When you install the Sun Ray Software on a Sun Ray server or apply the latest maintenance update, the latest firmware for all supported Sun Ray Clients is also installed. Any Sun Ray server providing the latest firmware for Sun Ray Clients is considered a firmware server.
When a Sun Ray Client boots in a properly configured environment, it checks with a firmware server to determine if it needs a firmware update. A Sun Ray Client's firmware server is discovered in the following order:
Locally configured value (configured through Configuration GUI)
DHCP Sun Ray vendor option (FWSrvr)
Generic DHCP option 66 (TftpSrvr) (IP Address or DNS name)
DNS lookup of sunray-config-servers (if
mapped to multiple addresses, choose one randomly)
Each of these values are attempted in order until one succeeds. Although it is the last value attempted, the DNS lookup is the recommended firmware discovery configuration, as described below.
If the local configuration value is used and fails, none of the others are attempted. This prevents the overwriting of custom-configured firmware in a situation where the controlling firmware server happens to be temporarily unresponsive. See Section 10.3, “Sun Ray Client Boot Process” for more details on how a Sun Ray Client finds its firmware server.
Once a firmware server is discovered by a Sun Ray Client, the
client retrieves a parameter file
(.parms) via TFTP. This file is used by
the client to determine if its currently installed firmware is
older than the firmware on the firmware server. If so, the
newer firmware is automatically downloaded and installed on
the client.
In the event of an error in the firmware download, error messages provide additional information that can be useful in diagnosing and correcting the problem. See Chapter 13, Sun Ray Client Troubleshooting Icons for details.
By default, a client's firmware uses the configuration
provided by the Sun Ray server's .parms
file, which provides a centralized mechanism to administer
firmware. However, you can enable the Configuration GUI on a
client, which enables users to modify a Sun Ray Client's
local configuration. See the Sun Ray Client
Firmware chapter in the Administration
Guide for details.