Welcome to the World of UNIX: Sun SPARC Firmware (ILOM/BIOS) update

In previous article, we have seen Firmware update for Sun x86 arch, we look it for Sun SPARC architecture. Follow the instructions to perform the firmware update.

Step 1
Download the corresponding latest patches/updates image file from the Oracle downloads page
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/systems/patches/firmware/index.html
Step 2
The Sun_System_Firmware-7_4_0_b-SPARC_Enterprise_T5140+T5240.pkg file is the image that will need to be transferred to the Service Processor for update purposes. To perform this transfer the firmware patch to the corresponding server.
Step 3
Continue preparation of upgrading the SP by downloading the image from the host to the SP. Consider the image file in the path /tmp/images
#cd /tmp/images
#/usr/platform/sun4v/sbin/sysfwdownload Sun_System_Firmware-7_4_0_b-SPARC_Enterprise_T5140+T5240.pkg
.......... (9%).......... (18%).......... (27%).......... (37%).......... (46%).......... (55%).......... (64%).......... (74%).......... (83%).......... (92%)......... (100%)

The above process will take 10-15 mins of time to download the patch to SP (located in /coredump/[image].pkg

Step 4

Shutdown the host Solaris OS

#shutdown -i0 -g0 -y

Step 5

Establish and connection to the Service Processor via ssh & login as Admin user with ALOM mode

ssh root@xx.xxx.xx.x

...

Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? yes

...

Password: password (nothing displayed)

Waiting for daemons to initialize...

Daemons ready

Sun(TM) Integrated Lights Out Manager

Version 2.0.0.0

Use is subject to license terms.

Step 6

Verify that the host is powered off.If the host is not powered off, type the stop /SYS command.

sc> stop /SYS

Step 7

Ensure the keyswitch is set to NORMAL. If it is set to LOCKED you will not be able to flash the firmware or send STOP-A to the system. If keyswitch is set to NORMAL start actual flashing process using flashupdate command

sc> showkeyswitch

Keyswitch is in the NORMAL position

If the virtual key switch is in LOCKED position you can change that with the following command:

sc> setkeyswitch -y normal

Step 8

Check the actual version

sc>showhost

Step 9

Make the Flash update the downloaded Firmware Image

sc>flashupdate -s 127.0.0.1

SC Alert: System poweron is disabled.

.........................................................................................................................................................

Update complete. Reset device to use new software.

Step 10

The Sun System Firmware has now been updated. For the system to use the new firmware you must reset the Service Processor .

sc> resetsc

Are you sure you want to reset the SC [y/n]? s

Are you sure you want to reset the SC [y/n]? y

User Requested SC Shutdown

Step 11

Now check the actual version

sc>showsc

Step 12

Now Poweron the server and boot the OS from SP

sc>poweron

sc>boot

Note:

How to revert or downgrade the Sun Firmware in case of failure?

You can always upgrade to new firmware, but downgrades are not guaranteed. Whether they work or not depends on whether your system's hardware configuration and the rest of the software stack (the Oracle Solaris OS, patches, and so on) have any dependencies on your newer firmware. If there are dependencies and you downgrade, you might find yourself unable to even boot. So in general, downgrades should be avoided unless you know for sure your compatibility matrix is verified. Also, it should be obvious that downgrading might cause you to lose features or functionality. For example, LDoms 1.0.1 requires System Firmware release 6.5.x. Downgrading to 6.4.6 would break LDoms functionality

Reference: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/systems/patches/firmware/faq-jsp-139605.html

Tuesday, 4 December 2012

Sun SPARC Firmware (ILOM/BIOS) update

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