HP ProLiant BL660c HP ProLiant and Integrity Firmware Management Best Practice - Page 40

Use HP SUM to update between 1 and 100 targets concurrently. You can use HP SIM to update 10 or more targets concurrently. The HP SIM 7.0 release integrated HP SUM functionality into HP SIM as the primary deployment tool. Another advantage to using HP SUM is that it can work with non-server-based targets, such as the OA and VC, which the VCA cannot update. The SIM version control infrastructure has been redesigned to leverage HP SUM as the deployment mechanism to remove the requirement of an agent on each target and allows SIM to support firmware deployment to network-based devices such as the OA and VC. The first release of this new architecture was the SIM 6.0 release. 3 What about administrators who have invested time to understand HP SIM and, specifically, Version Control? The HP SUM technology was incorporated into SIM starting in the SIM 6.0 release as a new method of deploying software and firmware. This will still allow administrators who have invested in the VCRM to leverage that investment but will allow users to update firmware on non-server-based target devices. The VCRM catalog will continue to be updated for at least one year after HP SUM provides equivalent functionality compared to what is available today. Currently, the HP SUM equivalent functionality to all features of Version Control will not be completed for several releases. Plenty of advance notice will be given to administrators to allow them to plan and implement any changes needed to support the new SIM version control infrastructure. In most cases, the only change needed will be to remove the Version Control Agent from the servers after validating the new SIM version control infrastructure works in their environment. VCRM servers can still be leveraged, but are not required to support this new version control infrastructure. 4 Where do I obtain the HP Smart Update Manager User Guide? You can find the HP Smart Update Manager User Guide on the HP Smart Update Manager Information Library at http://www.hp.com/go/hpsum/documentation. 5 How can I leverage the HP SUM pull-from-web functionality when my data center cannot be connected to the Internet for security reasons? In this case, the only way to leverage the functionality is to execute HP SUM from a workstation that is dual-homed on a network with Internet access and to a management network. HP SUM can be executed on a Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7 workstation. The HP SUM remote deployment capabilities can update remote servers, OAs, VC modules, and iLOs. When leveraging the workstation, none of the servers are connected directly to the Internet. In this configuration, HP SUM pulls updates through the network connected to the Internet and deploys them on the management network. 6 Does the HP SUM CLI allow creation of a group from a file with a list of IP addresses or DNS names when the file is presented as a file name that is given as a CLI command-line parameter? HP SUM can accept an input file for the IP addresses and user credentials. The use current credentials option can be used with the CLI for Windows only (it's not clear text across the network) as current credentials are not available for Linux users. For more information on how to use this in your firmware deployments, see "HP SUM special considerations" (page 23). 7 What is the purpose of the dryrun scripting option? Its primary purpose is to test scripts called from the CLI approach to HP SUM. The dryrun feature in HP SUM is activated by using the /dryrun or --dryrun switch, which causes HP SUM to bypass the actual calling of the firmware smart components during installation and return SUCCESS. This mode is useful for validating when the targets are available, that credentials are valid, and that all of the network interfaces and ports are available for a successful firmware deployment. 40 FAQs