BMC Upgrade

BMC Version 12.41.13

Upgrading the BMC software is simple process but requires physical access to the system. Physical access is required as the power cables need to be disconnected after BMC upgrade has been completed.

Step 1) Version Check

Retrieve the current BMC version as follows

sudo ipmitool bmc info

Example output

fmadio@fmadio100v2-228U:/opt/fmadio/firmware/bmc$ sudo ipmitool bmc info
Device ID                 : 32
Device Revision           : 1
Firmware Revision         : 12.41
IPMI Version              : 2.0
Manufacturer ID           : 15370
Manufacturer Name         : Unknown (0x3C0A)
Product ID                : 308 (0x0134)
Product Name              : Unknown (0x134)
Device Available          : yes
Provides Device SDRs      : yes
Additional Device Support :
    Sensor Device
    SDR Repository Device
    SEL Device
    FRU Inventory Device
    IPMB Event Receiver
    IPMB Event Generator
    Chassis Device
Aux Firmware Rev Info     :
    0x0b
    0x00
    0x00
    0x00
fmadio@fmadio100v2-228U:/opt/fmadio/firmware/bmc$

The key value difference is shown below, the firmware gets upgraded to version 0xd shown below. If the system already shows version 0xd there is no need to upgrade the BMC software

Step 2) BMC Upgrade

Run the BMC update in the following directory

cd /opt/fmadio/firmware/bmc/

Then run the update program

sudo ./flash64.sh

Enter Y for preserve configuration settings.

The process will take several minutes to complete

fmadio@fmadio100v2-228U:/opt/fmadio/firmware/bmc$ sudo ./flash64.sh
chmod: gigaflash_x64: Read-only file system
chmod: socflash_x64: Read-only file system
gigaflash v1.6.3
Do you want to preserve configuration? (Y/n)
Y
Loading Firmware...
Update Firmware
Wait 90 seconds for BMC Ready...
fmadio@fmadio100v2-228U:/opt/fmadio/firmware/bmc$

Step 3) Power disconnect

Disconnect the AC power from the system. Wait for 1 minute

Step 4) Power Connect

Reconnect AC power to the system

Step 5) Boot BMC

Wait 5minutes for the BMC to fully reboot and host system boot

Step 6) Reboot host

Reboot the linux Host server

sudo reboot

Step 7) Confirm update

After host linux system has rebooted, Check BMC version is updated. It should show version 0xD per image below

sudo ipmitool bmc info

Step 8) Done

Update is complete

BMC Upgrade Version 12.61.01

BMC upgrade to version 12.60.39 resolves CVEs and makes possible boot without prompt when enabling full disk encryption.

From FW: 8940 the BMC firmware is located in

/opt/fmadio/firmware/bmc/

As the version jump from the factory installed to this version is very large, all BMC settings are lost durning the upgrade, and need to be set again.

This includes BMC Network information, meaning BMC network connectivity will be lost during this process

In addition BMC passwords and other items are also lost. The way to update this is via the FMADIO x86 Host system, where the host is always powered on enabling it to set the BMC Network settings and User passwords directly.

Step 1) setup UEFI on Boot partition

After updating the FMADIO Firmware the following files are located at

Copy the files as follows

sudo cp startup.nsh /mnt/system/

sudo cp -RL EFI /mnt/system/

NOTE: -L in the cp forces a literal copy (no sym links)

Step 2) Flash BMC

Start the BMC update process using the following commands on the FMADIO host system

cd /opt/fmadio/firmware/bmc/bmc/

sudo ./bmc_fw_update_linux.sh

Example output shown below, it will take about 5minutes to run.

Note the warning, Do you want preseve configuration, enter N

Step 3) BMC Version check

After the BMC is flashed and has rebooted confirm the new BMC version is 12.61.01 using the following command

sudo ipmitool bmc info

The output should look like the following

Step 4) BMC Network Config

Set the new network configuration information.

Set to use static ip per below

sudo ipmitool lan set 1 ipsrc static

Set a new IP address, netmask and gateway, replace addresses with the assigned BMC network address

sudo ipmitool lan set 1 ipaddr 192.168.2.173

sudo ipmitool lan set 1 netmask 255.255.255.0

sudo ipmitool lan set 1 defgw ipaddr 192.168.2.254

At this point the network should be reachable via ping, however the username password will be reverted to the default setting.

Confirm the network settings using the command

sudo ipmitool lan print

Example output is shown below

The BMC webpage should be accessible at this point.

Step 5) BMC User Password

The BMC update will delete all the settings, these need to be added back

First one is to set the admin password as follows, replacing "secret" with the password chosen

sudo ipmitool user set password 2 secret

After setting this, logging into the BMC using the admin account and above password.

Step 6) BMC Fan Profile

As all BMC settings are disabled, the first critical setting is a custom FAN profile. Usually this is set at the factory however it needs to be created again after the BMC update

Then copy the default fan profile as follows

The new fan profile is named "fmadio100v2" with the following settings. Ensure all CPU sensor and all FANs are selected

Click Save

Finally activate the profile

Step 7) Remote Media settings

Disable all remote media settings as follows

Step 8) BIOS Upgrade

BIOS update, bios update is located in

/opt/fmadio/firmware/bmc/bios_r23

Files look like the following

To update the BIOS run the command

sudo ./f.sh

It will take a few minutes to update, the console output looks like the following

Then power off the system + power it on

A full power off is required to load the new BIOS

Step 9) BIOS Settings

After BIOS update all settings are lost and need to be set-again, the system will fail to boot also as the BIOS settings have not been configured

Setting the Boot settings as follows

Advanced -> Trusted computing set the following

Advanced -> Serial Port Console

Advance -> PCIe Subsystem, configure as follows

Advanced -> Network Stack

Advance -> NVMe Configuration, configure as follows

Advanced -> Chipset Configuration

Boot configure as follows

Boot -> UEFI Application Boot Priorities

Save changes and exit

Step 10) System boot

System boot will look different as it now boots via UEFI, similar to the following.

After boot completation the usual prompt will be shown on both the VGA and Serial ports

Step 11 Done

The system should boot normally now without any BIOS password prompt.

Finished... horary.