System information

422 Logical Partitions on System i5
14.1 HMC firmware maintenance
The HMC software level has to be maintained just like the i5/OS operating system and
managed system firmware (SP). HMC firmware is packaged as a full Recovery CD set or as a
Corrective Service pack/fix image.
The HMC recovery CDs are bootable images and can be used to perform a complete
recovery of the HMC (scratch install) or an update to an existing HMC version.
The HMC update packages are available on CDs or as downloadable zip files. The
downloadable zip files have different naming formats depending on whether they are
individual fixes or complete update packages:
򐂰 MHxxxxx.zip - individual HMC fixes
Where xxxxx is the HMC fix number
򐂰 HMC_Update_VxRyMz_n.zip - HMC update packages
Where x is the version number, y is the release number, z is the modification number, and
n is the image number (if there are multiple images).
You should consult the IBM HMC support Web site on a regular basis to see if there any new
updates available for the HMC. Use the link below to access the HMC support Web site.
http://techsupport.services.ibm.com/server/hmc/System i5
Important: An upgrade installation from the recovery CDs might be preferable to updating
the HMC with the corrective service files for the following reasons:
򐂰 It is the only method that can be used to update the file system of HMC Version 4.2 and
earlier from ext2 to ext3.
򐂰 It will reduce the size the of the critical console backup file, allowing quicker backup
operations. The critical console data backup saves the HMC user settings, profiles,
partitions, etc. as well as any system updates since the last install or upgrade from the
HMC recovery CDs. For more details, see 14.1.4, “HMC backup of critical console data”
on page 427.