Levels of firmware on the HMC

Learn about the levels of server firmware and power subsystem firmware that are displayed on the HMC interface, such as current and backup levels, and the levels of server firmware and power subsystem firmware that you can download as updates to your system.

If you use an HMC to manage your server, you can use the HMC interface to view the levels of server firmware and power subsystem firmware that are installed on your server, and are available to download and install.

For information on recommended levels of system firmware and Hardware Management Console machine code, see the POWER5™ Code Matrix Web site.

Use the following information to find out about the levels of server firmware and power subsystem firmware on the server:

Existing levels of server firmware and power subsystem firmware

The server has the following levels of server firmware and power subsystem firmware installed:

Installed level: This is the level of server firmware or power subsystem firmware that has been installed and will be installed into memory after the managed system is powered off and powered on.
Activated level: This is the level of server firmware or power subsystem firmware that is active and running in memory.
Accepted level: This is the backup level of server or power subsystem firmware. You can return to this level of server or power subsystem firmware if you decide to remove the installed level.

The existing levels of server firmware or power subsystem firmware are displayed on the HMC interface as shown in the highlighted row in the following figure.

Note: The values shown in the following figure are used for example purposes only.

Figure 1. A panel from the HMC interface that highlights the levels of server firmware on the target system.

This diagram shows a panel from the HMC interface that highlights the levels of server firmware on the target system.

For instructions on how to view the levels of server firmware and power subsystem firmware, see Viewing existing firmware levels.

Available levels of server firmware and power subsystem firmware

When service and support releases server firmware and power subsystem firmware updates, you can view the available levels that can be downloaded and installed from each repository to your server.

The following figure highlights the retrievable level of server firmware and power subsystem firmware. See the detailed descriptions that follow the figure.

Note: The values shown in the following figure are used for example purposes only.

Figure 2. This diagram shows a panel from the HMC interface that highlights the retrievable disruptive level of server firmware and power subsystem firmware.

This diagram shows a panel from the HMC interface that highlights the retrievable disruptive level of server firmware and power subsystem firmware.

Retrievable disruptive activate level – This is the highest level of server or power subsystem firmware available at the selected repository. Activation of this level is a disruptive process. Therefore, you will be instructed to shut down all of the applications and logical partitions before initiating the installation. The managed system will be automatically returned to its original state at the end of the process.
Retrievable concurrent activate level – This is the highest level of server or power subsystem firmware available at the selected repository that can be retrieved, installed, and activated concurrently. Activation of this level is a concurrent process. Therefore, it is not necessary to shut down the logical partitions or the managed system before initiating the update, and it is not necessary to power on and off the managed system to activate the update.

For instructions on how to view the available levels of server firmware and power subsystem firmware, see Viewing available firmware (Licensed Internal Code) levels.