fwupdate Commands on Network Controllers Might Not Show Device Details or Fail When Executed Right After Linux OS Loads (21210340)

On systems with Oracle Linux 7.x or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x, attempting to run fwupdate commands on network interface controllers within the first couple of minutes after the operating system is up and available can result in incomplete information or failure of the command.

When attempting to display information using fwupdate list, the output might not show device information for system network controllers. When attempting to update network controller firmware using fwupdate update, the update might fail.

This issue is only seen with network interface controllers. The fwupdate command can still be run successfully on other devices as soon as the OS is up and available.

Workaround

Before attempting to list network controller device information or update network controller firmware using the fwupdate command, wait for at least two minutes after the OS is up.

For a critical task, such as an update of network controller firmware, wait two minutes after the OS is up and then run the fwupdate list command to ensure the network controller device information is listed. If the fwupdate list command completes successfully, showing details of the network controller you intend to update, you can then safely run the fwupdate update command.