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Asset ID: 1-71-1012463.1
Update Date:2011-05-31
Keywords:
Solution Type  Technical Instruction Sure

Solution  1012463.1 :   Sun Fire[TM] X4100 / X4200 servers: Process to upgrade the BIOS and SP Firmware  

Related Items 
    

  • Sun Fire X4100 Server
    •  
  • Sun Fire X4200 Server
    •  
Related Categories 
    

  • GCS>Sun Microsystems>Servers>x64 Servers
    •  

PreviouslyPublishedAs
217173 




Applies to: 
 
Sun Fire X4100 Server
Sun Fire X4200 Server
All Platforms



Goal

The procedure to upgrade from system software version 1.0 on these servers was not included with the firmware at the time.



This solution document outlines a simple process for performing the firmware upgrade.
To discuss this information further with Oracle experts and industry peers, we encourage you to review, join or start a discussion in the My Oracle Support Community - Sun x86 Systems




Solution

NOTE: Parts of this upgrade procedure are specific to Sun Fire X4100 / X4200 System Software release 1.0.
If you are not upgrading from system Software release 1.0, then you should follow the procedure contained in the appropriate Sun Fire X4100 / X4200 Servers Software Release Notes documentation
NOTE: A firmware upgrade will cause the server and Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) to be reset.


Do a clean shutdown of the server prior to the  upgrade procedure. An upgrade takes about 20 minutes to complete. ILOM will enter a special mode to load new firmware. No other tasks can be performed in ILOM until the firmware upgrade is complete, and ILOM is reset.


See < Document: 1009560.1 > : "Precautions when upgrading Sun Fire[TM] X4100/Sun Fire[TM] X4200 BIOS and SP Firmware", before attempting flash upgrades.
Download the new firmware version from:  x4100 & x4200 Firmware Downloads.
To the download, simply click on the link, it will initiate the save
operation. Using right-click or shift-click will not work properly.
Manual ILOM Firmware Upgrade


The first part of this procedure is done using the CLI (Command Line Interface) for the ILOM. Note that this part is only required when the firmware revision is less  than 10664. It is always safe to run the preflash script but it is not necessary  to do so if the firmware is already at 10664.


    

  1. login as root using the CLI interface to the ILOM.
    2. 

  2. Copy ilom.X4100-preflash_1.0.sh to the ILOM service processor:

    
scp ilom.X4100-preflash_1.0.sh sunservice@:/coredump
    
password: <root_password>

    3. 

  3. Execute ilom.X4100-preflash_1.0.sh on the ILOM service processor:

    
ssh -l sunservice  sh /coredump/ilom.X4100-preflash_1.0.sh
    
password: <root_password>

    4. 

  4. Reset the ILOM service processor before beginning the flash upgrade. From the ILOM SP graphical web interface, navigate to the Maintenance tab, then use the Reset SP action.
    5. 



The rest of this procedure is performed using the GUI.


    

  1. connect to ILOM via https://<ip-address-of-sp>
    2. 

  2. select "Maintenance"
    3. 

  3. click on "enter upgrade mode"
    4. 

  4. Enter the location of the file indicated in the Upload Firmware Page
    5. 

  5. Click the "Upload" button and this will take a while to complete.
    6. 

  6. Select the available modules in Verify Firmware Image
    7. 

  7. Click "Start Upgrade"
    8. 

LSI Raid Controller firmware Notes
An incompatibility has been found in past between a specific BIOS version 
(BIOS 36) for Sun Fire X4100/X4200 Servers and certain old LSI MPT firmwares.  
This incompatibility caused the LSI MPT BIOS to be 
inoperable and prevented access to the hardware RAID utility during boot process.

See < Document: 1000817.1 > : "Some Sun Fire X4100/X4200 Servers have a BIOS version which is incompatible with the LSI MPT firmware"

For this reason Oracle recommend to perform at the same time of the ILOM and BIOS updgrade also the LSI firmware update.

This is clearly stated into the Firmware/readme.html file included in every firmware package distributed. 
As an example, taken from the latest ilom and bios package:

Caution: LSI MPT SAS firmware and MPT BIOS must be upgraded to LSI FW 1.16.40 and MPTBIOS 6.14.04 for this release

The LSI controller firmware is included into ILOM and BIOS update package in form of an iso bootable image which can be burned onto a cdrom or remotely mounted using the ILOM KVM Graphical Redirection.


Other Documents


For complete and up to date instructions on how to prepare for, and perform the upgrade, refer to the Sun Fire X4100 and Sun Fire X4200 Servers Release Notes for the specific software release version.
Other Upgrade Options


There are other options to upgrade the firmware such as using ipmitool. See the above documents for the details of those options.


Sun N1[TM] System Manager, can manage firmware upgrades. See the 'show firmware' and 'loadfirmware' commands in the Sun N1 System Manager Command Reference for details.

 Previously Published As:


 83276



 Product_uuid


 54e2ac49-df71-11d9-89e6-080020a9ed93|Sun Fire X4100 Server


 c6e795ef-df6f-11d9-89e6-080020a9ed93|Sun Fire X4200 Server





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