Upgrade fw on i64 w/o a CD?

[Aaron Sakovich]

I've got to upgrade the firmware on several remote Itaniums. I can burn an ISO CD without any problem on the remote systems, but getting humans involved in the process leads to scheduling and other issues and tends to slow me way down.

Has anyone tried using the methods detailed in the firmware release notes for U*X/Windows systems for OpenVMS? i.e., copying the .efi file to the EFI partition and then running it?

Got any other suggestions for upgrading the firmware remotely without having to burn a CD?

[Martin Vorlaender · Accepted solution]

Aaron,

the latest firmware upgrade also comes as OS Initiated Firmware (OSIFM), i.e. as an OpenVMS PCSI install kit. At least bizsupport says so:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=de&cc=de&taskId=130&prodSeriesId=3346452&prodTypeId=15351&objectID=c00399523

though I haven't had a chance to try it (yet).

You can find the kit via bizsupport, too:

1. Connect to the Hewlett-Packard Support & Drivers home pages at:
http://www.hp.com/go/bizsupport .
2. Select Download drivers and software .
3. Enter the server model number (for example, rx2660) and click the >> button to begin the search. If a list of products is displayed, select the appropriate product from the list.
4. Click the operating system from the Select operating system section.
5. Select Firmwareâ System .
6. Locate the appropriate firmware package and click Download .

HTH,
Martin

[Aaron Sakovich]

Awesome! And that explains why I hadn't seen it -- it's under OpenVMS, not cross-platform (which is where the firmware was traditionally stored, of course).

Thanks!