Topics: HMC, Installation

HMC network update to v7.3.5

If you decide to update to HMC release 7.3.5, Fix Central only supplies you the ISO images.

This procedure describes how you can update your HMC using the network without having to sit physically in front of the console.

First, check if this new HMC level is supported by the firmware levels of your supported systems using this link. If you're certain you can upgrade to V7.3.5, then make sure to download all the required mandatory fixes from IBM Fix Central. Don't download the actual base level of HMC v7.3.5 of 3 Gigabytes. We'll download that directly to the HMC later on.

Then, perform the "Save upgrade data" task using either the Web interface or the command line. Then get the required files from the IBM server using ftp protocol using the following command:

# getupgfiles -h ftp.software.ibm.com -u anonymous --passwd ftp
-d /software/server/hmc/network/v7350
Hint: Once this procedure gets interrupted for any reason, you need to reboot your HMC before restarting it. Otherwise, some files will remain in the local download directory which will lead to incorrect checksums.

You can check the progress of the procedure using the command ls -l /hmcdump in a different terminal. Once it has finished, you will see a prompt without any additional messages and the directory will be empty (the files will be copied to a different location).

Then tell the HMC to boot from an alternate media by issuing the following command:
# chhmc -c altdiskboot -s enable --mode upgrade
Finally reboot your HMC with the following command from the console:
# hmcshutdown -r -t now
The installation should start automatically with the reboot. Once it has finished you should be able to login from remote again. The whole procedure takes up to one hour. Once you have finished you should add in any case the mandatory efixes for HMC 7.3.5 as ISO images. You can update the HMC with these fixes through the HMC. For more information, please visit this page.



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