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RX2620 firmware upgrades; version by version?

 
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Richard Jordan
Regular Advisor

RX2620 firmware upgrades; version by version?

Our 2620 is running V3.17 system firmware, E.03.15 iLO; basically the V3.17 upgrade ISO versions. We finally got the go-ahead to upgrade VMS on the box, and want to bring the firmware up to date at the same time.

HP shows the following firmware updates since the one on our box:
V3.17A
V4.10
V4.10A
V4.27
V4.29

I'm going through their various release notes now but would appreciate knowing for certain: do each of these upgrades need to be done in sequence, or can I simply (and safely, don't want a brick!) upgrade to current in one jump?

The release notes (so far, not done reading them all yet) make no mention of the need to move up step by step, but a number of user posts I read about these upgrades strongly recommend doing it step by step.

If step by step is better/safer, are all of the listed versions necessary?

Thanks

6 REPLIES 6
Richard Jordan
Regular Advisor

Re: RX2620 firmware upgrades; version by version?

Missed one; the following newer firmware releases are listed as available:


V3.17A
V4.10
V4.10A
V4.21
V4.27
V4.29
Sameer_Nirmal
Honored Contributor
Solution

Re: RX2620 firmware upgrades; version by version?

I would follow the following staged updates.
3.17 -> 3.17A -> 4.10 -> 4.29

Of course, I would follow release notes carefully for pre-requisites and installation instructions at each stage.
cnb
Honored Contributor

Re: RX2620 firmware upgrades; version by version?

Hi Richard,

We had our rx2620 at 3.10 and went to 4.29 without any interim updates. As long as you're at the minimum versions and check the other requirements first (VGA, PCI, etc...) you should be good to go. From the HP-UX v3 online patch notes (yes I know you're doing an ISO offline update & reading the ISO RN didn't state the following steps, but the minimum requirements will/should be the same):

******* CAUTION: This system firmware update will be aborted
if the current MP firmware revision present on the
system is less than E.02.29. The firmware update and
patch will be excluded from installation if this
requirement is not met.

Prior to upgrading system firmware using this patch,
first upgrade the MP firmware to E.02.29. Depending
upon the currently installed MP firmware, interim
upgrades to previous revisions of MP firmware may be
required before upgrading to MP firmware revision
E.02.29. Please follow the upgrade requirements
below:

1 - If the currently installed MP firmware is older
than E.02.10 then updating to MP firmware revision
E.02.26 requires updating to MP E.02.10 first.
2 - Upgrading to MP firmware revision E.02.29 will
require updating to MP firmware revision E.02.26
first.
3 - MP firmware must be at or upgraded to revision
E.02.29 prior to upgrading to the MP revision
E.03.32 contained in this patch. *********

***** 3 - The VGA ATI Video BIOS firmware on the server
should be updated to version yi20823d or later,
downloadable at http://www.hp.com/go/bizsupport.****

4 - Beginning September 1, 2006, Hewlett-Packard
does not support system firmware revisions prior
to 03.17 on HP Integrity rx2620 servers.

Since the initial release is 3.10, those minimum requirements are already met (we updated the VGA), so we didn't have much else to do but update using the latest version.

YMMV


Rgds,

omar abdullah
Frequent Advisor

Re: RX2620 firmware upgrades; version by version?

Hi Jordan

the problem was solved ;

thanks

B. R.
Omar
Richard Jordan
Regular Advisor

Re: RX2620 firmware upgrades; version by version?

cnb
I think the prerequisites you mentioned about the iLO e.02.xx releases were the only ones I saw that clearly defined a requirement for interim updates, and as you noted we're already past those versions. Based only on the release notes I would expect a single upgrade to current to be safe and supported.

However the box currently isn't under contract (wish it was, but...); if we brick it, it could get a bit expensive to fix/replace. That's why we are rather concerned about the number of recommendations "out there" for doing the step upgrades (which was even recommended here by Sameer, who also appears to be pretty knowledgeable in this area). I think we're going to need to think on this one a bit, but I'm glad to hear of your successful experience.

Our downtime windows are short; we already have to do the firmware update(s) at a different time than the OS upgrade and testing; multiple firmware bumps will be difficult to schedule.
Richard Jordan
Regular Advisor

Re: RX2620 firmware upgrades; version by version?

Sameer
thanks for responding. Your recommendations mirror a number of others I've seen (thanks for the version list; that I have not seen elsewhere). I would like to know why a stepwise upgrade is recommended though, if you have the info. The release notes from 3.17a and up really don't seem to show any requirements that would make a step by step upgrade necessary.

A precaution (based on experience?) is a great reason...

Rich