Updating Oracle Exadata InfiniBand Switches

Update Oracle Exadata InfiniBand switches to a higher InfiniBand switch firmware version.

Before you update Oracle Exadata InfiniBand switches, complete the following checks on the Dom0 node used as the patch manager driving system:

  • Ensure that passwordless SSH as root works in both directions between each InfiniBand switch and the Dom0 node.
  • Verify that the SSH server on the Dom0 node does not close the Oracle Fleet Patching and Provisioning (Oracle FPP) connection used by the patch manager during a switch reboot. The effective ClientAliveInterval value must be 0 (disabled) or at least 2400 seconds (40 minutes). Run the following command on the Dom0 node to check the value:

    sshd -T | grep '^clientaliveinterval '
  • Ensure that the Dom0 node has access to the physical InfiniBand fabric and can successfully run the following commands:

    ibstat
    ibnetdiscover -p
    ibswitches
  1. Create an Oracle Exadata InfiniBand switch image.

    The following command imports an Oracle Exadata InfiniBand switch image to the Oracle FPP Server as an image. In the example, image specifies the name of the InfiniBand switch image that you want to add, imagetype specifies EXAPATCHSOFTWARE for Oracle Exadata software, version specifies the version of the Oracle Exadata software, and path specifies the absolute path location of the InfiniBand switch image that you want to import.

    rhpctl import image -image image_name -imagetype EXAPATCHSOFTWARE 
    -version software_version -path absolute_path

    When you import an InfiniBand switch image with this command, the version parameter must be the exact version of the InfiniBand switch software required by the patchmgr on the node, for example 23.4.0.0.0.221111.1. The path parameter should contain InfiniBand switch updated zip files.

  2. Deploy the Oracle Exadata InfiniBand switch image to the client cluster.

    Note:

    You need to deploy the image only when running the patch operation from a client. This step is not required when running the patch operation from the Oracle FPP Server.

    The following command deploys an Oracle Exadata InfiniBand switch image to a client cluster. In the example, image specifies the name of the Oracle Exadata InfiniBand switch image that you want to deploy, client specifies the name of the cluster to which you want to deploy the image, and path specifies the absolute path location for deploying the Oracle Exadata InfiniBand switch image on the rhpclient-less target or client side.

    rhpctl deploy image -image image_name 
    -client client_cluster_name -path image_file_path
  3. Evaluate the current configuration and perform pre-upgrade checks for InfiniBand switches.

    The following command evaluates the current configuration and performs pre-upgrade checks. In the example, image specifies the name of the Oracle Exadata InfiniBand switch image that you want to use for update, client specifies the name of the cluster in which you want to update InfiniBand switches, and patchmgrdrivingsystem specifies the node from which you start the update operation.

    rhpctl update exadata -ibswitches comma_separated_list_of_IB_nodes -image image_name 
    -client client_cluster_name -patchmgrdrivingsystem patchmgr_driving_node -eval

    To evaluate the update from the Oracle FPP Server using a Dom0 node as the patch manager driving system, run the following command:

    rhpctl update exadata \
      -ibswitches comma_separated_list_of_IB_nodes \
      -image image_name -server \
      -fromnode dom0_node \
      -patchmgrdrivingsystem dom0_node \
      -path image_file_path -eval

    Specify the same Dom0 node for -fromnode and -patchmgrdrivingsystem. Specify the absolute path on the Dom0 node to which the image is copied for -path. Review and resolve any errors reported by the evaluation before you update the switches.

    Note:

    You must specify the patchmgrdrivingsystem if the Oracle FPP Server does not have direct access to the Oracle Exadata InfiniBand switches and the patch operation needs to be performed through an intermediary Dom0 node.

  4. Update Oracle Exadata InfiniBand switches with the new image.

    rhpctl update exadata -ibswitches comma_separated_list_of_IB_nodes -image image_name 
    -client client_cluster_name -patchmgrdrivingsystem patchmgr_driving_node

    To update the switches from the Oracle FPP Server using the Dom0 node, run the following command:

    rhpctl update exadata \
      -ibswitches comma_separated_list_of_IB_nodes \
      -image image_name -server \
      -fromnode dom0_node \
      -patchmgrdrivingsystem dom0_node \
      -path image_file_path
  5. Query the Oracle Exadata InfiniBand switch image to check the image type:

    rhpctl query image -image infini1
    Image name: infini1
    Owner: user@server10
    Site: server10
    ...
    ...
    Image Type: Exadata network switch
    Complete: TRUE

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