CIMC Firmware Management

This chapter includes the following sections:

Overview of CIMC Firmware

E-Series Servers use firmware downloaded from cisco.com. This firmware is certified by Cisco to upgrade on a E-Series Server.

The CIMC firmware you download is packaged in a .zip file. After you have downloaded a firmware .zip from Cisco, you can use it to update the firmware on your server. Cisco also provides release notes with each image, which you can obtain from the same website from which you obtained the image.


Caution

Do not use the .zip file to update your server.

You use a .bin file to reimage. You must extract the proper .bin upgrade file from this .zip file. You can extract this .bin to a TFTP server or your local machine. You can update using a TFTP server or a browser on your local machine.


Note

When you update the firmware, you can either upgrade an older firmware version to a newer one, or downgrade a newer firmware version to an older one.

The CIMC separates the firmware update process into stages to ensure that you can install the firmware to a component while the server is running without affecting its uptime. Because you do not need to reboot the server until after you activate, you can perform that task overnight or during other maintenance periods. When you update firmware, the following stages occur:

Install

During this stage, the CIMC transfers the selected firmware version to the server. The install process always overwrites the firmware in the non-active slot on the server. You can install the firmware using either of the following methods:

  • Through a browser client—This method allows you to browse for a firmware image on your computer and install it on the server.
  • From a TFTP server—This method allows you to install a firmware image residing on a TFTP server.

Activate

During this stage, the CIMC sets the non-active firmware version as active and reboots the server. When the server reboots, the non-active slot becomes the active slot, and the active slot becomes the non-active slot. The firmware in the new active slot becomes the running version.

Obtaining Software from Cisco Systems

Use this procedure to download drivers, BIOS and CIMC firmware, and the diagnostics image.

Procedure
    Step 1   Navigate to http://www.cisco.com/.
    Step 2   If you are not already logged in, click Log In at the top right-hand edge of the page and log in using your Cisco.com credentials.
    Step 3   In the menu bar at the top, click Support.

    A roll-down menu appears.
    Step 4   From the Downloads (center) pane, click All Downloads (located at the bottom right corner).

    The Download Software page appears.
    Step 5   From the left pane, click Products.
    Step 6   From the center pane, click Unified Computing and Servers.
    Step 7   From the right pane, click Cisco UCS E-Series Software.
    Step 8   From the right pane, click the name of the server model for which you want to download the software.

    The Download Software page appears with the following list of software categories that you can download:

    • Unified Computing System (UCSE) Server Drivers—Contains the following drivers:
      • On-Board Network Drivers for Windows 2008 R2
      • 10G PCIe Network Drivers for Windows 2008 R2 and Linux
      • LSI Drivers (On-Board Hardware RAID Controller) for Windows 2008 R2
      • Intel Drivers for Windows 2008 R2
    • Unified Computing System (UCSE) Server Firmware—Contains the following BIOS and CIMC firmware images:
      • Double-Wide BIOS
      • Single-Wide BIOS
      • BMC/CIMC Image
    • Unified Computing System (UCSE) Utilites—Contains the following diagnostics image:
      • On-Board Diag Image
    Step 9   Click the appropriate software category link.
    Step 10   Click the Download button associated with software image that you want to download.

    The End User License Agreement dialog box appears.
    Step 11   (Optional) To download multiple software images, do the following:
    1. Click the Add to cart button associated with the software images that you want to download.
    2. Click the Download Cart button located on the top right .

      All the images that you added to the cart display.

    3. Click the Download All button located at the bottom right corner to download all the images.

      The End User License Agreement dialog box appears.
    Step 12   Click Accept License Agreement.
    Step 13   Do one of the following as appropriate:

    • Save the software image file to a local drive.

    • If you plan to install the software image from a TFTP server, copy the file to the TFTP server that you want to use.

      The server must have read permission for the destination folder on the TFTP server.
    What to Do Next

    Install the software image.

    Installing CIMC Firmware from the TFTP Server

    Before You Begin
    • You must log in as a user with admin privileges to install CIMC firmware through the browser.
    • Obtain the CIMC firmware file from Cisco Systems. See Obtaining Software from Cisco Systems.
    • Unzip the proper .bin upgrade file on your TFTP server.
    Procedure
      Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab.
      Step 2   On the Admin tab, click Firmware Management.
      Figure 1. Firmware Management



      Step 3   In the Actions area, click Install CIMC Firmware from TFTP Server.
      Step 4   In the Install Firmware dialog box, complete the following fields:
      Name Description

      TFTP Server IP Address field

      The IP address of the TFTP server on which the firmware image resides.

      Image Path and Filename field

      The firmware image filename on the server. When you enter this name, include the relative path for the image file from the top of the TFTP tree to the file location.
      Step 5   Click Install Firmware.
      What to Do Next

      Activate the CIMC firmware.

      Installing CIMC Firmware Through the Browser

      Before You Begin
      • You must log in as a user with admin privileges to install the CIMC firmware through the browser.
      • Obtain the CIMC firmware file from Cisco Systems. See Obtaining Software from Cisco Systems.
      • Unzip the proper .bin upgrade file to your local machine.
      Procedure
        Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab.
        Step 2   On the Admin tab, click Firmware Management.
        Figure 2. Firmware Management



        Step 3   In the Actions area, click Install CIMC Firmware through Browser Client.
        Step 4   In the Install CIMC Firmware dialog box, click Browse and use the Choose File dialog box to select the .bin file you want to install.
        Step 5   Click Install Firmware.
        What to Do Next

        Activate the CIMC firmware.

        Activating Installed CIMC Firmware

        Before You Begin
        • You must log in as a user with admin privileges to activate firmware.
        • Install CIMC firmware on the server.
        Procedure
          Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab.
          Step 2   On the Admin tab, click Firmware Management.
          Figure 3. Firmware Management



          Step 3   In the Actions area, click Activate CIMC Firmware.

          The Activate Firmware dialog box appears.

          Step 4   In the Activate Firmware dialog box, choose the firmware image to activate.
          Step 5   Click Activate Firmware.

          Viewing CIMC Information

          Procedure
            Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Server tab.
            Step 2   On the Server tab, click Summary.
            Step 3   In the Cisco Integrated Management Controller (CIMC) Information area of the Server Summary pane, review the following information:
            Name Description

            Hostname field

            A user-defined hostname for the CIMC.

            IP Address field

            The IP address for the CIMC.

            MAC Address field

            The MAC address assigned to the active network interface to the CIMC.

            Firmware Version field

            The current CIMC firmware version.

            CPLD Version field

            The programable hardware logic version.

            Hardware Version field

            The printed circuit board version.

            Current Time field

            The current date and time according to the CIMC clock.