Updates and Tools Overview

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Firmware and software for your server are updated periodically. These updates are available as software releases, which are a set of downloadable files (patches) containing the available firmware, software, hardware drivers, tools, and utilities for the server. All these files have been tested together and verified to work with your server.

You should update your server firmware and software as soon as possible after a new software release becomes available. Software releases often include bug fixes, and updating your server ensures that it has the latest firmware and software.

The readme document that is included with each patch in a software release contains information about the patch, such as what has changed or not changed from the prior software release, as well as bugs that are fixed with the current release.

The server Product Notes identify the latest software release supported on your server.

Software Updates Naming Conventions

The update names take the form: server_and_release DOWNLOAD_NAME operating system, where:

server_and_release is the name of the server and the release number. For example, Sun Server X4-2 SW 1.0.
DOWNLOAD_NAME identifies the type of content, from the following table.
operating system identifies operating system-specific content. This appears in OS PACK downloads only.

For example, a download for Sun Server X4-2, SW 1.1 for Oracle Linux 5 might be:

X4-2 SW1.1 OS PACK OL_5U7

Types of Software Downloads

The following tables explain the downloads and the tools used with them.

The following table lists and describes the different types of downloads.
The next table lists the tools, and for each tool, lists the types of download and installs the tool supports, and the environment it requires.

Download Name	Description
OS PACK	Includes a package of all tools, drivers, and utilities for a specific operating system. An OS Pack is available for each supported operating system version. Software includes Oracle Hardware Management Pack and LSI MegaRAID software. For the Windows operating system, the OS Pack also includes Intel Network Teaming.
FIRMWARE PACK	Contains all system firmware, including Oracle ILOM, BIOS, and option card firmware.
DIAGNOSTICS	Includes Oracle VTS diagnostics image. For more information, refer to http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=OracleVTS7.0.
ALL PACKS	Includes the Firmware Pack, all OS Packs, and all documents. This pack does not include Oracle VTS or the Oracle System Assistant image.
ORACLE SYSTEM ASSISTANT UPDATER	Bootable file that replaces older versions of Oracle System Assistant and provides updated versions of firmware, server-specific drivers for supported operating systems, server management tools. This patch updates the firmware, drivers, and server management tools on the USB drive, but does not install them.
LOCAL UPDATE CONTENT (Available Oracle System Assistant 1.2 only)	Updates the existing version of Oracle System Assistant, and provides updated versions of firmware, server-specific drivers for supported operating systems, server management tools. This patch updates the firmware, drivers, and server management tools on the USB drive, but does not install them.

Tools Used to Download Software

The following table shows the types of downloads, and the tools that use each type, and the environment required for each tool.

Tool	Downloads	Environment
My Oracle Support	All downloads types are available. Search by product and release.	Online. My Oracle Support provides downloads but no capability to install them. See Getting Firmware and Software From MOS.
Oracle System Assistant	Downloads everything that is out of date except DIAGNOSTICS.	Out of band. System must be booted to Oracle System Assistant. Installation options allow you to install selected updates or to install all of them See Updating System Software and Firmware (Oracle System Assistant).
Oracle ILOM	FIRMWARE PACK for Oracle ILOM and BIOS only.	Oracle ILOM. Download possible while the operating system is running, but the operating system must be rebooted during installation. See Update BIOS and SP Firmware or CMM Firmware (Oracle ILOM).
Hardware Management Pack	All FIRMWARE PACKs including Oracle ILOM and BIOS.	Inband from operating system command line or shell. Operating system boots when updates are installed. Updates must be downloaded from My Oracle Support first. See Updating SP and BIOS Firmware, and HBA Firmware (Oracle Hardware Management Pack).
Command line or shell	OS PACKS and DIAGNOSTICS.	OS packs can be installed from the command line or shell but often require rebooting the server. See the operating system documentation or the readme file with the pack for details. Install the Oracle VTS diagnostics as described in http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=OracleVTS7.0.