8.8.2 Updating InfiniBand Network Fabric Switch Firmware Software

Update the InfiniBand Network Fabric switches using the patchmgr command.

The minimum switch firmware release that can use the patchmgr utility is release 1.3.3-2. The switch firmware is upgraded in a rolling manner.

• If a spine switch is present in the rack, then the spine switch is upgraded first.
• If a spine switch is not in the rack, then upgrade the switch that is running the Subnet Manager first.
• If the Subnet Manager is not running on the switches, then perform the upgrade in any order.

You should have completed the steps in Preparing for InfiniBand Network Fabric Switch Firmware Updates before starting this task.

1. Log in as the root user to a database server in the Oracle Exadata Rack that has root user SSH access to the switches.
   The database server must be on the same InfiniBand Network Fabric network as the switches.
2. Download the appropriate patch file to the database server.
   Refer to My Oracle Support note 888828.1 for patch information.
3. Uncompress the patch files.
   The files are uncompressed to the patch_release.date directory.
4. Change to the patch_release.date directory.
5. Run the prerequisite checks using patchmgr.

   The --unkey option removes passwordless SSH access to the InfiniBand Network Fabric switches before exiting.

   The --force option overrides failures in the InfiniBand Network Fabric topology and connectivity from the servers to the switches. This does not affect the upgrade of the switch.

   # ./patchmgr --ibswitches ibswitches.lst --upgrade --ibswitch_precheck [--force] [--unkey]
   

   Note:

   Starting with Oracle Exadata System Software release 19.3.0, the patchmgr command uses -- instead of a single hyphen before keywords.

   If the output from the command shows overall status is SUCCESS, then proceed with the upgrade.

   If the output from the command shows overall status is FAIL, then review the error summary in the output to determine which checks failed, and then correct the errors.

   After the errors have been corrected, rerun the prerequisite checks until it is successful.

6. Upgrade the switches using the following command:

   [root@dm01 ]# ./patchmgr --ibswitches ibswitches.lst --upgrade [--force] [--unkey]

7. Check the output from the command, and verify the upgrade.

   The output should show SUCCESS. If there are errors, then correct the errors and run the upgrade command again.