All Partitions Update; Blade Update; Warnings During Update; Errors During Update - HP Integrity Superdome 2 16-socket User Manual

All partitions update

Use the following command to update all partitions present in the system as well as any blades
that are not currently assigned to any partition:
oa> UPDATE NPARTITION ALL <nPar name or number> <uri>
NOTE: The [FORCE], [REINSTALL], and [NOEXECUTE] command modifiers still apply.

Blade update

Use the following command to update a single blade that is not currently assigned to a partition.
oa> UPDATE NPARTITION BLADE <X/Y> <URI>
NOTE: The blade resource path is entered as CHASSIS/SLOT [X/Y].
For example: oa> UPDATE NPARTITION BLADE 1/3 ftp://<bundlepath>

Warnings during update

Partition Update - If analysis detects the applied partition firmware is incompatible with the
complex firmware already installed on the system, a warning will be issued and the update
will proceed. You will need to rectify the situation before any partition is allowed to boot.
Blade Update - If analysis detects the applied partition firmware is incompatible with the
complex firmware already installed on the system, a warning will be issued and the update
will proceed.

Errors during update

If the firmware update analysis detects the applied partition firmware does not meet the hardware
mandate, the update will print an error message to the user and abort/cancel the update.
Online complex firmware update on Superdome 2

Introduction

Superdome 2 firmware release bundle 2.2.27 (web released in August 201 1, factory enabled in
September 201 1), brings an exciting capability to Superdome 2 customers. The ability to support
online complex firmware updates can dramatically reduce the amount of partition downtime
required for a customer to update their Superdome 2 systems to future firmware bundles. Under
certain conditions, partition downtime needed to apply a new firmware bundle can even be
eliminated entirely. However, there may also be other partition maintenance activities (OS patch
installations, for example) to complete during a maintenance window that will involve a partition
reboot in order to take effect. Also, it should be understood that firmware updates which include
new partition firmware packages (system firmware) will require a partition reboot to activate, but
the timing of such an operation can be done on an individual nPartition basis as determined by
the operator to best fit their individual needs.
When performing an online complex firmware update, Superdome 2 server management capabilities
are inactive, and this is something which operators should keep in mind. It should not be surprising
that server management entities throughout the Superdome 2 complex will bear responsibility to
update their own firmware Flash ROMs, reboot updated firmware images, and reestablish internal
communications with each other, but it is important to remind operators what kinds of management
services will become temporarily unavailable at the server level during an online complex firmware
update operation. This information is being provided to inform the user of such server management
limitations, but will not be a complete listing of all possible consequences which may be encountered
during an online complex firmware update.

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