System Firmware - IBM System p5 550 Technical Overview And Introduction

2.15.6 System firmware

Server firmware is the part of the Licensed Internal Code that enables hardware, such as the
service processor. Depending on your service environment, you can download, install, and
manage your server firmware fixes using different interfaces and methods, including the
HMC, or by using functions specific to your operating system. See 3.2.4, "IBM System p5
firmware maintenance" on page 87 for a detailed description of IBM System p5 firmware.
Note: Normally, installing the server firmware fixes through the operating system is a
nonconcurrent process.
Temporary and permanent firmware sides
The service processor maintains two copies of the server firmware:
One copy is considered the permanent or backup copy and is stored on the permanent
side, sometimes referred to as the
The other copy is considered the installed or temporary copy and is stored on the
temporary side, sometimes referred to as the
the server from the temporary side.
The copy from which the server is actually booted is called the
referred to as
Note: The default value, from which the system boots, is temporary.
The following examples are the output of the lsmcode command for AIX 5L and Linux,
showing the firmware levels as they are displayed in the outputs.
AIX 5L:
The current permanent system firmware image is SF220_005.
The current temporary system firmware image is SF220_006.
The system is currently booted from the temporary image.
Linux:
system:SF220_006 (t) SF220_005 (p) SF220_006 (b)
When you install a server firmware fix, it is installed on the temporary side.
Note: The following points are of special interest:
The server firmware fix is installed on the temporary side only after the existing
contents of the temporary side are installed permanently on the permanent side (the
service processor performs this process automatically when you install a server
firmware fix).
If you want to preserve the contents of the permanent side, you need to remove the
current level of firmware (copy the contents of the permanent side to the temporary
side) before you install the fix.
However, if you get your fixes using the Advanced features on the HMC interface and
you indicate that you do not want the service processor to accept the firmware level
automatically, the contents of the temporary side are not installed automatically on the
permanent side. In this situation, you do not need to remove the current level of
firmware to preserve the contents of the permanent side before you install the fix.
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IBM System p5 550 and 550Q Technical Overview and Introduction
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