Updating firmware

Step A: Update the firmware

To update the BIOS firmware and the BMC firmware (IPMI for SuperMicro, iDRAC for Dell), read the Knowledge article Latest AWS Elemental Qualified Remote Management and BIOS Firmware. This article provides instructions and includes links to downloads.

Step B: Reboot the chassis

After you update the firmware, you must perform a cold reboot.

• You can physically power the appliance on and off.

• Or if you don't have physical access to the appliance, you can use ipmiutil to perform a cold reboot. This method resets the System Management processor. It doesn't reset the chassis.

  This method is not considered to be a clean restart. This cold power cycle cuts the power quickly and discharges all remnant power in its components. Don't use this method as a standard way of rebooting.

To reset using ipmiutil

This procedure takes about 5 minutes. Don't be tempted to skip this reset because if you do, the node might not run properly.

1. Stop the node from the web interface or command line of the AWS Elemental software.

2. From the Linux prompt, use the elemental user to start a remote terminal session to the Elemental Live node.

3. Run the following command:

   [elemental@hostname ~]$ sudo ipmiutil power -k

4. Wait 30 seconds. Then run the following command continually until the output shows a state that includes the codes S0 or 2a:

   [elemental@hostname ~]$ watch -n 5 "sudo ipmiutil health | grep 'Power State'"

5. Press Ctrl-C to exit watch.

6. Run the following command:

   [elemental@hostname ~]$ sudo sync

7. Run the following power cycle command:

   [elemental@hostname ~]$ sudo ipmiutil power -c

   This command turns off and turns on the appliance and terminates the SSH connection. The RAID status might show as Verify during the boot sequence. This is normal.

8. You now restart the node, if you want the node to resume activity.