Update BIOS and SP Firmware or CMM Firmware (Oracle ILOM)

Language:

Before You Begin

Download the firmware pack for your system from the My Oracle Support website at https://support.oracle.com. The firmware pack contains the Oracle Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) update .pkg file for the system BIOS and service processor (SP) or for the chassis monitoring module (CMM). For instructions on how to download the firmware pack from My Oracle Support, see Getting Firmware and Software From MOS.
To load additional firmware such as SAS expanders, host bus adapters, or controllers, see Updating System Software and Firmware (Oracle System Assistant).

This procedure loads the BIOS and SP or CMM packages, but not other firmware, such as SAS expanders, host bus adapters, or controllers.

Alternatively, for blades, you can use Oracle ILOM to load the complete package. Refer to Update Blade Chassis Component Firmware Images in the Oracle ILOM Configuration and Maintenance Guide for firmware release 3.1 or 3.2.
Log in to Oracle ILOM. For instructions see Accessing Oracle ILOM.
Ensure that you have Admin (a) role privileges in Oracle ILOM.

The following procedure provides web and command-line interface (CLI) instructions for both a service processor (SP) and a chassis monitoring module (CMM).

Note - The firmware update process takes several minutes to complete. During this time, do not perform any operations on the target server SP or CMM.

To update the firmware for a single system SP or for a CMM:

From the Web interface:
1. Click ILOM Administration > Maintenance > Firmware Upgrade.
2. Set the appropriate fields on the Firmware Upgrade page, and then click Start.
  When the firmware process completes, the system reboots to apply the new firmware image.
Select the following options, if they are available on your system. Some systems do not offer these options:
- Preserve Configuration: Enable this option to save and restore the existing Oracle ILOM firmware settings.
- Preserve BIOS Configuration: Enable this option to save and restore existing BIOS configurations. This option is not supported on all servers.
- Delay BIOS Upgrade: Postpone the BIOS upgrade until after the next time the system is reset or power-cycled.
  
  Note - If you select the Delay BIOS Upgrade option, Oracle ILOM updates the BIOS firmware the next time you power cycle your system.
  On some systems, Oracle ILOM upgrades the BIOS firmware the next time you reset your system even though you didn't choose to power cycle it. In this case, the reset takes longer than usual, and includes a power cycle, and in some cases can take up to 26 minutes. This is normal behavior when a delayed BIOS upgrade is applied during a reset.
If you selected Delay BIOS Upgrade, the system terminates your Oracle ILOM session. If you did not select Delay BIOS Upgrade, the system power cycles and terminates your Oracle ILOM session.

From the CLI:

To update the firmware on the server SP or CMM, type:
load -source/[protocol]://[username]:[password@server_ip]/[path_to_image]/[.pkg]

Where protocol can be http, https, ftp, tftp, sftp, or scp.
Type Y to load image and then type Y to enable the applicable firmware update options.
When the firmware process completes, the system reboots to apply the new firmware image.

Select the following options, if your system offers them. Some systems do not offer these options:

Preserve Configuration: Enable this option to save and restore the existing Oracle ILOM firmware settings.
Preserve BIOS Configuration: Enable this option to save and restore existing BIOS configurations. This option is not supported on all servers.

Delay BIOS Upgrade: Postpone the BIOS upgrade until after the next time the system is reset or power-cycled.

Note - If you select the Delay BIOS Upgrade option, Oracle ILOM updates the BIOS firmware the next time you power cycle your system.

On some systems, if you reset your server when there is a pending BIOS upgrade, Oracle ILOM executes the BIOS upgrade. This power cycles the server and causes the reset to take longer than usual (in some cases as much as 26 minutes). This is normal behavior when a delayed BIOS upgrade is applied during a reset.

Caution - Service interruption. Do not interrupt the update process while the server is upgrading the BIOS firmware. This can result in corrupted firmware and server down time.

If you selected Delay BIOS Upgrade, the system terminates your Oracle ILOM session. If you did not select Delay BIOS Upgrade, the system power cycles and terminates your Oracle ILOM session.

See Also

Update the Server SP or CMM Firmware Image, Oracle ILOM Configuration and Maintenance Guide for firmware version 3.1 or 3.2.
Update Blade Chassis Component Firmware Images, Oracle ILOM Configuration and Maintenance Guide for firmware version 3.1 or 3.2.