Upgrading the HMC from Version 8.8.4 or Later to Version 8.8.

Troubleshooting

Problem
This document provides instructions to upgrade the HMC from Version 8.8.4 or later to Version 8.8.6

Resolving The Problem

Prerequisites

Prior to upgrading, complete the following:

1. Verify HMC model is compatible with 8.8.6

HMC V8.8.6 is supported on rack-mount models CR5, CR6, CR7, CR8, CR9, OE1 and OE2; and on desktop model C08. These
listed models meet or exceed the V8.8.6 minimum memory requirement of 2GB however 4GB is recommended.
** HMC V8 R8.6.0 will be the last release that supports the model CR5, CR6 and C08.

2. Verify HMC minimum release and that the "Upgrade iFix" is applied.
Note: The upgrade iFix (MH01729/MH01730) must be applied prior to saving upgrade data.

The minimum HMC levels required for the upgrade are:

HMC 8.8.4 + SP0 mandatory fix MH01560 (or supersede) + MH01729
HMC 8.8.5 + SP0 mandatory fix MH01617 (or supersede) + MH01730
The "SP0 mandatory fix" is the PTF included in the initial release. All superseding PTFs and all Service Packs exceed the
minimum requirement.
HMCs at 8.8.3 or earlier require a multi-step upgrade. See HMC Code Upgrades at http://www-
01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=nas8N1021840 for further information.

3. Confirm machine type/model and serial number are correct

Use one of the methods below to verify that the Machine Type/Model and Serial Number (MTMS) matches the information on the
tag on the front of the physical HMC. If they do not match, do not attempt the upgrade. To resolve the problem, contact IBM
Hardware at 1-800-426-7378 (800-IBM-SERV), Option 1 for hardware, and request a BIOS flash to correct the MTMS:

o On the HMC GUI interface, select Updates in the left-hand navigation panel. Find Model Type and Serial number in the HMC
Code Level section of the right-hand panel.
o From a restricted shell command line, type the following command and press Enter: lshmc -v *TM is the machine
type/model, and *SE is the serial number.

4. Reboot the HMC

If the HMC has not been restarted recently, you should restart before you begin the upgrade. To reboot, either:
- Use the GUI task HMC Management > Shutdown or Restart, select Restart HMC , and click OK .
OR
- Use the command hmcshutdown -r -t now

5. Verify Server Firmware is compatible

Click here for a complete list of supported combinations of HMC V7 and V8 code levels and server firmware levels. While the
HMC can perform basic management tasks and upgrades on downlevel servers, servers below the supported level should be
updated soon after the HMC upgrade is complete.

6. Review the readme

The Readme file/release notes for HMC V8 R8.6 Recovery Media and mandatory fix MH01655 can be found in IBM Fix Central at
https://delivery04.dhe.ibm.com/sar/CMA/HMA/06l2a/11/MH01654.readme.html

7. Server managed by dual (redundant) HMCs require that both HMCs be upgraded to the same release

When a server is managed by dual (or redundant) HMCs, both HMCs must be upgraded to the same release.

When upgrading multiple HMCs that are part of a Power Enterprise Pool (PEP) from 8.8.5 to 8.8.6, its recommended to upgrade
a backup HMC first, set the upgraded HMC as the master, then upgrade the previous master. This ensures a master is always
available.

After one HMC is upgraded the servers on the redundant HMC may go to a "Version Mismatch" state, with reference code "Save
area version mismatch". This state will clear when the redundant HMC is upgraded.

8. Select one of the following tabs for instructions on the upgrade method you wish to use:

o .iso images : Instructions for downloading the fixes and installing them from USB flash or optical media.

o Ordering/Using DVDs : Instructions for ordering optical media from IBM and installing from media.

o Network : Instructions for upgrading the HMC over the network; either directly from the IBM FTP site or, alternately, from a
local FTP server.

Note: Virtual HMC (vHMC) should be upgraded using the Network option.

.iso images Ordering / Using DVDs/CDs Network

Network

Instructions for upgrading from a network server

This section describes how to perform the upgrade over the network instead of from Recovery DVD. The network upgrade
can be done using ftp, sftp or (8.8.4 and later) nfs protocol.

Restricted Shell Access

This upgrade method requires restricted shell command line access.

From the local HMC, select HMC Management > Open a Restricted Shell Terminal

Running commands using the restricted shell remotely is available through the ssh protocol. The user must obtain and
install an ssh client such as PuTTY, then configure the HMC for running remote commands. For further information on how
to configure remote command execution, refer to document N1012875, Configuring the Version 7 HMC to Accept SSH
Connections and Remote Commands. To link to document N1012875 immediately, click here

St 1 S P fil D t
Step 1: Save Profile Data

Use one of the following options to perform a Save Profile Data for each managed system to save an additional copy of
partition/profile configurations.
For dual HMCs managing the same server this step is only needed on the upgrade of the first HMC. It cannot be run on
HMC with a server in "version mismatch - save area version mismatch" state.
Option 1: Use HMC GUI interface
 

1. Expand Systems Management, then select Servers.

 

2. Select the first managed system by checking the box in front of the server name.
 

3. Under Tasks, expand Configuration, then expand Manage Partition Data.

 

4. Select Backup.
 

5. In the Profile Data Backup window, type a name for the backup file, and click OK.
 

6. You will get a popup window that the profile data has been backed up. Click OK.
 

7. Repeat Steps 1 through 6 for each additional system managed by this HMC. Once you have a partition data
backup for each managed system, continue with Step 2.

Option 2: Use restricted shell command line

On the local HMC, select HMC Management -> Open Restricted Shell Terminal. For remote access using SSH, refer to
section above titled Restricted Shell Access.

At the command prompt, enter the following command which will save profile data for all servers:
lssyscfg -r sys -F type_model*serial_num | while read machine; do bkprofdata -m "$machine" -f Beforeupgrade$(date
+%Y%m%d) ; done

Step 2: Save Upgrade Data

A Save Upgrade Data task must be done to preserve information on the HMC before performing the upgrade. You must
upgrade immediately after the Save Upgrade Data task. If you restart the HMC again without doing the upgrade, you must
log in and run the Save Upgrade Data task again before performing the upgrade.
 

1 Prepare media to use for Save Upgrade Data. You will need a USB flash drive.
.
USB flash drive must be formatted FAT32 with a single partition and it cannot be password protected. Plug the
flash drive into a USB port on the front of the HMC. Wait until you hear 3 beeps (or approximately 1 minute) for
the HMC to detect the flash drive.

Note: Save Upgrade Data will overwrite any existing save upgrade data on the media. It will not overwrite any
Backup Management Console Data already on the media.
 

2 Use the following command specifying "diskusb" for USB flash drive.
. saveupgdata -r diskusb.
 

3 Wait for the Save Upgrade Data task to complete. If the task fails, contact your next level of support before
. proceeding. If the Save Upgrade Data task is successful, the following optional procedure can be performed to
verify the data:
 a. Mount the media:

1. Run the command lsmediadev to determine the mount point of the USB flash drive. In the example below,
USB flash drive is /media/sda1
device=/dev/cdrom,mount_point=/media/cdrom,type=1,description=CD/DVD
device=/dev/fd0,mount_point=/media/floppy,type=2,description=internal diskette drive
device=/dev/hda,type=6,description=internal hard disk drive
device=/dev/sda1,mount_point=/media/sda1,type=3,description=USB flash memory device

2. Run the command mount (for example, mount /media/sda1 for USB flash drive)

b. Run the command ls –l using the same mount point as in Step 1 above.

c. Verify that there are five tar files with the following names:

ACMSaveData.tar
RSCTSaveUpgrade.tar
SaveCCFWUpgradeData.tar
SaveHSCSystemUpgradeData.tar
SaveProfileDataUpgrade.tar

If any of these tar files are missing, contact your next level of support.

d. Issue the command umount using the same mount point as in Step 1 above.

Note: The Save Upgrade Data will be saved to the hard drive on the HMC as well as the media. The Save
Upgrade Data on the media is used only to recover from an unexpected error under the direction of support
personnel.
 

4 Once the Save Upgrade Data task is successful, remove the USB flash drive.
.

Step 3: Upgrade the HMC to 8.8.6

 

1. Download the V8.8.6 network upgrade files to the HMC.

To upgrade from a local server instead of direct from the IBM FTP site, refer to "Using a local server" section
at the bottom of this page.

Open Restricted Shell (or ssh session) and type the following command:

getupgfiles -h public.dhe.ibm.com -u anonymous --passwd anonymous -d

/software/server/hmc/network/v8860

The parameters of the getupgfiles command:

 

-h The host name or IP address of the remote FTP server.

-u The user ID to log into the remote site.

-- The password to log into the remote site. If this option is omitted, you will be prompted for
passwd the password.

-d The directory on the remote site that contains the upgrade files.

The following files will be downloaded to the directory indicated (June 2016 refresh images):

File name Description Destination Size Checksum

img2a kernel image /hmcboot 5024464 13755

 img3a Ram Disk file /hmcboot 64197456 14978
system

base.img Base Image /hmcboot 1006129152 59382

disk1.img Base HMC Image /hmcdump 2488317952 52271

and Service Doc

hmcnetworkfiles.sum checksums /hmcdump 55 n/a

While the download is running, there is no indication of progress in the restricted shell. To monitor progress,
open another restricted shell session and monitor the files and file sizes. For example the following command
will loop indefinitely querying the file sizes every 30 seconds: while true; do ls -l /hmcdump ; ls -l /hmcboot ;
sleep 30; done (Use ctl+c to end).
Once the files have all been downloaded successfully, the getupgfiles command returns to the command
prompt and the ls -l command will no longer list the files in the directory as the target directories are
unmounted.
 

2. Set the HMC to do the next reboot from the special location on the hard drive where the downloaded 8.8.5
files are stored by typing the following command:

chhmc -c altdiskboot -s enable --mode upgrade

Note: Remove any USB flash drive that contains HMC Backup Management Console Data prior to performing
a network upgrade. Failure to remove the drive will result in failed network upgrade.
 

3. Reboot the HMC using one of the following methods:

Option 1. HMC GUI: HMC Management > Shut Down or Restart > Restart HMC
Option 2. Restricted shell command: hmcshutdown -t now -r

Note: The reboot will take approximately 45 minutes. During the reboot, the local session will display a list of
environment variables for hmcmanager (last line is "END ENV" ) for 25 to 45 minutes without a screen
change.
Do not reboot. or power off; wait for the boot to complete.
 

4. At the Hardware Management Console login prompt, log in using your user ID and password.
 

  Once the HMC reboots, the installation starts and typically takes about an hour. After the installation of
V8.8.5 is complete, you should be able to remotely access the HMC again.
 

5. Install the required fixes for V8.8.6 using the link provided below.

   

Optional: Using a local server

1. Use FTP to do a binary download of the upgrade files from the IBM server to a directory on a local server:

IBM Server: public.dhe.ibm.com/software/server/hmc/network/v8860

Files:
img2a
img3a
 g
base.img
disk1.img
hmcnetworkfiles.sum

2. Perform the upgrade as described above. However, in Step 1, modify the getupgfiles command to point to your local FTP
server. For example:

getupgfiles -h myserver -u myuserid --passwd mypassword -d /mydirectory

Install the required fixes for 8.8.6

Critical fixes for 8.8.6 must be installed. Follow the instructions to get the corrective service updates applied by referring to
document http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=nas8N1021792

Información del documento

More support for: HMC Firmware

Versión de software: Version Independent

Sistema(s) operativo(s): IBM i

Nº de referencia: N1021760

Fecha de modificación: 20 julio 2018