HP Brocade 4Gb SAN Switch for HP BladeSystem p-Class - Manual (Page 78)

78 Maintaining configurations and firmware
Editing configuration files
Beginning with Fabric OS v4.2.0, the
portcfg
line in the configuration file for a brand new switch
contains 256 entries, regardless of the number of ports on the switch. This line length exceeds the
capacity of the vi editor. If you must edit a new configuration file, you can do so with the vim editor. Or,
be sure to perform a
portcfg
operation before attempting to edit the configuration file (because after
the
portcfg
operation, the
portcfg
line in the configuration file contains only as many entries as the
maximum number of ports on the switch).
Printing hard copies of switch information
HP recommends that you print a hard copy of all key configuration data, including license key
information for every switch, and store it in a safe and secure place for emergency reference. Print out the
information from the following commands, and store the printouts in a secure location:
•
configshow
displays configuration parameters and setup information, including license information.
•
ipaddrshow
displays the IP address.
•
licenseshow
displays the license keys you have installed and provides better detail than the license
information from the
configshow
command.
Depending on the security procedures of your company, you might also want to keep a record of the user
levels and passwords for all switches in the fabric. Access to this sensitive information should be limited.
Maintaining firmware
This section explains how to obtain and install firmware. Fabric OS v4.4.0 provides nondisruptive
firmware installation.
In most cases, you are to upgrade firmware; that is, install a newer firmware version than the one you are
currently running. However, some circumstances may require installing an older version; that is,
downgrading the firmware. The procedures in this section assume that you are upgrading firmware, but
they work for downgrading as well, provided the old and new firmware versions are compatible.
Using the CLI (or HP Advanced Web Tools), you can upgrade the firmware on one switch at a time. You
can use the optionally licensed HP Fabric Manager software tool to upgrade firmware simultaneously on
multiple switches. For more details on Fabric Manager and other licensed software tools, go to the HP
StorageWorks web site: http://www.hp.com/country/us/eng/prodserv/storage.html .
Obtaining and unzipping firmware
Firmware upgrades are available for customers with support service contracts and partners on the HP
StorageWorks web site: http://www.hp.com/country/us/eng/prodserv/storage.html .
The firmware is delivered in a compressed file that contains RPM packages with names defined in a
pfile
, a binary file that contains specific firmware information (timestamp, platform code, version, and
so forth) and the names of the packages of firmware to be downloaded. You must unzip the firmware
(using the UNIX
tar
or
gzip
command, or a Windows unzip program) before you can use the
firmwaredownload
command to update the firmware on your equipment.
When you unpack the downloaded firmware it expands into a directory that is named according to the
version of Fabric OS it contains. For example, if you download and unpack
Fabric OS v4.4.0.zip
,
it expands into a directory called
v4.4.0
. When you use the firmwaredownload command, you specify
the path to the
v4.4.0
directory and append the keyword
release.plist
to the path.