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How to do Firmware update 100% remotely? Without a USB drive

KHern6
Beginner
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Im unable to go physically and put in my USB drive to upgrade my servers' Firmware therefore i need to do it without the USB

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JoseH_Intel
Moderator
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Hello KHern6,

 

Thank you for joining the community.

 

Could you please tell what server model or server board you need to update the BIOS at? This is important in order to download the correct file. Being said that there are a couple ways you can try to do a remote BIOS update.

1. You can do a remote session through BMC which will give you access to out of band management

2. You can try using the One-Boot Flash Update (OFU) utility. This will allow you to do the firmware update from the OS taking full effect after a reboot

 

Regards

 

Jose A.

Intel Customer Support

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KHern6
Beginner
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Hi Jose,

Could you please send me a guide or anything similar you have on using the OFU utility?

Thank you,

 

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JoseH_Intel
Moderator
748 Views

Hello KHern6,

 

Sure. You can follow this document. It details the procedure step by step.

 

Hope it helps

 

Jose A.

Intel Customer Support

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JoseH_Intel
Moderator
748 Views

Hello KHern6,

 

I am just following up to double-check if you found the provided information useful. If you have further questions please don't hesitate to ask. If you consider the issue to be completed please let us know so we can proceed to mark this ticket as resolved. This support interaction will be marked as resolved automatically in the next 72 hours if no activity is received. 

 

Regards

 

Jose A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

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JoseH_Intel
Moderator
748 Views

Hello KHern6,

 

We will proceed to mark this thread as resolved. If you have further issues or questions just go ahead and create a new topic.

 

Regards

 

Jose A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

For firmware updates and troubleshooting tips, visit:

https://intel.com/support/serverbios

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JoseH_Intel
Moderator
748 Views

Hello KHern6,

 

The following instructions are taken from the One-boot flash update utility Release Notes: The instructions on the OFU user guide are pretty much the same. You can also follow this video tutorial from minute 4:41 it talks about the OFU update process

 

Windows*

  

   Installation:

   ------------

     1. Copy the OFU zip package to local folder.

     2. Unzip to local folder (example: .\flashupdt). Go to flashupdt folder (cd Flashupdt).

     3. Go to the "Drivers\win" folder, choose x86 or x64 (depending on the operating system).

     4. Run "install.cmd" as administrator to install drivers.

     5. Go to "Win_x86" or "Win_x64" folder to execute flashupdt utility (depending on the operating system). Run flashupdt.exe as administrator.

     6. Now you can run command with options (example: "flashupdt -u /tmp/flashupdt.cfg")

     7. For HTTP and FTP based updates please download curl.exe from https://curl.haxx.se/download.html and copy to the same folder which contains flashupdt.exe.

       

 

   Uninstallation:

   ---------------

     1. Run uninstall.cmd to uninstall all the drivers.

     2. Delete the Flashupdt folder.

 

Linux*

  

   I. RPM Installation:

      -----------------

  

        1. Copy flashupdt rpm from "Linux_x64" folder (for RHEL(older than 8.0) or SLES) or from "Linux_x64/RHEL/RHEL8" folder (for RHEL 8.0) to local folder.

        2. If there is another version already has been installed previously, uninstall that version first before installing the new version.

        3. Install flashupdt utility by using "rpm -ivh flashupdtxx.rpm". This will install the utility in "/usr/bin/flashupdt/".

        4. On RHEL/SLES after installing the rpm close the terminal from which rpm was installed and then execute utility from a new terminal (example: "# flashupdt -u /tmp/flashupdt.cfg").

        5. For HTTP and FTP based updates please execute the utility from "/usr/bin/flashupdt/" as 'chaff2l.sh' file is needed for HTTP and FTP based updates.

    

      RPM Uninstallation:

      -------------------

        1. To uninstall the utility use "rpm -e flashupdt" command.

 

 

  II. Regular Installation:

      ---------------------

  

        1. Copy the OFU zip package (for RHEL or SLES) to local folder.

        2. Unzip to local folder (example: .\flashupdt). Go to flashupdt folder (cd flashupdt).

        3. # chmod 755 install.sh and # chmod 755 flashupdt

        4. Install the utility using the command: "#./install.sh"

        5. Go to the RHEL or SLES directory (based on operating system).

   - To run utility on RHEL8, please go to RHEL/RHEL8 directory.

        6. # chmod 755 chaff2l.sh.

        7. Unzip the file flashupdt.zip to get flashupdt executable for Linux* OS

        8. Now you can run command with options (example: "# ./flashupdt -u /tmp/flashupdt.cfg")

 

      Regular Uninstallation:

      -----------------------

        1. Delete the Flashupdt folder using rm -rf Flashupdt command.

 

III. DEB Installation:

      ---------------------

      1. dpkg -i xxxx.deb

 

      DEB Uninstallation:

      ---------------------

      1. dpkg -r flashupdt

 

6. Usage

--------

      Syntax:  flashupdt [-h] [-i]  [-u {URL or path of update package}]

 

      -h : (or -?) Display command line help.

      -i : Displays the current BIOS, BMC, and SDR versions of the system.

           This option can also be used in conjunction with -u to display

           the version information contained in the update package files.

      -u : Updates the BIOS, BMC and SDR as specified in the CFG file.

           The URL or path, if any, of the update package must immediately

           follow this option.  The package files can reside on a local

           drive. The current directory is used if no location is specified.

     

     -set: Sets different FRU area as below

flashupdt /set "area name" "frufield" "value"

            Were "area name" can be "product" or "chassis" depending on the FRU area to be modified.

            The following are the FRU field parameters.

            Pn - indicates product name

            Pver - indicates product version

            Pnum - indicates the part number

            Snum - indicates the serial number

            Mn - indicates the manufacturer name

            At - asset tag

            Note:  For the chassis area, the fields "at", "pn" and "pver" are not supported.

 

    -u fru <FRU file name>: Will do a direct update of platform specific FRU file.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Jose A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

For firmware updates and troubleshooting tips, visit:

https://intel.com/support/serverbios

 

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JoseH_Intel
Moderator
748 Views

Hello KHern6,

 

I am just following up to double-check if you found the provided information useful. If you have further questions please don't hesitate to ask. If you consider the issue to be completed please let us know so we can proceed to mark this ticket as resolved. This support interaction will be marked as resolved automatically in the next 3 business days if no activity is received. 

 

Regards

 

Jose A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

For firmware updates and troubleshooting tips, visit:

https://intel.com/support/serverbios

 

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JoseH_Intel
Moderator
748 Views

Hello KHern6,

 

We will proceed to mark this thread as resolved. If you have further issues or questions just go ahead and create a new topic.

 

Regards

 

Jose A.

Intel Customer Support Technician

For firmware updates and troubleshooting tips, visit:

https://intel.com/support/serverbios

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