vLCM + OV + OV4VC ESXi Firmware Upgrade Failed

[kjin17]

I am encountering a couple of issues while attempting to upgrade ESXi 7.0.3 on an HPE DL380 Gen10 server using vCenter vLCM with HPE OneView integration.

1. After the base image installation and system reboot, the iSUT configuration reverts to AutoStage (the default option). This requires manual re-enabling before proceeding with the firmware update. Consequently, vLCM returns a remediation failure, and the iLO log indicates that "the firmware is staged and ready for installation and activation. Perform an update firmware operation using the activate action to complete the firmware update."

2. After manually reconfiguring iSUT to AutoDeploy and triggering remediation again, OneView initiates the firmware upgrade. However, its status in OneView does not refresh after the iLO firmware update completes. OneView continues to show the iLO firmware update as "in progress."

3. Among the nine firmware updates included in the SPP, the Server Platform Services (SPS) firmware consistently fails to install and remains in a pending status.

Please refer to the following information regarding the desired image created in vLCM.

Base Image : 8.0U1a 21813344
Addon : HPE Customization for HPE Server 801.0.0.11.4.0-6
Firmware : Gen10/Gen10 Plus SPP-2023.09.00.00.801

[support_s]

System recommended content:

1. Gen10/Gen10 Plus Service Pack for ProLiant 2025.03.00.00 Component Release Notes

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[BPSingh]

Greetings!

Make sure the iSUT mode is persistently configured to AutoDeploy.
In OneView, navigate to Deployment Settings > OS Deployment, set the iSUT Mode to AutoDeploy, and enable persistence if the option is available.
Additionally, confirm that the iSUT service is actively running on the operating system.

The issue where OneView does not update the status after the iLO firmware update is likely caused by a synchronization problem between OneView and iLO.
Try refreshing the server hardware in OneView and check if the status updates correctly.

For the SPS firmware update failure, ensure the BIOS is updated first, as it's a prerequisite.
If the problem continues, perform a full AC power cycle of the server and reattempt the update.

[kjin17]

Thank you for the kind response. Here is an update based on my further investigation:

1. The iSUT configuration issue is not observed when upgrading from ESXi 8.0. It appears to occur only when attempting to upgrade from ESXi 7.0.3.

2. Similar to the iSUT issue, the problem does not occur when upgrading iLO to version 3.03. It only happens when upgrading to version 2.97.

3. The SPS firmware is still not being updated. Unfortunately, I am currently unable to perform a full AC power cycle and will try this later.

4. Here is a new issue I've observed: vLCM firmware upgrade failed with the following error: “Unable to upgrade firmware because the server hardware is refreshing.” I am unsure what conditions trigger OneView to perform a refresh port map. However, my observation is that after the ESXi installation, vLCM failed to start the firmware upgrade because a refresh port map task was running on OneView, and vLCM (OV4VC) was unable to retrieve information from OneView. This issue occurs irregularly. In cases where the upgrade completed successfully, the refresh port map task did not run. However, in failed cases, the refresh port map task ran for approximately 5 minutes, which usually takes less than 2 minutes."

[BPSingh]

What is the OV version? 

[kjin17]

OV 9.4 + OV4VC 11.6 + vCenter 8.0.3

[BPSingh]

In this case, it would be important to analyze the logs to understand the sequence of events and identify the root cause or any known issues. I recommend logging a support case and sharing the relevant logs so the issue can be investigated further.

[support_s]

Hello,

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