Firmware release set and component updates question

[chuckk281]

We had lots of question regarding the new Firmware Update Tool, HPSUM, and Firmware Release Sets:

Jean-Denis had a problem:

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Currently there are two firmware release sets available (January 2010 and March 2010).

There are also critical components updates available but some of them are for example not included in these FRS.

Example:

SAE200i V1.86 is available as a critical update but both existing release sets do only include the 1.84 version

On another hand both FRS include the V1.81 ILO2 version, but ILO 1.82 is available and should be used along with the new 1.12.0.0 ILO2 mgmt controller driver

Can I customize my firmware deployment tool (DVD or key) by replacing these components with the latest ones which are critical updates? Also for the moment my customer didn’t validate the latest Emulex LPe1105 HBA firmware 2010.01.20 (part of the March FRS).

Can I include the previous 2009.09.11 package (validated with  January FRS).  Will this mixing be supported by hp ?

I planned to take the first (January 2010) FRS as my baseline, but here again I’m not satisfied as it contains for example the 2009.10.01 system ROM for BL460c G6 and we have some G6 servers with ECC memory errors and these should probably be fixed with the 2010.01.14 systemrom (which is again a critical update and is only part of the March FRS)

What is the rule to follow with the introduction of the FRS please? I thought FRS should simplify the firmware maintenance process, but for the moment I’m a bit confused/disappointed

Many thanks for your advice.

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There was a lot of advice:

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First Gary replied:

                On your USB drive, you should be able to use the Jan 2010 baseline that you want and add the updated firmware to the components folder on the drive to get to your end result.

Then Dave responded:

Several of us have tried adding updates, like BL460 G6 03302010 ROMBIOS and iLO 1.82. I use UltraISO(always worked with FDT1.70 & <), recreate the ISO, add to thumbdrive, boot it into auto pilot and no joy! If you watch close it says something like ‘Not part of package’, I want to run this in scripted mode. I have gone back to the FDT 1.70 ISO and modify it. It works great!

Hoa chimmed in:

I got it to work by editing the corresponding .xml file to include the new package name in place of the older package version -same line.   Remove old package, add in new package in \hp\swpackage, save and import back to ISO.   Lots of work but worked for me.

Now in came Stu:

I must admit - on most occasions I have removed components not added them, and as noted it works fine.

In a lot of situations I tend to be building a slim version of the FW image, but certainly I understand that you want to add critical updates to the FRS.

But to Hoa’s point – even with the FDT I found that I had to add package details to .xml file for additions to be picked up by the FW engine.

And finally Michael:

If you have multiple versions on the key, HPSUM will always install the latest version.

I went back and reviewed my notes and the reason we didn’t just allow it to be opened up was a concern that with components on the DVD for other products (ML/DL in this version), there was the possibility that the ML/DL may be at a later version than the firmware release set on iLO or another common component.  The decision was made to use the bundle to drive what should be installed in automatic mode to prevent the situation where a new iLO that was released just for the ML/DL would install on blades where it might not have been tested.  Since there is no user interaction in automatic mode, it was best to standardize on the exact release set to prevent this from happening.  The BladeSystem Matrix team was also concerned that they could pick up updates for firmware that were not approved for use with Matrix if we didn’t lock it down somewhat.

You need to add the new firmware components to the \hp\swpackages directory and modify the bundle XML file associated with the Linux BladeSystem Firmware Release Set to have it picked up and included in what gets updated on the server.

Sorry for the confusion on this and I hope this clears up what needs to be done and the reasons why we implemented it this way.

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Any input from you? What are you doing for firmware releaase sets and updating?