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

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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. Update only the components necessary for your environment; this simplifies the distribution of the
updates to the target server.
We have found that the following components will meet the needs of most Linux environments:
• hp-health
• hp-snmp-agents
• hpsmh
• hp-smh-templates
• hpacucli
• hpdiags
• hponcfg
For details about these components, see the “Management agents” and “Drivers” sections that follow.
Firmware
The SPP and SDR include all the necessary firmware packages for currently-supported ProLiant servers and blade
servers. You must use HP SUM to install firmware components or directly use the individual firmware Smart Component
executables (typically named *.scexe).
Drivers
The SPP and SDR contain the drivers that you need for your ProLiant server and blade server. We provide HP-optimized
drivers for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux distributions.
The Linux distribution vendors certify drivers that they provide. They either do so as part of the distribution release or
through their driver update process. We provide the vendors recommendations about what to certify based on versions
and features that are necessary to enable our servers for Linux upstream kernel driver versions. We continually work
with the Linux distribution vendors to achieve this certification with their drivers and updates.
Use the drivers included in your distribution’s installation media unless otherwise instructed. This makes it easier to
perform kernel upgrades later. In some cases, HP proprietary drivers are necessary. These drivers are not included on
the distribution vendor’s media. Obtain HP proprietary drivers directly from the SPP or SDR.
The SDR and SPP include the most up to date HP optimized deliverables, including fixes and enhancements. Since Linux
distribution release schedules rarely coincide with our product release schedules, these distributions may not include
the latest deliverables. You may choose to update your server immediately after installation using the SDR or SPP, or
you can choose to access them only as the need for update arises. HP supports you regardless whether you choose to
use the in-distribution drivers or HP drivers.
Management agents
The SPP includes the following management agent packages and other utilities, which may interact with a management
console so that you can view alerts or query server hardware status.