flash command

Use the flash command to deploy updates, in sequence, from the list generated by the compare command to the command target. Results of the update flash operation are stored in an XML file. If errors occur during a CMM or I/O module flash update, the flash command generates a second report file containing the FFDC log.

For Out-of-Band (OOB) mode:
- Scan results include only core System x firmware (IMM, UEFI, and DSA) and some PLDM supported adapters. When a scan of installed adapters indicates that an adapter has PLDM support, this will be flagged in the scan results allowing the adapter firmware to be flashed.
- An SFTP server needs to be specified (--sftp parameter) when in OOB mode. Users can load the package payload to the temporary SFTP server manually, then specify the package location as part of the --sftp parameter. The ToolsCenter Suite CLI checks the SFTP folder and the local folder, as specified in compare command results XML file. If both locations contain an update payload, the ToolsCenter Suite CLI checks that they are the same, using the SFTP payload file if they are the same and generating an error and exiting the command if they are not the same. If only the SFTP location has a payload, this payload is used. If only the local location has a payload, it is uploaded to the SFTP server and flashed (the --uselocalimg parameter must be specified).
For In-Band (IB) mode, both System x firmware and device drivers and firmware for installed options. An SFTP server does not need to be specified (--sftp parameter) when in IB mode.

Note: User IDs and passwords containing colons ( : ) or the at symbol ( @ ) are not supported by the ToolsCenter CLI flash command.

flash command syntax

Onecli.exe update flash [--esxi <userid:password@IP[:port]>] [--comparexml <filename>] [--nocompare
--includeid <ids>] [--includeid <includeids>] [--dir <folder>] [--backup] [--noreboot] [--output <folder>]
[--imm <userid:password@IP[:port]>] [--cmm <userid:password@IP[:port]>] [--iobay <bay_number>] 
[--sftp <userid:password@IP [:port]>/firmware/] [--uselocalimg] [--ffdc <userid:password@IP [:port]>/ffdc/]

Table 1. flash command parameters
Parameter	Required/Optional	Notes
--esxi	Required (see note)	userid:password@IP[:port] specifies access information for the target VMware ESXi Lenovo image. The --esxi parameter specifies a VMware ESXi Lenovo image flash operation. It is required when flashing a customized Vmware ESXi target. When flashing a multi-node customized Vmware ESXi target, you should not specify the --sftp parameter. Note: Both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are supported. Enclose IPv6 addresses in brackets. For example, `[FE80::3BA7:94FF:FE07:CBD0]`. If the IPv6 is LLA (Link Local IPV6), the format is `[FE80::3BA7:94FF:FE07:CBD0%xxx]`. Replace xxx with the name of the interface through which either the service processor or the sftp server (for the --sftp argument) can be reached on the local network of the OS on which the ToolsCenter Suite CLI runs.
--comparexml	Optional	filename specifies an XML file (typically named compare.xml) containing comparison results to control the flash command. All items listed in the comparison file will be flashed.
--nocompare	Optional	If the --includeid parameter is specified, the flash command will update firmware and device drivers without performing a comparison. The --includeid parameter must also be specified, listing the package IDs to update.
--includeid	Optional	The ids can be a comma-separated list that specifies the package IDs which are usually the package file name without file extension to flash. For example: `lnvgy_dd_sraidmr_7.700.20.00_sles12_x86-64` By default: none is included. The --includeid parameter is required when using --nocompare parameter to manually specify the packages to flash. Only the listed packages are downloaded: if no packages are listed, none are downloaded.
--dir	Optional	folder specifies the path name location of the flash firmware package download directory. If no directory is specified, the current directory is used for downloads. The --dir parameter is not used when the --comparexml parameter is specified.
--backup	Optional	If the --backup parameter is specified, the command flashes the backup IMM and UEFI firmware, instead of the default flash update of the primary IMM and UEFI firmware. The --backup parameter is used only with the --nocompare parameter (no compare mode). The --backup parameter is not used for CMM and I/O module targets.
--noreboot	Optional	If the --noreboot parameter is specified, the device being flashed will not restart automatically after upgrade (devices automatically restart after update, by default) and the device must be manually restarted to begin using the new firmware or device driver. When flashing an IMM, the --noreboot parameter can only be used with the primary IMM. The --noreboot parameter is not used for I/O module targets.
--imm	Optional	userid:password@IP[:port] specifies access information for the target IMM. If the --imm parameter is specified, the ToolsCenter Suite CLI runs in Out-of-Band (OOB) mode; otherwise, the ToolsCenter Suite CLI runs in In-Band (IB) mode. Note: Both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are supported. Enclose IPv6 addresses in brackets. For example, `[FE80::3BA7:94FF:FE07:CBD0]`. If the IPv6 is LLA (Link Local IPV6), the format is `[FE80::3BA7:94FF:FE07:CBD0%xxx]`. Replace xxx with the name of the interface through which either the service processor or the sftp server (for the --sftp argument) can be reached on the local network of the OS on which the ToolsCenter Suite CLI runs.
--cmm	Required (see note)	userid:password@IP[:port] specifies access information for the target CMM. The --cmm parameter is required for the CMM and I/O module targets. Note: Both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses are supported. Enclose IPv6 addresses in brackets. For example, `[FE80::3BA7:94FF:FE07:CBD0]`. If the IPv6 is LLA (Link Local IPV6), the format is `[FE80::3BA7:94FF:FE07:CBD0%xxx]`. Replace xxx with the name of the interface through which either the service processor or the sftp server (for the --sftp argument) can be reached on the local network of the OS on which the ToolsCenter Suite CLI runs.
--iobay	Required (see note)	bay_number specifies the I/O module bay number. Valid values are 1, 2, 3, or 4. The --iobay parameter is required for the I/O module target.
--sftp	Optional	userid:password@IP[:port] specifies access information for the SFTP server. Both read and write access are required. The SFTP server is used as a temporary storage location for the firmware update payload file. For the IMM target, the SFTP server is only used when in Out-of-Band (OOB) mode. By default (when not using the --uselocalimg parameter), users must manually copy the payload file to the SFTP location. The ToolsCenter Suite CLI does not check if a payload exists at the SFTP location: if the SFTP server already contains a payload file, it is overwritten by the local copy and, if no payload is available to copy, the IMM or CMM reports an error to ToolsCenter Suite CLI. For IOM updates, an SFTP rsakey must be specified as part of the --sftp parameter argument. Quotation marks are not needed when entering the command in a Linux environment because there is a semicolon ( ; ) before the rsakey. The SFTP server is also used to temporarily store the FFDC log file, if the --ffdc parameter is not specified. (See the --ffdc parameter description for additional information.) When flashing a multi-node ESXi target (--esxi parameter), you should not specify the --sftp parameter.
--uselocalimg	Optional	If the --uselocalimg parameter is specified, the flash command forces copy of the payload file from the local folder to the SFTP server. If the SFTP server already contains a payload file, it is overwritten by the local copy. The --uselocalimg parameter is only used when ToolsCenter Suite CLI runs in Out-of-Band (OOB) mode, which requires an SFTP server as a temporary file server for payload files. By default (when not using the --uselocalimg parameter), users must manually copy the payload file to the SFTP location. The ToolsCenter Suite CLI does not check if a payload exists at the SFTP location: it passes the SFTP URL to the IMM or CMM and, if no payload is available to copy, the IMM or CMM reports an error to ToolsCenter Suite CLI.
--ffdc	Optional	userid:password@IP[:port] specifies access information for the SFTP server. Both read and write access are required. If the --ffdc parameter is specified and there are update failures, the flash command will try to output the FFDC log file from the IMM or CMM (for I/O module updates only) to the location specified by the current --output parameter. The --ffdc parameter specifies the SFTP server to be used to be a temporary storage location for the FFDC log fle. After the log file is downloaded, it is deleted from the SFTP server. If the --ffdc parameter is not used, ToolsCenter Suite CLI will use the same SFTP location that the --sftp parameter uses to specify the file payload location.
--output	Optional	folder specifies the path name location and file name for the log file. By default, the log file output is saved to the ../Onecli-%PID%-%date%-%time%/ directory with a file name of ToolsCenter Suite CLI-update-flash-status.xml. Existing files are overwritten. Make sure that unique file names are specified, if multiple CLI commands are being run at the same time.
--forceid	Optional	Similar with --includeid. But it can add force tag for these updateids to enforce the downgrade. Besides the specified id, it also supports “all”, which means it can add force tag for all the suggested flash packages. The ids can be a comma-separated list that specifies the package IDs which are usually the package file name without file extension to flash. For example: `lnvgy_dd_sraidmr_7.700.20.00_sles12_x86-64` By default: none is included. The force tag works on below cases: Force to downgrade. Force to install the package no matter the device is listed in the scan.xml or not. Ignore "never"” section tag in the package xml. For example, when querying HBA updates for QLogic. Ignore the missing of prereq. Force to install the package. There is no force tag for the flash packages by default.

Example of the flash command

In this example, we are performing a flash update (update flash command) based on compare results stored in the “.\#VID:#PID\output\Onecli-update-compare.xml” file (--comparexml .\#VID:#PID\output\Onecli-update-compare.xml argument) for an I/O module in bay 2 (--iobay 2 argument) that is accessed via a CMM with a user ID of “USERID”, a password of “PASSW0RD”, an IP address of “10.240.252.102”, and a port number of “5989” (--cmm USERID:PASSW0RD@10.240.252.102[:5989] argument), where the update package file is on a temporary SFTP server accessed with a user ID of “user”, a password/authentication string of “password;38:a8:21:16:cb:5d:0c:13:56:7c:2a:b9:f3:62:ed:17”, and an IP address of “10.240.252.102” (--sftp user:password;38:a8:21:16:cb:5d:0c:13:56:7c:2a:b9:f3:62:ed:17@9.125.90.x argument), and storing the log file in the “.\872102cn03e\output\” directory (--output .\872102cn03e\output\ argument).

Onecli.exe update flash --comparexml .\#VID:#PID\output\Onecli-update-compare.xml
--output .\872102cn03e\output\ --cmm USERID:PASSW0RD@10.240.252.102[:5989] 
--iobay 2 
--sftp user:password;38:a8:21:16:cb:5d:0c:13:56:7c:2a:b9:f3:62:ed:17@9.125.90.x

Lenovo ToolsCenterSuite CLI tcliXXX-X.X.X
Based on module version X.X.X
Licensed Materials - Property of Lenovo
(C) Copyright Lenovo Corp. 2013-2016 All Rights Reserved
Invoking SHOW command ...
Connected to IMM by IP address 10.240.252.102
Read the compare results from .\872102cn03e\output\Onecli-update-compare.xml
Need to flash the update ids:
ibm_fw_scsw_cn4093-7.7.2.25_anyos_noarch
Start to flash ibm_fw_scsw_cn4093-7.7.2.25_anyos_noarch
Connected to CIMOM at IP address:10.240.252.102 on Port:5989
Send payload to server
Starting the flash operation
Finish the flash ibm_fw_scsw_cn4093-7.7.2.25_anyos_noarch
Complete all the flash successfully. Check the flash results in .\872102cn03e\output\Onecli-update-flash.xml