Virtual Connect 1.32 to 2.12

[Bob Firek]

I have a C7000 enclosure that is running VC 1.32. I need to upgrade to Onboard Administrator which is currently at firmware version 2.25. I understand that since I'm at VC 1.32 I need to upgrade my Virtual Connect firmware before upgrading you OAs. Does any know of any issues with upgrading from 1.32 directly to 2.12? I can't find any version between 1.32 and 2.12 so I'm assuming that upgrading to the latest is correct but you know what they say about assuming. I thought it would be good to ask first. Any help will be appreciated.

[JKytsi]

latest is 2.30. 2.12 was only for people who have issues with flex-10.

I have done it always so that ILO and OA to latest.
Then VC fw (without any steps between)

[The Brit]

Hi Bob,

You should note that the latest OA firmware is Version 2.60.

Dave

[Ken Krubsack]

Do the ILO's on the blades first - to at least v1.78. Then do the OA's - to at least v2.52. Then do the VC's.

And at some point you want to think about upgrading the rest of the firmware on the blades themselves. The 8.60 FW CD appears to be pretty solid.

[Adrian Clint]

Virtual Connect 2.30 firmware has specific supported requirements for the NIC firmware.

Dont just consider the NIC firmware. Makde sure it is up to date before you do the VC 2.30 firmware.

[Bob Firek]

Ken,

Thanks for your response. I've been following two different threads of thought on this issue. One is to upgrade the iLO and OAs and then the VC. The other thread is to update the VC first and then the OAs. Here are the details of the latter as I understand them. In the HP BladeSystem ProLiant Firmware Management Best Practices white paper it states:
"If updating from VC firmware versions before 1.34, the VC firmware must be updated before the OA firmware."

My VC firmware is at 1.32. Also starting with OA 2.51 incorporated the PowerPIC firmware which may cause issues with my version of VC.

Here is the firmware level that my C7000 is at:

OA: 2.25
VC eth: 1.32
VC fc: 1.21

10 - ProLiant BL460c G1 blades
All ROM at l15 05/12/2009
All iLO2 at 1.78 Jun 10 2009

The Best Practices white paper also states:
"For VC firmware versions 1.34 and later, the update order between the OA and VC are not important."

So one of my fears is that if I upgrade the OAs first to 2.52 I will run into some power management issues. If I upgrade the VC firmware first it with break the Online Administrator.

So this is one of the approaches I've been thinking about:

Upgrade VC to version 2.10 and then upgrade the OAs from 2.25 to 2.32 to 2.41 to 2.52.

Once I get the box up to this level I'll work on getting the firmware updated to 2.30 and then OA 2.60.

For more interesting reading check out this thread:

http://forums13.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?admit=109447627+1256907720732+28353475&threadId=1381838

Any insight or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Bob

[Adrian Clint]

My methods

I always do the iLO first.
1. Its the least disruptive and most easy to do. You can run the OS upgrade or access the iLO and load the bin file.
2. Do it before the OA as each version of OA firmware will be expecting the iLO to have certain features, which may affect operation.

Then I would look at wether to do the rest of the firmware updates on the blades via the OS or if booting a Blade Firmware CD is the simplest solution. Considering that BIOS FW needs a reboot, NIC FW will kill NIC connections and the Power FW really needs to have a server reboot before you you can consider it a succesfull upgrade, then usually you are looking at booting the firmware CD.

Once these are done....then you can decide if you do OA or VC next.

Always...for all the firmware updates.
Read any release notes, and check on the Revision History