Cisco Host Upgrade Utility User Guide - For the M5 Servers

First Published: 2019-01-02

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© 2019 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
 CONTENTS

PREFACE Preface v
Audience v
Conventions v
Related Cisco UCS Documentation vii

CHAPTER 1 Overview of Cisco Host Upgrade Utility 1

About the Cisco Host Upgrade Utility 1
License Agreement 2
Understanding the HUU User Interface 2

CHAPTER 2 Requirements and Support 5

Requirements 5
Support 5

CHAPTER 3 Upgrading the Firmware on a Cisco UCS C-Series Server Using the HUU 7
Upgrading the Firmware on a Cisco UCS C-Series Server Using the HUU 7
Downloading and Preparing the ISO for Upgrade 7
Updating Firmware Using the Update and Activate All Option 8
Updating the Firmware of Specific Components 9

CHAPTER 4 Troubleshooting 13
Troubleshooting 13

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Contents

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 Preface
This preface includes the following sections:
• Audience, on page v
• Conventions, on page v
• Related Cisco UCS Documentation, on page vii

Audience
This guide is intended primarily for data center administrators with responsibilities and expertise in one or
more of the following:
• Server administration
• Storage administration
• Network administration
• Network security

Conventions
Text Type Indication
GUI elements GUI elements such as tab titles, area names, and field labels appear in this font.
Main titles such as window, dialog box, and wizard titles appear in this font.

Document titles Document titles appear in this font.

TUI elements In a Text-based User Interface, text the system displays appears in this font.

System output Terminal sessions and information that the system displays appear in this
font.

CLI commands CLI command keywords appear in this font.

Variables in a CLI command appear in this font.

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 Preface
Preface

Text Type Indication

[] Elements in square brackets are optional.

{x | y | z} Required alternative keywords are grouped in braces and separated by vertical

bars.

[x | y | z] Optional alternative keywords are grouped in brackets and separated by vertical

bars.

string A nonquoted set of characters. Do not use quotation marks around the string or
the string will include the quotation marks.

<> Nonprinting characters such as passwords are in angle brackets.

[] Default responses to system prompts are in square brackets.

!, # An exclamation point (!) or a pound sign (#) at the beginning of a line of code
indicates a comment line.

Note Means reader take note. Notes contain helpful suggestions or references to material not covered in the
document.

Tip Means the following information will help you solve a problem. The tips information might not be
troubleshooting or even an action, but could be useful information, similar to a Timesaver.

Caution Means reader be careful. In this situation, you might perform an action that could result in equipment damage
or loss of data.

Timesaver Means the described action saves time. You can save time by performing the action described in the paragraph.

Warning IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

This warning symbol means danger. You are in a situation that could cause bodily injury. Before you work
on any equipment, be aware of the hazards involved with electrical circuitry and be familiar with standard
practices for preventing accidents. Use the statement number provided at the end of each warning to locate
its translation in the translated safety warnings that accompanied this device.
SAVE THESE INSTRUCTIONS

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 Preface
Related Cisco UCS Documentation

Related Cisco UCS Documentation

Documentation Roadmaps
For a complete list of all B-Series documentation, see the Cisco UCS B-Series Servers Documentation Roadmap
available at the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/go/unifiedcomputing/b-series-doc.
For a complete list of all C-Series documentation, see the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Documentation Roadmap
available at the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/go/unifiedcomputing/c-series-doc.
For information on supported firmware versions and supported UCS Manager versions for the rack servers
that are integrated with the UCS Manager for management, refer to Release Bundle Contents for Cisco UCS
Software.

Other Documentation Resources

Follow Cisco UCS Docs on Twitter to receive document update notifications.

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 Preface
Related Cisco UCS Documentation

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 CHAPTER 1
Overview of Cisco Host Upgrade Utility
This chapter includes the following sections:
• About the Cisco Host Upgrade Utility, on page 1
• License Agreement, on page 2
• Understanding the HUU User Interface, on page 2

About the Cisco Host Upgrade Utility

The Cisco Host Upgrade Utility (hereafter referred to as HUU) is a tool that you can use to upgrade the
firmware on a Cisco UCS C-Series server. HUU includes an option that enables you to download a container
for a selected platform on a Windows operating system. You can download the container from the HUU ISO
by burning the ISO on a physical media. When you insert the physical media into the server, auto-run launches
an Index.html page in your browser. This index.html page provides access to the location from where you
can download the container. You also can download the container from the ISO using the standard ISO
extraction utilities.
HUU provides a user interface where you can choose the firmware components that need an upgrade. In the
previous releases (1.4(x)), HUU provided a text menu from which you could choose the components and
initiate the upgrade. From version 1.5(x) onwards, HUU provides a graphical user interface to perform an
upgrade.
Starting with release 4.0(2), the HUU user interface is updated to include the Components and Storage Drives
tabs:
• Components tab lists all the server components of a chosen server for upgrade or downgrade. You can
upgrade the firmware of all components or specific components on this list.

Note If you choose to upgrade the firmware of specific components, you must upgrade
the Cisco IMC, CMC and BIOS to the same version.

• Storage Drives tab lists all the external storage drives (HDDs) available on the server. You can choose
to upgrade or downgrade the firmware of all the storage drives or specific drives available on this server.

For information about the components supported and their firmware versions for various servers in a release,
see the Firmware Version Listing and Internal Dependencies for Cisco IMC Releases.

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 Overview of Cisco Host Upgrade Utility
License Agreement

For information about upgrading the firmware on C-Series servers using non-interactive HUU, see the Cisco
UCS C-Series XML API Programmer's Guides

License Agreement
After the HUU boots, the first interface that appears is the End User License Agreement. Choose I Agree to
agree to this license.

Understanding the HUU User Interface

This section provides a brief introduction to the UI elements in the various sections of the HUU user interface.
Figure 1: HUU User Interface

UI element Description
1. Component tab

Select All check box Selects all the available components.

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Overview of Cisco Host Upgrade Utility
Understanding the HUU User Interface

UI element Description
Id Displays the serial number of the rows of the components.

Component Name Displays the name of the components.

Slot Display the PCI slot information for the PCI adapter
components.

Current Version Displays the current version of the firmware for each of the
listed components.

Package Version Displays the version of the firmware that is available for
upgrade.

Status Displays the status of the update for each element in the list
while an update is in progress.

Description Displays the details of the status of the update for each element
in the list and indicates if any activation is pending.

2. Storage tab - This tab also has all the information listed under the components tab. It provides the same
information about the available storage drives.

3. Help - This tab provides the HUU help information; mainly the short cuts that you can use and so on.

4. Firmware Management Controls

Update and Activate All This button is used to initiate the firmware update of all the
available components on a server and activates the firmware.

Update This button is used to initiate the firmware update for the
selected components.

Save Logs This button is used to save the log files that contain a detailed
status of the update to an external USB device connected to the
server physically or through the KVM vMedia. When an error
occurs during an update, you are prompted to save the logs.
The Save Logs feature is useful for troubleshooting.

Last Update Verify This button is used to compare the previously updated firmware
version for each component that was updated using the HUU
with the current version of the firmware on the components.

Restore Cisco IMC Defaults This button is used to restore the Cisco IMC settings to factory
defaults.
Note This option is available only for non S3260 servers.

Exit This button is used to exit from the HUU. If you have updated
the BMC or CMC when you click Exit, BMC or CMC gets
activated.

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 Overview of Cisco Host Upgrade Utility
Understanding the HUU User Interface

UI element Description
3. Current Activity This section indicates the status of an update.
section
4. Execution Logs This section provides a detailed log of the various activities and
their status while an update is in progress.
section

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 CHAPTER 2
Requirements and Support
This chapter contains the following topics:
• Requirements, on page 5
• Support, on page 5

Requirements

Important Separate ISO containers are released for each server platform. Be sure to download the correct ISO container
for the server.

While upgrading or downgrading from one release to another, see the Upgrade Paths for Release section of
the respective release notes at the following location for upgrade and downgrade scenarios: Release Notes
for Cisco UCS C-Series Software
For detailed information about the available components per server and their firmware versions, see: Firmware
Version Listing and Internal Dependencies for Cisco IMC Releases

Support
The Cisco Host Upgrade Utility checks for and then updates the firmware for the components on Cisco UCS
C-series servers. For a complete list of server specific components supported in a release, see the Firmware
Version Listing and Internal Dependencies for Cisco IMC Releases

Note If the firmware version of a component that you are trying to update to is the same as the current firmware
version, then HUU skips the update for that component, but proceeds to update the firmware of the components
that are not updated.

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 Requirements and Support
Support

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 CHAPTER 3
Upgrading the Firmware on a Cisco UCS C-Series
Server Using the HUU
This section includes the following section:
• Upgrading the Firmware on a Cisco UCS C-Series Server Using the HUU, on page 7

Upgrading the Firmware on a Cisco UCS C-Series Server Using

the HUU
This section describes procedure to upgrade or downgrade the C-Series server firmware and various options
available for upgrade.

Important After upgrading the Cisco IMC firmware, you must check the compatibility matrix to verify if the drivers are
compliant with the upgraded version of Cisco IMC. If the driver versions are non-compliant, you must upgrade
the driver versions to match the Cisco IMC version.
The Hardware and Software Interoperability Matrix is available here:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10477/prod_technical_reference_list.html

Downloading and Preparing the ISO for Upgrade

Step 1 Download the HUU ISO file:

a) Navigate to the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/cisco/software/navigator.html.
b) In the middle column, click Servers – Unified Computing.
c) In the right-hand column, click Cisco UCS C-Series Rack-Mount Standalone Server Software.
d) Choose the name of your model of server in the right column.
e) Click Unified Computing System (UCS) Server Firmware.
f) Choose the release number.
g) Click Download to download the ucs-server platform-huu-version_number.iso file.
h) Enter your credentials in the login screen.

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 Upgrading the Firmware on a Cisco UCS C-Series Server Using the HUU
Updating Firmware Using the Update and Activate All Option

i) Continue through the subsequent screens to accept the license agreement and browse to a location where you want
to save the file.
j) Click Download.
ISO bundle downloads to the chosen location.
Step 2 If you want to prepare the ISO for a local upgrade, complete this step; Otherwise, go to Step 3.
a) Burn the ISO image onto a writable disk (CD).
b) Connect a VGA monitor and USB keyboard to the Cisco C-Series server.
c) Insert the disk into the USB DVD drive of the Cisco C-Series server.
d) Perform one of the following updating the firmware procedures depending on the firmware components that you
want to upgrade.
Step 3 Prepare the ISO for a remote upgrade using the KVM Console.
a) Use a browser to connect to the Cisco IMC GUI software on the server that you are upgrading.
b) in the address field of the browser, enter the Cisco IMC IP address for that server, and then enter your username and
password.
c) Click Launch KVM Console on the toolbar. to launch the KVM Console.
Note Select the server node on which you want to boot the HUU.

d) In the KVM Console, click the Virtual Media.

e) Click Add Image and click the ucs-server-name-huu-version_number.iso file.
f) In the Client View area, in the Mapped column, check the check box for the ISO file that you added and then wait
for mapping to complete.
g) After the ISO file appears as a mapped remote device, perform one of the following procedures depending on the
firmware components that you want to upgrade.

Updating Firmware Using the Update and Activate All Option

Step 1 Boot the server and press F6 when prompted to open the Boot Menu screen.
Step 2 In the Boot Menu screen, choose the prepared ISO:
• For a local upgrade, choose the physical or externally connected CD/DVD device and then press Enter.
• For a remote upgrade, choose Cisco vKVM-Mapped vDVD1.22, and press Enter.
The server boots from the selected device.

Step 3 After the HUU boots, Cisco End User License Agreement (EULA) appears, read the EULA and click:
• I Agree to agree with the license agreement and proceed with the update.
• I Disagree to cancel.
Note When you choose I Disagree, it cancel the upgrade and reboots the host.

After you accept the EULA, when the Cisco Host Upgrade Utility window appears with a list of all the components
that are available for update.

Step 4 If you want to update all the listed components, click Update and Activate All.

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 Upgrading the Firmware on a Cisco UCS C-Series Server Using the HUU
Updating the Firmware of Specific Components

• A pop-up appears that prompts you to update the firmware of the storage drives. If you want to update the storage
drives firmware as well, click Yes.
Note If you choose No only the server components firmware will be updated.

The firmware of all the server components are updated and host will automatically reboot to activate the
firmware.

Updating the Firmware of Specific Components

The following procedure explains how update the firmware of individual components:

Step 1 If you want update specific components from the list, choose the components that you want to update.
If you want to downgrade the secure adapter update firmware, complete steps 2 through 4 below. Else continue to step
5.

Step 2 To downgrade the secure adapter update firmware, map the HUU and allow it to boot.
Step 3 On the virtual KVM Console, wait for the message 'Loading firmware tools' to display, when the HUU boots up.
Step 4 Disable enable-security-version-check once you see the 'Loading firmware tools' message.
a) From the Cisco IMC command line interface, run the command scope cimc->scope
adapter-secure-update->enable-security-version-check yes/no/status.
b) From the Cisco IMC web UI, log on to the Utilities tab.
c) From the XML API, enter the following data:
Request:

<configConfMo cookie='1458615470/be0d9210-2e9a-1e9a-8004-816d1e1b0ff4'
inHierarchical='false' dn='sys/rack-unit-1'>
<inConfig>
<computeRackUnit dn='sys/rack-unit-1' adaptorSecureUpdate='Disabled'/>
</inConfig>
</configConfMo><IP>/nuova

Response:

<configConfMo dn="sys/rack-unit-1" cookie="1474315600/b51b2682-3ce2-1ce2-8038-c4ae729d8b18"

response="yes">
<outConfig>
<computeRackUnit dn="sys/rack-unit-1" adminPower="policy" availableMemory="196608"
model="UCSC-C240-M4L" memorySpeed="1866" name="UCS C240 M4L" numOfAdaptors="1"
numOfCores="12" numOfCoresEnabled="12" numOfCpus="2" numOfEthHostIfs="2" numOfFcHostIfs="2"
numOfThreads="24" operPower="on" originalUuid="0CA8BC15-2499-46F2-BFFE-686B224AB52E"
presence="equipped" serverId="1" serial="FCH1927V0FC" totalMemory="196608" usrLbl=""
uuid="0CA8BC15-2499-46F2-BFFE-686B224AB52E" vendor="Cisco Systems Inc"
cimcResetReason="ac-cycle" adaptorSecureUpdate="Disabled" status="modified" >
</computeRackUnit>
</outConfig>
</configConfMo>

Step 5 Click Update to return to the update process.

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 Upgrading the Firmware on a Cisco UCS C-Series Server Using the HUU
Updating the Storage Drives (HDDs)

Note • We recommend you to update the firmware on all components using the Update and Activate all option,
unless you want to specifically update the firmware of a component.
• When you update the firmware of one of the following three components: BMC, BIOS, or CMC, we
recommend that you also update the firmware of the other two components.
• If you update the BMC firmware, click Exit and then Ok to activate the BMC firmware.

Important On the S3260 servers, when you click Update or Update and Activate all to update the chassis components
of CMC1 and CMC2 simultaneously, the update on the second triggering server component is skipped, and
the subsequent component is updated.

This initiates the update and the status of the update is displayed in the Update Status column. You can also view a more
detailed log of a series of activities and statuses that are involved while updating the firmware in the Execution Logs
section.

Step 6 Click Exit to exit from the HUU.

Note After clicking Exit you must wait for a few minutes before the server automatically powers up, indicating the
completion of updating and activating of the new firmware.

Note If you have updated the BMC and not the BIOS, when you click Exit, BMC gets activated and you lose
connectivity to the BMC and KVM.

Updating the Storage Drives (HDDs)

The following procedure provides steps to update the storage drives firmware:

Step 1 If you want to update the firmware of the storage drives of a server, click Storage Drives tab. A window displays a list
of hard disk drives on the server that support new firmware. Hard disk drives that do not support firmware upgrades are
not listed.
Important Updating the firmware of the hard disk drive could result in data loss. Cisco recommends that you take a
complete system backup prior to updating the firmware.

a) To update the firmware of all the hard disks, click Update and Activate All.
With this option, HDDs with the latest firmware installed are not updated.
b) To update a specific HDD, choose the HDD and click Update.
Step 2 Reboot the server to apply firmware changes.

Verifying the Update Status and Saving Logs

The following procedure provides steps to verify the last update and save logs:

Step 1 After you have updated the firmware, boot the server back into HUU ISO, and click Last Update Verify.

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 Upgrading the Firmware on a Cisco UCS C-Series Server Using the HUU
Verifying the Update Status and Saving Logs

This action compares the previously updated firmware version for each component that was updated using the HUU with
the current version of the firmware on the components and provides the status of the update.

Step 2 If you want to save the log files of the update status for later use, click Save Logs.
Log files that contain a detailed status of the update are saved to an external USB device that is connected to the server
physically or through the KVM vMedia.
Note If an error occurs while updating the firmware, you are prompted to save the error log. Click Save Logs to save
the log to an externally connected USB. This log can be used for identifying the cause of the error and
troubleshooting.

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 Upgrading the Firmware on a Cisco UCS C-Series Server Using the HUU
Verifying the Update Status and Saving Logs

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 CHAPTER 4
Troubleshooting
This chapter contains the following topics:
• Troubleshooting, on page 13

Troubleshooting
The following table describes troubleshooting suggestions for issues that you might encounter.

Issue Suggested Solution

Connection to BMC is lost after an update and reboot This is expected behavior after a firmware update.
and the KVM session ends. Log back in to the BMC and reestablish your KVM
session.

The following error message is observed: This error message is displayed when the HUU ISO
is not supported by the server. Use the HUU ISO
PID, Board Part Number, Product Part Number
that is supported by the server.
<PID, Board Part Number, Product Part Number>
is not supported by this HUU image. HUU will
not boot on this machine. Press any key to
reboot the server.

When you update the chassis components Update the server nodes 1 and 2 sequentially.
simultaneously using either Update or Update All
option, the update on the second triggering chassis
component is skipped, and the subsequent component
is updated.

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 Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting

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