Updating the firmware on a system that is managed by PowerVM NovaLink

To update the firmware on a system that is managed by only PowerVM® NovaLink, use the ldfware command on the service partition. If the system is co-managed by PowerVM NovaLink and a Hardware Management Console (HMC), you must use the HMC to update the firmware. The HMC must be set to the master mode to update the firmware.

To set the HMC to the master mode for a system that is co-managed by the PowerVM NovaLink, run the following command from the HMC command line. In this command, managed_system is the name of the managed system.

chcomgmt -m managed_system -o setmaster -t norm

After you set the HMC to the master mode, you can update the firmware by using the standard HMC procedure. For information about how to update the firmware by using the HMC, see Managed system updates.

The information that is provided here applies to a managed system that is already managed by PowerVM NovaLink. For information about how to update the firmware on a system on which you plan to install PowerVM NovaLink, see Installing firmware using the USB port on the service processor on a system that is not managed by a management console.

Download the latest system firmware from IBM® Fix Central (http://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/).

To update the firmware on a system that is managed by PowerVM NovaLink, complete the following steps:

For PowerVM NovaLink running the PowerVM Open I/O mode:
1. Power off all client partitions by entering the following command for each client partition, where partition_id is the partition ID.
```
pvmctl lpar power-off -i id=partition_id
```
2. In the PowerVM Open IO mode, the PowerVM NovaLink partition is the service partition. Copy the firmware to a temporary location in the PowerVM NovaLink partition.
3. Run the following command on the service partition, where firmware_path is the location of the firmware in the service partition.
```
/usr/sbin/update_flash -f firmware_path
```
For PowerVM NovaLink running VIOS:
1. Power off all client partitions by entering the following command for each client partition, where partition_id is the partition ID.
```
pvmctl lpar power-off -i id=partition_id
```
2. Power off all Virtual I/O Server partitions except for the service partition by entering the following command for each Virtual I/O Server partition, where partition_id is the partition ID.
```
pvmctl vios power-off -i id=partition_id
```
  By default, the service partition is the partition with partition ID 2. To determine which partition is the service partition, enter the following command:
```
pvmctl vios list -d id name service
```
  The is_service_partition property of the service partition is True.
3. Power off the PowerVM NovaLink partition by entering the following command, where novalink_id is the partition ID of the PowerVM NovaLink partition. The partition ID of the PowerVM NovaLink partition is typically 1.
```
pvmctl lpar power-off -i id=novalink_id
```
4. Copy the firmware to a temporary location in the service partition.
5. Run the following command on the service partition, where firmware_path is the location of the firmware in the service partition.
```
ldfware -file firmware_path
```
6. If the managed system does not completely power off automatically, power off the managed system by using the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI). Complete the following steps:
  1. Access the ASMI by using the PC or notebook. For information about how to connect to ASMI, see Accessing the ASMI using a PC or notebook and web browser Accessing the ASMI using a PC or notebook and web browser.
  2. Power off the system by clicking Power/Restart Control > Power On/Off System.
7. Power on the system.

Last updated: Fri, December 06, 2019