BL920s-7.5.0c-ReleaseNotes.htm

TITLE: HP Integrity Superdome X Server Firmware Bundle

VERSION:
Bundle Version: 7.5.0

DESCRIPTION:
This bundle contains the Complex and nPartition Firmware updates for HP Integrity Superdome X Servers with BL920s Gen8 and Gen9 blades. It includes an integrated OA (Onboard Administrator).

WARNING: If you are updating from a version prior to 6.0.42, you must install 6.0.42 (bridge release for digital signing) prior to updating to version 7.5.0 or later.

Note:

Superdome X firmware includes two distinct parts, the Complex firmware (for primary server management), and the Partition firmware (code that runs on blade system processors).
Firmware version 7.5.0 or later is required to support BL920s Gen9 blades.
Superdome X version 5.73.0 or later supports online complex firmware update:

The update of the Complex firmware takes effect without any additional operator interaction; some server management capabilities will become inactive until the update completes.
The new Partition firmware however only gets programmed into the Flash ROM during the update, and a partition reboot is required to activate it. This enables rolling upgrades, where the new Partition firmware may get activated on one partition at a time, when it is convenient to bring the partition down for a reboot.

This “mixed” operational mode is supported for an indefinite period of time, provided the combinations of Complex and Partition firmware are compatible. The table below describes those supported compatible Complex/Partition firmware combinations:

“Yes” in the cell means that the combination for the Partition (row)/ Complex (column) is supported and “No” that it is not supported.
Note:

The complex firmware version must always be greater than or equal to the partition firmware (but not all such combinations are supported).
Online firmware downgrade is not supported.

		Complex Firmware
		5.50.12¹	5.73.0¹	6.0.42	7.5.0
Partition Firmware	5.50.12	Yes	No	No	No
	5.73.0	No	Yes	Yes	Yes^1,2,3
	6.0.42	No	No	Yes	Yes^2,3
	7.5.0	No	No	No	Yes

Note 1: Updating Complex FW from 5.X.X to 7.5.0 requires installing 6.0.42 first because of changes to the digital firmware bundle signature.

Note 2: Online Complex FW updates from 6.0.42 to 7.5.0 will show “Mixed” firmware due to newer PDH FPGA in 7.5.0. Partition operation is supported in this condition. To complete the PDH FPGA update, turn off the partition(s) when convenient, and rerun firmware update.

Note 3: BL920s Gen8 Blades support running Complex FW version 7.5.0 with Partition FW 5.73.0 or 6.0.42, but Gen9 Blades require both Complex and nPartition FW version 7.5.0.

Additional details about online complex firmware updates can be found in the “HP Integrity Superdome X and Superdome 2 Onboard Administrator User Guide for HP”

UPDATE RECOMMENDATION: Critical

HP recommends systems used in Mission Critical environments update to this revision of firmware during the next system maintenance period in order to improve system reliability.

[X ] Critical

[X ] Panic, [X ] Hang, [ ] Abort, [ ] Corruption, [ ] Memory Leak,

[ ] Security

[ ] Hardware Enablement, [ ] Software Enablement

[ ] Required

[ ] Recommended

[ ] Optional

[ ] Hardware Enablement, [ ] Software Enablement, [ ] non-critical

[ ] Initial Customer Release

SUPERSEDES:
Bundle version: 6.0.42

PRODUCT MODEL(S):
HP Integrity Superdome X Servers

OPERATING SYSTEMS:
Supported OS’es on Gen8 blades:

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3, 11 SP4 and 12
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5 and future 6.x releases, 7.0 and future 7.x releases
Windows Server 2012 R2 (with Spring 2014 and November 2014 updates)
VMWare ESXi 5.5 U2 and 6.0

Supported OS’es on Gen9 blades:

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3, 11 SP4 and 12
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.6 and future 6.x releases, 7.1 and future 7.x releases

LANGUAGES:
International English

ENHANCEMENTS:

Superdome X server firmware version 7.5.0 introduced support for BL920s Gen9 blades
With firmware version 7.5.0, HP Integrity Superdome X Server supports multiple nPartitions of 6 sockets in addition to 2, 4, 8 and 16 sockets.

FIXES:

Excessive correctable memory errors could prevent an entire partition from booting. Boot attempts would fail with the error SFW_BOOT_FATAL_ERROR in FPL. This is now fixed.
False fabric errors or CAE event 2015 could rarely be seen after an EFI reset command or a non-graceful system shutdown, causing in some cases a critical error like an MCA, due to some packets not being discarded before power-on. This is now fixed.
A system nPartition would very rarely hang with the FPL (Forward Progress Log) or SEL (System Event Log) displaying some STATUS_ASSERT_* messages. This is now fixed.
The WSMAN daemon no longer crashes if a WSMAN client makes a subscription request with an unusually long “end point reference”.
SNMP no longer incorrectly sends trap 22041 whenever the active OA status changes.
On systems running SLES, Event ID 100924 would sometimes be erroneously reported for corrected memory errors. This is now fixed.
In case the monarch blade of an nPar is serviced and the Administrator does not wait long enough (about 5 minutes) before attempting to power on the partition, the partition no longer fails to power on with an error message in OA syslog “nPartition Power On failed. Error: fatal internal error”.
When removing an SNMP receiver’s IP address (ex. 10.11.12.13), OA no longer incorrectly removes all receiver’s IP addresses that contain that IP address as a substring (ex. 10.11.12.13 and 10.11.12.133).
A PDH low battery warning event is no longer reported daily in case of low PDH battery level. It is now reported yearly as an informational event.
The OA GUI now properly detects and displays a valid firmware bundle present on a USB stick in the external USB drive.

COMPATIBILITY/INTEROPERABILITY:
Note: See the Firmware Matrix for HP Integrity Superdome X servers for latest information at
http://h20566.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?sp4ts.oid=7161269&docId=emr_na-c04739260

The following IO cards and versions are supported on HP Integrity Superdome X Server:

IO card	Gen8 Blades	Gen9 Blades	Supported OS’es
HP Ethernet 10Gb 2-port 560FLB and 560M Adapter	UEFI: 4.9.10	Not Supported	Linux, Windows, VMWare
HP QMH2672 16GB Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter	UEFI 6.37	UEFI 6.37	Gen8: Linux, Windows and VMWare; Gen9: Linux only
HP FlexFabric 10 Gb 2-port 534M and 534FLB Adapter ^1,2	UEFI 7.12.31	Not Supported	Linux only
FlexFabric 20 Gb 2-port 630M and 630FLB card ^1,²	Not Supported	UEFI 7.12.31	Linux only
Infiniband HP IB FDR 2-Port 545M card	Not Supported	FW 10.10.50.52 UEFI 14.6.27	Linux only

NOTE 1: The HP FlexFabric 2-port 10GB 534M/534FLB and 20GB 630M/630FLB Adapters (Mezzanine and LOM) only provide Ethernet network support.
NOTE 2: FCoE is currently not supported with the I/O Adapters for HP Integrity Superdome X with BL920s Gen8 and Gen9 server blades.

Recommended I/O firmware:

When updating to Superdome X firmware version 7.5.0, it is recommended to update the server IO firmware using the “HP Integrity Superdome X IO firmware image” version 2015.09, available on the Superdome X firmware download page on HPSC. Select your OS and go under the “Software – CD ROM” section.

Note:

After replacing an I/O adapter, check if a supported I/O firmware version is installed or update the firmware.
Offline firmware updates can currently be accomplished on smaller partition sizes only with “HP Integrity Superdome X IO firmware image” version 2015.09 (HP recommends 1 blade only).
For additional details, consult with your HP field representative.

Required I/O drivers:

For servers running a supported Linux operating system, no additional I/O driver updates are needed. For supported OS details, refer to the Linux white paper “Running Linux on HP Integrity Superdome X”.
For servers running Windows operating system, if needed, the I/O drivers should be updated using the HP BL920s Gen8 Windows Drivers Bundle as the update from the SPP with HP SUM is not working for the Superdome X server at this time. You can find the latest HP BL920s Gen8 Windows Drivers Bundle on the Superdome X for Windows 2012 R2 OS download page, under “Software – Support Pack”. Follow the instructions in the bundle for installing the components.

OS requirements

A. Linux

All Linux OS related information is available from the Linux white paper “Running Linux on HP Integrity Superdome X”:

i. Check the HP Servers Support & Certification Matrices for special OS requirements for the HP Integrity Superdome X Server

ii. Linux SMH and WBEM providers: HP recommends that you install the latest versions of the SMH and WBEM providers for your SLES or RHEL Operating System from the Software Delivery Repository (SDR). Superdome X providers are available under http://downloads.linux.hp.com/repo/bl920-wbem/
Note: You must install the SMH package prior to the WBEM providers or in the same session.

Note: Reboot is not required for the SMH and WBEM provider changes to take effect.

iii. Check the Linux white paper for additional details and recommendations.

B. Windows (Supported on Gen8 blades only with this release)
I/O drivers and WBEM providers for Windows 2012 R2 for Superdome X are available as part of the “HP BL920s Gen8 Windows Drivers Bundle” (latest version) on the Superdome X download page on HP Support Center, under “Software – Support Pack”. Follow the instructions in the bundle to install the components.

For more information on installing Windows OS and components on Superdome X, see the Windows white paper “Running Microsoft Windows Server on HP Integrity Superdome X”, at http://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=4AA5-7519ENW&doctype=Technical white paper.

PREREQUISITES:

WARNING:

If you are updating from a version prior to 6.0.42, you must install 6.0.42 (bridge release for digital signing) prior to updating to version 7.5.0 or later.

HP strongly recommends implementing the following security best practices to help reduce both known and future security vulnerability risks:

1. Isolate the management network by keeping it separate from the production network and not putting it on the open internet without additional access authentication.

2. Patch and Maintain LDAP and web servers.

3. Run the up-to-date viruses and malware scanners in your network environment

4. Apply HP Firmware updates as recommended.

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS:

Please review all instructions and the " Hewlett Packard Enterprise Support Tool License Terms" or your Hewlett Packard Enterprise support terms and conditions for precautions, scope of license, restrictions, and limitation of liability and warranties, before installing this package. It is important that you read and understand these instructions completely before you begin. This can determine your success in completing the firmware update.

These instructions describe how to install the firmware version 7.5.0. The list below is a summary of the steps to install the firmware.

A. Downloading the bundle

B. Updating Complex firmware using OA CLI

C. Updating specific nPartition firmware using OA CLI (optional)

D. Updating IO firmware, SMH and WBEM providers

NOTE: For more details, review the “HP Integrity Superdome X and Superdome 2 Onboard Administrator Command Line Interface User Guide”.

Update Superdome X Complex from Firmware Bundle using Onboard Administrator's Command Line Interface (CLI)

A. Downloading the bundle

1. Download the file hpsdx-7.5.0-fw.bundle in a new folder in your desktop.

2. Copy the bundle file to a USB Key or to a FTP Server reachable from Onboard Administrator.

NOTE: If you are using FTP, then please make sure the transfer mode is set to "Binary".

Note:

Online complex firmware update is supported starting with firmware version 5.73.0 (see the online firmware update table and notes at the top of the release notes).
For offline complex firmware updates, you must power off all partitions before upgrading to firmware version 7.5.0. You must use the ALL option with this firmware upgrade to ensure that the partitions will boot with the new partition firmware after the update.

B. Updating Superdome X Complex and nPartition firmware using OA CLI

1. Connect to Onboard Administrator over Telnet or SSH and login to get the command line prompt.

NOTE: Only in case of offline firmware update, do the following steps a. and b. below, otherwise skip to step 2 for online firmware update. Offline update requires downtime for the entire server. Online update is recommended for servers with firmware versions 5.73.0 or later (skip a. and b. and go directly to step 2 for online update).

Offline update:

a. Gracefully shutdown OS in each partition, using shutdown -h, as forcing partition power off is likely to corrupt OS.

b. Power down all blades using the following command (not required if performing an online firmware update):
OA1-CLI> POWEROFF PARTITION X FORCE OVERRIDE
This may take some time and it asks for confirmation status for partitions before moving on. You can use the following command to confirm status of partitions:
OA1-CLI> parstatus –P

NOTE: The update procedure for online update of complex firmware on systems with firmware version 5.73.0 or later starts here.

2. Verify communications between the OA and all installed Blades, using the connect blade command for each of the installed Cell Blades.
NOTE: If the OA to any blade communications is not working, update firmware will fail.

sd-oa1> connect blade 1

Connecting to bay 1 ...

User:OAtmp-Administrator-53A9 logged-in to ILO-B.hp.com(16.11.18.7 / FE80)
iLO 4 Standard Blade Edition 1.50 at Apr 29 2014
Server Name: sd-oa1
Server Power: On

3. Use the update firmware command, as shown below, to point to Integrated Firmware Update Bundle at a valid ftp location.

OA1-CLI> UPDATE FIRMWARE <uri> all

NOTE: The "all" option must be used in order to update complex AND partition firmware

Where The <uri> should be formatted as usb://<path> for USB installations. Use the SHOW
USBKEY command to obtain the <path>.

Example:

Using FTP:

update firmware ftp://user:passwd@15.1.1.75/firmware/hpsdx-7.5.0-fw.bundle all

Using USB Key:

update firmware usb://d2/ hpsdx-7.5.0-fw.bundle all

NOTE: The Firmware update process can take up to 1 hour to complete. During this process you might notice no progress for up to 30 minutes at certain time. In between the updates, connection to OA will be lost as OA will reboot to proceed towards other firmware updates. OA might take up to 30 minutes to come to ready state after the reboot. After OA is rebooted you can reconnect back to OA and login to confirm successful update.

4. Run the OA command UPDATE SHOW FIRMWARE to display the versions of complex bundle last installed and firmware versions installed.

Example:

OA1-CLI> UPDATE SHOW FIRMWARE

Configured complex firmware bundle version: 7.5.0

====================================================================

Firmware on all devices matches the complex configured bundle version
Note: Partition firmware activation requires a partition reboot (see step C. 5.).

5. Verify all partitions are ready to be started using:

parstatus -P command (this command will not work until the OA restart is complete)

NOTE: Step 6 is only needed in case of offline firmware update (steps 1. a. and b. above)

6. Power on the complex using poweron partition [X] for each of the nPartitions.

C. Updating specific nPartition firmware using OA CLI (optional)

Note: Step C is not needed if you have updated both complex and all partition firmware in step B above.

1. Connect to Onboard Administrator over Telnet or SSH and login to get the command line prompt.

2. Run the OA command UPDATE SHOW NPARTITION ALL to display the versions of partition firmware installed.

Example:

OA1-CLI> UPDATE SHOW NPARTITION ALL

nPartition firmware version applied to partition 1 nPar0001

Configured nPartition Firmware Version: 7.5.0

Active nPartition Firmware Version: 7.5.0

nPartition firmware on all blades matches the partition's configured version

3. Use the update npartition command, as shown below, to point to Integrated Firmware Update Bundle at a valid ftp location and update the desired partition, taking into account planned downtime for OS update and reboot.

OA1-CLI> UPDATE NPARTITION <npar name or number> <uri>

Where <npar name or number> is the partition whose nPartition firmware should be updated.

The <uri> should be formatted as usb://<path> for USB installations. Use the SHOW USBKEY command to obtain the <path>.

Examples:

Using FTP:

update npartition 1 ftp://user:passwd@15.1.1.75/firmware/hpsdx-7.5.0-fw.bundle

Using USB Key:

update npartition 1 usb://d2/hpsdx-7.5.0-fw.bundle

4. Repeat step 2 to verify that the requested update was successfully

5. Restart nPar to activate partition firmware (when ready for Partition downtime)

Note: if nPartition firmware was updated in step B, but not activated, shut down all running OSs in the nPar then power off the nPar, then power on the nPar. The nPar restart will cause the updated nPartition firmware to be activated. The following sequence can be used:

OA1-CLI>POWEROFF PARTITION< npar#> OVERRIDE

Gracefully shuts down nPar or all vPars at once
Alternatively, run /etc/shutdown -h on all running OSs

OA1-CLI> POWEROFF PARTITION< npar#> FORCE OVERRIDE

Really power off the nPar

OA1-CLI> POWERON PARTITION <npar#>

The nPar, and all vPars if defined, start.

Run the OA command UPDATE SHOW NPARTITION ALL to display the versions of partition firmware installed.

Example:

OA1-CLI> UPDATE SHOW NPARTITION ALL

nPartition firmware version applied to partition 1 nPar00
Configured nPartition Firmware Version: 7.5.0
Active nPartition Firmware Version: 7.5.0
nPartition firmware on all blades matches the partition's configured version.

D. Updating IO firmware, SMH and WBEM providers

See the section COMPATIBILITY/INTEROPERABILITY section for supported IO cards, WBEM providers, and supported versions.

DETERMINING CURRENT VERSION:

Establish a telnet session with OA and login to the get the command prompt
Type the OA command "UPDATE SHOW FIRMWARE" to display the version of complex bundle installed.
Type the OA command “UPDATE SHOW NPARTITION ALL“ to display the version of nPartition firmware installed on each partition. +

KNOWN ISSUES & WORKAROUNDS:

An incorrect firmware version is reported in the standby OA GUI.
Workaround: run “show oa info” in the standby OA CLI to get proper version information.
When all blades in a partition are set to link local, the OA syslog reports the blades as powered off. However the OA CLI command "show blade list" reports the correct state.
If connected to the OA via telnet, the message “fatal: Cannot bind any address” may be seen in the OA syslog after running the command “disable ntp”, “disable https” or “disable snmp”. You may ignore this message.
OA users with operator privilege can enable or disable network protocols from the OA CLI. However they can’t do it from the GUI as the Network access section is missing.
In case of mismatch between XFMs and complex firmware versions, the OA CLI commands SHOW XFM STATUS/ SHOW XFM INFO do not flag the XFM as mismatched. Workaround: UPDATE SHOW FIRMWARE shows the mismatch.
Enclosure ID field in enclosure status may show as degraded after the DVD module has recovered from USB connectivity issues.
The monarch iLO in complex firmware version 7.5.0 is affected by the OpenSSL Poodle (Padding Oracle on Downgraded Legacy Encryption) CVE-2014-3566 vulnerability. More information can be found in this advisory c04496345.
If a user connects remote vMedia to a partition from the IRC applet, a “show partition dvd all” from the OA CLI will not report that the partition is connected to media via the “Virtual Media Applet”.
Java execution errors may be seen when launching the IRC (Integrated Remote Console) or RSC (Remote Serial Console) from the OA GUI, causing the applets to fail to launch, when using a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) other than the Oracle version.
Workaround: Remove or de-configure all java environments other than the Oracle version as this is the only JVM currently supported by iLO. The Oracle Java 7 JRE works correctly.
When more than one DIMM in a partition has been de-configured, the "partition status" and "pending changes" TABs on the OA GUI only show the first DIMM as de-configured. Refresh the OA GUI screen or use the CLI parstatus command to show correct information.
The OA “show blade info” command does not report a change in the blade “Asset Tag” value until after the partition is rebooted.
After a USB cable is reconnected between the OA and its matching GPSM (maybe due to a repair or lose connection), SHOW ENCLOSURE STATUS reports the Enclosure ID as "Degraded" instead of OK.
Workaround: Reboot the OA to clear the erroneous status.
When a blade is moved from a partition to another, the command SHOW BLADE INFO will continue to show the UUID from the prior partition until the new partition is booted to UEFI.
When using the Firefox browser, users may only use IRC for a single partition at a time as only one instance of the IRC client can be opened at a time.
Workaround: use Internet Explorer and the non-java based IRC client.
The parstatus command incorrectly displays the complex IO enclosure capacity as 8 instead of 0.
If a user performs an OA restart, OA failover or FW Update while an nPar is in OSBOOT state, the nPar state unexpectedly changes to UP state.
When an alternate parspec is created with default granule sizes, the parstatus –Z <parspec_name> command will display negative values (-1 MB) for granule size.
A side effect of the OpenSSL fix for CVE-2014-0224 is that OpenSSL gives a warning whenever the hostname field of the OA certificate does not match the hostname alias being used as the URL in the Web browser. This warning/alert may translate into an error on the client side if it is running versions of Java 7 or greater and can result in the client being unable to launch the Remote Serial Console, a live log viewer session, etc.
Workaround: You can avoid this problem by using the IP address specifically in the Web browser instead of an assigned hostname alias, or you can regenerate the certificate on the OA to specify the fully qualified hostname that the customer wishes to assign. Regenerating the certificate is a simple procedure, and it will not result in any required downtime for running nPartitions. The Active OA will reboot as a part of this process, and it will be necessary the clear the Web browser's cache (or completely restart the Web browser) after the OA has booted back up to an operational state.
Superdome X complex uses 169.254.x.x and 10.254.x.x addresses for internal management. Those addresses are visible to the outside LAN via “SNMPwalk”, which may cause incorrect reports of IP address conflicts. As a result, tools that use “SNMPwalk” to avoid IP address conflicts may refuse to use the 169.254.x.x or 10.254.x.x for other systems outside of the complex. Other than incorrect SNMP reporting, the internal management network traffic is contained within the complex and will not affect customer’s management network.
Note: The addresses 169.254.x.x and 10.254.x.x are not available to be used by the OA EBIPA.

DISCLAIMER:
The information in this document is subject to change without notice.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise makes no warranty of any kind with regard to this material, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.

This document contains proprietary information that is protected by copyright. All rights are reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, photocopied, or translated to another language without the prior written consent of Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

FEEDBACK
As we are continuing to improve the firmware management process we welcome your feedback on this document and on the firmware update process: TEAM-FWupdateFeedback@groups.ext.hpe.com