Some items to note before you start

• Upgrades and Updates are different processes. This document covers the Upgrade process.
• The VIOS should be in the running state with active RMC.
• The HMC will restart the VIOS during the Upgrade process, then check for RMC.
• The Upgrade will fail if the VIOS has Volume Groups altinst_rootvg or old_rootvg.
• The below example will use the HMC GUI, but the command upgvios can be used as well.

Supported levels from where you can upgrade :
Current Level                                         Target Level           viosupgrade
3.1.2.x or later (Non SSP-users)        4.1.0.0 or later        Yes
3.1.3.x or later (SSP users)                 4.1.0.0 or later         Yes

Choose disk space

The 'Total Selected Size' and the 'Disk Name' of the storage disk is displayed. You can select one or more disks from the displayed list. If no disk is listed or you see a “No free disk available” message instead, use the VIOS lspv command to verify if there are disk available on the VIOS. See the additional information section for troubleshooting tips.  

You may need to free or add new disks to perform the upgrade. Depending on the existing VIOS rootvg size, the disk space needed may be greater than 30GB.

Choose Image Location

To upgrade the VIOS, an image file must be uploaded. You can download the installation image file from one of the following image locations:

• HMC
  • Select an installation image from the displayed list.
• NFS server
  • To download an installation image from a NFS server to the HMC, enter the mandatory details such as Remote server hostname or IP address, and Mount location. You can also enter optional details such as Remote directory and Other mount options.
• SFTP server
  • To download the installation image from an SFTP server to the HMC, enter the mandatory fields such as Remote server hostname or IP address, User ID, and Password /ssh-key download the installation image files.
  • Authentication type
    • Password: Enter a valid User ID and Password.
    • Keyfile: Enter a valid User ID and Keyfile. You can also specify a passphrase along with other inputs.
    • The Authentication type field is enabled only when SFTP Server is selected as the image location for downloading the installation image files.
• USB
  • To download an installation image file, select a USB device from the displayed list of attached USB devices. Ensure that the VIOS Upgrade image file is copied on the selected USB device.
  • Note:
    • The upgrade VIOS operation can take up to two hours to complete.
    • If you select the Save install image to HMC option for a Remote Server or a USB, you can save the upgrade image files in the HMC file system. Specify a valid VIOS image name to save the installation image file in the HMC. This image can be used for future VIOS upgrade operations.
• The below example will show an incorrect upgrade attempt using a local HMC image imported with the GUI under Templates and OS Images -> VIOS Images -> Manage Virtual I/O Server Images. The command cpviosimg can also be used to import install or upgrade images.

Summary

The Summary step displays the selected disk space and the download location of upgrade image files.

Once you select the image and start the update, a new window will open and show the progress of the update.

Do not close this window, as the results will be generated in a text window after the operation completes. If you see a failure, please copy the text to a document for support to review.