Gen9 Server Profile Issue / VC Firmware Update with OneView

[cgtracy-dms]

I have 2 issues that I need some help with:

1) Creating a server profile for a brand new Gen9 server fails.  OneView sets the administrative server power lock and then boots the server.  However, the server itself hangs just after the pre-boot with the blue scrolling bar at the top stuck.  OneView eventually errors out saying that the server is stuck in pre-boot check and to try again later.

2) In troubleshooting the first issue I found that there's an updated VC firmware available (4.45) that references a problem with Gen9 servers and server profiles in OneView.  We're on v4.41 currently but I'll be dipped if I can figure out how to apply the new firmware via OneView.  We have the latest SPP 2015.06 set as our baseline in OneView currently but how do you apply just one update?  And I've also already tried the SPP upgrade method as well as the latest HP VCSU utility method.  The former says that it can't update directly because of OneView and the VCSU can't connect to the enclosure where my VC modules are saying that it's not the primary enclosure in the domain.  We are in the midst of upgrading our 2-enclosure domain to VC and the "primary" enclosure doesn't yet have any VC modules installed.

Any insight/assistance with this would be greatly appreciated.

[ChrisLynch]

Hello cgtracy-dms, and welcome to the HP OneView Community Forums.

Can you check to make sure the Onboard Administrator is connected to either a 100Mb/Full Duplex or 1Gb port?  We have seen in some instances where OneView can't control the iLO properly due to excessive retransmits caused by duplex mismatch with 100Mb connections.  Also, what iLO firmware is installed on your Gen9?

The Gen9 Server Profile fix described in the 4.45 Release Notes is specific to Virtual Connect Manager.  If you wish to upgrade the VC firmware to 4.45, you cannot use VCSU as that requires VCM to be active.  OneView has native support for firmware updates.  You will need to create a Custom Baseline.  You can follow these steps:

1. Extract the SPP (http://hp.com/go/spp) to a local directory (e.g. C:\HPSUM), if not already done.
2. Create a directory on your local system.  It can be anywhere, and I would suggest something like C:\HPSUM\Components\VC.
3. Download the VC 4.45 SCEXE update, and then place the SCEXE into the directory you created above.
4. Launch C:\HPSUM\launch_hpsum.bat
5. In the Console, select Baseline Library from the Menu.  Wait for the baseline inventory to complete.
6. Select the Add Baseline button.
   1. Leave the Location Type as default (Browse HP SUM Server Path)
   2. Select the Browse button.
   3. Select the UP Arrow to go up a directory, if needed, the single select the directory to drill down.  Make sure the Green Checkmark is next to the directory where the SCEXE is located (e.g. C:\HPSUM\Components\VC).
   4. Click OK.
   5. It shouldn’t take more than a moment to add the component.  It will show up as “Additional Component” in the Baseline Library screen.
7. Select Actions, then Create Custom.
8. Provide a Description, in the second Version Field, add 2 characters
9. In the Output Location, make sure the directory exists.  It can be any directory you want.
10. Check “Make Bootable ISO File”
11. Specify C:\HPSUM (or other directory you make in Step 1) as the “Extracted Source ISO Location”.
12. You can select “Run in backround” if you want, but not necessary.
13. Make sure both the SPP Baseline and the Additional Package are Selected in Step 1.
14. In the Filters section (Step 2), make sure the following are selected:
    1. Component Type = Firmware
    2. Expand Advanced Filters and select:
       1. Non-Server Devices: OA, VC, iLO
15. Select Apply Filters in Step 3. 
16. Scroll through the results, and make sure to Unselect any VC firmware component that is not 4.45.  If you do not, you will have 2 VC firmware versions, and you'll likely not upgrade to 4.45.
17. Select Create ISO to create the ISO, which will be saved in the directory you created in Step 9 above
18. You can now upload the ISO to the appliance and use to upgrade the Logical Interconnect Firmware.