QLogic Intelligent Pass-thru Module and SAN Switch Module for IBM BladeCenter Firmware Update 6.5.0.17 06/30/07 ________ CONTENTS ________ 1.0 Overview 2.0 Change History 3.0 Installation and Setup Instructions 4.0 Configuration Information 5.0 Known Issues 6.0 Unattended Mode 7.0 Web Sites and Support Phone Number 8.0 Trademarks and Notices 9.0 Disclaimer _______________ 1.0 Overview _______________ This README describes current the firmware version for the QLogic Intelligent Pass-thru Module or SAN Switch Module for IBM BladeCenter and procedure for updating firmware on the switch. 1.1 Dependencies: This Firmware is used in conjuction with EFS 2007 version 6.05.12 or higher. ____________________ 2.0 Change History ____________________ See Change history file for updates _________________________________________ 3.0 Installation and Setup Instructions _________________________________________ NOTE: Prior to downloading the firmware to the Fibre Channel switch module, ensure that the advanced management option "Preserve IP Address across all resets" is set to 'enabled' via the Management Module interface. This will ensure that your currently configured IP Address will remain available after the switch firmware is upgraded. NOTE: This version of firmware can be used with EFS 2007 version 6.05.12 or higher. Refer to the IBM Support website for download information for the 6.05.12 version. NOTE: Refer to one of the following for detailed instructions: o QLogic 4Gb Intelligent Pass-thru Module Command Line Interface Guide o QLogic 10/20-Port 4 Gb SAN Switch Module Command Line Interface Guide o QLogic 4GB Intelligent Pass Through Switch Module Quick Tools Switch Management User Guide o QLogic 10/20-Port 4 Gb SAN Switch Module Quick Tools Switch Management User Guide NOTE: Capitalization of command, password, and username is important - must use as shown in procedures below. ------------------------------------ 3.1 Using the Command Line interface ------------------------------------- 1. Download new firmware file ("6.5.0.17.00_ipc") from IBM support website - refer to Support section of this document for URL. - Ensure that the filename that has been saved to the disk is 6.5.0.17.00_ipc and does not contain additional characters. 2. Open command prompt window/console. 3. Change directory in window/console to the directory where the new switch firmware file is located. 4. Ftp to the switch using command: "ftp xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx represents IP address of FC switch. 5. To log in to FC switch: o At prompt "username", type "images" and press enter key o At prompt "password", type "images"and press enter key 6. After logged in, enter the following commands: o At prompt, type "bin" and press enter key o At prompt, type "put " where is the name of the firmware file you downloaded previously and press enter key o At prompt, type "quit" and press enter key 7. Telnet to the switch using command: "telnet xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx represents IP address of FC switch. 8. To log in to FC switch: o At prompt "username", type "USERID" and press the enter key. o At the prompt "password", type "PASSW0RD" and press enter key NOTE: Zero is 6th character in password, not capital O. 9. After logged in, enter the following commands: o At prompt, type "admin start" and press the enter key. o At the prompt, type "image list" and press enter key NOTE: "image list" command should display firmware file you uploaded in step 6 resident on switch. 10. Now enter following commands: o At prompt, type "image unpack " where is the name of file you uploaded in step 6 and press enter key. 11. Wait for confirmation that the switch firmware has successfully updated 12. After receiving confirmation, type "hotreset" to perform a Non-Disruptive Code Load Activation that will not disrupt data traffic on the switch. NOTE: Use hotreset only if a stable SAN environment is present, and no devices are being added or removed while hotreset is running. If SAN environment is not stable then type "reset" and press enter key which will reset the switch and activate the new firmware; this reset will disrupt any data traffic on switch. ------------------------------ 3.2 Using the Quick Tools GUI ------------------------------ 1. Download new firmware file ("6.5.0.17.00_ipc") from IBM support website - refer to Support section of this document for URL. - Ensure that the filename that has been saved to the disk is 6.5.0.17.00_ipc and does not contain additional characters. 2. Open a web browser. 3. Enter the IP address of the switch into the browser address bar and hit enter. 4. To log in to FC switch: o At prompt "username", type "USERID" and press the enter key. o At the prompt "password", type "PASSW0RD" and press enter key NOTE: Zero is 6th character in password, not capital O. 5. After logged in, enter the following commands: o Select the "switch" menu in the tool bar. o From the "switch" menu, select "Load Firmware" o In the "Load Firmware" window, click "Browse" to locate the switch firmware and click "open". o Click "Start" to start the firmware update. o After the "Activate Successful" message, click "close". The switch is now running the updated firmware. _______________________________ 4.0 Configuration Information _______________________________ Detailed information on configuring the Intelligent Pass-thru Module or SAN Switch Module application can be found in the QLogic Management Guide on the Support CD provided with each switch module or the IBM Website. The firmware release for this product enables two modes of operation depending on the features licensed and in operation. The QLogic 4Gb SAN switch is a 20 port platform that operates in a fabric switch mode. Depending on the model, all 20 or 10 ports are active. In the 10 port model, ports 1 through 7, ports 0, 15 and 16 are active by default. The user may re-assign these ports to any location on the switch. The 10 and 20 port Fabric switches also feature the Intelligent Pass-thru Module Mode. This mode allows for a transparent presentation of the server Fibre Channel initiators to a Fibre Channel fabric and all 20 ports are active. The QLogic Intelligent Pass-thru Module provides the aforementioned transparent presentation of the server Fibre Channel initiators to a Fibre Channel fabric as its base mode of operation and is upgradeable to a 20 port fabric switch. Additional information is available in the EFS 2007 readme notes. NOTES: - In transparent mode the default port mapping is as follows: The default primary path port mapping is: ----------------------------------------- Blade Bays 1, 2 mapped to external port 0 Ext(1:0) Blade Bays 3, 4 mapped to external port 15 Ext(2:15) Blade Bays 5, 6, 7 mapped to external port 16 Ext(3:16) Blade Bays 8, 9 mapped to external port 17 Ext(4:17) Blade Bays 10, 11 mapped to external port 18 Ext(5:18) Blade Bays 12, 13, 14 mapped to external port 19 Ext(6:19) The secondary path port mapping is: ----------------------------------- Blade Bays 1, 2 mapped to external port 0 Ext(1:0) Blade Bays 3-14 mapped to external port 15 Ext(2:15) - InteropMode of 1 (Interop_1, commonly referred to as Brocade Native Mode) is no longer supported. Only InteropMode of 0 (Standard, also commonly referred to as Brocade Open Mode) is supported. - If you have fabrics that cross time zones, please be aware that this will cause time stamp differences in the various switch logs. - When shutting down a bladeserver, an immediate power off can cause additional port statistics to be seen. Ensure that the internal blades are properly shutdown to avoid excessive port statistics. - A switch configuration backup does not archive the primary or secondary secrets for any security groups. As a result, the security secrets need to be reconfigured in Clish after a config restore. Otherwise the restored switch will isolate from the fabric due to an invalid attach due to the missing secrets. - For Picolight Model #PL-XPL-VC-SG3-22 SFPs, the Tx Bias and Tx Pwr parameters will intermittently show values of 0.00 when the "show media" command is executed. LowAlarm status on Tx Bias, Tx Pwr, and RxPower may also be displayed. The 0.00 values and alarms can be ignored when this occurs. This only applies if the switch has a SANdoctor license. - For Agilent Model #AFBR-57R5AP SFPs, the Tx Bias parameter will go to LowAlarm status on "show media" commands that follow multiple "show media n" commands during port auto-speed negotiation. This can also occur after moving ports between offline and online status. The LowAlarm status and any 0.00 values can be ignored in this situation. This only applies if the switch has a SANdoctor license. - The CLI displays 64-bit port counters. SNMP port counters are only allowed, by MIB definition, to display 32-bit counters. The SNMP port counters will not match the CLI port counters once the values exceed 32-bits. - If a host connected to a port on a switch sends a LINIT or LSTS ELS frame to a remote domain address, the response from the storage will be held up in the switch as a result of Implicit Hard Zoning. The requested action to reinitialize the storage port via the LINIT or LST frame does take place. - Storage devices may support a limited number of host logins (this limit is device dependent). If this limit is exceeded, the host will send an LS_RJT in response to a PLOGI from any additional hosts. If the setup of the fabric is such that a host cannot successfully PLOGI any storage in the fabric due to this limit, the host may log out of the fabric (or drop the link) and retry the process. Symptoms observed when this occurs can include an incrementing count of link failures (see "show port < port number>") as well as repeated alarms similar to the following: Alarm Msg: [Fri Jan 27 16:27:08.172 CST 2006][A][1004.0050 [Port: 3][Maximum hard zoning member limit exceeded, Reverting to soft zoning. Requires port reset.] This issue has only been observed in fabrics with large numbers (hundreds) of storage devices and hosts sharing a single zone. - For some Seagate storage, the "fcping" command will report "failed" if the storage is attached to a remote switch. The command will work if the storage is attached to the local switch. - If Java support is disabled in the browser, or if scripting support is disabled in the browser, QuickTools will not launch. The scripting support is referred to as "Enable JavaScript" in most browsers, and as "Active scripting" or "Active Web Content" in Internet Explorer. - When navigating within QuickTools, use the buttons within the application instead of the browser buttons to insure proper operation. _______________________________ 5.0 Known Issues _______________________________ 1. You may see sluggish response from the CLI when the switch is in a large fabric (12 or more switches and/or more than 350 devices) and the fabric is being discovered. Example: fabric discovery would occur when adding a new switch to the fabric. Discovering the fabric can take 1 to 5 minutes depending on zoning size and the number of switches. 2. When injecting code violations on a primary ISL, a misleading message with "[2*RATOV Timout, retry EFP]" is printed in the log file. This has no impact to the fabric and the message can be ignored. 3. If the accounting server option is enabled, multiple Windows RADIUS servers are configured and available on the network, and network performance varies, the message "All RADIUS servers failed to respond" may be displayed when authentication is attempted. In most cases, this message can be ignored. Please verify that you can log into the switch before taking other actions. 4. If a protocol violation message is seen after a domain ID change, the port may need to be reset. Known Issues with Brocade/QLogic operation in Full Fabric Mode: --------------------------------------------------------------- - In a mixed QLogic, McDATA, Brocade fabric, using McDATA's GUI to take the McDATA switch offline/online sometimes caused an ISL failure between QLogic switches and Brocade switches. When this occurs, the Brocade loop initialization code will continuously loop. - Connecting a QLogic switch to a Brocade 3900 switch via a GL port will cause the Brocade switch to become inoperable. To work around this issue, change the QLogic port to a G port. The Brocade 3900 switch demonstrates this issue with other non-QLogic switches. - With InteropMode set to Standard (FC-SW-2) and connected to a Brocade 3250 switch (4.2.0c firmware), Brocade BB credit negotiation does not work properly while traffic is running if the non-Brocade switch has fewer BB credits than the Brocade 3250 switch. To resolve this issue reconfigure the BB credits on the Brocade switch to match those on the non-Brocade switch. - With InteropMode set to Standard and connected to a Brocade 3200/3800 switch (3.1.0 or later firmware) and a Brocade 3900 switch (4.1.0 firmware or later), if a cfgsave command is issued from the Brocade switch for a zone change with a full zone database, a non-standard value is included in the save command payload. The QLogic switch will reject the command which causes the save to fail. A workaround is to issue a cfgenable command from the Brocade switch which activates and saves the zone change. - With InteropMode set to Standard in a fabric containing Brocade switches, the domain ID of the QLogic switch should be configured to a value in the range 0x61 - 0x7f. If the domain ID is not set to a value in this range, servers connected to a Brocade switch may not be able to connect to storage connected to the QLogic switch. - With InteropMode set to Standard, default zoning on Brocade switches is set to False and cannot be changed. With this firmware release, default zoning is set to true by default on the QLogic switch. When running with Brocade switches in "standard mode", any devices left in the default zone or orphan zone will not be able to communicate with each other. To work around this issue, the "devices" should all be put in active zones. Known Issues with McDATA/QLogic operation in Full Fabric Mode: -------------------------------------------------------------- - McDATA's SANpilot, and command line interface, do not display devices attached to the QLogic switch. A workaround is to use their EFCM tool, v7.0 or earlier. - With InteropMode set to Standard in a fabric containing McDATA switches, the domain ID of the QLogic switch should be configured to a value in the range 0x61 - 0x7f. If the domain ID is not set to a value in this range, servers connected to a McDATA switch may not be able to connect to storage connected to the QLogic switch. - With a mixed fabric of QLogic and McDATA switches with InteropMode set to Standard, one the McDATA switches must be configured as the principal switch. If this is not done, you may see zoning, nameserver, and security issues. - The embedded CIMAgent will return invalid port state, ProtocolEndpoint, and ActiveConnection information for remote switches in the fabric if there is a McDATA 6140 switch running firmware 09.00.00 build 76 anywhere in the fabric. To work around the issue, disable Management Server (OSMS) on the McDATA switch. This will cause port information on the McDATA switch to be lost, but other switches in the fabric will no longer be affected. _____________________ 6.0 Unattended Mode _____________________ This package does not support Unattended Mode ________________________________________ 7.0 WEB Sites and Support Phone Number ________________________________________ IBM Support Web Site: http://www.ibm.com/pc/support IBM Marketing Netfinity Web Site: http://www.pc.ibm.com/netfinity If you have any questions about this update, or problems applying the update go to the following Help Center World Telephone Numbers URL: 1-800-772-2227 http://www.pc.ibm.com/qtechinfo/YAST-3P2QYL.html. ____________________________ 8.0 Trademarks and Notices ____________________________ The following terms are trademarks of the IBM Corporation in the United States or other countries or both: IBM BladeCenter eServer Microsoft, Windows, and Windows NT are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Intel trademarks or registered trademarks are trademarks of Intel Corporation. Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. ________________ 9.0 Disclaimer ________________ THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. IBM DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND MERCHANTABILITY WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT. BY FURNISHING THIS DOCUMENT, IBM GRANTS NO LICENSES TO ANY PATENTS OR COPYRIGHTS. Note to Government Users Note to U.S. Government Users -- Documentation related to restricted rights -- Use, duplication or disclosure is subject to restrictions set forth in GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corporation.