1. Oracle Server X9-2 Product Notes
  2. Software and Critical Patch Updates

6 Software and Critical Patch Updates

This section includes important operating information and requirements for Oracle Server X9-2.

Server Security, Software Releases, and Critical Patch Updates

To ensure continued security of your system, Oracle strongly recommends that you apply the latest Software Releases. Server Software Releases include Oracle ILOM, BIOS, and other firmware updates, often referred to as “patches.” Oracle publishes these patches regularly on the My Oracle Support site. Applying these patches will help ensure optimal system performance, security, and stability. You can identify the latest Software Release for your system at Firmware Downloads and Release History for Oracle Systems.

To download a Software Release, go to My Oracle Support.

Oracle notifies customers about security vulnerability fixes for all its products four times a year through the Critical Patch Update (CPU) program. Review the CPU advisories to ensure that the latest Software Release updates are applied to your Oracle products. Note that updates for Engineered Systems will be specifically published for a specific Engineered Systems product (that is, you need not look at specific updates for individual software components included in your Engineered System). For more information about the Oracle CPU program, go to Critical Patch Updates, Security Alerts and Bulletins.

Oracle also recommends that you update to the latest operating system release when it becomes available. Although a minimum operating system release is supported, updating to the latest OS release will ensure that you have the most up-to-date software and security patches. To confirm that you have the latest OS release, refer to the Oracle Hardware Compatibility Lists or third-party operating system certification information. See Supported Operating Systems.

For details about how to download the latest system software update, see Download Firmware and Software Updates From My Oracle Support .

What's In a Software Release?

Software releases are grouped by product family (such as Oracle Server), then the product (the specific server), and finally the software release version. A software release contains all the updated software and firmware for your server as a set of downloadable files (patches), including firmware, drivers, tools, or utilities, all tested together to be compatible with your server.

Each patch is within a zip file that contains set of firmware and software subdirectories and files, along with a ReadMe file. The ReadMe file provides information about the patch, such as what has changed since the prior software release and the bugs that have been fixed in the current release.

My Oracle Support provides the set of software releases for your server as described in the following table. You can obtain these software releases by downloading the files at My Oracle Support.

Package Name Description When to Download This Package

Oracle Server X9-2 SW release – Firmware Pack

Contains all system firmware, including Oracle ILOM, BIOS, and option card firmware.

You need the latest firmware.

Oracle Server X9-2 SW release – OS Pack

Includes a package of all tools, drivers, and utilities for a specific OS. An OS Pack is available for each supported operating system version.

Software includes Oracle Hardware Management Pack, LSI MegaRAID software, and any other optional software that Oracle recommends.

You need to update OS-specific tools, drivers, or utilities.

Oracle Server X9-2 SW release – All Packs

Includes the Firmware Pack and all OS Packs.

You need to update a combination of system firmware and OS-specific software.

Checking Your Current Firmware Version

Firmware and software for your server are updated periodically. These updates are made available as software releases. The software releases are a set of downloadable files (patches) that include all available firmware, software, hardware drivers, tools, and utilities for the server. All of these files have been tested together and verified to work with your server.

You must update your server firmware and software as soon as possible after a new software release becomes available. Software releases often include bug fixes, and updating your server ensures that your server has the latest firmware and software. These updates will increase your system performance, security, and stability.

To determine which firmware version is installed on your server, do one of the following:

  • From the Oracle ILOM web interface, click System Information → Summary, then view the property information for the System Firmware Version in the General Information table.

  • From the Oracle ILOM command-line interface (CLI), at the command prompt, type: show /System/Firmware

Obtaining the Latest Software Release

To obtain the latest software release, do the following:

  1. Check that your current Oracle ILOM firmware version is at the minimum required version (see Supported Firmware) or a newer release, if available.
  2. If the required firmware version (or newer) is not installed:
    1. Download the latest Software Release from My Oracle Support at My Oracle Support.
    2. Install the downloaded firmware.

      See Update System Firmware Using Oracle ILOM.

      Refer to the information about performing firmware updates in the Oracle ILOM Administrators Guide for Configuration and Maintenance Firmware Release 5.1.x, which is available at Servers Documentation Systems Management. Perform the preparatory steps described in that document before updating the firmware.

    Note:

    Occasionally after installing firmware, the Oracle ILOM web interface cannot display the power state correctly on the power control page. To correct this problem, clear your browser cache before logging in to the Oracle ILOM web interface.

Firmware and Software Update Options

This section explains the options for accessing server firmware and software updates for Oracle Server X9-2.

Download Firmware and Software Updates From My Oracle Support

There are various methods for you to download and update the latest firmware and software for your system. This procedure provides steps to do so from the My Oracle Support web site. If you would like to use a different method to update system firmware and software, see Installing System Firmware Using Other Methods.

After downloading firmware and software updates, follow the instructions in Update System Firmware Using Oracle ILOM to update the system firmware using Oracle ILOM.

Follow these steps to download firmware and software updates:

  1. Go to the My Oracle Support web site: My Oracle Support.
  2. Sign in to My Oracle Support.
  3. At the top of the page, click the Patches & Updates tab.

    The Patch Search pane appears at the right of the screen.

  4. Within the Search tab area, click Product or Family (Advanced).

    The Search tab area appears with search fields.

  5. In the Product field, select the product from the drop-down list.

    Alternatively, type a full or partial product name (for example, Oracle Server X9-2) until a match appears.

  6. In the Release field, select a software release from the drop-down list.

    Expand the list to see all available software releases.

  7. Click Search.

    The Patch Advanced Search Results screen appears, listing the patches for the software release.

    See What’s In a Software Release? for a description of the available software releases.

  8. To select a patch for a software release, click the patch number next to the software release version.

    You can use the Shift key to select more than one patch.

    A pop-up action panel appears. The panel contains several action options, including the ReadMe, Download, and Add to Plan options. For information about the Add to Plan option, click the associated button and select “Why use a plan?”.

  9. To review the ReadMe file for this patch, click ReadMe.
  10. To download the patch for the software release, click Download, and in the File Download dialog box, click the patch zip file name.

    The patch for the software release downloads. The download is an archive zip file, which you must extract to find the directory containing the image .pkg file.

    You can now update your system with the newly downloaded Firmware Pack (Patch). See Update System Firmware Using Oracle ILOM.

Update System Firmware Using Oracle ILOM

You can update Oracle ILOM system firmware while the host is powered on. The Oracle ILOM firmware image includes firmware for the service processor (SP, Oracle ILOM) and the server's host components (FPGAs). The Oracle ILOM firmware update goes into effect immediately. However, the update of host components is deferred until the affected host is power cycled. Because Oracle ILOM can be updated while the host is powered on, this feature reduces the total system downtime.

Before You Begin

Note:

This procedure uses the Oracle ILOM command-line interface to update the system firmware. You can also update system firmware using the Oracle ILOM web interface. For web interface instructions, refer to the Oracle ILOM documentation at Servers Documentation Systems Management.

To update system firmware, follow these steps:

  1. Notify Oracle ILOM SP users of the scheduled firmware update and ask them to close all client sessions until after the firmware update is complete. Do not perform any other Oracle ILOM tasks during the firmware update.
  2. Navigate to the directory where you saved the FIRMWARE PACK (Patch) archive zip file.
  3. Extract the FIRMWARE PACK files from the archive zip file.

    When you extract the files, the <image.pkg> file is in the Firmware/service-processor directory.

    For example:

    % unzip p26981570_102_Generic.zip
Archive: 26981570_102_Generic.zip
creating Oracle_Server_X9-2-1.0.1.87665-FIRMWARE_PACK/Firmware/service-processor/
inflating: Oracle_Server_X9-2-1.0.1.87665-FIRMWARE_PACK/Firmware/service-processor/
ILOM-5_0_0_28_r121827-ORACLE_SERVER_X9-2-rom.pkg
  4. Review the README file that accompanies the firmware image to be aware of any special release notes or instructions.
  5. Update the firmware using the Oracle ILOM command-line interface:
    1. Log in to Oracle ILOM with an account with Admin privileges.
    2. Load the firmware image from the stored location using the load -source command followed by the directory path to the firmware image you want to install. Type:

      -> load -source protocol://server_IPaddress/<path_to_image>/<image.pkg>

      Where protocol can be: http, https, ftp, tftp, sftp, scp

      For example, if you are accessing the server through a tftp server with an IP address of 198.51.100.123 in a directory called ilom/jdoe and with the <image.pkg> named firmware.pkg, enter the following command:

      -> load -source tftp://198.51.100.123/tftpboot/ilom/jdoe/firmware.pkg

      The following information is displayed:

      An upgrade takes several minutes to complete. Oracle ILOM will enter a special mode to load new firmware. No other tasks can be performed in Oracle ILOM until the firmware upgrade is complete and Oracle ILOM is reset.

      You can choose to postpone the server BIOS upgrade until the next server power off. If you do not do that, you should perform a clean shutdown of the server before continuing.

    3. Answer the following prompts:

      Are you sure you want to load the specified file? y

      Preserve existing SP configuration (y/n)? y

      This prompt preserves your existing Oracle ILOM settings after the firmware update is complete.

      Preserve existing BIOS configuration (y/n)? y

      This prompt preserves your existing BIOS configuration settings after the firmware upgrade is complete.

      Delay BIOS upgrade until the next poweroff or reset (y/n)? y

      Answer "Y" (yes) to the Delay BIOS Upgrade question and, if the host is ON and there are host components to be updated, the host remains powered on and the host component updates are deferred until the next time the host powers off and powers on (next reset/reboot).

      Answer "N" (no) to the Delay BIOS Upgrade question and, if the host is ON and there are host components to be updated, the host is forced OFF so that host component updates can be applied immediately. After Oracle ILOM reboots, the host is powered on automatically if it was forced off.

      Note:

      If the server has a pending BIOS upgrade, the power reset could take longer to complete. This is expected behavior, as it is necessary to power cycle the server to upgrade the BIOS firmware. If the upgrade includes an FPGA update, the process can take as long as 26 minutes to complete.
    4. Wait for the Oracle ILOM status message to confirm that the process is complete.
  6. To verify that the updated firmware is installed, at the Oracle ILOM CLI prompt, type:

    -> show /System/Firmware

Installing System Firmware Using Other Methods

In addition to using Oracle ILOM, you can install firmware and software updates using one of the following methods:

  • Oracle Enterprise Manager Ops Center – Use Oracle Enterprise Manager Ops Center to automatically download the latest firmware from Oracle and then install the firmware onto one or more servers. Firmware updates can also be loaded manually into the Enterprise Controller.

    For information, refer to the product information page at: Enterprise Manager Cloud Control. For documentation, refer to the Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control Documentation set at: Enterprise Manager Cloud Control Documentation Sets

  • Oracle Hardware Management Pack – Use the fwupdate CLI Tool in the Oracle Hardware Management Pack software to update firmware in the system.

    For information, refer to the product information page at: Oracle Hardware Management Pack. For documentation, refer to the Oracle Hardware Management Pack Documentation Library at: Servers Documentation Systems Management

  • Oracle Integrated Lights Out Management (ILOM). For information and for Oracle Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) 5.1 documentation, refer to the product information page at: Servers Documentation Systems Management.

Downloading an OS or Software Applications

You can download an operating system (OS) or software applications for all licensed Oracle products from Oracle Software Delivery Cloud (formerly called Oracle eDelivery). Software is available in zip and ISO formats, which you can unzip or burn to DVDs, respectively. All of the download links on the Oracle Technology Network (OTN) point to the Software Delivery Cloud, making this site the authoritative source for all Oracle OS and application downloads. To access Oracle Software Delivery Cloud, go to Oracle Software Delivery Cloud.

Oracle Support

If you need help getting firmware or software updates, or downloading a complete software application, you can call Oracle Support. Use the appropriate number from the Oracle Global Customer Support Contacts Directory at: Oracle Support Contacts Global Directory