NAME¶

update_flash - manage system and service processor firmware

SYNOPSIS¶

/usr/sbin/update_flash [-v] -f firmware.img
/usr/sbin/update_flash -c
/usr/sbin/update_flash -r

DESCRIPTION¶

The update_flash script is used to update, manage, and validate firmware on an IBM ppc64 system. When used with only the -f option and an image file name, the script will attempt to update the system firmware with the given image. If the machine has the ability to pre-validate the image, this will be done automatically before the flash. If the machine is not capable of pre-validation, or if validation passes, this script will upload the firmware image into the kernel and will perform a shutdown -r now which will reboot the system. The flash will occur at the end of the reboot. WARNING: The system WILL be rebooted! Wait until the flash process has completed. This can be anywhere from 2 minutes to 20 minutes (or more) depending on the system. The op panel display will show that the system is flashing. Failure to wait may render a system inoperable. When used with the -v option, the script will ONLY perform validation of the image file. Regardless of the outcome of the validation, no actual flash will occur. This option is only useful on machines that support validation of firmware images. When used with the -c option, the script will commit the temporary image to the permanant side. In order to use this, the machine must be running on the temporary image. This option is only useful on machines supporting two firmware image areas. When used with the -r option, the script will reject the temporary image. In order to use this, the machine must be running on the permanant image. To switch from the temporary image to the permanent image, you must reboot from the permanent image -- for example, using the ASMI or HMC. This option is only useful on machines supporting two firmware image areas.

OPTIONS¶

-f filename

Supply the filename to flash (required).

-v

Validate ONLY with specified image file.

-c

Commit temporary image to permanant side.

-r

Reject temporary image.

 

NOTES¶

Various conditions can lead to a firmware update failure. If you receive an authentication-related error, such as:

update_flash: RTAS: validate() Partition does not have authority

This can reflect either 1) That the permission is not set (correctable through the ASM interface, System -> Firmware Update Policy, or through an HMC if attached. -or- 2) Firmware still believes an HMc is attached. This can be corrected by following te steps outlined here:

http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/powersys/v3r1m5/index.jsp?topic=/iphat/iphblresetserverp6.htm

 

EXAMPLE¶

Firmware may be downloaded from the IBM website if a problem is encountered that requires a firmware update. If the firmware comes with instructions for Linux please follow those instructions as they are more up-to-date than this page. Download the firmware image in AIX format. The file will have a .BIN extension. This zip file happens to be an AIX binary, but it can be extracted with the unzip command (with password from the web page):

unzip 70286C4F.BIN

This should produce a file with a .img extension. This image file is what should be flashed:

update_flash -f RR021024.img

 

FILES¶

rtas_flash kernel module /proc/ppc64/rtas/firmware_flash (provided by kernel module)