UCS Firmware Upgrade
The firmware upgrade process runs on the UCS server's Cisco Integrated Management Controller (CIMC). After triggering the upgrade, a synchronization process connects to the CIMC at regular (pre-configured) intervals to verify the progress of the upgrade. The upgrade process continues to run even if there is a loss of connectivity between the Cluster Manager running the synchronization process and UCS firmware upgrade.
The UCS firmware upgrade process involves:
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The Cluster synchronization is triggered with the appropriate firmware version added to the configuration.
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The Cluster manager (CM) authenticates with the CIMC.
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The CM compares the current running version of the firmware with the firmware version inside the ISO image.
NoteThe CM proceeds with the upgrade if there is a discrepancy between the versions. Otherwise, the CM skips the upgrade process. -
The CIMC receives an API call to begin the firmware upgrade from the CM. Also, the API call includes the link for the ISO image the CIMC server needs to download. The ISO image is located in the CM.
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The CIMC triggers the server reboot and starts downloading the ISO image.
NoteThe firmware upgrade aborts if there is no access to the ISO image. Consequently, the server boots up and the sync process fails.
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The CM starts verifying the status of the firmware (for a maximum time period of 120 minutes) with the CIMC.
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The CIMC successfully downloads the ISO image and mounts it as media on the server. The server boots from the media and starts the firmware upgrade process.
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The server restarts multiple times before finishing with the upgrade process. The CIMC upgrades and disconnects access to any Graphical User Interface (GUI).
NoteThe sync process waits for the CIMC to come online. It reconnects and re-authenticates with the CIMC.
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The firmware upgrade process completes and the server reboots. The server boots from the media again and firmware validation beings. If successful the firmware process completes and the server boots. If a failure is identified the firmware upgrade is marked as failed and the sync process fails as well
NoteIf the validation is successful the firmware upgrade process ends and boots the server. If the validation fails, the failure is identified and the firmware upgrade and sync process is marked as a failure.
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The CM sync process receives a success answer from the CIMC. The sync process continues to next step.