Re: HMC V9 vs V10, Was: Bringing IBM i up to the "latest" OS patches

When we migrated from hardware hmc's to vHMC's we ran into an issue with
the number of HMC's allowed to control a system. I think the limit is
three.
We have two data centers (DC's). DC1 has a P9 and a P8. DC2 has a P9.
The vHMC in DC1 can control all three systems. The vHMC in DC2 can control
all three systems. Nice back up situation when upgrading HMC code, etc.
However I could not have the two physical HMC's and the two vHMC's going
to all systems at once.
Also IBM strongly discourages you from having HMC's from different
versions controlling the same systems. They explain why but I forget.
Kind of goes anathema to those who like to use both to ensure the new
version is stable.

I could have them spin up new vHMC's to get to V10 but I may try just
upgrading.


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


-----Original Message-----
From: MIDRANGE-L <midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of
Roberto José Etcheverry Romero
Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2021 10:01 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: HMC V9 vs V10, Was: Bringing IBM i up to the "latest" OS
patches

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not
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IMHO, if the target HMC version supports your hardware and firmware (v10
supports P10, P9 and P8) I would see no problem in moving to that. And
unless you have a lot of customization on the HMC (users, groups,
permissions, that kind of stuff) you could just spin up new HMCs and move
the machines to them.

Roberto

On Thu, 30 Dec 2021 at 09:20, Rob Berendt <rob@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Answering in parts to assist in concentration.
<snip>
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?
</snip>
Darn good question. I have the same question. I plan on upgrading my
HMC's probably today as I am running your version and that is open to the
log4j issue.
FLRT "recommends" the lower but I have also contacted the FLRT people in
the past and let them know to update the tool after TR5 came out.
FLRT sometimes puts stuff in there about AIX like "recommend you wait
until after xxxx-xx-xx before upgrading to this version". Is this the
issue?

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


-----Original Message-----
From: MIDRANGE-L <midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of
Pete Helgren
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2021 5:02 PM
To: midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Bringing IBM i up to the "latest" OS patches

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not
click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know
the content is safe.


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
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