flashupdate

Use the flashupdate command to install a new version of the ALOM firmware from a location that you specify. The values you enter for command options specify the IP address of the site from which you download and the path at which the firmware image is located.

You can find the links to the download sites on the ALOM product page at:

http://www.sun.com/servers/alom.html

There are two types of ALOM firmware images: the main firmware and the bootmon (boot monitor) firmware. The bootmon firmware is the low-level bootstrap image. Be sure to locate the correct image when preparing to use the flashupdate command.

Caution: Do not use the scadm resetrsc command while a firmware update is in progress. If you need to reset ALOM, wait until after the update is complete. Otherwise, you could corrupt the ALOM firmware and render it unusable.

How to Use the flashupdate Command

Note: You must have a level user permission to use this command.

Before You Begin

To use this command, you need to know the following:

• IP address of the server from which you want to download the firmware image
• The path at which the image is stored
• The user name and password to enter at the prompts

If you do not have this information, ask your network administrator. Before you start, if your server has a front panel keyswitch, make sure that the keyswitch is in the Normal (unlocked) position. If you use this command with the keyswitch in the Locked position, the firmware will not update. For more information about the front panel keyswitch, refer to your server's documentation.

What to Do

1. At the sc> prompt, type one the following commands. Substitute the IP address of the server where the firmware image is stored for ipaddr, and the path name for pathname.
   
   For the main firmware image, the command is similar to the following:
   sc> flashupdate -s ipaddr -f pathname/alommainfw
   
   For the bootmon image, the command appears similar to this:
   sc> flashupdate -s ipaddr -f pathname/alombootfw
   
   Note: The path you use for pathname is /usr/platform/
   platform-name/lib/images/(alommainfw | alombootfw). To find the correct value for platform-name, use the uname -i command.
   
   
2. When prompted, type your user name and password, which are based on your UNIX or LDAP user name and password and not your ALOM user name and password.
   
3. After you type your user name and password, the download process continues. As the download process progresses, a series of periods appear across your screen. (If you selected the -v option, ALOM returns status messages as the download process occurs.) When the download process is finished, ALOM displays the message: Update complete.
   
4. Type the resetsc command to reset ALOM.

For example (replace xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with a valid IP address):

sc> flashupdate -s xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx -f /usr/platform/SUNW,Sun-Fire-V440/lib/images/alommainfw
Username: joeuser
Password: ********
..........................
Update complete. To use the new image the device will need to be reset using 'resetsc'.
sc>

Command Options

ALOM shell commands

Types of ALOM commands