Intel® Modular Server System MFSYS25/MFSYS35 
V2.7 Unified Firmware Update 
Release Notes & Installation Instructions
March 9, 2009

RELEASE NOTES FOR: V2.7 


A. RELEASE PACKAGE CONTENTS
This section enumerates the contents of the release package.
* BIOS: SB5000.86B.10.10.0048.112120081113
* BMC: 1.35.1
* Management Module GUI operation Code: 2.7.100.20090226.16239
* Remote KVM Java Applet – 1.45
* EBF: 1.27
* Storage
	* IOP FW/SW: 3.02.0140.15
	* IOP SW: 3.02.0140.15
	* Expander FW: 1.03.0140.68
	* Redboot image: 1.01.0140.12
* Switch Boot Code: 1.0.0.6
* Switch FW: 1.0.0.27
* Fan Controller Op code – 01.2
* Fan Controller Boot Block – 01.2
* MIB files
* Updated section B and C with UFU v2.7 and MPIO driver update information 



B. GENERAL INFORMATION

This release does not support rollback to previous versions of the Unified Firmware Update (UFU) package.


This release supports MFSYS25/MFSYS35 system configurations with two SCMs for Microsoft Windows Server* 2003 R2 SP2, Microsoft Windows Server* 2008, Suse* Linux Enterprise 10 U1/U2, and VMware ESX 3.5 U3. Dual SCM operation is not supported in this release for the Redhat* Enterprise Linux 5 operating system.  


UFU v2.7 and MPIO driver updates for existing OS installations:

•  For Microsoft Windows Server* 2008 Cluster - Dual SCM System Configurations Only: For existing installations of Microsoft Windows Server* 2003 R2 SP2 or Microsoft Windows Server* 2008 with dual storage control modules, update to the UFU v2.7 firmware release and then update the MPIO driver to the latest MPIO driver 2.01.0140.16.
Required Action: Before updating to UFU v2.7 uninstall the MPIO storage driver version 2.01.0140.11-R2 and install the latest MPIO storage driver version 2.01.0140.16.  The MPIO driver update procedure must be completed prior to starting any updates to UFU v2.7.  Failure to do so may result in unpredictable system behavior.   
Note: After updating to the latest MPIO storage driver version 2.01.0140.16 on systems running Microsoft Windows Server* 2008 Cluster the system must be updated to UFU v2.7.  

•  Microsoft Windows Server* 2003 and Microsoft Windows Server* 2008 Dual SCM configurations: For existing installations of Microsoft Windows Server* 2003 R2 SP2 or Microsoft Windows Server* 2008 with dual storage control modules, update to the UFU v2.7 firmware release and then update the MPIO driver to the latest MPIO driver 2.01.0140.16.


UFU v2.7 and MPIO driver update for new OS installations: 
•  Update to UFU V2.7 and then install the MPIO driver verion 2.01.0140.16 per the installation BKM.  The latest OS MPIO driver installation BKMs can be downloaded from http://support.intel.com/. 


C.	DEPENDENCIES

UFU v2.7 and MPIO driver updates for existing OS installations:

Microsoft Windows Server* 2008 Cluster - Dual SCM System Configurations Only:  For existing installations of Microsoft* Windows Server 2008 cluster node with dual storage control modules: Update to the latest MPIO driver before applying this firmware release.
Required Action: Before updating to UFU v2.7 uninstall the MPIO storage driver version 2.01.0140.11-R2 and install the latest MPIO storage driver version 2.01.0140.16.  The MPIO driver update procedure must be completed prior to starting any updates to UFU v2.7.  Failure to do so may result in unpredictable system behavior.   
Note: After updating to the latest MPIO storage driver version 2.01.0140.16 on systems running Microsoft* Windows Server* 2008 Cluster, the system must then be updated to UFU v2.7.  

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2 or Microsoft Windows Server* 2008:  For existing installations of Microsoft Windows Server* 2003 R2 SP2 or Microsoft Windows Server* 2008 with dual storage control modules, update to the UFU v2.7 firmware release and then update the MPIO driver to the latest MPIO driver version 2.01.0140.16.


UFU v2.7 and MPIO driver update for new OS installations: 

For new OS installations: Update to UFU V2.7 and then install drivers per BKM.  The latest MPIO driver installation BKMs can be downloaded from http://support.intel.com/. 


Intel® Modular Server System MFSYS35:

All new MFSYS35 chassis are at P2.6 firmware level. P2.6 firmware can only support a single SCM in a MFSYS35 chassis. A second SCM can only be added to SCM slot 2 after the system has been updated to V2.7. 

Please see instructions for 2nd SCM installation and firmware update process in the Install Second SCM in SCM2 Slot section below. The update process will take approximately 15 – 20 minutes for the second SCM and should not be interrupted. 


Intel® Modular Server System MFSYS25: 

The system must be at firmware level P2.3.1, P2.3.5, or P2.6 prior to starting this update.

If the system contained two SCMs at firmware level P2.3.1, P2.3.5, P2.6, this update can continue with both SCMs installed.  

If you intend to install a second SCM to a system which previously contained only one SCM, the second SCM should be installed after the system has been updated to V2.7. 

After the firmware update has been completed, insert the second SCM into SCM2 slot. After installation of the second SCM, the system will then start an update for the firmware of the second SCM and expander on the interposer. Please see instructions for 2nd SCM installation and firmware update process in the Install Second SCM in SCM2 Slot section below. The update process will take approximately 15 – 20 minutes for the second SCM and should not be interrupted. 



D. DEFECTS FIXED IN THIS RELEASE

Area		
Description

CMM GUI		
Correct drive LED functionality to correctly indicate SP, VD drive export ready status 
CMM GUI
		Enhanced UFU process to prevent server module power on until after SCMs are ready.
CMM GUI		
Export of events resulted in a corrupted file. Removed export to excel file as an option. Export to excel file is no longer supported.
CMM GUI
		Sensor: Drive Cage Slot 9 temp is too high incorrectly being reported.
CMM GUI
Component Unfit and Firmware Update Failed error messages incorrectly logged in the event log after a BMC update.
CMM GUI		
Dashboard incorrectly showed SCM Subsystem Unavailable during firmware update. 
Remote KVM	
KVM session fails to reconnect after removing and reinstalling Ethernet cable.
Remote KVM
	Pressing F1 during a Remote KVM session will now bring up the remote system application help information screen.


E. NEW FEATURES/FUNCTIONS IMPLEMENTED IN THIS RELEASE

3.5” Dual SCM support – The dual 3.5” SCM configuration is supported in this release.

Local German Keyboard support – The rKVM now supports both English and German local keyboards.

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) v3 support – SNMP v3 is supported in the UFU v2.7 release.  SNMP v3 support provides the ability to get (read) system configuration information and the ability to set the server power state on/off and to set the server identify LED.  SNMP v2 support is limited to get (read-only) system configuration information.  Online help has been updated to reflect changes.  
Note: Full system hardware management and configuration is supported via the Intel® Modular Server Control GUI only.



F. FEATURES/FUNCTIONS NOT YET IMPLEMENTED
MFSYS25/MFSYS35 - Mixed SAS / SATA – This release does not support mixed SAS and SATA HDDs within a chassis.

Intel® Modular Server System MFS5520VI – This release does not contain support for MFS5520VI.



G. KNOWN ISSUES

External Attached Disk Arrays: VDs designated LUN0 and located on an external disk array are not visible to the compute modules after the first reboot. Workaround: All LUNs on an external array should not be set to LUN0 unless they are a boot LUN for a Server Compute Module. LUNS on the external array should be set to a different value.

Microsoft Windows Server* 2003 Cluster: MPIO driver will take several minutes to uninstall/install on a Microsoft Windows Server* 2003 Cluster. The uninstall/install time is dependent on the number of LUNs assigned to a Microsoft Windows Server* 2003 server node. A 2 to 5 minute delay per assigned VD is expected during uninstall of the driver. A 2 to 3 minute delay  per assigned VD is expected during install of the driver. Reboot of the operating system will also experience a delay until the driver is correctly loaded.

Microsoft Windows Server* 2003 Cluster: Logical drives on the Microsoft Windows Server* 2003 Cluster may not be seen after a SCM failure while the SCM is in a failed condition. If an SCM failure is experienced in a Microsoft Windows Server* 2003 Cluster environment it is recommend to check the Disk Manager on each node to make sure all VDs are present.  For any node which are missing VDs normal operation can be restored by rebooting the node owning the logical drives or replacing the defective SCM.

SuSE* Linux Enterprise Server 10 U1/U2 - SuSE* Linux Enterprise Server 10 U1/U2 will mark the OS LUN as read only if a SCM affinity change is made while the SUSE* Linux Enterprise Server 10 operating system is running or booted. Workaround: Power down the SuSE* Linux Enterprise Server 10 U1/U2 operating system.  While the operating system is powered down go into the CMM UI and change the LUN affinity.

Reset BIOS default settings – Certain settings and features such as Remote USB (essential for proper Remote KVM operation) may not be functional until BIOS Defaults are loaded. To ensure proper operation, reset BIOS defaults as soon as possible after updating BIOS. BIOS defaults are set by pressing F9 (Reset To Defaults) while in BIOS Setup.

GUI inconsistencies with physical state - The GUI can be inconsistent with the state of the system because this is a web application. If you suspect an inconsistency, just reload the page (the page automatically refreshes once a minute). Some HW inventory changes (such as compute module insertion) can take up to 60 seconds to be reflected in the GUI unless you push the refresh button. The application may also appear inconsistent with the real state of the system if you have connectivity issues with the CMM.

Complete System Diagnostics – Under synthetic stress test it is possible although rare for the SCM to reset if the user requests an All Subsystems diagnostics also called Complete System diagnostics.  Prior to running the All Subsystems diagnostics feature the user should first power off all server modules within the chassis to guarantee this issue is not encountered. 

SNMP Support – SNMP v2 provides the ability to get (read only) system configuration information.  SNMP v3 provides the ability to get (read) system configuration information and the ability to set the server power state on/off and to set the server identify LED.  Full system hardware management and configuration is handled via the Intel® Modular Server Control GUI.  

Intel® Modular Server Management Pack - SNMP v2 must be enabled in order for the installed Intel® Modular Server Management Pack to get and display the system information.  The Intel® Modular Server Management Pack does not support SNMP v3.  Note: If SNMP v2 and SNMP v3 are enabled at the same time the management pack will function properly. 

Remote applications:
1. When starting rKVM with a Linux host, you must change the mouse mode to relative mode. If the remote mouse does not respond to local mouse movements, try switching to absolute mode and then immediately back to relative mode.
2. Due to the way Linux handles the mouse (relative vs. absolute) there are instances when the remote mouse on a Linux host will be slow or appear to stop functioning. Many times a stuck mouse can be awakened by toggling between relative and absolute mouse modes via the menu or the keyboard by pressing Alt-s.
3. If the local and remote mouse pointers do not synchronize (the remote mouse moves but is offset from the local mouse), try toggling the Synchronize mouse option. If that does not work, check the mouse acceleration parameters on the server with the command “xset q”. Set the mouse acceleration settings in Remote KVM in the Options menu to match those on the server. By default, the Remote KVM application will use an acceleration value of 2 and an acceleration threshold value of 4. These values are what the Red Hat* Enterprise Linux Server 5 (RHEL5) and SuSE* Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) operating systems expect, unless they have been modified after installation of the OS.
4. If the Internet connection is lost during an existing RKVM session, the session will report video data lost. The user must close the message, and restart the session.
5. Lost Keyboard/Mouse usage in SLES can sometimes be recovered by toggling full screen on and off.
6. Remote media is best used with one server at a time. If you map a CD to six compute modules, the compute modules will drop the CD mapping, due to latency issues.
7. The RKVM client version included in this release is 1.45. Check the version after installing the new release by launching the RKVM application and then using Help->About in the RKVM client window menus. If the version is something other than 1.45, close all RKVM client windows and delete the application from the client machine’s Java browser cache. (Run ‘javaws –viewer’, select the application titled ‘Networked KVM applet’ and press the delete key.)
8. If after launching rKVM, a Java window appears indicating incorrect usage of the rKVM application, there is an old version of the application in the Java cache. Close the window and delete the application from the client machine's Java browser cache. (Run 'javaws -viewer', select the application titled 'Networked KVM applet' and press the delete key.)
9. Remote Floppy is not supported during a RKVM session.


H. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

Preparing For Update:

Download the current Unified Firmware Update package MFSYS25_MFSYS35_UFU_V2_7.zip for the MFSYS25/MFSYS35 system (including the MFS5000SI Compute Module).
o Copy the CMM_Core.zip file to a folder labeled V2_7 on a formatted flash drive. CMM_Core.zip is the update package and is loaded as a zip file by the CMM Firmware Update tool. Do not modify the file name, otherwise it will not be recognized by the Update tool.

If you have not already done so, connect the appropriate power cords to the Intel® Modular Server System power supplies and wait for the chassis management module(CMM) to fully boot: approximately 3-4 minutes, when the CMM is fully booted the system cooling fans will slow down.

Prior to loading and using the V2.7 unified software update – all server modules in the system must be powered down.

If you intend to add a second SCM to the chassis as part of this update, please follow the procedures below for adding the second SCM in SCM slot 2.  

Ensure that no Storage Pool or Virtual Drive build or rebuild operation is in progress.  If a build, rebuild, or migration operation is in progress, allow the operation to complete before attempting to update the firmware via the Unified Firmware Update package. 

Unified Firmware Update from P2.3.1, P2.3.5, or P2.6 to V2.7:

1. Launch a browser from a client system connected to the CMM

2. Login into the GUI and browse to the Firmware tab (bottom selection in the left navigation pane.

3. Ensure all servers are powered down, then click on the browse button and browse to the folder V2_7 you previously created, select the CMM_Core.zip file and the update will automatically begin. 

4. The upload process will take several minutes – a progress bar is displayed.

5. After the file has been uploaded, the screen will display “A new Firmware File has been uploaded with build version 2.7.100.20090226.16239.

6. A box below this message labeled Actions will state – This update cannot be started until the following actions have been completed: Reset Storage Control Module 1 into Safe Mode.  Click on the link.

7. It will then go to a screen that says Reset Controller SCM1 with a box checked that says “Come back in safe mode after reset.” Type CONFIRM and hit Apply.  The screen will then display “Storage Controller resetting. This may take up to 4 minutes.”  

8. It will then go to a screen that says “Reset of controller SCM1 to Safe Mode successful”. Hit OK. 

9. If a second SCM is installed, repeat steps 6 – 8 to place the 2nd SCM into Safe Mode.

10. The screen will then return to the Firmware Update page, click on the “Start Update” button to continue.

11. A dialogue box will appear – select the “Reboot CMM & Start Update” button. (fans will speed up and then return to normal as the CMM restarts). The CMM will take 12 minutes to boot prior to displaying the Login screen.

12. Login to the GUI when prompted. Initial login may be slow due to firmware updates that are in progress.

13. Browse to the Firmware tab and scroll down to the Storage Controller line item. The Storage Controller 1 line item in the Firmware tab will indicate that the Storage Controller Module is updating to version 3.02.140.15. The update will take 5 - 10 minutes. Do not disturb the system while the update is in progress. While the update is still in process the Firmware tab will indicate that the Storage Controller Module is at 3.02.140.15. Do not interrupt the system while the system fans are at high speed. 

14. When the system fans have returned to normal speed verify that all updates have been completed. Go to the system event log and verify that the following events have been logged:
	Server Power Permission Granted
	Storage Controller 1 Operational
	Storage Controller 2 Operational (dual SCM configurations).

15. Return to the firmware tab and verify that all updates have completed.

16. Do NOT move the SCM to slot 2 – it should remain in Slot 1 only for all future use.


Complete BIOS Update:

17. After verifying the BMC was updated on all servers, the BIOS status will show “Updates Pending – Power on required”. You can either click on the link, or follow the prompts to power on the server via the software OR you can manually power up all servers installed in the system via the front panel buttons. Note: Multiple servers can be powered on at the same time. The firmware update process can now update multiple servers at the same time. Attaching a monitor to each of the server modules during the BIOS update process enables you to monitor the BIOS update process. 

18. A dialogue box will appear – Click “Apply” to power on servers.  

19. Navigate to the Firmware screen. The status of each of the powered on server modules will show a BIOS Status of “Updates Pending (power on in progress)”.

20. Once the power on is complete the status may change to “Updates Pending - reset required”.  DO NOT CLICK ON THIS LINK – wait a few minutes and the BIOS update will begin automatically. Only click on this link if you are able to verify that the update failed to start via a monitor attached to the modular server.

21. The BIOS status will eventually display “BIOS updating to SB5000.86B.10.10.0048….”. 

22. Once the BIOS update has completed, the Firmware Status page in the GUI will show the BIOS status as “OK” and the version SB5000.86B.10.10.0048... will be displayed.

23. Repeat steps 16 – 21 for each server populated in the system.

24. Continue with steps below starting at step 24 under Verify Updates Completed and Load Defaults section.


Verify Updates Completed and Load Defaults:

25. Enter BIOS setup on each server to verify BIOS update completed successfully and to load default settings.  To restart a server and enter BIOS setup remotely using the Modular Server Control GUI follow the steps below: 

a. From the Server screen, select a server and restart the selected Server either by selecting the Reset action within the Modular Server Control GUI for the selected Server or 
b. From within the Remote KVM session.

26. On boot Enter BIOS Setup by pressing “F2” when prompted.

27. Verify the BIOS flashed successfully by entering BIOS setup, on the first tab, the “System BIOS” version displayed should be SB5000.86B.10.10.0048….

28. Prior to loading default BIOS settings, document all custom BIOS settings.  Then press F9 to load system default settings. Modify default settings as necessary to match documented custom settings previously used and Press F10 to save and exit.

29. Repeat steps 24 through 27 for each server to verify BIOS version and load default settings. 



Install Second SCM in SCM2 Slot: (Only required if adding second SCM)

30. Ensure that the appropriate steps have been taken per the Operating System BKM for upgrading to a second SCM prior to installing the second SCM. Power off all server modules prior to installing the second SCM.

31. Login to the GUI and browse to the Firmware tab (bottom selection in the left navigation pane.

32. Install the second SCM in SCM2 slot.

33. After the second SCM has booted, the firmware update page will either indicate “Firmware update to this component will begin soon” or “Update to version 3.02.140.15 queued”. 

34. The second SCM line on the firmware tab will then indicate “updating to 3.02.140.15. The firmware update will take approximately 5 - 10 minutes. During this time the chassis fans will be at high speed and the chassis fault LED may illuminate. 

35. The Firmware tab will then indicate that the second SCM has been updated to 3.02.140.15 however, the fans will remain at high speed and the chassis fault LED may remain illuminated. The Firmware tab will then indicate “updating expander”. Do not disturb the expander update process which will take approximately 10 minutes.

36. At the end of the expander update, a warning message at the top of the screen will indicate “Controller Fail-back in progress.” Storage Management functions may be temporarily unavailable.

37. The chassis fault LED will stop illuminating and the warning message at the top of the screen will disappear.

38. Browse to the event log. The event log should now display “Storage Controller Operational” for Storage Controller 2.








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