How to upgrade System firmware using flashupdate utility (ALOM 4V), for the T1000/T2000 Sparc Servers

Asset ID:	1-71-2123400.1
Update Date:	2017-10-27
Keywords:

Solution Type Technical Instruction Sure

Solution 2123400.1 : How to upgrade System firmware using flashupdate utility (ALOM 4V), for the T1000/T2000 Sparc Servers

Applies to:

Sun Fire T1000 Server - Version Not Applicable to Not Applicable [Release NA]
Sun Fire T2000 Server - Version All Versions to All Versions [Release All Releases]
Oracle Solaris on SPARC (64-bit)

Goal

To provide a guideline to upgrade System firmware using the ALOM utility flashupdate, for the T1000/T2000 Sparc Servers

Solution

T2000

To upgrade the System firmware in this platforms we need to get the firmware image from another host, that needs to run a ftp server. This host must be located in the same network or at least must be reachable by the T2000/T1000 server.

To test connectivity you can try to make a ping between the Netmgmt port of the T2000/T1000 server and the host where the firmware image is located. If there's an issue at this point you will have to fix it (check network cables, vlan/network configuration, etc), because the ALOM will have to communicate with the FTP server.

According to doc id Selecting the firmware upgrade method on T1000/T2000 (Doc ID 1011226.1)

Note1: When upgrading the firmware from the SC prompt, you must have already downloaded the new Sun System Firmware image from the MOS (Patches & Updates) site to a local FTP server accessible by the system, whose firmware you are upgrading. Ensure that the SC network management port is configured and use the correct syntax of the 'flashupdate' command:

sc> flashupdate -s <ipaddr> -f <pathname>

where:

<ipaddr> is the IP address of the local FTP server

<pathname> is the path to the firmware image, stored on the FTP server. The path should include the file name of the firmware image.

Quick Solaris FTP Server Setup

For Solaris 10

1) Check that FTP service is running

bash-3.2$ svcs -a | grep ftp
disabled 11:21:24 svc:/network/ftp:default
bash-3.2$

2) Enable ftp service

svcadm enable svc:/network/ftp:default

3) Verify ftp service is enabled

bash-3.2# svcs -a | grep ftp
online 11:33:17 svc:/network/ftp:default
bash-3.2#

4) Test locally the server

bash-3.2# ftp localhost

Connected to localhost.
220 t2000-syd04-f FTP server ready.
Name (localhost:root): jack
331 Password required for jack.
Password:
230-No directory! Logging in with home=/
230 User jack logged in.
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
ftp>

For Solaris 11

1) Check that FTP service is running

jack@t2000-syd04-b:~$ svcs -a | grep ftp
disabled Mar_18 svc:/network/ftp:default
disabled Mar_18 svc:/network/tftp/udp6:default

2) Enable ftp service

svcadm enable svc:/network/ftp:default

3) Verify ftp service is enabled

jack@t2000-syd04-b:~$ svcs -a | grep ftp
disabled Mar_18 svc:/network/tftp/udp6:default
online 4:26:16 svc:/network/ftp:default
jack@t2000-syd04-b:~$

4) Test locally the server

jack@t2000-syd04-b:~$ ftp localhost
Connected to localhost.
220 ::1 FTP server ready
Name (localhost:jack): jack
331 Password required for jack
Password:
Apr 3 04:27:45 t2000-syd04-b proftpd[12580]: t2000-syd04-b (localhost[::1]) - USER jack: Login successful.
230 User jack logged in
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
Ftp>

Consider that this is a quick setup and it's only used for the firmware upgrade procedure. If you are not planning to use the ftp service after the upgrade, you can disable it

For Solaris 10 and 11

svcadm disable svc:/network/ftp:default

In this case we are using user jack and user's password. Any file uploaded to the server using this user, will be uploaded to the default user's home directory , in our case /export/home/jack (will be different according to your system configuration and users configured in your box)

You can connect to the ftp server through the console or using your favorite ftp client and upload the firmware image

The fimware images can be downloaded from here

T2000

MOS portal → Patches and Updates → Search patch <SunPatch:139435-10> (latest firmware image)

T1000

MOS portal → Patches and Updates → Search patch <SunPatch:139435-10> (latest firmware image)

T2000 Firmware Upgrade

Once we have uploaded our file to our ftp server , we can confirm that was uploaded to the user's directory, in our case

jack@t2000-syd04-b:~$ cd /export/home/jack
jack@t2000-syd04-b:~$ ls
139434-10.zip
jack@t2000-syd04-b:~$

We need to unzip it

jack@t2000-syd04-b:~$ unzip 139434-10.zip
Archive: 139434-10.zip
creating: 139434-10/
inflating: 139434-10/LEGAL_LICENSE.TXT
inflating: 139434-10/license.txt
inflating: 139434-10/Install.info
inflating: 139434-10/copyright
creating: 139434-10/Firmware/
creating: 139434-10/Firmware/SPARC_Enterprise_T2000/
inflating: 139434-10/Firmware/SPARC_Enterprise_T2000/SPARC_Enterprise_T2000.xml
inflating: 139434-10/Firmware/SPARC_Enterprise_T2000/Sun_System_Firmware-6_7_13-SPARC_Enterprise_T2000.bin
creating: 139434-10/Firmware/Sun_Fire_T2000/
inflating: 139434-10/Firmware/Sun_Fire_T2000/Sun_System_Firmware-6_7_13-Sun_Fire_T2000.bin
inflating: 139434-10/Firmware/Sun_Fire_T2000/Sun_Fire_T2000_metadata.xml
inflating: 139434-10/README.139434-10
inflating: 139434-10/sysfwdownload.README
inflating: 139434-10/sysfwdownload
inflating: 139434-10/139434-10.html
jack@t2000-syd04-b:~$

We need to move to the folder where the firmware image is located, in our case

jack@t2000-syd04-b:~/139434-10/Firmware/Sun_Fire_T2000$ pwd
/export/home/jack/139434-10/Firmware/Sun_Fire_T2000
jack@t2000-syd04-b:~/139434-10/Firmware/Sun_Fire_T2000$

The complete path to the firmware image is

/export/home/jack/139434-10/Firmware/Sun_Fire_T2000/Sun_System_Firmware-6_7_13-Sun_Fire_T2000.bin

Now from the ALOM of our T2000 server, we need to try the following

sc> flashupdate -s <ipaddr> -f <pathname>

1) First we confirm our current version

t2000-syd04-f-sc> showsc
Advanced Lights Out Manager CMT v1.7.11

parameter value
--------- -----
if_network true
if_connection ssh

2) Now we will install latest version

sc> flashupdate -s 10.187.X.X -f /export/home/jack/139434-10/Firmware/Sun_Fire_T2000/Sun_System_Firmware-6_7_13-Sun_Fire_T2000.bin
Username: jack
Password: *********

Error: Host power must be disabled. Software update cancelled.

Error updating software.
t2000-syd04-f-sc>

We need to make sure that the server is powered off, in order to make the upgrade

t2000-syd04-f-sc> poweroff -f
Are you sure you want to power off the system [y/n]? y

SC Alert: SC Request to Power Off Host Immediately.

Now we can execute the upgrade

t2000-syd04-f-sc> flashupdate -s 10.187.X.X -f /export/home/jack/139434-10/Firmware/Sun_Fire_T2000/Sun_System_Firmware-6_7_13-Sun_Fire_T2000.bin
Username: jack
Password: *********

SC Alert: System poweron is disabled.
......................................................................................................................................................................................

Update complete. Reset device to use new software.

SC Alert: SC firmware was reloaded

Now we can confirm that the new firmware was installed

First, we need to run resetsc and login again to the ALOM

t2000-syd04-f-sc> resetsc

t2000-syd04-f-sc> showsc
Advanced Lights Out Manager CMT v1.7.13

parameter value
--------- -----
if_network true
if_connection ssh
if_emailalerts true

Firmware was updated to latest version (v1.7.13)

T1000 firmware upgrade

The same way we did for the T2000 server, we need to upload the file to the ftp server and unzip it

Then we need to run the flashupdate command as we did before, pointing to the T1000 firmware image

sc> flashupdate -s ftp_server -f pathname_to_T1000_image

Firmware Troubleshooting Tips

- Verify that the hosts (ALOM netmgmt port and ftp server), can communicate each other (ping and test connectivity)

- Verify the syntax of the firmware path carefully

- If you have some failures during the process, try to reset the service processor (sc> resetsc ) or arrange a hard reset (remove power cords, wait a minute, attach power cords again and connect to sp).

After this you can try again the flashupdate command.

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