index.html
6. If you have any problems with the flash update, refer to the sectionRecovering from a Failed Flash Update.
There are three alternate procedures in this section that you can use:
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
where sp_ip_address is the IP address of the server's ILOM SP.
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 build number: 10644
SP firmware date: Tue Sep 13 12:50:37 PDT 2006
The ILOM firmware build version is the build number listed above.
1. Configure your terminal device or the terminal emulation software running on a laptop or PC to the following settings:
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.
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:
SP firmware build number: 10644
SP firmware date: Tue Sep 13 12:50:37 PDT 2006
The ILOM firmware build version is the build number listed above.
1. Connect to the ILOM Web GUI by typing the IP address of the server's SP into your browser's URL field. For example:
2. Log in to the ILOM SP and type the default user name (root) with the default password (changeme).
The first Web page displayed is the System Information -> Versions page, which includes the build number.
Use the preflash script only if your current firmware is Release 1.2 or earlier.
Caution - This procerdure is needed to avoid possible corruption of the SP. The flash recovery process from this corruption is complicated, and might not succeed, requiring replacement of the SP hardware (see Recovering from a Failed Flash Updatefor details |
This section contains a summary of the preflash script process, followed by detailed instructions for supported operating system platforms.
This ilom.X4100-preflash_1.2.sh (or later) preflash update script prepares the ILOM SPs for safe update from version r10664.rom.ima or earlier to the latest release. The preflash script is only required for updating from version r10664.rom.ima or earlier.
To use this script, copy the script to each ILOM SP using the secure copy command scp(1), then execute the script using the secure remote shell command ssh(1). Use the sunservice shell account, which has the same password as the root account on the ILOM SP.
See the sample commands below:
ssh -l sunservice sp_ip_address rm -f /coredump/*
scp preflash_script_name sunservice@sp_ip_address:/coredump
ssh -l sunservice sp_ip_address sh /coredump/preflash_script_name
When done, the script displays one of the following two messages:
If this message is displayed, the ILOM SP can be safely updated using any of the firmware update methods (CLI, GUI, Sun N1 System Manager), with or without configuration preservation. Return to Step 3 of Summary of ILOM SP/BIOS Flash Update Steps.
If this message is displayed, reset the SP, and then apply the preflash script again (see Resetting the ILOM SP).
This section describes options for transferring the preflash script to the ILOM SP and running it on different OS platforms.
This procedure can be done without logging in to the SP, by using the secure remote shell command ssh(1) and the secure copy command scp(1).
1. Download the preflash script and save it in a known directory.
2. Copy the script to the SP using the following commands:
ssh sunservice@sp_ip_address rm -f /coredump/*
scp preflash_script_name sunservice@sp_ip_address:/coredump
where sp_ip_address is the IP address of the server's ILOM SP and preflash_script_name is the name of the script.
3. Run the script using the following command:
ssh sunservice@sp_ip_address sh /coredump/preflash_script_name
4. Whe done, the script displays one of the following two messages:
If this message is displayed, the ILOM SP can be safely updated using any of the firmware update methods (CLI, GUI, Sun N1 System Manager), with or without configuration preservation. Return to Step 3 of Summary of ILOM SP/BIOS Flash Update Steps.
If this message is displayed, reset the SP, and then apply the preflash script again (see Resetting the ILOM SP).
1. Set up a TFTP server or use an existing one.
Refer to your OS documentation for instructions on setting up a TFTP server.
2. Download and save the preflash script to your TFTP root directory.
3. Log in as the sunservice account.
Use sunservice as the user name and the root password for the password.
ssh sunservice@sp_ip_address rm -f /coredump/*
where sp_ip_address is the IP address of the server's ILOM SP.
4. Transfer the preflash script to the SP using TFTP and the following commands:
cd /coredump
rm -f /coredump/*
tftp tftpserver_ip_address -c get preflash_script_name
where tftpserver_ip_address is the address of the server containing the script and preflash_script_name is the name of the script.
sh /coredump/preflash_script_name
where preflash_script_name is the name of the script.
6. When done, the script displays one of the following two messages:
If this message is displayed, the ILOM SP can be safely updated using any of the firmware update methods (CLI, GUI, Sun N1 System Manager), with or without configuration preservation. Return to Step 3 of Summary of ILOM SP/BIOS Flash Update Steps.
If this message is displayed, reset the SP, and then apply the preflash script again (see Resetting the ILOM SP).
1. Export an NFS directory if none is available.
2. Copy the preflash script to the exported NFS directory.
3. Log in to the SP as the sunservice account.
Use sunservice as the user name and the root password for the password.
mount nfs_server:nfs_directory /mnt
5. Remove any current coredump files using the following commands:
cd /coredump
rm -f /coredump/*
cd /mnt
sh preflash_script_name
where preflash_script_name is the name of the script.
7. When done, the script displays one of the following two messages:
If this message is displayed, the ILOM SP can be safely updated using any of the firmware update methods (CLI, GUI, Sun N1 System Manager), with or without configuration preservation. Return to Step 3 of Summary of ILOM SP/BIOS Flash Update Steps.
If this message is displayed, reset the SP, and then apply the preflash script again (see Resetting the ILOM SP).
1. Install Tcl/Tk and Expect software, if not already installed.
2. Download the preflash script and save it in the same directory in which you saved the Expect files.
3. Open the Start menu Run dialog and type cmd.exe to open a command shell.
4. Change directory to the directory where you saved the Expect files and the preflash script.
5. Download the apply-preflash-1.3-unix.tcl script from the URL below and save it in the same directory as the preflash and Expect files:
http://www.sun.com/servers/entry/x4100/downloads.jsp
6. Run the apply-preflash-1.3-unix.tcl file on the command shell with the following command and options:
expect apply-preflash-1.3-unix.tcl [options]
Note - To automate running the script on multiple SPs, put all the SP IP addresses into a file that can be read by the apply-preflash-1.3-unix.tcl script. List only one SP IP address per line. Then supply the file name to the script with the -splist option. See the Script Options for all script options. |
The IP address of the server's ILOM SP The file that lists all the SPs to update, for automated multiple-server updates |
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7. When done, the script displays one of the following two messages:
If this message is displayed, the ILOM SP can be safely updated using any of the firmware update methods (CLI, GUI, Sun N1 System Manager), with or without configuration preservation. Return to Step 3 of Summary of ILOM SP/BIOS Flash Update Steps.
If this message is displayed, reset the SP, and then apply the preflash script again (see Resetting the ILOM SP).
1. Download PuTTY plink.exe and pscp.exe files and save them in a directory.
You can download these files at:
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/
2. Download the preflash script and save it in the same directory in which you saved the PuTTY files.
3. Use the Start menu Run dialog and run cmd.exe to open a command shell.
4. Go to the directory where you saved the PuTTY files and the preflash script.
5. Copy the preflash script to the SP with the following PuTTY commands:
plink sunservice@sp_ip_address "rm -f /coredump/*"
pscp preflash_script_name sunservice@sp_ip_address:/coredump
where sp_ip_address is the IP address of the server's ILOM SP and preflash_script_name is the name of the script.
6. Run the preflash script on the SP with the following PuTTY command:
plink sunservice@sp_ip_address "sh /coredump/preflash_script_name"
where sp_ip_address is the IP address of the server's ILOM SP and preflash_script_name is the name of the script
7. When done, the script displays one of the following two messages:
If this message is displayed, the ILOM SP can be safely updated using any of the firmware update methods (CLI, GUI, Sun N1 System Manager), with or without configuration preservation. Return to Step 3 of Summary of ILOM SP/BIOS Flash Update Steps.
If this message is displayed, reset the SP, and then apply the preflash script again (see Resetting the ILOM SP).
1. Download the tftpd32.exe file and save it in a directory.
You can download this file at:
Note - This TFTP server does not require installation. The tftpd32 software will make all the files in the directory it is launched from available for TFTP. It can be started and stopped as desired. |
2. Download and save the preflash script into the same directory in which you saved tftpd32.exe.
3. Start tftpd32.exe by running it from a command shell, or use File Browser to start it.
4. Make note of the IP address of the TFTP server that tftpd32 reports.
5. Log in to the SP as the sunservice account.
Use sunservice as the user name and the root password for the password.
6. Transfer and run the preflash script on the SP with following commands:
plink sunservice@sp_ip_address "rm -f /coredump/*"
cd /coredump
tftp tftpserver_ip_address -c get preflash_script_name
sh preflash_script_name
where sp_ip_address is the IP address of the server's ILOM SP, tftpserver_ip_address is the server that contains the update, and preflash_script_name is the name of the script.
7. When done, the script displays one of the following two messages:
If this message is displayed, the ILOM SP can be safely updated using any of the firmware update methods (CLI, GUI, Sun N1 System Manager), with or without configuration preservation. Return to Step 3 of Summary of ILOM SP/BIOS Flash Update Steps.
If this message is displayed, reset the SP, and then apply the preflash script again (see Resetting the ILOM SP).
Note - This procedure and the sample automated script text are also included in the README file that is included with the preflash script. |
1. Install Tcl/Tk and Expect software, if not already installed.
2. Download the preflash script and save it in the same directory in which you saved the Expect files.
3. Use the Start menu Run dialog and run cmd.exe to open a command shell.
4. Change directory to the directory where you saved the Expect files and the preflash script.
5. Download the apply-preflash-1.3-windows.tcl script from the following URL and save it in the same directory as the preflash and Expect files:
http://www.sun.com/servers/entry/x4100/downloads.jsp
6. Run the apply-preflash-1.3-windows.tcl file on the command shell with the following command and options:
expect apply-preflash-1.3-windows.tcl [options]
Note - To automate running the script on multiple SPs, put all the SP IP addresses into a file that can be read by the apply-preflash-1.3-unix.tcl script. List only one SP IP address per line. Then supply the file name to the script with the -splist option. See Script Options for all script options. |
The IP address of the server's ILOM SP The file that lists all the SPs to update for automated, multiple-server updates |
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7. When done, the script displays one of the following two messages:
If this message is displayed, the ILOM SP can be safely updated using any of the firmware update methods (CLI, GUI, Sun N1 System Manager), with or without configuration preservation. Return to Step 3 of Summary of ILOM SP/BIOS Flash Update Steps.
If this message is displayed, reset the SP, and then apply the preflash script again (see Resetting the ILOM SP).
There are several methods you can use to determine whether the preflash script has been applied.
You may now upgrade your firmware
Please ensure you upgrade to the latest version available.
ssh sunservice@sp_ip_address ls /var/patchit
If the text returned does not contain the following message, the patch is applied and running.
There are several methods you can use to locate ILOM SPs and their IP addresses.
For example, the following command can be used to create a list of Sun Fire X4100 and X4200 servers:
n1sh show server | grep 'X4[12]00'
You can use any of the following methods to reset the ILOM SP:
ipmitool -U root -P password -H sp_ipaddress bmc reset cold
For more on this topic, refer to the Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) Administration Guide for ILOM 1.1.1, 820-0820.
Several issues have been identified with the firmware update that could result in a failed or incomplete firmware update. This section describes how to recover from a failed ILOM firmware update.
Note - If no output is displayed on the SP serial port, the Graphics Redirect and Service Processor (GRASP) board must be replaced. |
1. Determine if the ILOM SP first-level booter (called 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 X4100/4100 M2 and X4200/4200 M2 Servers Installation Guide, 819-1155, for details.
2. Enter the ILOM SP U-Boot command interpreter with xyzzy.
When you see Booting linux in 2 seconds... during ILOM initial boot, type xyzzy to enter the U-Boot command interpreter.
Note - The characters you type are not echoed. Cutting and pasting the characters improves the chance of success. You might need to try applying power to the system and entering xyzzy several times. |
Set the U-Boot environment variable, bootretry, to -1 to temporarily disable automatic reboot:
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.
Note - If the TFTP server or filename is incorrect, you might need to enter Ctrl-C to halt the tftp command, and 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:
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:
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:
.................................................................................Erased 200/200 sectors
b. If a failure occurs, retry the erase command repeatedly until it succeeds.
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.
=> 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:
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
...
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.
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 then refer to the Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) Administration Guide for ILOM 1.1.1, 820-0820. |
Be sure to reset your service processor and BIOS configuration settings as needed, because they might be lost during this recovery.
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.
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.
Copyright © 2007, Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.