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This chapter includes the following sections:
When you upgrade from Cisco UCS, Release 1.1(1), upgrade the components in the following order. If you do not follow this order, the firmware upgrade may fail and the servers may experience communication issues with Cisco UCS Manager. In addition, the order of steps in this document and the recommended options minimize the disruption to data traffic.
Adapter (interface card)—If you plan to upgrade the adapters directly, perform this step first. However, if you prefer, you can omit this step and upgrade the adapters as part of the last step, in a host firmware package.
BMC—If you upgrade the adapters in the host firmware package, perform this step first.
I/O module.
Cisco UCS Manager.
Fabric interconnect.
Host firmware package—Must be the last step in the upgrade process. We recommend that you upgrade the board controller firmware during this step to avoid an addiitional reboot of the server. You must upgrade the BIOS and storage controller firmware in a host firmware package.
Activate the firmware.
This procedure ensures that the firmware activation for these endpoints causes minimal disruption to data traffic. If you do not activate the endpoints in the following order with the correct options configured, the endpoints may reboot and cause a temporary disruption in data traffic.
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Do not select ALL from the Filter drop-down list in the Activate Firmware dialog box to activate all endpoints simultaneously. Many firmware releases and patches have dependencies that require the endpoints to be activated in a specific order for the firmware update to succeed. This order can change depending upon the contents of the release or patch. Activating all endpoints does not guarantee that the updates occur in the required order and can disrupt communications between the endpoints, the fabric interconnects, and Cisco UCS Manager. For information about the dependencies in a specific release or patch, see the release notes provided with that release or patch. |
This procedure continues directly from Updating the Firmware on the Adapters, BMCs, and IOMs to Release 1.3(1) and assumes you are on the Firmware Management tab.
This procedure continues directly from the previous one and assumes you are on the Firmware Management tab.
Activating the Fabric Interconnect Firmware for a Cluster Configuration
Determine which fabric interconnect in the cluster is the subordinate fabric interconnect. For more information, see Verifying the High Availability Status and Roles of a Cluster Configuration.
If the high availability status of the subordinate fabric interconnect contains the required values, update and activate the primary fabric interconnect.
This procedure continues directly from Activating the Firmware on a Subordinate Fabric Interconnect to Release 1.3(1) and assumes you are on the Firmware Management tab.
Activate the subordinate fabric interconnect.
Step 1 |
On the Installed Firmware subtab, click Activate Firmware. Cisco UCS Manager GUI opens the Update Firmware dialog box and verifies the firmware versions for all endpoints in the Cisco UCS instance. This step may take a few minutes, depending upon the number of chassis and servers. |
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Step 2 | From the Filter drop-down list on the menu bar, choose Fabric Interconnects. | ||||||||
Step 3 | On the menu bar, check the Ignore Compatibility Check check box. | ||||||||
Step 4 | On the row of the Activate Firmware dialog box for the subordinate fabric interconnect, do the following: | ||||||||
Step 5 |
Click Apply. Cisco UCS Manager updates and activates the firmware, and then reboots the fabric interconnect and any I/O module in the data path to that fabric interconnect, disrupting data traffic to and from that fabric interconnect. However, assuming the Cisco UCS instance is configured to permit traffic and port failover, data traffic fails over to the other fabric interconnect, which becomes the primary. When it comes back up, this fabric interconnect is the subordinate fabric interconnect. |
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Step 6 |
Verify the high availability status of the fabric interconnect.
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For a standalone configuration with a single fabric interconnect, you can minimize the disruption to data traffic when you perform a direct firmware upgrade of the endpoints. However, you must reboot the fabric interconnect to complete the upgrade and, therefore, cannot avoid disrupting traffic.
Step 1 | In the Navigation pane, click the Equipment tab. |
Step 2 | On the Equipment tab, click the Equipment node. |
Step 3 | In the Work pane, click the Firmware Management tab. |
Step 4 |
On the Installed Firmware subtab, click Activate Firmware. Cisco UCS Manager GUI opens the Update Firmware dialog box and verifies the firmware versions for all endpoints in the Cisco UCS instance. This step may take a few minutes, depending upon the number of chassis and servers. |
Step 5 | From the Filter drop-down list, choose Fabric Interconnects. |
Step 6 | On the menu bar, check the Ignore Compatibility Check check box. |
Step 7 | On the row of the Activate Firmware dialog box for the fabric interconnect, do the following: |
Step 8 | Click OK. |
Cisco UCS Manager activates the firmware, and then reboots the fabric interconnect and any I/O module in the data path to that fabric interconnect. For a standalone fabric interconnect, this disrupts all data traffic in the Cisco UCS instance.
You must upgrade the BIOS and storage controller firmware through the host firmware package when you upgrade to Release 1.3(1). If you do not upgrade those packages, the servers may experience communication issues with Cisco UCS Manager and the BMC.
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If the policy is included in one or more service profiles associated with a server, Cisco UCS Manager updates and activates the firmware in the server and adapter with the new versions and reboots the server as soon as you save the host firmware package policy. |
This procedure assumes that the host firmware package already exists. For information on how to create a host firmware package, see Cisco UCS Manager GUI Configuration Guide or Cisco UCS Manager CLI Configuration Guide.
Before you update a host firmware package, do the following:
Upgrade Cisco UCS Manager and the fabric interconnects
Determine an appropriate maintenance window to reduce the impact of the disruption of data traffic when the server reboots
Ensure you know the 1.3(1) firmware version and model number (PID) for the servers or servers
Step 1 | In the Navigation pane, click the Servers tab. |
Step 2 | On the Servers tab, expand . |
Step 3 |
Expand the node for the organization that includes the policy you want to update. If the system does not include multi-tenancy, expand the root node. |
Step 4 | Expand Host Firmware Packages and select the policy you want to update. |
Step 5 | In the table on the right, do the following to delete the existing entry for the firmware you want to update: |
Step 6 |
On the General tab, click the down arrows to expand one or more of the following sections on the left: |
Step 7 |
In each section for the endpoint to which you want to include firmware in the package:
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Step 8 | If you need to include firmware updates for servers with different model numbers (PIDs) in this management firmware package, repeat Steps 6 and 7. |
Step 9 |
Click Save Changes. Cisco UCS Manager verifies the model numbers and vendor against all servers associated with service profiles that include this policy. If the model numbers and vendor match a firmware version in the policy, Cisco UCS Manager updates the firmware. |
Verify that the firmware on the endpoints included in the host firmware package has been updated to release 1.3(1). If the firmware has not been updated, check the model numbers and vendors in the host firmware package against those on the endpoints that were not updated.