Enclosure Firmware Management
Enclosure Firmware Management settings
Enclosure Firmware Management settings are restricted to users with Onboard Administrator administrator privileges and are available on the Onboard Administrator GUI on the Enclosure Settings>Enclosure Firmware Management page or from the Onboard Administrator CLI.
Enabling Enclosure Firmware Management
This checkbox globally enables or disables (default setting) Enclosure Firmware Management. When disabled, you cannot start any manual Enclosure Firmware Management operations. Any previously configured automatic or scheduled operation does not occur. If the setting is changed from enabled to disabled, any in-progress Enclosure Firmware Management discoveries or updates continue until they are finished.
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IMPORTANT: After Enclosure Firmware Management operations (updates and discoveries) have begun on a server, you cannot stop these operations. |
Enclosure Firmware Management is not supported on the following Onboard Administrator hardware modules:
- HP BladeSystem c3000 Onboard Administrator (HP part number 448589-B21, 461514-B21)
- HP BladeSystem c7000 Onboard Administrator (HP part number 412142-B21)
Enclosure Firmware Management cannot be enabled unless the active Onboard Administrator hardware module is supported. If you attempt to enable Enclosure Firmware Management when the active Onboard Administrator is not supported, an error message appears:
Enclosure Firmware Management is not supported on the active OA hardware present.
If the standby Onboard Administrator module is unsupported, a warning message appears:
Enclosure Firmware Management is not supported on the standby OA hardware present. The feature will be disabled if the standby OA becomes Active.
Configuring the location of the firmware image
The following methods are available to provide Enclosure Firmware Management with the location of the ISO firmware image:
- An HTTP URL-based ISO image hosted on a web server
- A USB key with ISO image connected to the USB port of the Onboard Administrator
- A physical DVD inserted into the enclosure DVD drive
A USB key converted to bootable media from the SPP ISO image is not supported with Enclosure Firmware Management. The USB key must contain the ISO image in the root directory. If a physical DVD is used, the DVD must not contain the ISO image. The DVD must be a bootable disk created from the ISO image.
Enabling force downgrades
This check box globally enables or disables (default setting) forced downgrades. When disabled, components that have higher firmware revisions than are present on the ISO image are excluded from update. This setting is for all the supported server blades in this enclosure. When enabled, Enclosure Firmware Management instructs the HP SUM engine to enable flashing of component firmware that is at a higher revision than in the image. Enabling this setting does not guarantee component firmware will be downgraded. If you are using the Enable Force Downgrades option, consult the ISO documentation in advance to correctly set expectation.
Power policy
The server must be booted from the ISO image to update or discover the firmware. The power policy informs the Onboard Administrator of what action to take if the server is powered on when the operation is initiated. This setting applies to both scheduled and manual operations. The default Power Policy is Must be Off.
If power policy is set to Power Off, the Onboard Administrator waits five minutes for the server to respond to the request. If the server does not shutdown in this time the Firmware Management operation fails. If the server is running an operating system that initiated the shutdown but did not complete within five minutes, the server might shut down and remain powered off.
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Setting |
Description |
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Must be Off |
The Onboard Administrator cancels the operation if the server is powered on. |
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Power Off |
The Onboard Administrator mimics a physical momentary press of the power button on the server blade, powering the server blade off gracefully. |
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Force Power Off |
The Onboard Administrator mimics a physical press and hold of the power button on the server blade, forcing the server blade to shut power off without regard for first shutting down the OS. |
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CAUTION: You must be careful when using the Force Power Off policy on servers with an operating system installed, because data corruption might occur. |
Required user permissions
All Enclosure Firmware Management features are available through both the Onboard Administrator GUI and CLI. The Onboard Administrator user role and bay permissions control the Enclosure Firmware Management settings and ability to view the firmware information.
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User role |
Modify settings or scheduled update |
Initiate manual discovery or update |
View firmware versions |
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Onboard Administrator administrator or operator |
Yes |
Yes, administrator only |
Yes |
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Server administrator or operator |
No |
Yes, administrator only |
Yes, for permitted server bays |
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Onboard Administrator user |
No |
No |
Yes, for permitted bays |
Update policy
Update policies available for Firmware Management include:
- Manual Discovery and Manual Update Only—The default policy. This policy prevents the Onboard Administrator from automatically performing server update or discovery upon insertion into the enclosure.
Manual Discovery or Update and Scheduled Update is required before the Onboard Administrator can display extended server firmware versions.
- Automatic Discovery on Insertion—Enables the Onboard Administrator to perform a boot for discovery on a server enabled using Bays to Include, collecting extended firmware information for that server, updating the firmware management log for that event, and then rebooting the server into normal operation. You can then view the detected firmware versions and update that firmware with either a manual or scheduled update.
- Automatic Update on Insertion—Enables the Onboard Administrator to perform a boot for update on a server enabled using Bays to include, collecting updated extended firmware information for that server, updating the firmware management log for that event, and then rebooting the server into normal operation. This policy updates the server firmware to the selected firmware image after a service event, such as replacing the server board or option card.
Automatic discovery and update on insertion policies are disabled by default. Automatic Discovery or Automatic Update are mutually exclusive policies and affect all Bays to Include in the enclosure.
Scheduled firmware update
A scheduled firmware update policy provides a schedule for the Onboard Administrator to automatically update all the Bays to Include to the firmware versions on the ISO firmware image. At the scheduled date and time, the Onboard Administrator starts an update operation using the Power Policy on all Bays to Include, updates their firmware using the ISO firmware image, and then reboots all the included servers back into normal operation.
Manual update and discovery
Manual discovery or manual update of one or more servers can be initiated to perform a one-time collection of the existing firmware versions or update of one or more servers to the firmware image versions.
Bays to include
All device bays are included for firmware management by default. The Onboard Administrator administrator can select specific device bays to include and not select other device bays that must not be included in enclosure firmware management update policies, manual updates, or scheduled updates.
By default, the Firmware Manage All Servers check box is selected, enabling Enclosure Firmware Management policies and scheduled updates to be performed on all available servers.
Select each of the base bays, side a bays, and side b bays individually or select the Firmware Manage All Servers check box to select all device bays.
To manually select specific servers for Enclosure Firmware Management:
- Clear the Firmware Manage All Servers checkbox.
- Select the checkbox next to the individual bays or select bays according to bay type.
- Click Apply. The updated list of bays to include for Enclosure Firmware Management appears.
Bay selection is currently limited to device bays only. Switch and Onboard Administrator bays cannot be selected.
The Bays to Include selection only applies to ProLiant server blades. Integrity server blades do not support this feature. Partner blade support is through the associated server blade based on whether the firmware ISO supports the PCIe adapter card in the partner blade.