HMC and Managed system FW level,question

[Mag0007]

Is there any relation between HMC and the managed system firmware code? Does the HMC have to be at a certain level so we can update the managed system's FW level?
TIA

p.s this is what I heard from IBM suppt

 

[kHz]

Why are you questioning IBM's information?

 

[Mag0007]

Hi Khz:

Well, to be 110% honest with you, I am a little worried about updating the HMC. I am not sure what problems this may cause. The place where I work, they really don't like failed things (I am not sure no ones does)...but here, they can you :-(

thanks for the quick response, BTW!

 

[p5wizard]

In order to upgrade to some specific system fw level, your HMC needs to be at a specific level, it's a prerequisite that you can look up on the IBM website.

As to the HMC breaking, that can be fixed. Granted, you won't be able to alter any partition or do DLPAR stuff during the HMC downtime. If you're worried about that (or your boss is), tell him to by a second HMC and set it up in a HA way.


HTH,

p5wizard

 

[Mag0007]

p5wizard:

thanks for the wisdom! If the HMC data gets corrupted, and I decide to reinstall the entire HMC. What will happen to the data? Will I see my LPARs, and servers again? is there a cfgmgr for HMC, that will pick up the managed systems? Is upgrading considered a serious change?

 

[jstacey]

POWER5 systems store the current LPAR configuration in NVRAM.
If you need to reload your HMC and do not have a backup of your "Critical Console Data" Your HMC will read your LPAR information from the POWER5 machine(s).

 

[rzs0502]

I've had 1 nasty with HMC upgrades on our 570's
But as jstacey mentioned, I never need to restore any partition information. It picked up everything from nvram.
But I would advice you to document the network topology diagram from the HMC's Service Focal Point.
I did not do that, and the HMC could not see the managed system after the upgrade.
So I have to reboot the managed system to regain IP connection.
If you have that, you should have no issue.
Else, you can IBM to do it as some people do...




"If you always do what you've always done, you will always be where you've always been."

 

[plamb]

get the private IP's for each managed system use ssh to hscroot on the HMC then do a lssysconn -r all

 

[p5wizard]

Whenever you do a change on the HMC (software update, hmc config, server/lpar config, whatever), perform a "backup critical console data"! That way you can build an identical hmc from recovery media + the "bccd" dvd-ram you just saved.

A "bccd" saves to dvd-ram all the files which have been changed since the install time of the HMC. If you upgrade to a newer version, make a bccd of the previous version and put that in a safe place together with the recovery media of the previous version. Don't start using the dvd-ram for "bccd" of the newer version just yet.

There are some prereqs and some mandatory updates on new HMC versions, so make sure you have all the necessary dvdroms or cdroms. You can download 'em, but I generally order 'em from the website (free of charge). Plan ahead and read thru all the readme's and install guides!

And yes, you can always recover server/lpar info from nvram on the servers you manage from the hmc, but you have to get them connected/logged in to the hmc first. So take note of the info provided by others in this post.


HTH,

p5wizard

 

[unixfreak]

rzs0502: On the front of the p570 there's a button and a display. If you go to menu 4 (AFAIR) and change N to M (AFAIR), then go to menu 20 and pick the interface of choice (first one probably) it will tell you it's IP address. No need to reboot.