HP Smart Update Best Practices Planning Guide

3 Baseline and update regularity
Custom baseline creation
You can create a custom baseline for each server model and generation in your environment
reducing the risk of servers with different versions of firmware, software and drivers.
You can use the SPP or Integrity bundle to establish a custom baseline. Use the HP SPP for most
ProLiant environments. HP SPP contains the combined system software, firmware, and driver bundles.
For more information on adding or removing components from HP SPP or Integrity bundle, see
“Creating a custom ISO” (page 24) and . If you create a baseline for your servers, you can easily
re-purpose them by using the baseline ISO.
NOTE: HP SUM 6.x and later supports creating custom baselines from baseline sources that you
add to the Baseline Library. HP SUM 6.x also includes support for creating bootable ISOs. For
more information, see the HP Smart Update Manager User Guide, available on the HP Smart
Update Manager Information Library at http://www.hp.com/go/hpsum/documentation.
The number of new updates released for a server decreases over time. When HP releases updates,
compare the components to those in your custom baseline. Custom baselines for older generations
will not require updates as frequently as custom baselines for newer servers.
Creating a custom baseline in HP SUM
HP SUM 6.x and later includes a function that allows you to easily create a custom baseline of
components from the baselines in the Baseline Library. You can create custom baselines by operating
system, target, and update criticality. This allows you to create a new baseline that includes only
updates for a specific server, or set of servers. For more information on using HP SUM to create
a custom baseline, see the HP Smart Update Manager User Guide.
Update regularity overview
Some updates require a reboot to activate. HP SUM allows you to finish your updates in two ways:
• Reboot immediately: After updates finish, the servers reboot and your server updates are
implemented.
• Reboot during next regularly scheduled reboot: HP SUM installs the updates, but the server
updates do not activate until the next regularly scheduled reboot. This can help minimize server
downtime.
NOTE: Make sure you reboot a target before you apply another update to that target.
Many network-based devices such as the OA, VCM, and iLO can be updated without affecting
server operations. With VC, the VC configuration must be set up in redundant mode to prevent
network downtime. Performing server updates without affecting the servers enables you to reduce
the maintenance window because these devices are already up to date. You can use the
maintenance window for server-based updates that require a reboot and not for infrastructure
updates that extend the downtime.
Hot Fixes
Hot Fixes and their associated Customer Advisories are released between SPP releases. These
components are tested against the SPP.
You can find Hot Fixes and the Customer Advisories for the latest SPP by selecting the Hot Fixes
& Advisories button on the SPP Download page. On this page, review the Customer Advisory to
determine if the Hot Fix applies to your configuration and which components you need to download.
To update your configuration with a Hot Fix:
Custom baseline creation 13