Applying selected firmware updates without using compliance policies

You can quickly apply and activate firmware that is later than the currently installed firmware on a single managed device or group of devices without using compliance policies.

Procedure

To apply and activate updates on a managed device, complete the following steps.

1. From the XClarity Administrator menu bar, click Provisioning > Firmware Updates: Apply/Activate. The Firmware Updates: Apply/Activate page is displayed.
2. Click the Update without Policy tab.
3. Select the firmware level in the Downloaded later versions column for each device that you want to update.
4. Select one or more devices and devices that you want to update.
   You can sort the table columns to make it easier to find specific servers. In addition, you can filter the list of displayed devices by selecting an option in the Show menu to list only devices in a specific chassis, rack, or group, by entering text (such as a name or IP address) in the Filter field, or by clicking the following icons to list only devices with a specific status.

   • Hide components with some later versions icon ()

   • Hide components with no later versions icon ()

   • Hide devices not supported for updates icon ()

   • Hide devices undergoing firmware updates icon ()

   • Hide options that require a restart to update firmware icon ()

   The Groups column indicates the groups of which each device is a member. You can hover over the Groups column to get a complete list of groups, by group type

   The Installed Version column indicates the installed firmware version, compliance status, or device status.

   The compliance status can be one of the following:

   • Compliant

   • Compliance Error

   • Not Compliant
   • No Compliance Policy Set
   • Not Monitored

   The device status can be one of the following:

   • Updates Not Supported
   • Update in Progress

   Note

   If the installed firmware version is pending activation, "(Pending Activation)" is appended to the installed firmware version or compliance status of each applicable device, for example "2.20 / A9E12EUS (Pending Activation)." To see the pending-activation status, the following firmware version must be installed on the primary baseboard management controller in the server.

   • IMM2: TCOO46F, TCOO46E, or later (depending on the platform)

   • XCC: CDI328M, PSI316N, TEI334I, or later (depending on the platform)

   
   
   
5. Click the Perform Updates icon (). The Update Summary dialog is displayed.
   
   
   
6. Select one of the following update rules
   • Stop all updates on error. If an error occurs while updating any of the components (such as an adapter or management controller) in the target device, the firmware-update process stops for all selected devices in the current firmware-update job. In this case, none of the updates in the update package for the device are applied. The current firmware that is installed on all selected systems remains in effect.
   • Continue on error. If an error occurs while updating any of the devices in the device, the firmware-update process does not update the firmware for that specific device; however, the firmware-update process continues to update the other devices in the device and continues to update all other devices in the current firmware-update job.
   • Continue to next system on error. If an error occurs while updating any of the devices in the device, the firmware-update process stops all attempts to update the firmware for that specific device, so the current firmware that is installed on that device remains in effect. The firmware-update process continues to update all other devices in the current firmware-update job.

   Note

   When enabled, the Wake-on-LAN boot option can interfere with XClarity Administrator operations that power off the server, including firmware updates if there is a Wake-on-LAN client in your network that issues Wake on Magic Packet commands.
7. Select one of the following activation rules:

   • Immediate activation. The firmware update process starts immediately. During the update process, the device might be restarted automatically several times until the entire update process is complete. Ensure that you quiesce all applications on the device before you proceed.

   • Prioritized activation. The firmware update process starts immediately. Firmware updates on the baseboard management controller are activated immediately; all other firmware updates are firmware updates are activated the next time the device is restarted. Additional restarts are then performed until the update operation completes. This rule is supported only for servers.

     For ThinkSystem V4 servers, firmware updates on the management controller are activated immediately; other firmware updates are downloaded to the server, and applied and activated the next time the devices is restarted. XClarity Administrator does not perform additional power actions after the update process on device is complete.

     An event is raised when the status changes to Pending Firmware Maintenance Mode to notify you when the server needs to be restarted.

   • Delayed activation. The firmware update process starts immediately; however, some but not all update operations are performed. Devices must be manually restarted to continue the update process. Additional restarts are then performed until the update operation completes.

     An event is raised when the status changes to Pending Firmware Maintenance Mode to notify you when the server needs to be restarted.

     If a device restarts for any reason, the delayed update process completes.

     This activation rule is supported for only servers and rack switches. CMMs and Flex switches are immediately activated, regardless of this setting.

     Note

     For ThinkSystem V4 servers:

     • The applicable update packages are downloaded to the server, but the update process does not start until the next time the server is restarted. No additional power actions are performed after the update process is complete.

     • Updating firmware on the backup management controller is not supported. If you attempt to update firmware on the backup management controller, the update job for the backup management controller is skipped with warning.

     The delayed update process completes when the device is restarted for any reason (including a manual restart). There is no time limit when the server must be restarted.

     XClarity Administrator can apply updates with delayed activation for up to 50 devices at one time. If you attempt to apply updates with delayed activation for more than 50 devices, the remaining devices are queued. A device comes off the queue when a device being updated is placed in the Pending Firmware Maintenance Mode state.

     Important

     • If XClarity Administrator is restarted during the update job, the update job will stop with error.
     • If a server in the Pending Firmware Maintenance Mode state is restarted while XClarity Administrator is down or unreachable, the server boots to the BMU, but because XClarity Administrator cannot connect to the BMU and times out after 60 seconds, the system power status is restored by the baseboard management controller (powers off if it was off, restarts if it was powered on).

   • OnReset activation. The applicable update packages are downloaded to the server, but the update process does not start until the next time the server is restarted. Additional restarts are then performed until the update operation completes.

     This activation rule is supported only for ThinkSystem v4 servers.

     Note

     Updating firmware on the backup management controller is not supported. If you attempt to update firmware on the backup management controller, the update job for the backup management controller is skipped with warning.

     The update job can be canceled until you restart the device.

     An event is raised when the status changes to Pending Restart to notify you that the server needs to be restarted.

   Note

   When enabled, the Wake-on-LAN boot option can interfere with XClarity Administrator operations that power off the server, including firmware updates if there is a Wake-on-LAN client in your network that issues Wake on Magic Packet commands.
8. Optional: Select Force update to update firmware on the selected components even if the firmware level is up to date or to apply a firmware update that is earlier than the one currently installed on the selected components.
   Note

   You can apply earlier version of firmware to device options, adapters, and drives that support down-leveling. See your hardware documentation to determine if down-leveling is supported.
9. Optional: Clear Install prerequisite firmware if you do not want to install prerequisite firmware. Prerequisite firmware is installed by default.
   Note

   When using Delayed Activation or Prioritized Activation for prerequisite firmware updates, you might need to restart the server to activate the prerequisite firmware. After the initial restart, the remaining firmware updates are installed using Immediate Activation.
10. Optional: If you selected Immediate activation, select Memory Test to run a memory test after firmware update completes if server is reboot during update.

    This option is supported for ThinkSystem v1 and v2 servers (excluding ThinkSystem SR250 V2, SR258 V2, ST250 V2, ST258 V2, SR635, SR645, SR655, SR665 servers).

11. Click Perform Update to start the update process, or click Schedule to schedule this update to run at a later time.
    If needed, you can perform power actions on the managed devices. The power actions are useful when Delayed Activation is selected and you want the updates to continue when the device is waiting in the Pending Maintenance state. To perform a power action on a managed device from this page, click All Actions > Power Actions, and then click one of the following power actions.

    • Power on
    • Power down OS and power off
    • Power off
    • Shut down OS and restart
    • Restart