The Solaris Utility Environment live CD can be used to upgrade Sun SPARC firmware and ALOM to the included versions.
Here is the procedure description step by step.
I halted the machine and typed 'boot cdrom' at the OK prompt.
Boot device: /pci@1e,600000/ide@d/cdrom@0,0:f File and args:SunOS Release 5.10 Version Generic_139555-08 64-bitCopyright 1983-2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.Use is subject to license terms.Hardware watchdog enabledHit 'm' to load SUE in memoryLoading SUE image in memory. This may take a while...done.*** Solaris Utility Environment version 3.27 ***Booting this environment will not modify any disks on this system.Configuring devices.Reading ZFS config: done.prtvtoc: /devices/pci@1c,600000/scsi@2/sd@0,0:c,raw: Invalid VTOCprtvtoc: /devices/pci@1c,600000/scsi@2/sd@0,0:c,raw: Invalid VTOCSelect the type of configuration to perform1 Auto system configuration2 Manual system configuration3 No system configurationh HelpEnter option: hThis is asking how to proceed with system configuration.Valid responses are:1 - (Auto) Perform the normal auto system configuration. This is the same configuration program that the standard Solaris CD/DVD runs. When running this, "The Solaris Installation Program" will be displayed across the top. However, NO ATTEMPT WILL BE MADE TO INSTALL SOLARIS. Using this option may take a fair amount of time on systems that have many network interfaces as it attempts a RARP on each one.2 - (Manual) This option will simply prompt for hostname, IP address, and subnet mask for each interface selected, along with the default route and DNS information. It will then use this (and only this) information to configure networking on the system.3 - (None) Skip the system configuration process altogether.h - (Help) Display this help screen.It makes sense to select 2 and configure network manually.
Hit enter to continue: 2Select the type of configuration to perform1 Auto system configuration2 Manual system configuration3 No system configurationh HelpEnter option: 2Enter terminal type [vt100]:** Manual network configuration starting **Enter hostname: suecdWill set hostname set to suecdSearching for network interfaces: [bge0] [bge1] [bge2] [bge3] doneProcess interface bge0 ([y]/n/q) ?Name: bge0IP address: 192.168.1.34Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0Information entered for bge0:Name: bge0IP address: 192.168.1.34Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0Is this correct ([y]/n) ?** Starting configuration **Configuring interface bge0Adding default routeadd net default: gateway 192.168.1.1** Manual network configuration complete **Note that the hostname selected here will overwrite the current hostname in ALOM as well.
Root password:
Please set a root password that will be used for the duration that theSolaris Utility Environment is booted. Setting a password here has no effecton what the root password is set to on the root disk of this machine. Pleasenote that hitting enter is an invalid response and won't set your rootpassword to nothing.New password:Re-enter new password:Warning: No valid boot disk found. Cannot mount root.Generating ssh keys...done.Activating network services - inetd telnet ftp ssh - done.Serial number has not been set with SNEEP.Enter system serial number (hit enter to skip):No serial number entered.The SUE main menu appears.
Assuming that you have used the ALOM console for the above, at this point you can ssh to the IP you selected and take over the screen session with 'screen -DR'.
*******************************************************************************Solaris Utility Environment version 3.27SunOS suecd 5.10 Generic_139555-08 sun4u sparc SUNW,Sun-Fire-V240Patched with EIS 26MAY09 System serial number: unknown********************************** Main Menu **********************************1) Invoke /bin/sh 11) Start Solaris Volume Manager2) Invoke /bin/ksh 12) Stop Solaris Volume Manager3) Invoke /bin/csh 13) Import ZFS pools4) Invoke /bin/bash 14) Device path decoder5) SunVTS 15) Run cediag on root disk6) Firmware menu 16) Run findaft on root disk7) Set dump device 17) Run findUE on root disk8) Clear dump device 18) Run fin954 on root disk9) Start Veritas Volume Manager 19) Run findfma10) Stop Veritas Volume Manager-------------------------------------------------------------------------------h) Halt system r) Reboot system d) Disable menu s) Help on GNU screenu) View SUE User's Guide-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Enter selection: 6*******************************************************************************Solaris Utility Environment version 3.27SunOS suecd 5.10 Generic_139555-08 sun4u sparc SUNW,Sun-Fire-V240Patched with EIS 26MAY09 System serial number: unknown******************************** Firmware Menu ********************************1) Disk 8) v1280/2900/Netra 12802) OBP/flash 9) LSI controllers3) Fibre Channel HBA 10) Jasper 320 LVD SCSI controller4) 880/890 disk backplane 11) sun4v system firmware5) ALOM 12) Adaptec SAS controller6) RSC 13) Auto firmware check7) LOM 14) Main menu-------------------------------------------------------------------------------h) Halt system r) Reboot system d) Disable menu s) Help on GNU screenu) View SUE User's Guide-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Enter selection: 2Patch: 121683Platform: SUNW,Sun-Fire-V240Patch version: 4.22.33System version: 4.16.6Upgrade available: yesThis update requires booting the flash image.Please modify any necessary jumper/keyswitch settings before attempting this.The boot command is now set to:reboot -- "/pci@1e,600000/ide@d/cdrom@0,0:f -F obp_archive -D/flash/SUNW,Sun-Fire-V240"Would you like to reboot with this image [y/n] ? yThe flash update program does a reset in OBP when it's done. The auto-boot?setting in NVRAM is currently set to true. This means that this system willend up booting off the device defined as boot-device (most likely the bootdisk) when it's done updating OBP.Would you like to set auto-boot? to false to prevent this from happeningand have the system drop to the OK prompt when it's done instead (y/n) ? nOct 18 19:47:56 suecd reboot: rebooted by root[screen is terminating]syncing file systems... donerebooting...As you can see, the above doesn't do much more than setting the boot device to the new firmware image on the CD.
The only thing you should take care of is making sure the power doesn't get cut during the flash procedure.
The flashing itself is very fast, approximately one minute.
Rebooting with command: boot /pci@1e,600000/ide@d/cdrom@0,0:f -F obp_archive -D /flash/SUNW,Sun-Fire-V240
Boot device: /pci@1e,600000/ide@d/cdrom@0,0:f File and args: -F obp_archive -D /flash/SUNW,Sun-Fire-V240
|Standalone Flash PROM Update Utility, Rev. 3.0 Ultra(tm) 1 ... Sun Fire (tm) V210/V240,Netra 240 ...This utility allows you to interactively update the firmwarerevisions in specific system Flash PROM components.Type h for help, q to quit, Return or Enter to continue:Every precaution should be taken to prevent the loss of systempower during the Flash PROM programming process!Type h for help, q to quit, Return or Enter to continue: Firmware Release(s) Firmware Release(s) Currently Existing in the System Available for Installation / Install?---------------------------------- -------------------------------------------OBP 4.16.6 2005/05/09 13:03 OBP 4.22.33 2007/06/18 12:45 no POST 4.22.33 2007/06/18 13:07 noType sa if you wish to select all available firmware releases forinstallation. Type h for help, quit to exit, or cont to continue: sa Firmware Release(s) Firmware Release(s) Currently Existing in the System Available for Installation / Install?---------------------------------- -------------------------------------------OBP 4.16.6 2005/05/09 13:03 OBP 4.22.33 2007/06/18 12:45 YES POST 4.22.33 2007/06/18 13:07 YESType sa if you wish to select all available firmware releases forinstallation. Type h for help, quit to exit, or cont to continue: contThe Flash programming process is about to begin.Type h for help, q to quit, Return or Enter to continue:Erasing the top half of the Flash PROM.Programming OBP into the top half of the Flash PROM.Verifying OBP in the top half of the Flash PROM.Erasing the bottom half of the Flash PROM.Programming OBP into the bottom half of Flash PROM.Verifying OBP in the bottom half of the Flash PROM.Erasing the top half of the Flash PROM.Programming POST into the top half of Flash PROM.Verifying POST in the top half of the Flash PROM.Programming was successful.Boot the CD again, setup network, login via TCPIP and select ALOM from Firmware Menu.
The ALOM service network connection will go down when the ALOM reboots.
Note that the ALOM requires the OBP be upgraded first, so follow this order.
The ALOM upgrade is slow, it takes 10 minute or so to complete.
SC Bootmon Version: 1.5.3SC Firmware Version: 1.5.3Available version: 1.6.9This will upgrade the ALOM/sc firmware to 1.6.9.Type c to continue or a to abort: c.................... (100%)Download completed successfullyPlease wait for verification..CompleteWaiting 60 seconds for the SC to reboot........................................... (6%)........................................ (12%)........................................ (18%)........................................ (25%)........................................ (31%)........................................ (37%)........................................ (44%)........................................ (50%)........................................ (56%)........................................ (63%)........................................ (69%)........................................ (75%)........................................ (81%)........................................ (88%)........................................ (94%).................................. (100%)Download completed successfullyPlease wait for verification......CompleteDone.Please wait a minute or two for the SC to finish booting.Hit enter to continue...After the ALOM has been up, you can setup SSH instead of telnet. Your network settings, passwords etc should be the same as before.