Overview of Cisco Host Upgrade Utility

Important:

For the most updated information about the Host Upgrade Utility (HUU), see the "Upgrading Firmware" chapter in the Getting Started Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine.

Since CIMC release 3.0.1, a separate Host Upgrade Utility User Guide is not supported. All the information that is present in this guide is merged into the Getting Started Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine in the "Upgrading Firmware" chapter.

This chapter contains the following topics:

Cisco Host Upgrade Utility Overview

The Cisco Host Upgrade Utility (HUU) is a tool that you can use to upgrade the firmware on the Cisco UCS E-Series Servers (E-Series Servers) and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine (NCE). The HUU provides a web-based GUI where you can choose all or specific firmware components to upgrade.

The following firmware components are available for upgrade:

  • Cisco Integrated Management Controller (CIMC)

  • System BIOS

  • LAN on motherboard (LOM)

  • RAID controllers

  • Broadcom PCI adapters:

    • 5709 Dual and Quad port adapters

    • 57712 Dual port adapter

  • LSI

    • LSI MegaRAID SAS 9240-4i

You cannot use the HUU to upgrade the Programmable Logic Devices (PLD) firmware. You must use the Cisco IOS CLI to upgrade the PLD firmware. For details, see the "Upgrading Programmable Logic Devices Firmware on the E-Series EHWIC NCE" section in the CLI Configuration Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine.

Minimum CIMC and BIOS Firmware Releases Required to Use HUU

The HUU is supported on CIMC, release 2.1.0 and later releases. To use HUU, make sure that you upgrade both the CIMC and BIOS firmware to the release specified in the table below.

Note

The HUU is not supported on CIMC, releases 1.0 and 1.0(2). If you try to use the HUU on a server that has an older release of CIMC, you will get an error message asking you to upgrade the firmware.

The following table provides information about the minimum CIMC and BIOS releases required to use the HUU.
Table 1 Minimum CIMC and BIOS Firmware Releases Required to Use HUU

Minimum Compatible CIMC Release

Minimum Compatible BIOS Release

2.1.0

1.5.0.2

CIMC and BIOS Firmware Releases Available With HUU ISO Images

The following table provided the CIMC and BIOS firmware releases that are available for upgrade when you install a specific HUU ISO image.


Note

For latest information about the compatible CIMC, BIOS, and HUU releases, see the "Upgrading Firmware" chapter in the Getting Started Guide for Cisco UCS E-Series Servers and the Cisco UCS E-Series Network Compute Engine.

Table 2 CIMC and BIOS Firmware Releases Available With HUU ISO Images

HUU ISO Image

Contains CIMC Release

Contains BIOS Release

2.1.x

2.1.0

1.5.0.2

2.3.1

2.3.1

1.5.0.2

2.5.0.1—Applicable to the double-wide E-Series Servers (UCS-E160D-M2 and UCS-E180D-M2) only.

2.4.1

2.4.1

2.5.0.1

3.0.1

3.0.1

  • 1.5.0.3—Applicable to the EHWIC E-Series NCE and the NIM E-Series NCE (UCS-EN120E and UCS-EN140N-M2) Build Date: 05/04/2015.

  • 1.5.0.2—Applicable to the SM E-Series NCE (UCS-EN120S-M2) Build Date: 10/22/2013.

  • 1.5.0.2—Applicable to the single-wide E-Series Server (UCS-E140S-M1) Build Date: 05/15/2013.

  • 1.5.0.3—Applicable to the single-wide E-Series Server (UCS-E140S-M2) Build Date: 04/22/2015.

  • 1.5.0.3—Applicable to all the double-wide E-Series Servers—Build Date: 04/10/2015.

Understanding the HUU User Interface

Figure 1. HUU User Interface



User Interface Name

Description

Id column

Displays the serial number of the component row.

Component column

Lists the firmware components that are available for upgrade.

PCI Slot column

Display the PCI slot information for the PCI adapter components.

Current Version column

Displays the current firmware version number that is installed for each of the listed components.

Update Version column

Displays the firmware version number that is available for upgrade for each of the listed components.

Update Status column

Displays the status of the update for each of the listed components while the update is in progress.

Update button

Initiates the firmware update for a selected component.

Update All button

Initiates the firmware update for all available components.

Save Logs button

Saves the log files.

If an error occurs while updating the firmware, you are prompted to save the error log. Click the Save Logs button to save the error logs to an externally connected USB. This log can be used to identify the cause of the error and for troubleshooting.

Last Update Verify button

Verifies if the update was successful.

Note   

You must first reboot HUU by clicking the Exit button, and then click the Last Update Verify button to verify the last update.

Restore CIMC Defaults button

Restores the CIMC settings to factory default settings.

Exit button

Exits the HUU. Click Yes at the confirmation prompt to exit.

  • If you update the CIMC and not the BIOS, when you click the Exit button, the CIMC will get activated but you will lose connectivity to the CIMC and KVM.
  • If you select LOM for update and you are in shared LOM mode, when you click the Exit button, you will lose connectivity to the CIMC and KVM.

Usage area

Lists keyboard shortcuts that you can use to perform specific tasks.

Current Activity area

Provides the status of an update.

Execution Logs area

Provides a log of activities and their status while an update is in progress.