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Upgrade software and firmware

You can upgrade your storage array's software and, optionally, the IOM firmware and the nonvolatile static random access memory (NVSRAM) to make sure you have all the latest features and bug fixes.

Before you begin

  • You know whether you want to upgrade your IOM firmware.

    Normally, you should upgrade all components at the same time. However, you might decide not to upgrade the IOM firmware if you do not want to upgrade it as part of the ThinkSystem SAN OS OS software upgrade or if technical support has instructed you to downgrade your IOM firmware (you can only downgrade firmware by using the command line interface).

  • You know whether you want to upgrade the controller NVSRAM file.

    Normally, you should upgrade all components at the same time. However, you might decide not to upgrade the controller NVSRAM file if your file has either been patched or is a custom version and you do not want to overwrite it.

  • You know whether you want to activate your OS upgrade now or later.

    Reasons for activating later might include:

    • Time of day – Activating the software and firmware can take a long time, so you might want to wait until I/O loads are lighter. The controllers fail over during activation so performance might be lower than usual until the upgrade completes.
    • Type of package – You might want to test the new software and firmware on one storage array before upgrading the files on other storage arrays.
  • You know whether you want to switch from unsecured drives or internally secured drives to use an external key management server (KMS) for drive security.
  • You know whether you want to use role-based access control in your storage array.

About this task

You can choose to upgrade only the OS software file or only the Controller NVSRAM file or you can choose to upgrade both files.

Perform this operation only when instructed to do so by technical support.

Attention
Risk of data loss or risk of damage to the storage array - Do not make changes to the storage array while the upgrade is occurring. Maintain power to the storage array.
  1. If your storage array contains only one controller or you do not have a multipath driver installed, stop I/O activity to the storage array to prevent application errors. If your storage array has two controllers and you have a multipath driver installed, you do not need to stop I/O activity.
  2. Select Support > Upgrade Center .
  3. Download the new file from the Support site to your management client.
    Note
    Digitally signed firmware is required in version 8.42 and above. If you attempt to download unsigned firmware, an error is displayed and the download is aborted.
  4. If you do NOT want to upgrade the IOM firmware at this time, click Suspend IOM Auto-Synchronization .
    If you have a storage array with a single controller, the IOM firmware is not upgraded.
  5. Under ThinkSystem SAN OS Software upgrade, click Begin Upgrade .
    The Upgrade ThinkSystem SAN OS Software dialog appears.
  6. Select one or more files to begin the upgrade process:
    1. Select the ThinkSystem SAN OS Software file by clicking Browse and navigating to the OS software file you downloaded from the Support web site.
    2. Select the Controller NVSRAM file by clicking Browse and navigating to the NVSRAM file that you downloaded from the Support site. Controller NVSRAM files have a filename similar to N2800-830000-000.dlp .

    These actions occur:

    • By default, only the files that are compatible with the current storage array configuration appear.
    • When you select a file for upgrade, the file's name and size appear.
  7. (Optional) If you selected a ThinkSystem SAN OS Software file to upgrade, you can transfer the files to the controller without activating them by selecting the Transfer files now, but do not upgrade (activate upgrade later) check box.
  8. Click Start , and confirm that you want to perform the operation.

    You can cancel the operation during the pre-upgrade health check, but not during transferring or activating.

  9. (Optional) To see a list of what was upgraded, click Save Log .
    The file is saved in the Downloads folder for your browser with the name latest-upgrade-log-timestamp.txt .
  • Verify that all components appear on the Hardware page.
  • Verify the new software and firmware versions by checking the Software and Firmware Inventory dialog box (go to Support > Upgrade Center , and then click the link for Software and Firmware Inventory ).
  • If you upgraded controller NVSRAM, any custom settings that you have applied to the existing NVSRAM are lost during the process of activation. You need to apply the custom settings to the NVSRAM again after the process of activation is complete.