Managing Firmware
Keeping your server's firmware up-to-date is one of the most important maintenance tasks you can perform. Firmware updates provide critical security patches, bug fixes, and sometimes even new features for both the BMC and the host system's BIOS.
This chapter guides you through checking your current firmware versions and safely applying updates.
Checking current firmware versions
Before you perform an update, you should always verify the versions you are currently running.
In the sidebar menu, navigate to Operations > Firmware.
The page displays the status for both the BMC and the Host (BIOS).
[Image, EXISTING, Source: 6.4: Screenshot of the Firmware page, showing the status for BMC and Host running and backup images.]
For both the BMC and Host, you will see:
Running image: The version that is currently active.
Backup image: The version stored in the backup slot. The system can revert to this image if an update fails.
Updating the BMC and BIOS firmware
The update process is the same for both the BMC and the Host firmware. You will need to have the firmware image file (usually a .tar file) downloaded to your local machine.
On the Firmware page, scroll down to the Update firmware section.
Select whether you want to update the Active Image or the Backup Image.
Click Add file and select the firmware image file from your computer.
Click Start update.
[Image, EXISTING, Source: 6.4: Screenshot of the firmware update section with an image file selected and ready to upload.]
Caution: Do not interrupt the update process
A firmware update is a critical operation. The process can take 15 minutes or more. During the update, the BMC will be unresponsive and your web session will be disconnected.
Do not power off the server or disconnect the network cable during this time, as it could leave the BMC in an unrecoverable state. Once the update is complete, the BMC will restart, and you will be able to log in again.
Understanding update options
The firmware update interface provides a few options that give you more control over the process.
Apply Time: This dropdown lets you decide when the new firmware becomes active.
Immediate: The update process begins as soon as the file upload is complete. This is the most common option.
On Reset: The firmware is uploaded and staged, but it will only be applied the next time the BMC or server is reset. This is useful if you want to upload the firmware now but schedule the actual update for a planned maintenance window.
Preserving Configuration: Before updating, you can choose which settings to preserve. Navigate to Operations> Preserve to select configurations like Network or Authentication that you want to keep. This saves you from having to reconfigure everything from scratch after an update. (This is covered in more detail in Chapter 15).
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