HMC - UPDATE, UPGRADE

HMC UPDATE - HMC UPGRADE
(Remote HMC update/upgrade using network images.)



HMC UPDATE:
(apply fixes, service packs, for example MH01601)

# tail -f /tmp/HmcInstall.log                                    <--during upd. (updhmc) installation log entries are logged here
# ls -l /dump/efix                                               <--during upd. image from ftp server first will be copied here before install


1. Read Documentation (readme) of fix + download iso image
# csum -h SHA1 MH01601.iso                                       <--checksum on iso files, compare values with the value on above readme


2. Save config, backup and reboot
# lshmc -v; lshmc -V; lshmc -n; lshmc -r; monhmc -r disk         <--save config outputs and check fs for enough space (monhmc is like df)
# bkconsdata -r ftp -h <ftp host> -u <user> -d <directory>       <--do a backup (it can take longer, in GUI: Backup Management Console Data)
# hmcshutdown -t now -r                                          <--reboot HMC (to see if it comes back)


3. Update
# updhmc -t s -h <servername> -f <location of iso> -u <user> -i  <--do update (in GUI: Updates --> Update HMC)
                                                                (-t s: type to update from is server (s), -i: prompt for password)

4. create a new backup


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HMC UPGRADE:
(for example from 8.8.3 to 8.8.4)

# ls -l /mnt/upgrade                                             <--during saveupgdata (file "doRestore" triggers automat. upgr. after reboot)
# ls -l /hmcdump                                                 <--during getupgfiles (check for files and correct sizes)
                                                                 (from 8.8.3 to 8.8.4 only 1 file was copied, but usually all of them needed)

1. Read documentation (HMC models, fixes, sytem firmwares..) + download network images
download link: http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/netinstall/home.html
# sum bzImage initrd.gz disk1.img disk2.img disk3.img            <--do checksum on downloaded files, compare result: cat hmcnetworkfiles.sum
                                                                 (hmcnetworkfiles.sum contains checksum values)

2. Save profile data of each Man. Sys      
# BK_DATE="`date '+%Y%m%d'`"; export BK_DATE                     <--initialize variable of backup date variable (for correct file name)
# for MSYS in `lssyscfg -r sys -F name`; do bkprofdata -m ${MSYS} -f ${MSYS}_${BK_DATE}.prof --force; done <--saving profile data
                                                                 (in GUI: Sys. Man. --> Server --> Config. --> Man. Part. Data --> Backup)

3. Save config, backup HMC and reboot
# lshmc -v; lshmc -V; lshmc -n; lshmc -r                         <--save config outputs
# bkconsdata -r ftp -h <ftp host> -u <user> -d <directory>       <--do a backup (it can take longer, in GUI: Backup Management Console Data)                                                            
# chsvcevent -o closeall                                         <---close open service events
# chhmcfs -o f -d 0                                              <---clear old archived diagnostic logs
# hmcshutdown -t now -r                                          <--reboot HMC (to see if it comes back)


4. Save Upgrade Data
# saveupgdata -r disk                                            <--save config data (it mounts /mnt/upgrade, saves conf., then umounts it)  
(This data is used during next boot, do not reboot HMC after this has been done, or you have to do this step again. It should take few mins.)


5. FTP network images to HMC
# getupgfiles -h <ftp host> -u <user> -d <directory>             <--copy network images from ftp server to HMC (ls -l /hmcdump shows progress)
(After ftp shell gives back command prompt, /hmcdump will be empty again, as files were placed to a special location for alternate boot.)


6. Set HMC to boot from alternate disk
# chhmc -c altdiskboot -s enable --mode upgrade                  <--set alternate boot
# lshmc -r                                                       <--check if alternate boot is enabled
                                                                (..,netboot=disable,altdiskboot=enable,...)
# hmcshutdown -t now -r                                          <--reboot (it boots from alternate disk partition, upgr. can take an hour.)


7. Create a backup


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FTP connection between HMC and FTP server

FTP connection will be needed between HMC and FTP server. FTP server is where the install images are stored (it can be a NIM server.)

If you want to use remote FTP installs on HMC, an FTP user will be needed on the remote (AIX) server.
There is a default script on AIX which creates an ftp or anonymous user for this FTP connection: /usr/samples/tcpip/anon.ftp
IBM officially says this scripts should be used to create FTP user, otherwise connection will work but files may won’t be reachable by HMC, but actually I created in the past FTP users with other method and it worked well.

FTP check from HMC:
- in GUI try to do an update operation, and choose FTP, or do an HMC backup (just it could take long)
- try sendfile command on HMC, which transfer files with ftp to another server
  sendfile -f id_dsa.pub -h 10.10.10.1 -d /nim/hmcftp -u hmcftp


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The below post was my original description about HMC upgrades, and I keep it for reference, but the method described above is more up to date.

HMC UGRADE (v6.1.3 -> v7.3.5)
(this can be done as hmc user)

1. check prerequisites:
    - hmc device supports new hmc version
    - system firmware on supported levels (http://www-933.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/firmware/supportedCombinations)
    - Back up critical console data (to an FTP server is OK)

2. some fixes have to be installed prior to the upgrade:
MH01082, MH01110, MH01128 and after that MH01127 (this will enable upgrade to v7 in 1 step)

    - download zip files and store them on an FTP server
    - on HMC: Licensed Internal Code upd. -> HMC Code Update -> Inst. Corr. Serv. -> Download from remote ... (give absolute path to file)
    - hmcshutdown -t now -r            <--reboot HMC (it took for me 10-15 minutes)
    - lshmc -V                         <--verify update successfully installed


3. upgrade to v7.3.5:
    - download necessary install images to an FTP server
    - chsvcevent -o closeall           <--closes all serviceable events on the HMC to clean up before upgrade (for me did not work)
    - chhmcfs -o f -d 0                <--clearing out old logfiles to clean up before upgrade (for me did not work)
    - hmcshutdown -t now -r            <--make sure there are no problems with reboot (if we did this in step 2 we can omit here)

    - saveupgdata -r disk              <--it mounts /mnt/upgrade, save config. data then unmounts it (it took less than a minute)
                                       (this is only configuration data, which will be used during reboot after the upgrade)
    - getupgfiles -h <ftp server> -u <user> --passwd <paswd> -d <dir on ftp server>    <--mounts /hmcdump, copy install files there, umount
    - chhmc -c altdiskboot -s enable --mode upgrade        <--it sets HMC to boot from the install images and allow the upgrade to proceed
    - hmcshutdown -t now -r            <--it took 30-40 minutes for me
    - lshmc -V                         <--it will show new version

4. some fixes are available to 7.3.5 which can be installed:
    - download iso images to FTP server
    (first HMC_Update_V7R350_SP3.iso has to be installed after that MH01259.iso)

    - install:
        from command line:
        updhmc -t s -h <ftp server> -u <user> -p <passwd> -f /software/server/hmc/fixes/MH01195.iso -r
 
        from GUI:
        Updates -> Update HMC -> next, next ...

    - hmcshutdown -t now -r            <--reboot HMC for the changes to be available (after each fix install)

5. create backup

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