Configuring UAK Management settings

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You can configure UAK Management settings for IBM® ESA™ to verify and update the access keys for POWER8 systems.

About this task

POWER8 (and later) servers include an “update access key” (UAK) that is checked when system firmware updates are applied to the system. The access keys include an expiration date. If the calendar date is beyond the expiration date of update access key, the system firmware updates are not processed. IBM Electronic Service Agent updates these keys either manually or automatically.
  • While checking manually, the IBM ESA checks the expiration date, downloads, and uploads the latest access keys.
  • For automatic updates, the IBM ESA checks the expiration date of the access keys periodically, and updates with the latest access keys, only if the expiration date is less than 30 days.
Note:
  1. The UAK Management settings feature is applicable for POWER8 systems with firmware 840 and above versions.
  2. For the HMC controlled systems, HMC ESA will update the access keys, but not the stand-alone ESA that is installed on the Power Linux system.

You can configure UAK management settings by using the IBM Electronic Service Agent graphical user interface. To configure UAK management settings, follow these steps:

Procedure

  1. Access and log in to the IBM Electronic Service Agent graphical user interface.
  2. Click the Settings menu from left navigation.
  3. Click the UAK Management tab. The UAK Management Settings page is displayed.
  4. The Enable Update Access Key Checks option is enabled by default. When this option is enabled, ESA automatically checks for the expiration date of the access keys.
  5. Specify the frequency to the check expiration of the keys. By default, it is 7 days.
  6. Click Save Settings to enable automatic update of access keys. The table displays the POWER8 server on which ESA is installed.
    • Host Name - Displays the host name of the POWER8 system.
    • Processor Type - Displays the type of processor of the POWER8 system.
    • Access Key Expiration Date - Displays the expiry date of the access key.
    • Last Checked - Displays the time stamp at which the expiration date is checked.
  7. Click Perform Check to manually check the expiration date of the access key. It also downloads and updates the latest access key.