Asset ID:	1-71-1009560.1
Update Date:	2011-05-31
Keywords:

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Solution Type  Technical Instruction Sure

Solution  1009560.1 :   Precautions when upgrading Sun Fire[TM] X4100/Sun Fire[TM] X4200 BIOS and SP Firmware  


PreviouslyPublishedAs
213184

Applies to:

Sun Fire X4100 Server
Sun Fire X4200 Server
Sun Fire X4100 M2 Server - Version: Not Applicable and later    [Release: N/A and later]
Sun Fire X4200 M2 Server - Version: Not Applicable and later    [Release: N/A and later]
All Platforms

Goal

Description

Certain issues have been discovered and fixed with the Sun Fire[TM] X4100/Sun Fire[TM] X4200 BIOS and SP Firmware upgrade process. In order to avoid possible issues, please follow these recommendations.

Solution

Steps to Follow

Several issues have been found and corrected in the Sun Fire[TM] x4100 / x4200 Firmware Upgrade process. In order to avoid these issues, and ensure a successful BIOS and SP Firmware Upgrade, please follow the following steps.

For up to date and detailed information on firmware upgrade procedures, known issues, and workarounds, always refer to the latest Sun Fire X4100 and Sun Fire X4200 System Software Release Notes.

To download platform firmware, tools & drivers, bootable diagnostic images, and operating system installation assistants, visit the Sun Fire X4100 and Sun Fire X4200 Product Download page.

If any of these intermittent failures occur, simply reset the ILOM service processor, and try again (see below for details on resetting the ILOM service processor).

In all cases, it's recommended that the X4100 / X4200 host be shutdown prior to beginning flash upgrade, and all ILOM users be disconnected.

1) Reset the ILOM service processor prior to beginning flash upgrade.

Memory fragmentation in long-running ILOM processes, or multiple ILOM users or connections, may cause flash upgrades to fail with permission errors, or flash image verification errors.

To avoid these issues, it's recommended that the ILOM service processor be reset prior to attempting flash upgrade. Please see the ILOM documentation for details on resetting the service processor. Some examples:

From the ILOM WEB GUI, follow the Maintenance tab to the Reset SP action.

From the ILOM CLI, use the following command: 

reset /SP

Using ipmitool, use the following command: 

ipmitool -H <ILOM IP Address> -U root bmc reset cold

You can also reset the ILOM service processor by shutting down the host, and removing and restoring power to the system.

2) Shut down the host.

A rare USB interaction from the x4100 / x4200 host operating system may cause the ILOM service processor to fail early in the flash upgrade process.

To avoid this issue, it's recommended that the host be shutdown prior to beginning the flash upgrade process (this is generally recommended, as the BIOS update portion of the flash upgrade will reset the host). Please see the ILOM documentation for details on resetting the host. Some examples:

Use the host operating system command to shutdown and power off the server (recommended).

From the ILOM WEB GUI, follow the Remote Control tab to the Remote Power Control action.

From the ILOM CLI, use the following command

stop /SYS

Using ipmitool, run the following command:

ipmitool -H <ILOM IP Address> -U root chassis power off

You can also shutdown the host using the Power button on the x4100 / x4200.


3) Use N1 System Manager or the ILOM CLI load command to perform flash upgrade.

Due to the increased memory usage during WEB GUI operations, it's recommended that N1 System Manager, or the ILOM CLI load command, be used to upgrade the ILOM service processor. Please see the N1 System Manager or ILOM documentation for details of firmware flashing. An example:

From the ILOM CLI, use the following command

load -source tftp://<tftp server IP>/<path to firmware file>

See the 'show firmware' and 'loadfirmware' commands in the N1 System Manager Command Reference.


4) At the conclusion of firmware upgrade, BIOS setup should be entered, and any necessary BIOS configuration should be restored (BIOS configuration is not preserved across firmware upgrades).

SP configuration is preserved, if the 'preserve configuration' option is chosen.

Internal Comments
Fro Sun Internal Use Only
A hidden, Sun-internal FE account is provided on the service processor.
login: sunservice
password: changeme (or whatever root password has been set on the SP)
This command can be used to reset the SP, when it becomes unmanageable
by other interfaces. The reset command is the embedded-linux 'reboot' command.
# reboot
For internal use only, a bootable cdrom image is available at
http://lse.sfbay/sp
which provides internal, unsupported tools to ease flash upgrade.

THIS IS NOT LEGAL/SUITABLE TO BE RELEASED TO CUSTOMERS.

Please refer to the /etc/motd file on the bootable cdrom image for
further information.
SP Firmware upgrade,Sun Fire X4100 Serve,Sun Fire X4200 Server
Previously Published As
83929
Product_uuid
72ebd254-12cb-11db-afaa-080020a9ed93 | Sun Fire X4100 Server
6da9d89d-ae38-11da-857a-080020a9ed93 | Sun Fire X4200 Server


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