Linux best practices using HP Service Pack for ProLiant (SPP) and Software Delivery Repository (SDR)

ManualsBrandsHP ManualsSoftwareHP Smart Update Manager Software

Technical white paper

Linux best practices using HP Service Pack for

ProLiant (SPP) and Software Delivery

Repository (SDR)

Table of contents

Abstract 2

HP Service Pack for ProLiant (SPP) 2

Installing the SPP components with

HP Smart Update Manager (HP SUM) 2

HP SUM operating modes 3

SPP Supplements 3

SPP Hot Fixes 4

HP Software Delivery Repository (SDR) 4

Installing components from the SDR 4

Using a script to install the SDR

components 5

Using HP SUM as an RPM package 5

Overview of components 6

Firmware 6

Drivers 6

Management agents 6

Utilities 7

Getting support for components 8

Conclusion 8

For more information 9

Click here to verify the latest version of this document.

Created September 2012.

Summary of content (9 pages)

PAGE 1
Technical white paper Linux best practices using HP Service Pack for ProLiant (SPP) and Software Delivery Repository (SDR) Table of contents Abstract 2 HP Service Pack for ProLiant (SPP) Installing the SPP components with HP Smart Update Manager (HP SUM) HP SUM operating modes SPP Supplements SPP Hot Fixes 2 HP Software Delivery Repository (SDR) Installing components from the SDR Using a script to install the SDR components Using HP SUM as an RPM package 4 4 Overview of components Firmware Drivers M
PAGE 2
Abstract Are you a Linux administrator who must install and update HP-specific components (drivers, software, and firmware) in a Linux environment? The goal of this paper is to help you understand what options you have for installing and updating these components on HP ProLiant servers and HP blade servers. We will focus on environments running either SUSE Linux Enterprise Server or Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
PAGE 3
Note that you must use HP SUM to install firmware components or directly use the individual firmware Smart Component executable (named *.scexe). For details and instructions on using HP SUM, see the HP SUM documentation at http://www.hp.com/go/hpsum/documentation. HP SUM operating modes You can use the HP SUM GUI, scriptable CLI, or scriptable input file functionality to install drivers, management agents, utilities, and firmware.
PAGE 4
• The SDR http://downloads.linux.hp.com/SDR SPP Hot Fixes Hot fixes are firmware or software component updates that we review, discuss, and deemed important enough to merit a special release outside the normal SPP component release cycle. Because they address critical issues, we release SPP hot fixes broadly without waiting for final integration testing. We test SPP hot fixes against the current SPP and the SPPs released within the past 12 months.
PAGE 5
At this time, with the exception of NIC drivers, we provide Linux drivers in binary RPM Package Manager (RPM) format. The binary RPM have the file extension .rpm and typically have either kmp or kmod in the filename. The NIC drivers are available as source RPMs and have the file extension src.rpm. If obtained from the SDR, you can compile the binary RPMs on a “build machine,” and then distribute them to the target servers.
PAGE 6
After installing the yum-downloadonly package, there are two available options to use with YUM: • To download a RPM file without performing an update, use the option: downloadonly • To specify an alternate directory to store packages, such as /tmp, use the option: downloaddir=/path/to/dir Overview of components The following sections provide general information and information about the key HP-optimized components for your Linux environment.
PAGE 7
If you want to install the health agents and have them report to an SNMP console, such as HP System Insight Manager (HP SIM), you should install the following SPP components: • System Health Application and Command Line Utilities (hp-health) package: hp-health collects and monitors important operational data on ProLiant servers and blade servers.
PAGE 8
• hpacucli: A command line utility for configuring HP Smart Array controllers. • fibreutils: Utilities and scripts for HP-supported Fibre Channel HBAs. Note that Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 requires Fibreutils-3.x (or higher). • hp-fc-enablement: Emulex and QLogic utilities for SAN management. Getting support for components We support all of the drivers, utilities, management agents, and firmware that are available in the SPP and SDR.
PAGE 9
For more information Visit the URLs listed below if you need additional information. Resource description Web address HP Systems and Server Software Management www.hp.com/go/simple-fw-sw HP Service Pack for ProLiant www.hp.com/go/spp HP Service Pack for ProLiant Download www.hp.com/go/spp/download HP Service Pack for ProLiant Information Library www.hp.com/go/spp/documentation HP Smart Update Manager Information Library http://www.hp.com/go/hpsum/documentation HP ProLiant Linux site www.hp.