Updating the controller firmware on the IBM FlashSystem 5XXX and 7XXX systems has one known issue that doesn't seem to have been resolved by IBM: when using the GUI to upload the firmware file, the transfer rate is ridiculously SLOW. It can take over 30 minutes, sometimes over an hour, to upload a 800Mb file. The good news? There's a simple workaround for this problem.
First, you still need to download the appropriate Test Utility and Firmware Update Package from IBM FixCentral.
Then, you navigate to Settings->System->Update page.
Download and install the Putty SSH/Telnet application. Open a CMD prompt and navigate to the directory where Putty is installed (usually: C:\Program Files\Putty). Copy the Firmware Update file into the Putty folder.
At the C:\Program Files\Putty> command prompt, type in the following:
pscp software_upgrade_file_name superuser@cluster_ip_address:/home/admin/update
*you will then be prompted for the superuser password
You can repeat this for uploading the Test Utility File as well.
Note: Keep in mind that AFTER you run the upgrade utility, the FlashSystem will remove the update files. If for some reason the update files are not automatically removed, you can SSH to the system using Putty and type:
cleardumps -prefix /home/admin/update
This will clear the upate folder file cache.
To upgrade the Disk Drive firmware, navigate to Pools->Internal Disks. Left-click on one of the disks, go to Actions menu, select Upgrade. This will open the Disk Firmware Upgrade window similar to the controller firmware menu. From here you can select the Test Utility and Drive Firmware files. The Test Utility will run and report on any problems or concerns. If no errors are reported, click NEXT and the firmware update will process. Firmware updates take 5 to 10 minutes per disk. If you want to upgrade firmware for multiple disks, left-click the first drive and then either use Shift and Left-Click to highlight a continuous set of disks or Control Left-Click to only select specific disks. Go to Actions menu and proceed with the same steps as for one disk.
If the disk firmware upload process is SLOW (and it typically is), use Putty pscp.exe as per the above instructions for the firmware update process to upload the files which usually only takes a few seconds.
From the list of internal drives you can right-click on a drive, and go to Properties to view the current firmware version.
First, you still need to download the appropriate Test Utility and Firmware Update Package from IBM FixCentral.
Then, you navigate to Settings->System->Update page.
Download and install the Putty SSH/Telnet application. Open a CMD prompt and navigate to the directory where Putty is installed (usually: C:\Program Files\Putty). Copy the Firmware Update file into the Putty folder.
At the C:\Program Files\Putty> command prompt, type in the following:
pscp software_upgrade_file_name superuser@cluster_ip_address:/home/admin/update
*you will then be prompted for the superuser password
You can repeat this for uploading the Test Utility File as well.
Note: Keep in mind that AFTER you run the upgrade utility, the FlashSystem will remove the update files. If for some reason the update files are not automatically removed, you can SSH to the system using Putty and type:
cleardumps -prefix /home/admin/update
This will clear the upate folder file cache.
To upgrade the Disk Drive firmware, navigate to Pools->Internal Disks. Left-click on one of the disks, go to Actions menu, select Upgrade. This will open the Disk Firmware Upgrade window similar to the controller firmware menu. From here you can select the Test Utility and Drive Firmware files. The Test Utility will run and report on any problems or concerns. If no errors are reported, click NEXT and the firmware update will process. Firmware updates take 5 to 10 minutes per disk. If you want to upgrade firmware for multiple disks, left-click the first drive and then either use Shift and Left-Click to highlight a continuous set of disks or Control Left-Click to only select specific disks. Go to Actions menu and proceed with the same steps as for one disk.
If the disk firmware upload process is SLOW (and it typically is), use Putty pscp.exe as per the above instructions for the firmware update process to upload the files which usually only takes a few seconds.
From the list of internal drives you can right-click on a drive, and go to Properties to view the current firmware version.
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