Or, How to upgrade firmware of CISCO UCS Mini Blade
Chassis and Servers.
Or, How to upgrade firmware of CISCO UCS B200 M3 Blade
servers?
Or, Step by step instruction for upgrading Firmware on
CISCO UCS B200 M3 Blade Server and Infrastructure.
Descriptions:
To ensure a smooth and hustle
free upgrade of firmware for your CISCO UCS mini blade chassis Infra and Blade
Servers, its always recommended to first check the inoperability matrix for
appropriate hardware and software support as well as compatibility support.
Its better you check with
CISCO Tech Support and your software vendor for all kind of dependencies and
compatibility checks.
Scenario/Environment:
- Want to upgrade firmware
of Infrastructure(Management, Fiber
Interconnect etc..) and Blade Servers.
- Current ruining firmware version: 3.1 (1e).
- Upgrading to
firmware version: 3.1 (2b).
- Blade Server’s
Operating System: VMware ESXi 6.0 U3
Activity Approach:
- Upgrade firmware
on Infrastructure using auto upgrade method.
- Upgrade firmware
on all Blade Servers one by one using service
profile.
Sequences/Prerequisites Checks
- Verify if there
is any hardware error, if yes, please get that fixed first before proceeding
with upgrade.
- Download
appropriate firmware version for Infra and Blade carefully.
In my case firmware
version for Blade Servers is ‘ucs-k9-bundle-b-series.3.1.2b.B.bin’
and
for Infra it is ‘ucs-mini-k9-bundle- infra.3.1.2b.A.bin’.
- Prepare the
upgrade package.
- Create Host
Upgrade Package.
- Proceed with
Infrastructure firmware upgrade.
- Proceed with
Blade Servers upgrade (take one at a time). Make sure you have migrated all
the VMs
from the selected host and ESXi host is kept in maintenance mode.
- Check for any drivers
update, if required update the drivers too.
Steps: Preparing
the upgrade package
Login to UCS
Server console with Administrative access.
Navigate to ‘Equipment’ > Download Tasks >
Click on Download Firmware
Click on Browse
> Select the firmware you downloaded > Click OK > Wait for firmware package to be uploaded and prepared.
Steps: Host
Firmware Package Creation
Navigate to Servers tab
> Go to Policies > Root > Host Firmware Packages > Right Click on Host Firmware Packages > Choose Create Host Firmware Package
Name the Package you wish > In the Blade Package selection area, select the appropriate package >
Click OK to complete the package
creation.
After successful creation, the new host package should be
appearing in Host Package area.
Steps:
Infrastructure firmware upgrade
Navigate to Equipment
tab> click on Equipment tree
area> Firmware Management > Firmware Auto Install > General > Click on Install Infrastructure Firmware
I got this/below warning because one host in my Infra was failed
and it’s still in discovery mode. I know why this warning is coming up, so I
checked all boxes to ignore.
Click Next
In the version selection area, select the appropriate
package version you had just created in stage-1. In my case its 3.1 (2b).
Enable check mark on Upgrade
Now and Click on Finish
Verify if the upgrade has been started (it should show in progress).
Wait for Infra firmware upgrade to be completed
successfully. Usually it takes 1-3 hrs to complete the upgrade process.
Steps: Host
Firmware Upgrade
Navigate to Chassis
> Servers > Select the Server
you want to proceed with (in my case, Server-1) > In Service Profile section, click on the service profile Hyperlink as highlighted in below screenshot
Go to Policies >
Firmware Policies > Host Firmware Package > Select the
appropriate package from the drop down list > Click Save Changes
Click Yes to
confirm the changes
When prompted (in Pending Activities), enable check mark on Reboot Now > Click OK > Click OK
Now the upgrade will be initiated for Blade Server-1. You
can check the FSM to monitor the upgrade status.
Note: Repeat the same host upgrade steps for all the
Hosts one by one carefully.
Cheers! Please write me back if you have any query or
feedback on this.