Sunday, August 20, 2017
UCS firmware
UCS firmware
The UCS itself from a firmware management perspective is quite possibly the simplest set of hardware devices to update that I�ve utilized to date. From one centralized management point you can upgrade and manage firmware within the entire UCS cluster � Fabric Interconnects, Physical Servers, Server Components, etc. With new firmware comes new features, device support, etc. so having this centralized management is a HUGE benefit!
Like most things within the UCS stack, there are a number of policies that can be defined and applied to physical servers to accomplish things. Sean McGee has a great post discussing all the items which can be controlled through UCS policies here. I want to concentrate on just one of them here as we�re discussing firmware management � Hence the �Host Firmware Packages�.
Why do we need a Host Firmware Package and what�s it use?
Part of any firmware update within the UCS should also include the creation of a Host Firmware Package. This package allows us to create a policy which ensures a specified firmware revision is applied to physical servers and their components. It is typically created after the major components (Fabric Interconnects, UCSM, IOM�s, etc.) have all been updated and should correspond to the updated firmware version. We�re capable of managing firmware on the following components residing in a physical server:
- Network Adapters
- Server BIOS
- Board Controller
- Fibre Channel Adapters
- HBA ROM Packages
- Storage Controllers
Lets Build One�
With UCSM 1.4, the creation of these packages became extremely easy to create (not that they were difficult before however the choosing of hardware was a little cryptic). Below are the steps required to create a Host Firmware Package in UCSM 1.4.
We�ll start by navigating to where Host Firmware Packages are created under the Policies section of UCSM.
By right clicking on �Host Firmware Package� you�ll see an option to create a new package. A new window will appear to walk you through the package creation process.
As seen in the above screenshot, there are six tabs where specific firmware packages can be chosen.
Walking through each tab, you�ll want to select the hardware you�re wanting to update making sure the firmware version is properly selected as well.
Note, because I choose the M81KR card under the first tab, I have not chosen any Fibre Channel Adapters.
Once your satisfied with all your selections, click OK and it will save and create the package as seen below. Notice how you can quickly and easily go back in to change the firmware version if needed meaning you don�t have to recreate the package every time you update firmware.
Now that we have a Host Firmware Package created we have one last step to complete the process. Within the Service Profile, there is a specific place to specify a Host Firmware Package to be applied to an associated server. Below is where this is accomplished within a Service Profile.
Modifying an existing Service Profile, the specifying of Host Firmware Package is done under the Server Assignment section as seen below. Simply choose the package we created above for Host firmware package and you�re complete.
Now when the blade server boots that has this profile associated with it, the new firmware will be automatically applied and the corresponding components updated. Couldn�t be any easier!!!
Remember, this should be the standard practice whenever updating firmware within the UCS. Components should always match the running version of the components north of the blades (i.e. Fabric Interconnects, UCSM, IOM�s, etc.).
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