HP Smart Update Best Practices Implementer Guide

4 Deploying individual firmware types
Use HP SPP as your source for update tools and firmware, software, and driver components. Use
HP Integrity Smat Update Firmware bundles as your source for firmware updates. Only deploy
individual components if there is a hot fix that resolves an issue you are experiencing. The following
sections discuss reminders and tips for specific types of firmware. Unless otherwise specified, use
HP SUM from the HP SPP or HP Integrity bundle to perform an update.
NOTE: HP SUM supports updating firmware only for VMware ESXi targets.
System ROM
System ROM firmware is staged and not immediately activated upon update. This means that the
firmware is written to the physical ROM chip in the server but will not be activated until the server
is rebooted. While it is recommended that you reboot as soon as possible to activate new firmware,
there is no harm in leaving the System ROM image deployed and rebooting the server during a
later maintenance window. System ROM firmware can be updated in either online or offline mode.
iLO firmware
iLO firmware is activated immediately upon update of the iLO by an automatic reset. This reset
disconnects any virtual media devices and remote consoles through the iLO. This reset normally
takes less than a minute and does not affect the operating system or any running applications. The
server does not need to be rebooted to activate the iLO firmware. iLO firmware can be updated
in either online or offline mode.
NIC firmware
To update NIC firmware, use the HP SPP or HP Integrity Smart Update Firmware bundle. The
corresponding operating system-specific NIC driver must be previously installed in online mode.
You can obtain a NIC driver by using the one available in the HP SPP or HP Integrity Smart Update
Firmware bundle. After the driver is in place, use HP SUM to update the firmware. You can update
the NIC firmware in either online or offline mode.
In special cases, different firmware can be preloaded on the adapter for a Broadcom NIC,
depending on the functionality of the adapter. An example of this is the HP NC373i Multifunction
Gigabit Server Adapter and the HP NC373m Multifunction Gigabit Server Adapter. The adapter
is released in two forms. One form includes iSCSI support and the version is in the 1.x.x range.
The same adapter is also available without iSCSI support and has firmware version in the 4.x.x
range. The NIC firmware component is intelligent enough to only load the appropriate firmware
on the adapter. Due to the different functionality that the different types of firmware enable, it is
important to use the NIC firmware components and HP SUM to deploy NIC firmware and not
attempt to update the firmware directly as this could cause loss of functionality.
NOTE: If updating from a version older than the 4.6.16.0 version of the Broadcom 1 Gb NIC
driver, it is first necessary to update to the 4.6.16.0 version before continuing to later versions.
More information about this can be obtained from the customer advisory on the advisory website
at http://h20564.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay/?
docId=emr_na-c01684544.
CNA firmware
CNAs combine the functionality of fiber channel and NICs onto a single adapter. CNAs behave
the same as Fibre Channel adapters. You can update CNAs in either offline or online mode.
30 Deploying individual firmware types