Software updates can contain automatic firmware updates for storage hardware. Following a software upgrade, any storage hardware for which the update includes newer versions of storage firmware is automatically upgraded. Before the upgrade window, it is recommended to run a scrub as described in Scrubbing a Storage Pool (BUI) in Oracle ZFS Storage Appliance Administration Guide, Release OS8.8.0.
Storage hardware, each with distinct characteristics, include disks, disk shelves, and certain internal SAS devices. These devices are upgraded in the background. When a firmware update is occurring, the progress is displayed in the left panel of the Maintenance > System BUI view, or in the maintenance system updates CLI context. These firmware updates are almost always hardware related, though it may briefly show some number of outstanding updates when applying certain deferred updates to components other than hardware.
During the storage firmware update process, hardware connections and status may be intermittent. Related hardware alerts are suppressed during this process. However, if you are viewing the Maintenance > Hardware screen or the Configuration > Storage screen, you may see the effects of these updates in the form of missing or offline devices. If a device remains offline or missing for an extended period of time (several minutes or more) even after refreshing the hardware view, this may be an indication of a problem with the device. Check the Maintenance > Problems view for any relevant faults that may have been identified.
In some cases, the controllers in the disk shelves may stay offline during a storage firmware update. If this occurs, no other controllers are updated until this condition is fixed. If a disk shelf is listed as having only a single path for an extended period of time, check the physical disk shelf to determine whether the green link lights on the back of the SIM or IOM are active. If they are not, remove and re-insert the SIM or IOM to re-establish the connection. Verify that all disk shelves are reachable by two paths.
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