Updating Component Firmware With a Metadata File (Automatic Mode)
fwupdate update automatic mode updates the specified target component(s) using platform-specific firmware update metadata information. This information is contained in a metadata XML file that is part of the platform firmware download package. The metadata method ensures only supported platform components get updated and also performs any device/host resets or host power cycles required. This is the most accurate method to use to update firmware in a system.
The following command syntax is used for the update subcommand when using automatic mode:
fwupdate update target
options -x metadata.xml
Examples of command usage are listed below the supported target and options tables.
When used in automatic mode, the update subcommand supports the following component type targets:
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all
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All supported targets, such as disks, expanders, controllers, bridge devices, and system firmware (including Oracle ILOM).
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disk
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Supported hard disk drives and solid state disk drives.
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expander
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Supported SAS expanders.
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controller
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Supported controllers, such as storage and networking.
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bridge
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Supported embedded SAS-to-SATA bridge devices (used on some older systems).
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sp_bios
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System firmware on x86 (BIOS) or SPARC (OBP, Hypervisor, NYX, POST, etc.), including Oracle ILOM.
Note -
This target has been deprecated for SPARC and is replaced by the sysfw target.
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sysfw
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System firmware on SPARC (OBP, Hypervisor, NYX, POST, etc.), including Oracle ILOM.
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When used in automatic mode, update subcommand supports the following options:
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–n
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–-device_name
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Precedes name of the device to update. The name is the mapped name, which you can retrieve by using the fwupdate list all command. This option is not required when used with a metadata XML file. For information about device names, see CLI Tools Device-Naming Convention. |
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–d
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–-dry-run
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Optional. Checks all input, executes an available dry-run check command on the firmware and component, but makes no permanent changes.
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–x
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–-xml=metadata.xml
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If the firmware package contains a metadata XML file, this command provides the path to metadata.xml.
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–o
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–-output=filename
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Logs all actions in the specified file.
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–p
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–-priority=value
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Starts processing input metadata from an XML file at a given priority level, skipping all lower levels.
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–q
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–-quiet
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Uses silent, non-interactive mode. Suppresses user prompts and informational message output and only returns error codes during the update. Useful for scripting.
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n/a
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–-silent-reboot
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Enables a host reboot (or power cycle) after the firmware update with no prompt to the user. Reboot happens automatically.
Note -
This option is supported for all x86 systems. This option is also supported with newer SPARC systems that support Live Firmware Update and utilize metadata that includes a power cycle (refer to your SPARC firmware release notes to see if your system supports Live Firmware Update).
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n/a
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–-silent-no-reboot
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Prevents a host reboot after a firmware update. The user is not prompted to initiate a host reboot and no reboot takes place. If this option is used, the host will need to be manually rebooted later to complete the firmware update.
Note -
This option is supported for all x86 systems. This option is also supported with newer SPARC systems that support Live Firmware Update and utilize metadata that includes a power cycle (refer to your SPARC firmware release notes to see if your system supports Live Firmware Update).
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Usage examples:
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To update the firmware of all devices supported in the metadata file, type:
fwupdate update all -x metadata.xml
For example, if you are updating NVMe device firmware and there are three NVMe devices installed in the system, specifying fwupdate update all with an NVMe metadata file will update all three NVMe devices. This is the recommended and safest method for updating devices.
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To update system firmware (including Oracle ILOM) in quiet (non-interactive) mode but delay any host reboot or power cycle:
For a SPARC system, type: fwupdate update sysfw -q -x metadata.xml --silent-no-reboot
For an x86 system, type: fwupdate update sp_bios -q -x metadata.xml --silent-no-reboot
This updates the platform system firmware as specified in the metadata without prompts or messages. If the metadata includes a host reboot or power cycle, the Oracle ILOM service processor is restarted after the update, but the host system is not restarted. The system firmware update on the host (which includes updates to BIOS for x86, or OBP, Hypervisor, NYX, POST, etc. for SPARC) will be completed at the next power cycle for SPARC or reboot for x86.
Note -
The --silent-no-reboot and --silent-reboot options are not supported on SPARC systems that do not support the Live Firmware Update feature. For systems that support Live Firmware Update, these options are supported if the metadata includes a power cycle. Check the release notes included with your SPARC firmware download package to see if this feature is supported.
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To update all disks supported in the metadata file, type:
fwupdate update disk -x metadata.xml
This updates all disks in the system whose target device types are specified in the metadata file.
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To update a specific disk supported in the metadata file, type:
fwupdate update disk -x metadata.xml -n c0d1
This updates only disk c0d1, and only if the c0d1 disk drive type is specified in the metadata file.
See also