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Overview

The Solution Builder Extension (SBE) allows customers to apply updates from Lenovo to Azure Local, version 23H2 instances.

In addition to Microsoft Azure Local solution updates, Lenovo releases regular updates for the hardware running Azure Local. These updates may include driver and firmware updates, hardware monitoring enhancements, and diagnostic tools.

Lenovo ThinkAgile MX SBE packages enable the automation of updates for system firmware, device drivers, and utility software for Lenovo ThinkAgile MX solutions via the Cluster Aware Update (CAU) plugin. Further SBE capabilities like automatic SBE package downloads and robust health checks are provided by a PowerShell module. All update packages follow Lenovo ThinkAgile MX Best Recipe releases and are contained in a single compressed ZIP archive. Each SBE package supports specific Machine Types (MT) and specific Azure Local release versions. Check the SBE package Release Notes, which are contained in the ZIP archive, for additional details.

For Lenovo ThinkAgile MX Premier Solutions, when an SBE Premier update package becomes available, it appears automatically as an update option in the Azure portal. Applying an SBE Premier package is a simple matter of clicking the appropriate button in the Azure Portal. This document does not pertain to SBE Premier update packages.

For many Lenovo ThinkAgile MX solutions, SBE Standard update packages can be downloaded from the Best Recipe page of the Lenovo Updates Repository site (https://thinkagile.lenovo.com/mx) and then imported into the cluster.

This chapter presents the steps that need to be taken to obtain and process the Standard SBE package for ThinkAgile MX solutions using Best Recipe MXBR2503. Note that not all ThinkAgile MX solutions support SBE package updates at this time. If an SBE update package is available for a ThinkAgile MX solution, it will be shown at the top of the current Best Recipe page for the solution, which can be found here: https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/HT507406

For background information regarding SBE, SBE packages, and guidance for taking advantage of its capabilities, see the following Microsoft article: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure-stack/hci/update/solution-builder-extension.

The process used to update a ThinkAgile MX solution running Azure Local using a Standard SBE Package consists of the following main activities:Before starting to work with SBE packages, certain prerequisites are necessary to provide a secure method of communicating between the Azure Local nodes and the Azure Arc control plane.