Common Questions about NetApp Disk Firmware Update

How disk firmware is updated?

Disk firmware is updated automatically during ONTAP upgrade.

Disk firmware is updated automatically via ‘Background' disk

firmware update.

Disk firmware is updated manually.

Disk firmware is updated automatically during ONTAP upgrade:

When you upgrade Data ONTAP, disk firmware is updated

automatically if the firmware on the disks is older than the firmware

that is bundled with the Data ONTAP system files.

Disk firmware is updated automatically via 'Background' disk

firmware update.

By default, disk firmware updates take place automatically in the

background, thus ensuring the continuity of storage system services.

Nonetheless, you must download and install the latest disk firmware

before performing an NDU. In this process - Disks are offlined one at a

time and then firmware is updated on them. The disk is onlined after

the firmware update and a mini/optimized reconstruct happens for any

writes which occurred while the disk was offline. Hence, provides the

highest degree of safety.

How 'Background' disk firmware update is performed?

1. Download the most recent Disk firmware package from the NetApp

Support Site. (Link is provided at the end of this document)

2. Unzip or gunzip the file.

3. Mount the filer's root directory.

4. Each storage system is shipped with a /etc/disk_fw directory, which

is a place holder for disk firmware files. Copy the files downloaded in

the first step into the /<mountpoint>/etc/disk_fw directory.

5. Data ONTAP scans the /etc/disk_fw directory for new disk firmware

every two minutes (Provided 'raid.background_disk_fw_update.enable'

is set to ON, by default it is set to ON.)

Is it enabled by default?

Yes. The option is:

'raid.background_disk_fw_update.enable', which is set to ON by

default. You should not change the default value unless you are

directed to do so by technical support.

How long does 'Background' disk firmware update takes?

Background disk firmware updates take place with one disk at a time

and require approximately 2.5 minutes per disk. Although it is not likely

that all the disks attached to your systems would need firmware

updates at the same time, it is a best practice to wait at least 2.5

minutes for every disk attached to a controller before proceeding with

a Data ONTAP NDU.

What is the difference between 'Background' disk firmware update &

Disk firmware updated manually?

Background disk firmware updates take place serially with one disk at a

time and require approximately 2.5 minutes per disk. Whereas when

you update disk firmware manually by running:

filer> disk_fw_update

It updates all the disks parallel/together.

What risk are involved when updating disk firmware parallel?

Since updating the disk FW involves spinning the drive down and back

up again, it is possible that a volume can become offline if upgrading 2

or more of the same drive types in the same RAID group. This is

because when you upgrade disk firmware, you are upgrading the disk

firmware of all the same drive types in parallel. When encountering a

situation like this, it is best to schedule a maintenance window to

upgrade the disk firmware for all disks. The other alternative is to:

Upgrade the drive firmware one drive at a time as done via background

process.

filer> disk_fw_update

Downloading disk firmware can be disruptive to the system.

It involves spinning down and then spinning up all

affected disks, and suspending all disk I/O to all disks while

that is happening. This may take up to 4 minutes to complete.

This delay may cause clients to hang.

Are you sure you want to continue with firmware update? y

[Note: You can ignore disk error messages for disks being updated

until this update completes.]

filer>

Thu xx xx xx GMT [dyn_dev_qual_admin:info]: Firmware is up-to-date

on all disk drives

To update single/selective disk manually:

Run filer>disk_fw_update <ha>.<dr>

Where <ha> is the host adapter and <dr> is the drive number

Do I need to update the Disk Qualification Package after disk firmware

update?

Yes. As per the NetApp documentation, Customers running Data

ONTAP® 7.3 and later releases need to download the current version of

the Disk Qualification Package (DQP) after the disk firmware update.

Attention: If you are running Data ONTAP 7.2.7 or earlier, do not install

the DQP. This DQP is not backward compatible with Data ONTAP 7.2.x.

Adding this DQP or any of the newly qualified drives to your NetApp

storage system might cause a serious storage disruption.

The Disk Qualification Package (DQP) adds full support for newly

qualified disk drives. Each time you update disk firmware or add new

disk types or sizes to the storage system, you also need to update the

DQP.

You need to download and install the DQP in the following situations:

•Whenever you add a new disk type or size to the node

For example, if you already have 1-TB disks and add 2-TB disks, you

need to check for the latest DQP update.

•Whenever you update the disk firmware

•Whenever newer disk firmware or DQP files are available.

How to determine the version of Disk Qualification Package files you

have for Data ONTAP releases 7.3 and later?

To determine the version of Disk Qualification Package files that

you have on your 7-mode system, enter the following command:

filer>rdfile /etc/qual_devices_v3

#########

# This file is auto generated by the script file.

# Copyright (c) 2000 NetApp Inc.

# All rights reserved.

#

# Datecode: 20130228

#

#########

To determine the version of Disk Qualification Package files that

you have on your c-mode system, enter the following command:

filer ::> node run -node <nodename> -command rdfile

/etc/qual_devices_v3

#########

# This file is auto generated by the script file.

# Copyright (c) 2000 NetApp Inc.

# All rights reserved.

#

# Datecode: 20121108

#

########

The header of the file contains a date code. Compare that date code

with the file’s latest available date code. If your date code is less than

the latest date code, download and install the latest version of the Disk

Qualification Package

Downloads:

Disk Qualification Package (DQP):

http://support.netapp.com/NOW/download/tools/diskqual

Disk firmware Package:

http://support.netapp.com/NOW/download/tools/diskfw/

Note: On configurations using software-based disk ownership both

automatic and manual downloads update firmware only for those disks

owned by the local filer. Disks owned by the partner filer are updated

when the automatic download or the manual disk_fw_update

command is executed on that particular node. Disks that are owned by

neither filer are not updated. To update all disks, you must assign

ownership to the unowned disks before running the disk_fw_update

command.

Prepared By,

ashwinwriter@gmail.com