The appliance provides firmware management across the data center with no additional tools to download and install. Using the firmware management features built in to the appliance, you can define firmware baselines and perform firmware updates across many resources. When you add a resource to the appliance, the appliance automatically updates the resource firmware to the minimum version required to be managed by the appliance or version defined to be a baseline. See also About unsupported firmware.
A firmware bundle, also known as an Service Pack for ProLiant (SPP), is a comprehensive collection of firmware and system software components, all tested together as a single solution stack that includes drivers, agents, utilities, and firmware packages. Firmware bundles enable you to update firmware on HPE ProLiant servers, controllers, storage, server blades, and enclosures.
You can forcibly downgrade appliance firmware to an older version, but be aware that doing so can result in slower installation speeds and has the potential to render the device unusable.
Firmware repository
An embedded firmware repository enables you to upload SPP firmware bundles and hotfixes to the appliance and deploy them across your environment according to your best practices. You can view the versions and contents of the SPPs in the repository from the Firmware Bundles screen. Selecting a firmware bundle displays its release date, supported languages and operating systems, and the bundle components. The screen also displays the amount of storage space available for additional firmware bundles on the appliance. You cannot add a firmware bundle that is larger than the amount of space available in the repository.
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![[NOTE: ]](images/note.gif) |
NOTE: To ensure that your hardware has the latest and most robust firmware bundle that takes advantage of all available management features, download the latest firmware bundle to your appliance and add it to the firmware repository. |
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HPE OneView supports 128 parallel server firmware updates for Windows and Linux, and 10 parallel server firmware updates for ESXi.
About applying SPPs as baselines
You can apply SPPs as baselines to enclosures, interconnects, and server profiles, establishing a desired version for firmware and drivers across devices. Download an SPP from http://www.hpe.com/info/spp to your local system, and then upload it to the firmware bundle repository on the appliance. Each SPP deliverable contains the HP Smart Update Manager and firmware smart components. Managing firmware for the whole enclosure can be initiated from the Enclosures screen. Logical interconnect firmware can be updated from the Logical Interconnects screen. From the Server Profiles screen, you can set the firmware baseline for the assigned server hardware. The appliance identifies firmware compatibilities issues, highlighting out-of-compliance devices for updates with the selected firmware baseline.
You can remove any or all SPPs from the firmware bundle repository. However, Hewlett Packard Enterprise recommends you have at least one SPP available at all times because an SPP is required when adding resources to the appliance that are below the minimum firmware versions for monitoring or managing. If you want to delete an SPP, Hewlett Packard Enterprise recommends that you re-assign all resources to a different SPP before removing the SPP. You assign an SPP by editing the server profile or enclosure and setting the Firmware baseline field.
For c7000 enclosures, select Manage manually if you want to manage the firmware using another tool.
About uploading and using hotfixes
Hewlett Packard Enterprise sometimes releases component hotfixes between main SPP releases. Hewlett Packard Enterprise notifies you that a hotfix is available to upload and provides details about the SPP to which the hotfix applies. Create a custom SPP in HPE OneView using the base SPP and the hotfix. See “Upload a hotfix” in the REST API Scripting Help for more information.
The new custom SPP can be used to set the baseline on the various managed resources in HPE OneView. If a hotfix pertains to a managed resource that is already on the baseline, then the hotfix alone is applied.
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NOTE: If the firmware update target system is Linux OS, the HPE ProLiant System ROM version listed is the ROM Linux hotfix component. If not, the latest ROM version updated in the SPP bundle is listed. |
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When a device is added, the firmware is automatically updated to the firmware management baseline specified, except for:
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HPE ProLiant G6 servers and HPE ProLiant G7 servers which must be managed outside of HPE OneView.
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Virtual Connect interconnect firmware which is managed separately as part of the Logical Interconnect. See Update firmware for logical interconnects within enclosures.
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NOTE: When adding an enclosure and the OA or iLO firmware is below the minimum supported version for HPE OneView, the firmware is automatically updated using the SPP that contains the latest OA or iLO firmware while the enclosure is being added. If all SPPs have been deleted, however, such an enclosure cannot be imported. In this situation, first upload an SPP that provides at least the minimum required versions for the OA and the iLO before adding the enclosure. |
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Every resource (OA, iLO, server, or Virtual Connect) goes offline when you upgrade its firmware. Always perform the upgrade during a maintenance window. To help minimize downtime during firmware activation, see Maintain availability during Virtual Connect interconnect firmware upgrades.
| Resource | When you update firmware |
|---|---|
| Enclosures |
The OA (Onboard Administrator) is taken offline when you update firmware for an enclosure. |
| Server profiles |
Firmware updates require that you edit the server profile to change the firmware baseline. You must power down the server hardware to which the server profile is assigned before you change the firmware baseline. Firmware baseline can be changed while server power is on if Smart Update Tools is used. |
| Interconnects |
An interconnect is taken offline when you:
If an interconnect has firmware that has been staged but not activated, any subsequent reboot of that interconnect activates the firmware, which takes the interconnect offline. You can prevent the loss of network connectivity for servers connected to a logical interconnect that has a stacking mode of Enclosure and a stacking health of
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Upgrading the firmware is based on your assigned role:
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The Server administrator role can upgrade the firmware on the enclosure OA and servers.
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The Network administrator role can upgrade the firmware on interconnects.
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The Infrastructure administrator role can upgrade the firmware on all devices
Enclosures and server profiles can be set to Manage manually which means that firmware is managed using external tools, such as HP SUM. HPE OneView reports firmware versions from the devices, but does not attempt to update the firmware. HP SUM can then manage firmware and drivers through the operating system.
Virtual Connect firmware is always managed through HPE OneView.
Using HP SUM for updates
HP SUM can update both firmware and drivers for devices managed by HPE OneView, except for Virtual Connect interconnects.
HP SUM is a free download from http://www.hpe.com/info/SmartUpdate.
| Use HP SUM to: | Description | ||||||
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Install or update drivers |
After updating firmware using HPE OneView, use HP SUM to update drivers in the environment using the same SPP baseline that was applied using HPE OneView. |
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Update firmware |
After updating firmware using HP SUM, refresh the affected devices in HPE OneView to reflect the new firmware version. Select Actions→Refresh from the Enclosures or Server Hardware screens.
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Install hotfixes |
Use HP SUM to install hotfixes. After performing the update, refresh the affected devices in HPE OneView to reflect the new firmware version. Select Actions→Refresh from the Enclosures or Server Hardware screens. |