Ibm Power Systems Firmware Maintenance - IBM Power Systems E870 Technical Overview And Introduction

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In addition, you can use the Manage Serviceable Events task to initiate service functions on
systems and logical partitions, including the exchanging of parts, configuring connectivity, and
managing memory dumps.

4.7.2 IBM Power Systems Firmware maintenance

The IBM Power Systems Client-Managed Microcode is a methodology that enables you to
manage and install microcode updates on Power Systems and its associated I/O adapters.
Firmware entitlement
With the new HMC Version V8R8.1.0.0 and Power Systems servers, the firmware installations
are restricted to entitled servers. The customer must be registered with IBM and entitled with
a service contract. During the initial machine warranty period, the access key already is
installed in the machine by manufacturing. The key is valid for the regular warranty period plus
some additional time. The Power Systems Firmware is relocated from the public repository to
the access control repository. The I/O firmware remains on the public repository, but the
server must be entitled for installation. When the lslic command is run to display the
firmware levels, a new value, update_access_key_exp_date, is added. The HMC GUI and the
ASMI menu show the Update access key expiration date.
When the system is no longer entitled, the firmware updates fail. Some new System
Reference Code (SRC) packages are available:
E302FA06: Acquisition entitlement check failed
E302FA08: Installation entitlement check failed
Any firmware release that was made available during the entitled time frame can still be
installed. For example, if the entitlement period ends on 31 December 2014, and a new
firmware release is release before the end of that entitlement period, then it can still be
installed. If that firmware is downloaded after 31 December 2014, but it was made available
before the end of the entitlement period, it still can be installed. Any newer release requires a
new update access key.
Note: The update access key expiration date requires a valid entitlement of the system to
perform firmware updates.
You can find an update access key at the IBM CoD Home website:
http://www.ibm.com/pod/pod
To access the IBM entitled Software Support page for further details, go to the following
website:
http://www.ibm.com/servers/eserver/ess
Firmware updates
System firmware is delivered as a release level or a service pack. Release levels support the
general availability (GA) of new functions or features, and new machine types or models.
Upgrading to a higher release level is disruptive to customer operations. IBM intends to
introduce no more than two new release levels per year. These release levels will be
supported by service packs. Service packs are intended to contain only firmware fixes and
not introduce new functions. A
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IBM Power Systems E870 and E880 Technical Overview and Introduction
Draft Document for Review October 14, 2014 10:19 am
service pack
is an update to an existing release level.