* 5/6/2015 Update. Have done approximately 30 automated updates so far. After 2.2* they always have worked smooth.
This was made using Auto Install from 1.4(3y) to 2.1(1f). Now at 2.2x still the same deal, but Management Firmware Packages (CIMC) policy should be long gone after update to 2.0.
YES the Firmware Auto Install works! If you are updating from a code version that does not support Firmware Auto Install First update UCSM oldschool method. After UCSM is updated code can be Auto Installed from there. You will see the below “Firmware Auto Install” tab once UCSM is updated.
Once UCSM is updated Firmware Auto Install has two steps. Don’t forget a Full State and All Configuration backup before upgrade!
Under Equipment/Firmware Auto Install/General/Actions
- Install Infrastructure Firmware
- Install Server Firmware
Be sure that User Acknowledge is set for UCS. This will keep all the B & C series servers from rebooting during “Install Server Firmware”.
Select desired “Infrastructure Pack”. I always select “Force”. Takes about 20 minutes to an hour and the secondary FI will reboot. User Acknowledge will show the Primary FI needs to be rebooted. A tip I can give is be ready to reboot the FI if it hangs. SSH to the FI and type “connect local-mgmt a/b” followed by “reboot” to reset an FI. Have had instances that traffic didn’t flow right through the FI’s and had to reboot one or both by hand. No errors were shown, data just didn’t flow correctly. Reboot fixed it.
Once Infrastructure Firmware is complete go back to Equipment/Firmware Auto Install/General/Actions. Select “Install Server Firmware” and follow the menu’s shown below.
Note items 4 and 5. Management Firmware Packages (CIMC) are not longer supported. They will show an error in Service Profile Templates and can be corrected. Starting with the Firmware Auto Install system it is in style to only have a “default” Host Firmware Package and let it be updated by the “Install Server Firmware” step of code update. Be sure User Acknowledge is set, and all the blades will wait until reboot. I like to create a “Host Firmware Package” of current running code level before updating default for easy rollback if blades don’t like new code.
Etc, Etc, and hit it.
Didn’t trust the idea of Firmware Auto Install at first. After a few runs it gets the Thumbs Up!
Once code update is complete right away use one of my favorite new features. Set the automated Full State and All Configuration backup export policy https://realworlducs.com/ucs-backup-export-policy-2-11f
Don’t forget the oldschool manual update. Good to know this process and do it at some point. Best order for Cisco UCS code updates https://realworlducs.com/order-cisco-ucs-code-updates/
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