Understanding concurrent firmware maintenance using the HMC

Learn about performing concurrent firmware maintenance using the HMC.

Concurrent firmware maintenance allow you to apply firmware updates on a running system without shutting down and restarting logical partitions, servers, or stopping applications. However, not every firmware update is concurrent.

To perform concurrent activation requires an HMC, and updates through the operating system will still be disruptive.

Currently, server firmware fixes can be concurrent or disruptive. Power subsystem fixes are concurrent with respect to server operations. HMC machine code is updated in a separate fixpack. The HMC machine code fixes are concurrent with respect to the managed systems.

Only fixes within a release can be (but are not guaranteed to be) concurrent.

The release level is indicated by the three numbers after "SF" in the level name. For example, in the firmware level SF230_126, the release level is 230.
Installing a newer release is always disruptive. For example, if the server has SF225 installed, and you install SF230, the installation will be disruptive (the managed system will be shut down and restarted).

To update firmware, you will be performing the following steps:

Apply the firmware (update what is in flash).
Activate the firmware (cause the new firmware to be running on the system).

Not all fixes can be activated concurrently. The types of activations include:

Concurrent: Apply and activate with partitions running.
Deferred: Concurrent activation but contains fixes that affect the initial program load (IPL) path, which are not activated until the next time you shut down and restart the server.
Note: The portions of the fix that can be activated concurrently are activated as described earlier.
Disruptive: Platform shutdown and restart is required; that is, none of the fixes contents are activated until the next time you shut down and restart the server.

For more information on concurrent fixes, refer to the Performing Licensed Internal Code Maintenance module in IBM^® Resource Link™.