Update System Firmware Using Oracle ILOM

You can update Oracle ILOM system firmware while the host is powered on. The Oracle ILOM firmware image includes firmware for the service processor (SP, Oracle ILOM) and the server's host components (FPGAs). The Oracle ILOM firmware update goes into effect immediately. However, the update of host components is deferred until the affected host is power cycled. Because Oracle ILOM can be updated while the host is powered on, this feature reduces the total system downtime.

Before You Begin

Note:

This procedure uses the Oracle ILOM command-line interface to update the system firmware. You can also update system firmware using the Oracle ILOM web interface. For web interface instructions, refer to the Oracle ILOM documentation at Servers Documentation Systems Management.

To update system firmware, follow these steps:

  1. Notify Oracle ILOM SP users of the scheduled firmware update and ask them to close all client sessions until after the firmware update is complete. Do not perform any other Oracle ILOM tasks during the firmware update.
  2. Navigate to the directory where you saved the FIRMWARE PACK (Patch) archive zip file.
  3. Extract the FIRMWARE PACK files from the archive zip file.

    When you extract the files, the <image.pkg> file is in the Firmware/service-processor directory.

    For example:

    % unzip p26981570_102_Generic.zip
Archive: 26981570_102_Generic.zip
creating Oracle_Server_X9-2-1.0.1.87665-FIRMWARE_PACK/Firmware/service-processor/
inflating: Oracle_Server_X9-2-1.0.1.87665-FIRMWARE_PACK/Firmware/service-processor/
ILOM-5_0_0_28_r121827-ORACLE_SERVER_X9-2-rom.pkg
  4. Review the README file that accompanies the firmware image to be aware of any special release notes or instructions.
  5. Update the firmware using the Oracle ILOM command-line interface:
    1. Log in to Oracle ILOM with an account with Admin privileges.
    2. Load the firmware image from the stored location using the load -source command followed by the directory path to the firmware image you want to install. Type:

      -> load -source protocol://server_IPaddress/<path_to_image>/<image.pkg>

      Where protocol can be: http, https, ftp, tftp, sftp, scp

      For example, if you are accessing the server through a tftp server with an IP address of 198.51.100.123 in a directory called ilom/jdoe and with the <image.pkg> named firmware.pkg, enter the following command:

      -> load -source tftp://198.51.100.123/tftpboot/ilom/jdoe/firmware.pkg

      The following information is displayed:

      An upgrade takes several minutes to complete. Oracle ILOM will enter a special mode to load new firmware. No other tasks can be performed in Oracle ILOM until the firmware upgrade is complete and Oracle ILOM is reset.

      You can choose to postpone the server BIOS upgrade until the next server power off. If you do not do that, you should perform a clean shutdown of the server before continuing.

    3. Answer the following prompts:

      Are you sure you want to load the specified file? y

      Preserve existing SP configuration (y/n)? y

      This prompt preserves your existing Oracle ILOM settings after the firmware update is complete.

      Preserve existing BIOS configuration (y/n)? y

      This prompt preserves your existing BIOS configuration settings after the firmware upgrade is complete.

      Delay BIOS upgrade until the next poweroff or reset (y/n)? y

      Answer "Y" (yes) to the Delay BIOS Upgrade question and, if the host is ON and there are host components to be updated, the host remains powered on and the host component updates are deferred until the next time the host powers off and powers on (next reset/reboot).

      Answer "N" (no) to the Delay BIOS Upgrade question and, if the host is ON and there are host components to be updated, the host is forced OFF so that host component updates can be applied immediately. After Oracle ILOM reboots, the host is powered on automatically if it was forced off.

      Note:

      If the server has a pending BIOS upgrade, the power reset could take longer to complete. This is expected behavior, as it is necessary to power cycle the server to upgrade the BIOS firmware. If the upgrade includes an FPGA update, the process can take as long as 26 minutes to complete.
    4. Wait for the Oracle ILOM status message to confirm that the process is complete.
  6. To verify that the updated firmware is installed, at the Oracle ILOM CLI prompt, type:

    -> show /System/Firmware