Dell Equalogic PS6000 - How to upgrade Array firmware and Hard Disk

Luciano PatrãoICT Senior Infraestructure  Engineer  
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vExpert vSAN, NSX, Cloud Provider, Veeam Vanguard, Virtual Backups, and Storage design, and an active blogger.
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How to update Firmware and Bios in Dell Equalogic PS6000 Arrays and Hard Disks firmware update.
In this article we talk about how to update the firmware (Arrays and disks) of a Dell Equalogic PS6000.
 

Since this disks firmware needs at least Array firmware 6.x version and we are running 7.x, I decided to update the disk first, then update the Arrays firmware to 8x. So in this article we will examine upgrading the firmware for the PS6000 to version 8.1.1(V8-1-1-R417753), from version 7.1.4 and our Hard Disks (Seagate) to v9 (V9.0_DriveFw_2663786033).
 

First we will check if our Hard Disks(HD) are in the list for this firmware upgrade. Check the Dell update document (in our case for this version was 110-6044-R13_DriveFW_UPD.pdf) and look for your HD model. We can do this in two ways One using the GUI, other using Array console.

Using GUI:

Connect to your Array Group IP in your browser and choose Group, Member and then Array member name and tab Disks.

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As we can see in the above image we have HD firmware version KD08 and PD04, depending of the HD model.

If we want to check this in the console(CLI) we need to connect to the Group Manager IP address trough SSH or FTP.

Note: If you will do the following tasks(Upload files and update Disks) manually, connect on member level, not Group Level. So that we can update Disks(and also Array) only the member we are working.  So connect through an IP address assigned to a network interface on the array (for example, Ethernet port 0). Do not connect to the group IP address.

Using CLI – Issue these commands:

# Member select (groupname)
                      # Disk select 1
                      
                      # Show
                      
                      # xxx-xxx-grp0> member select xxx-xxx-02
                      # xxx-xxx-grp0(member_xxx-xxx-02)> disk select 1
                      # xxx-xxx-grp0(member_xxx-xxx-02 disk_1)> show

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Screen-2BShot-2B03-09-16-2Bat-2B11.5.PNG 

As we can see in the image GUI above we have different HD with models, so double check all your disks in the document.

Example for a second disk:

# xxx-xxx-grp0> member select xxx-xxx-02
                      # xxx-xxx-grp0(member_xxx-xxx-02)> disk select 2

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Screen-2BShot-2B03-09-16-2Bat-2B12.0.PNG 

After we double check everything we can now upload our HD firmware file to the Array to run the update.

We can just use ftp to the array and upload the files, or use a tool like WinSCP(my prefer option) and just upload the files to the Array root.
 

After your files are in the Array, connect to the Array console (if you did not use ftp to upload the files) and just run the command " update". The array will automatically pickup the file that you uploaded to the root.

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As we can see update find 16 HD that can be updated, so click "Y" and continue to confirm the update. Note: This disks firmware update will not stop or disruption any of the storage and volumes. Update finished for this array:

Screen-2BShot-2B03-09-16-2Bat-2B12.2.PNG 

Lets just have a quick look at the HD we updated in the GUI

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Now our HD have firmware KD0A and PD0A for the different models. After we update our HD we should and will update the Equalogic Firmware Array.
 

NOTE: Before we start this section, updating Array firmware demands a reboot of the Array. So only start this tasks if you are able to reboot your Array system after the Firmware update. Again this can be done in two ways, one with the GUI or in the console (CLI). Since we have 2 Arrays, we will update one with the GUI and the other with the console (CLI).

Using GUI:

Connect to your Array Group IP in your browser and choose Group, Member and then Array member name and tab Maintenance.

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As we can see in the above image we have Firmware V7.1.4 and will update to v8.1.1. Check your Array firmware and then compare to this list HERE. Check if your firmware is upgradable to this new version (or other), or if you need first go to a lower version and then go for the latest version. Firmware Downloads and documentation you can check HERE.
 

Note: You need a Dell Support login to download the files and also the documentation or the version matrix. Here is very easy, just click in the button "Update Firmware" and we will get a safety box to confirm your password

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Enter you grpadmin and continue to choose the member that you want to update and also to upload the firmware file.

Screen-2BShot-2B03-18-16-2Bat-2B04.0.PNG
Adding the file(that we downloaded in the above section) the the system is recognize that both member can be updated(last column). So we will choose the member xxx-xxx-02 to update with the GUI. Just click "Update select members" to upload the file to member and start the firmware update.

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After your update will start and will take some minutes. After the update is finish you see a warning in the bottom of the GUI informing that the Array needs to be restarted.

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Note: The firmware update will only effective after the reboot.

Using CLI – Issue these commands:

Again we need to connect to the Group Manager IP address trough SSH or FTP.
 

Note: Also again we need to connect through an IP address assigned to a network interface on the array (for example, Ethernet port 0). Do not connect to the group IP address. In this case we will connect to Array 03 and we will choose the IP address of the eth0 from that Array Interface.
 

First lets check the Array version before do the upgrade or upload the files. After connected to the Group Array we display all members Array and then select what we will work(in this case xxx-xxx-03)

# xxx-xxx-grp0> member show
                      # xxx-xxx-grp0> member select xxx-xxx-03
                      # xxx-xxx-grp0(member_xxx-xxx-03)> show

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Screen-2BShot-2B03-18-16-2Bat-2B04.3.PNG
As we can see in the image above we have both Array and the full information for the one we choose. After you double check the versions and check the Dell Matrix for firmware updates you can start to upload the files to the Array. Like the in the HD we need to upload the files to the Array (will use again the WinSCP for this task). After the file is uploaded (in our case was the kit_V8.1.1-R417753_666488616.tgz) we just type "update" in the console. You will get the information about the firmware versions and then just type "y"

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After this the manually update will start. You can again check the % process of the firmware update in GUI

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When if finish you see this messages in the console
 

## Update completed successfully.
                      ## The firmware update will take effect when the array is restarted. 
                      
                      ## To restart the array, enter the restart command at the CLI prompt.

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In this case we will restart the Array right away.

# xxx-xxx-grp0> restart

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There is new firmware in the update area.
                      
                      As part of applying the new firmware, the active and secondary control 
                      modules will switch roles.  Therefore, the current active control module 
                      will become the secondary after the firmware is applied.
                      
                      Would you like to load the firmware now? (yes/no) [no] yes
                      
                      The process will take a while, since the Group Interface controller will change to the other Array.
                      
                      17:24:12 Verifying new firmware integrity.
                      17:25:40
                      17:25:40 PLEASE NOTE:
                      17:25:40 The restart process may take up to approximately 10 minutes.
                      17:25:40 During the restart process, do not restart or power down the array.
                      17:25:40
                      17:25:40 Start update of flash memory on secondary controller.
                      17:25:43 Setting cache to write through
                      17:25:52 Update of flash memory on secondary controller completed.
                      17:25:52 Restarting secondary controller.
                      17:26:12 Waiting for secondary controller to restart...
                      ###... some line for 10/15 times until the controller is restarted.
                       17:27:35 Waiting for secondary controller to restart...
                      17:27:41 Secondary controller successfully restarted.  Start secondary control module synchronization.
                      17:27:41 Waiting for secondary control module synchronization...
                      17:28:01 Waiting for secondary control module database synchronization...
                      17:28:33 iSCSI PR PPool synchronization ..
                      17:28:33 Waiting for iSCSI PR PPool synchronization...
                      17:28:34 Secondary controller successfully updated.  Transition current active controller to secondary controller.
                      17:28:36 Restarting active controller to complete the update.

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After this we have our Dell Equalogic PS6000 upgraded. As you can see here in this image both have the update firmware (meanwhile I rebooted the second Array)

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Hope this article will help you updating your Dell Equalogic PS6000 (or other versions, since the procedure is similar).

This is the part of my "TIP Articles". So, please vote "Helpful" on this Article. And I encourage your comments and feedback.
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Luciano PatrãoICT Senior Infraestructure  Engineer  
CERTIFIED EXPERT
vExpert vSAN, NSX, Cloud Provider, Veeam Vanguard, Virtual Backups, and Storage design, and an active blogger.

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