Re: Bringing IBM i up to the "latest" OS patches

Thanks Rob (et al).  So, the cume and TR's I feel comfortable with.  It's the firmware that I am shaky about.  I found a link here:

https://developer.ibm.com/tutorials/au-power-systems-firmware-upgrade/

that seems to outline the steps.  On the fix central page I checked the option for "POWER9 System Firmware VL950_092 (FW950.30)" which was the level recommended by the FLRT tool. There are also a long list of device/hard disk/media firmware options that I can also choose but since they seem to be related to AIX and Linux, can I safely ignore them?

Also, is there a specific order that the firmware, vHMC and OS should be upgraded in?  I am going to assume:

1) Upgrade the vHMC

Based on what I have read so far, it seems like the first step is to upgrade the HMC.  I see that there is an HMC V9 Release 2 M950.  But I also noticed that there is a V10 Release 1 M1010 that is available.  Should I choose one over the other?  Any advantage to either?  Since I am using a virtual HMC, is it just simpler to spin up a new VMWare image or should I upgrade the existing VMWare image?   If I choose the latter, how have folks been making the update images available to their vHMC?

2) Upgrade the the firmware.  This is where I get a little uncomfortable.  It seems like the update is done through the HMC but I can't quite tell.  I have downloaded the firmware packages which has these files:

01VL950092_special_instructs.xml.special.note.xml
01VL950_092_045.dd.xml
01VL950_092_045.html
01VL950_092_045.pd.sdd
01VL950_092_045.readme.txt
01VL950_092_045.rpm
01VL950_092_045.tar.gz
01VL950_092_045.xml

The readme points to a URL but that URL doesn't specifically say to update through the HMC.  It*looks* like the HMC and since this system is HMC managed I am guessing that you update through the HMC, but I want to be sure.

3) Apply the cume and groups. (this I know)

For those folks who regularly do this, the questions may seem basic, but I would like to do this right the first time, if possible.  Lots of questions, I know.  Just trying to gather the steps before proceeding.

Thanks

Pete Helgren
www.petesworkshop.com

On 12/29/2021 6:17 AM, Rob Berendt wrote:

I concur with the response to order the cume and all groups in one single order and apply them together. While the "all groups" group should get all groups I just always order each individual group anyway. Belt and suspenders.

Here is a helpful tool. It is called FLRT or Fix Level Recommendation Tool.
https://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/flrt/home
You punch in what version of OS, TR level it's at, what version of firmware, what version of HMC and it will give you recommendations.

You should have firmware and hmc version in sync. This may help you:
https://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/main/transform?xml=https://download.boulder.ibm.com/ibmdl/pub/software/server/firmware/sfw_fixSupportedCombos.xml&title=Supported+Combinations


Other helpful links:
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/master-document-server-firmware-and-hmc-code-wizard
Fix Central:https://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/server-firmware-stand-alone-ibm-i-systems
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/recommended-fixes-hmc-code-upgrades


Rob Berendt
-- IBM Certified System Administrator - IBM i 6.1 Group Dekko Dept 1600 Mail to: 7310 Innovation Blvd, Suite 104 Ft. Wayne, IN 46818 Ship to: 7310 Innovation Blvd, Dock 9C Ft. Wayne, IN 46818 http://www.dekko.com