When updating to a later firmware release, the Preserve Configuration option (when enabled) saves your existing Oracle ILOM configuration and restores the user-defined configuration settings after the firmware update completes. However, when the Preserve Configuration option is not enabled, the Oracle ILOM configuration settings (including network settings) are reset to their factory default values upon completing the firmware update process.
If you are updating to a prior firmware release and Oracle ILOM detects a preserved configuration for that release, the Preserve Configuration option (when enabled) reverts to the configuration for the prior release after the update process completes.
Generally, you should not update the firmware on your system to a prior release. However, if you determine that you need to run an earlier version of the firmware on your system, you can update the firmware to any prior firmware release that is available for download.