iLO Software/Firmware update service

The Redfish standard schema package DSP8010 version 2016.2 introduced the UpdateService schema, enabling firmware and software inventory, and simple firmware updates. The iLO Update Service is conformant with the UpdateService schema, but significantly expands the capabilities to include a component repository, an update queue, and install sets.

Concepts and Terms

Redfish Update Service Operations

The Update Service is available as a link (UpdateService) from the Redfish root endpoint (/redfish/v1/).

Firmware and Software Inventory

Firmware and software inventories are grouped in the SoftwareInventoryCollection. This collection provides the FirmwareInventory and the SoftwareInventory URIs containing respectively the list of firmware and software URIs.

It is possible to fetch the entire collection (firmware and software inventories) with one GET operation and the $expand OData query, or using the iLOrest command line tool. See example below.

Firmware and Software inventory items conforms to the Redfish SoftwareInventory schema.

Firmware and Software inventory items are respectively located at at /redfish/v1/UpdateService/FirmwareInventory/{item} and /redfish/v1/UpdateService/SoftwareInventory/{item}.

GET /redfish/v1/UpdateService/?$expand=.

ilorest login ilo-ip -u ilo-user -p password
ilorest select SoftwareInventoryCollection.
ilorest get --json
ilorest logout

[
  {
    "@odata.context": "/redfish/v1/$metadata#SoftwareInventoryCollection.SoftwareInventoryCollection",
    "@odata.etag": "W/\"A3D58239\"",
    "@odata.id": "/redfish/v1/UpdateService/FirmwareInventory/",
    "@odata.type": "#SoftwareInventoryCollection.SoftwareInventoryCollection",
    "Description": "Firmware Inventory Collection",
    "Members": [
      {
        "@odata.id": "/redfish/v1/UpdateService/FirmwareInventory/1/"
      },
      {
        "@odata.id": "/redfish/v1/UpdateService/FirmwareInventory/2/"
      },
      {
        "@odata.id": "/redfish/v1/UpdateService/FirmwareInventory/3/"
      },
      {
        "@odata.id": "/redfish/v1/UpdateService/FirmwareInventory/25/"
      },
      {
        "@odata.id": "/redfish/v1/UpdateService/FirmwareInventory/26/"
      },
      {
        "@odata.id": "/redfish/v1/UpdateService/FirmwareInventory/27/"
      }
    ],
    "Members@odata.count": 27,
    "Name": "Firmware Inventory Collection"
  },
  {
    "@odata.context": "/redfish/v1/$metadata#SoftwareInventoryCollection.SoftwareInventoryCollection",
    "@odata.etag": "W/\"E589C4BF\"",
    "@odata.id": "/redfish/v1/UpdateService/SoftwareInventory/",
    "@odata.type": "#SoftwareInventoryCollection.SoftwareInventoryCollection",
    "Description": "Software Inventory Collection",
    "Members": [
      {
        "@odata.id": "/redfish/v1/UpdateService/SoftwareInventory/1/"
      },
      {
        "@odata.id": "/redfish/v1/UpdateService/SoftwareInventory/2/"
      },
      {
        "@odata.id": "/redfish/v1/UpdateService/SoftwareInventory/3/"
      }
    ],
    "Members@odata.count": 3,
    "Name": "Software Inventory Collection"
  }
]

SimpleUpdate Action

The SimpleUpdate action with the ImageURI parameter causes iLO to fetch an image from a web server and flash it directly. Only certain types of images may be supplied, including iLO firmware binaries and UEFI firmware binaries. Smart Components are not supported.

POST /redfish/v1/UpdateService/Actions/UpdateService.SimpleUpdate/

{
  "ImageURI": "https://192.168.1.46/kits/U32_2.68_07_14_2022.signed.flash"
}

HttpPushUri

The HttpPushUri property indicates the URI to POST a firmware component that iLO can flash. Only certain types of images may be supplied including iLO firmware binaries and UEFI firmware binaries. Smart Components are not supported.

The POST must be of Content-Type: "multipart/form-data"

-----------------------------64062213329524
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="sessionKey"

<value of X-Auth-Token here>

-----------------------------64062213329524
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="<component-filename>";
filename="<component-filename>"
Content-Type: application/octet-stream

<binary image>

iLO validates the uploaded binary image and flashes any applicable targets immediately. If the update is for iLO itself, iLO automatically resets at the end of the flash process and activates the new firmware upon restart.

Software and Firmware Management Flow

Evaluating Current Software and Firmware Inventory to iLO Repository Components

This is the general pseudo-code to correlate applicable updates in the iLO Repository to updatable items from the inventory.

1. Use the FirmwareInventory and SoftwareInventory data to evaluate the current software and firmware running on the server.

for component in /redfish/v1/updateservice/componentrepository:
    for inventory_item in /redfish/v1/updateservice/firmwareinventory:
    
        # if "DeviceClass" is populated in the inventory item
        if DeviceClass in inventory_item:
            # if present and not matching, move along
            if component.DeviceClass != inventory_item.DeviceClass:
                continue
                
        # if we made this this far, either inventory item doesn't have
        DeviceClass or they match for target in component.Targets:
            if target in item.Oem.Hpe.Targets:
                return inventory_item, component # return correlated

1. Upload new components to the iLO Repository
2. Create or modify Install Sets to bundle multiple components in the iLO Repository into an ordered list of update operations.
3. Create Maintenance Windows to specify pre-determined time ranges for update tasks to be executed.
4. Create tasks individually or Invoke an Install Set to populate the task list. Use either a time range for each task or specify a Maintenance Window to automatically associate the timed window with the created tasks.
5. Monitor update operations and handle any errors
6. (Optional) Remove any completed Tasks, Maintenance Windows, Install Sets, or components that are no longer required.

Software and Firmware Management Operations

iLO Repository

The iLO Repository is a persistent storage location for update components including Smart Component files (.EXE, .RPM, etc.), as well as raw binary files (.BIN). Additions to the repository require a digital signature for iLO to verify the integrity and authenticity of the component. For raw .BIN files, this information is contained within the file. For Smart Components, the information is in a separate Component Signature file (.compsig) that must be supplied when adding a component.

The Repository is available in the REST API as a child of the Update Service.

1. GET root ( /redfish/v1/ ).
2. GET the destination of the UpdateService link.
3. GET the destination of the Oem/Hpe/ComponentRepository link.

Additions to the repository are made via the UpdateService actions. Removals are made by using DELETE on repository collection members.

Upload Components

See details on the HttpPushUri in the Update Service resource first. The upload process can alternatively be used to add components to the iLO Repository. As with update, the POST must be a multipart/form-data.

    # build the HTTP headers
    # 'Content-Type': 'multipart/form-data',
    headers = {'Accept': 'application/json',
               'Expect':'',
               'OData-Version': '4.0',
               'X-Auth-Token': sessionkey,
               'Cookie': 'sessionKey=' + sessionkey}

-----------------------------64062213329524
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="sessionKey"

<value of X-Auth-Token here>

-----------------------------64062213329524
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="parameters"
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "UploadCurrentEtag": "<client-defined-string>",
}

-----------------------------64062213329524
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="compsig"; filename="compsig-filename"
Content-Type: application/octet-stream

<binary content of component signature file>

-----------------------------64062213329524
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="file"; filename="component-filename"
Content-Type: application/octet-stream

<binary content of component file>

The new compsig part enables the client to push the component signature file with the payload.

The parameters part enables clients to add parameters to the upload like execution parameters.

'parameters' part in multi-part POST

The following parameters may be specified in a JSON object as part of the upload. All parameters are optional and the 'Parameters' multi-part may be optional.

{
  "UploadCurrentEtag": "<client-defined-string>",
  "UpdateRepository": true,
  "UpdateTarget": true
}

{
  "UploadCurrentEtag": "<client-defined-string>"
}

Waiting for Uploads to Complete

After uploading the component, iLO must verify and write the contents to the repository. The client may track this progress by polling on Oem/Hpe/State property in the UpdateService. Values are:

The client should wait for Complete before progressing.

Inventory Components in iLO Repository

The iLO Repository is a collection that supports the $expand operation. Perform a GET operation on the collection and its members to inventory the repository.

Available data for each member includes:

Remove Components

Perform a DELETE operation on the repository collection member to remove it from the repository.

Free Space

The free and total space of the iLO Repository in bytes is available as part of the Repository Collection.

GET /redfish/v1/UpdateService/ComponentRepository/?$select=Oem/Hpe/FreeSizeBytes, Oem/Hpe/TotalSizeBytes

{
    "@odata.context": "/redfish/v1/$metadata#HpeComponentCollection.HpeComponentCollection",
    "@odata.etag": "W/\"E873D0A8\"",
    "@odata.id": "/redfish/v1/UpdateService/ComponentRepository/",
    "@odata.type": "#HpeComponentCollection.HpeComponentCollection",
    "Oem": {
        "Hpe": {
            "FreeSizeBytes": 850460672,
            "TotalSizeBytes": 1073168384
        }
    }
}

Correlating Components with Current Software and Firmware Version Inventory

There is not a one-to-one correspondence between installed firmware or software and update components. For example, a component might carry firmware for several network controllers.

This algorithm shows how to correlate current version inventory with available components:

for component in componentrepository:
    for inventory_item in inventory:

        # if "DeviceClass" is populated in the inventory item
        if DeviceClass in inventory_item:
            # if present and not matching, move along
            if component.DeviceClass != inventory_item.DeviceClass:
                continue

        # if we made this this far, either inventory item doesn't have DeviceClass or they match
        for target in component.Targets:
            if target in item.Oem.Hpe.Targets:
                return inventory_item, component # return correlated

Tasks

Update Agents and Strong Queue Order

Different updates must be performed in different ways:

• Using iLO over the management network
• Using UEFI BIOS when the server power is ON
• Using SUM when under an Operating System

The UpdateableBy property indicates which "update agent" may perform the update.

For an update to be applied to a running operating system, SUM or SUT must run on the OS. SUM/SUT checks for pending tasks that include RuntimeAgent in the UpdateableBy property.

For an update to be applied during UEFI POST, UEFI checks for pending tasks that include Uefi in the UpdateableBy property.

For an update to be applied any time by iLO, iLO checks for pending tasks that include Bmc in the UpdateableBy property. Note that items that are updateable by iLO are never marked as updatable by any other agent.

Because of the strong ordering of the task queue, updaters do not bypass another pending item or exception item to find something to update. This can result in task queue stalls. For example, if the top of the queue is marked as Uefi update, and the second item is marked RuntimeAgent, SUM/SUT won't process their item until the system has rebooted, and UEFI has processed its top item.

Updaters process the queue in order, looking at the task state:

Creating Update Tasks

Create a new Task resource to schedule update tasks. POST a new task object to the tasks collection pointed to by UpdateService Oem/Hpe/UpdateTaskQueue:

{
  "Name": "Unique Client supplied friendly name of this task item.",
  "UpdatableBy": [
    "Uefi",
    "RuntimeAgent"
 ],
  "Command": "ApplyUpdate",
  "Component": "<component-name>",
  "TPMOverride": true
}

{
  "Name": "Unique Client supplied friendly name of this task item.",
  "UpdatableBy": [
  "Bmc"
  ],
  "Command": "ApplyUpdate",
  "Component": "<component-name>"
}

This creates a new task in the Pending state at the end of the queue. If it assigned to the Bmc and is at the top of the queue, iLO starts operating on it immediately. Otherwise, the new task is operated on as soon as an updater runs and finds the new task.

Creating Scheduled Tasks

A client may specify a time window for a task. Time is always relative to iLO's clock. Two options exist for creating scheduled tasks: explicit time ranges or Maintenance Windows.

Explicit Time Range: Include StartAfter and Expire in Task Create POST

StartAfter and Expire are two times that can be included in the task create POST operation. You may specify either or both. Each must be formatted as an ISO 8601 time string.

Tasks in the Pending state will not begin execution until iLO time is after StartAfter. If for some reason an update does not start and remains in a Pending state until after the Expire time, it will never be executed and the State will be Expired. This can happen for instance if a task is to be executed by UEFI and no reboot happens during the time window.

Maintenance Window

See the section on Maintenance Windows later for more details on the use of Maintenance Windows.

If a client creates a Maintenance Window, this window may be specified (by Id) in the creation of a task.

Maintenance Window example

{
    "Name": "Unique Client supplied friendly name of this task item.",
    "UpdatableBy": [
    "Bmc"
  ],
    "Command": "ApplyUpdate",
    "Component": "<component-name>",
    "MaintenanceWindow": "<maintence-window-id>"
}

Creating Wait Tasks

Wait tasks can be used to insert time between two other tasks. The UpdatableBy property should contain only one update agent chosen based upon the updater that needs the time.

Example that causes UEFI to Wait for 30 seconds:

{
  "Name": "Pause 30 seconds",
  "UpdatableBy": [
  "Uefi"
  ],
  "Command": "Wait",
  "WaitTimeSeconds": 30
}

WaitTimeSeconds can be in the range 0-3600 seconds.s

Retiring and Removing Tasks

The REST client that creates an update task is expected to DELETE the task upon completion after the final status/log information is obtained.

Tasks are removed by performing a DELETE operation on the task collection member. The entire queue can be cleared by deleting all tasks. InProgress tasks should not be deleted even though the REST API will allow it. This might be useful if the task list is stalled and needs to be cleared.

HPE iLO automatically removes completed tasks (State is Complete) after 24 hours but tasks in any other state are not removed.

Handling Exceptions

If a task cannot complete it will report a State value of Exception. Tasks in this state do not automatically clear and require attention to clear. You may remove the task and re-add it later if there is a condition corrected that improves its chances of executing to completion.

Stalls in the Task Queue

Tasks can be added to the task queue that cannot execute to completion. In this case, the task queue might stall waiting for attention or the appropriate updater to execute. Examples may include the following:

• A task requires the UEFI BIOS to execute it ( Uefi ). In this case the task does not execute until the server is rebooted.
• A task requires SUM or SUT to execute it ( RuntimeAgent ). In this case the task does not execute until either SUM or SUT is executed on the server. If neither is installed, the task waits forever.
• A task might result in an exception state. In this case, the task will remain in the queue and no further tasks will be executed until the Task Queue is cleared and reset.
• A task may be scheduled to execute during a time range in the past or in the future.

Maintenance Windows

Tasks can be created and Install Sets invoked with either an explicit time range (specifying StartAfter and Expire times) or by referring by Id to a Maintenance Window.

The Maintenance Window collection is pointed to by UpdateService Oem/Hpe/MaintenanceWindows:

A special feature of Maintenance Windows is that any task associated with a Maintenance Window may be rescheduled by PATCHing the Maintenance Window instead of modifying multiple tasks.

Creating Maintenance Windows

POST a new object to the Maintenance Window collection:

{
    "Name": "unique name of the Maintenance Window.",
    "StartAfter": "ISO 8601 Redfish-style time string of earliest execution - null for no start time specified",
    "Expire": "ISO 8601 Redfish-style time string after which we will automatically change state to Expired - null for no expire time"
}

Any of these properties may be PATCHed to modify an existing Maintenance Window.

Referring to Maintenance Windows

Each Maintenance Window has an Id string property. Use this value with the MaintenanceWindow property when creating a task or invoking an install set.

Removing Maintenance Windows

Maintenance Windows are removed by performing a DELETE operation on the Maintenance Window member.

Maintenance Windows will eventually be outdated with times in the past and should be removed.

Install Sets

Create a new install set resource to create Install Sets. POST a new install set object to the install set collection pointed to by UpdateService Oem/Hpe/InstallSets:

Creating Install Sets

POST a new install set object to the install set collection:

{
    "Name": "unique name of the install set.",
    "IsRecovery": false,
    "Sequence": 
    [
        {
            "Name": "Client supplied friendly name of this task item.",
            "UpdatableBy": 
      [
                "Uefi",
                "RuntimeAgent"
            ],
            "Command": "ApplyUpdate",
            "Filename": "Name of the file as it apperars in the repository."        
        }
    ]
}

Invoking Install Sets

Install Sets are invoked by performing the Invoke action on the install set member item. The Invoke action has no parameters.

Invoking an install set causes iLO to append the task queue with new tasks, each corresponding to the items in the Sequence array.

POST /redfish/v1/updateservice/installsets/{id}/Actions/
HpeComponentInstallSet.Invoke
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "ClearTaskQueue": true,
}

Scheduled Install Sets

A client may specify a time window for an Install Set. Time is always relative to iLO's clock. Two options exist for creating scheduled tasks: explicit time ranges or Maintenance Windows.

Explicit Time Range: Include StartAfter and Expire in Invoke

StartAfter and Expire are two times that can be included in Invoke Action. You may specify either or both. Each must be formatted as an ISO 8601 time string.

Each task in the Install Set is created with this explicit time range. Tasks in the Pending state do not begin execution until iLO time is after StartAfter. If for some reason an update does not start and remains in a Pending state until after the Expire time, it is never executed and the state gets Expired. This can happen, for instance, if UEFI executes a task and no reboot happens during the time window.

POST /redfish/v1/updateservice/installsets/{id}/Actions/
HpeComponentInstallSet.Invoke
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "ClearTaskQueue": true,
  "StartAfter": "ISO 8601 Redfish-style time string of earliest execution - null for no start time specified",
  "Expire": "ISO 8601 Redfish-style time string after which we will automatically change state to Expired - null for no expire time"
}

Maintenance Windows

If a client creates a Maintenance Window, this window may be specified (by Id) in the Install Set Invoke.

POST /redfish/v1/updateservice/installsets/{id}/Actions/
HpeComponentInstallSet.Invoke
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "ClearTaskQueue": true,
    "MaintenanceWindow": "<maintenence-windows-Id>"
}

Removing Install Sets

Install Sets are removed by performing a DELETE operation on the install set member.

Using Install Sets for Rollback and Baseline Management

iLO does not maintain a specific rollback architecture. Instead, a client might maintain alternate versions of the same deliverable in the iLO Repository, and maintain multiple (up to 8) install sets in the InstallSets collection.

Firmware Recovery Install Set

SystemRecoveryConfigPriv

One of the install sets on the system might be marked with a property "IsRecovery": true. If true, the install set is reserved to hold only critical firmware recovery components.

Administrate Recovery Set iLO user privilege is required to modify or remove this install set. This is called SystemRecoveryConfigPriv in the REST API's Account privileges. This privilege enables users to alter or remove this recovery install set.

The recovery install set should only be modified with care and hold a minimal set of firmware updates needed to make the server bootable. These firmware image files must be directly flashable by iLO. The sequence or order is important because the install set is in the order of update.

Target Based Firmware Update

A new property Targets is added. Targets are firmware inventory URIs. If present in the payload, the device corresponding to the firmware inventory URI is considered for a firmware update. Maximum supported targets are 10.

Add From URI

Targets are introduced under the URI /redfish/v1/UpdateService/Actions/Oem/Hpe/HpeiLOUpdateServiceExt.AddFromUri/. If Targets are provided in the payload, and UpdateTarget is set as True, the firmware updates are applied on the provided Targets.

POST /redfish/v1/UpdateService/Actions/Oem/Hpe/
HpeiLOUpdateServiceExt.AddFromUri/

{

  "ImageURI":"https://<Hostname>/78234252243101731641816114517031190620195/HPE_MR416i-p_Gen10_52.22.3-4650_C.fwpkg",
  "TPMOverrideFlag": true,
  "UpdateRepository": false,
  "UpdateTarget": true,
  "Targets":[
    "/redfish/v1/UpdateService/FirmwareInventory/16", "/redfish/v1/UpdateService/FirmwareInventory/18"
    ]

}

Install Sets

Targets is introduced while creating install sets under the URI /redfish/v1/UpdateService/InstallSets. If Targets are provided, the firmware updates are applied on the provided Targets when the InstallSets are invoked.

POST /redfish/v1/UpdateService/InstallSets

{

    "Description": "Service Pack for Proliant",
    "IsRecovery": false,
    "Name": "iLOInstallset",
    "Sequence": [
         {
            "Command": "ApplyUpdate",
            "ExecutionTimeoutMinutes": 1,
            "Filename": "PICGen10-1.0.8-1.fwpkg",
            "Name": "FW for Advanced Power Capping Microcontroller Firmware for HPE G",
            "UpdatableBy": [
                "Bmc"
            ],
            "Targets": ["/redfish/v1/UpdateService/FirmwareInventory/6"],
            "WaitTimeSeconds": 0
        }

  ]

}

Tasks

Targets are introduced while creating update tasks under the URI /redfish/v1/UpdateService/UpdateTaskQueue. If Targets are provided, the firmware updates are applied on the provided Targets.

POST /redfish/v1/UpdateService/UpdateTaskQueue

{

      "Name": "ATS-M AMC upgrade", 
      "Command": "ApplyUpdate", 
      "Filename": "Intel-ATS-M_pldm_sg2_amc_v_6_4_0_0.bin.hpepkg.signed", 
      "UpdatableBy": ["Bmc"], 
      "Targets": ["/redfish/v1/UpdateService/FirmwareInventory/22","/redfish/v1/UpdateService/FirmwareInventory/19"],
      "TPMOverride": true

}

{
  "@odata.context": "/redfish/v1/$metadata#HpeComponentUpdateTask.HpeComponentUpdateTask",
  "@odata.etag": "W/_\"969F82AA",
  "@odata.id": "/redfish/v1/UpdateService/UpdateTaskQueue/9774ef68",
  "Id":"9774ef68",
  "Command": "ApplyUpdate", 
  "Component": "/redfish/v1/UpdateService/ComponentRepository/f61dfea0",
  "Created": "2023-09-08T12:11:01Z",
  "ExecutionTimeoutMinutes":0,
  "Filename": "Intel-ATS-M_pldm_sg2_amc_v_6_4_0_0.bin.hpepkg.signed",
  "Modified": "2023-09-08T12:11:01Z",
  "Name": "MyTask",
  "RecoveryPrivilege": false,
  "State": "Pending",
  "TPMOverride": true,
  "Targets": [
    "/redfish/v1/UpdateService/FirmwareInventory/22",
    "/redfish/v1/UpdateService/FirmwareInventory/19"
  ],
  "UpdatableBy":[
    "Bmc"
  ],
  "UpdatedRecoverySet": false
}

Firmware Verification

Firmware Verification, available with the iLO Advanced Premium Security Edition, enables you to run an on-demand verification scan or implement scheduled scans.

To respond to detected issues, choose between logging the results, or logging the results and initiating a repair action that uses a recovery install set.

Depending on the scan results, information is logged in the Active Health System Log and the Integrated Management Log.

The following firmware items are verified:

• iLO 6
• System UEFI BIOS
• System Programmable Logic Device (CPLD)
• Server Platform Services (SPS) Firmware
• Innovation Engine (IE) Firmware

When a firmware verification scan is in progress, you cannot install firmware updates or upload firmware to the iLO Repository.

Configuring Firmware Verification

Available with iLO Advanced Premium Security Edition

Firmware Verification scan options:

• Enable Background Scan ( EnableBackgroundScan ) enables or disables Firmware Verification scanning. When enabled, iLO scans the supported installed firmware for file corruption.
• Integrity Failure Action ( OnIntegrityFailure ) determines the action iLO takes when a problem is found during a Firmware Verification scan.
  • To log the results, patch LogOnly .
  • To log the results and initiate a repair action, patch LogAndRepairAutomatically .

If a problem is detected for a supported firmware item, iLO checks for the affected firmware type in a protected install set. By default, this set is the System recovery set. If a firmware image is available, iLO flashes that firmware image to complete the repair.

• Scan Interval (" ScanEveryDays ") sets the background scan frequency in days. Valid values are from 1 to 365.

GET /redfish/v1/UpdateService/

{
    "Oem": {
        "Hpe": {
            "FirmwareIntegrity": {
                "EnableBackgroundScan": true,
                "LastScanResult": "OK",
                "LastScanTime": "2017-05-31T19:14:54Z",
                "OnIntegrityFailure": "LogAndRepairAutomatically",
                "ScanEveryDays": 14
            }
        }
    }
}

Initiating a Firmware Verification Scan

Available with iLO Advanced Premium Security Edition

You may manually start a firmware verification scan by invoking the action "StartFirmwareIntegrityCheck". You must have the iLO Advanced Premium Security Edition license to use this feature.

POST /redfish/v1/UpdateService/Actions/Oem/Hpe/
HpeiLOUpdateServiceExt.StartFirmwareIntegrityCheck