How to Upgrade Firmware for HPE NVMe Drives on Linux – A Step-by-Step Guide

How to Upgrade Firmware for HPE NVMe Drives on Linux – A Step-by-Step Guide

Upgrading your firmware is essential to ensure that your HPE NVMe drive operates at peak performance and stability. In this guide, I will walk you through the steps to download the firmware file, install it on your Linux server, and execute the upgrade process.


1. Why Upgrade Firmware?

Firmware is the embedded software that controls the hardware. Regular firmware updates can:

  • Enhance Performance: Optimize system performance and stability.
  • Fix Bugs: Resolve issues and bugs found in previous firmware versions.
  • Add Features: Enable support for new features and technologies.

Keeping your firmware up-to-date is key to ensuring that your hardware runs smoothly and efficiently.


2. Downloading the HPE Firmware File

  1. Visit the HPE Support Website:
    Go to the HPE Support page and enter the model or product code of your NVMe drive.
  2. Search for the Firmware:
    In the search bar, type keywords like “NVMe firmware” or “HDD firmware” along with your product code. You should see a list of available firmware versions.
  3. Select the Appropriate Version:
    Choose the RPM firmware file that matches your requirements. For example, you might see a file named:
    firmware-hdd-e320db791d-MPK78H5Q-3.1.x86_64.rpm
  4. Download the File:
    Click the download button and save the RPM file to your local computer.
    Tip: If you downloaded the file to your personal computer, use SCP, FTP, or any secure transfer method to move the file to your Linux server.

3. Upgrading Firmware on Linux

Step 1: Install the RPM File

  1. Transfer the File to Your Server:
    If the file is on your local machine, use SCP to transfer it to your Linux server. For example:

    scp firmware-hdd-e320db791d-MPK78H5Q-3.1.x86_64.rpm user@server_ip:/path/to/directory
  2. Install the RPM File:
    Open your terminal, navigate to the directory containing the RPM file, and run:

    rpm -ivh firmware-hdd-e320db791d-MPK78H5Q-3.1.x86_64.rpm

    This command extracts the RPM contents to:
    /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu

Step 2: Execute the Firmware Upgrade

After installing the RPM, two important directories will be created:

  • scexe-compat Directory: This directory contains a script with a name in the format CP<nnnnnn>.scexe (e.g., CP123456.scexe).
  • Firmware Directory: This directory is named in the pattern firmware-hdd-<xxxxxxxxxx>-* (where <xxxxxxxxxx> corresponds to the firmware version).

You can upgrade the firmware using one of the following two methods:

Option 1: Using the Script in the scexe-compat Directory

  1. Navigate to the scexe-compat directory:
    cd /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/scexe-compat
  2. List the files to find the script name:
    ls

    You should see a file like CP123456.scexe.

  3. Run the script:
    ./CP123456.scexe

    (Replace CP123456.scexe with the actual filename you see.)

Option 2: Using the setup Script in the Firmware Directory

  1. Navigate to the firmware directory (its name will be similar to firmware-hdd-<xxxxxxxxxx>-*):
    cd /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/firmware-hdd-<xxxxxxxxxx>-*
  2. Execute the setup script:
    ./setup

Important: Execute only one of the two options above to avoid conflicts during the upgrade process.

Step 3: Verify the Upgrade

After the upgrade process completes, the log information will be saved in the file:

/var/cpq/Component.log

To review the log, run:

less /var/cpq/Component.log

If the upgrade was successful, you will see messages confirming the process in the log file.


4. Uninstalling the Firmware RPM (If Necessary)

If you need to remove the installed RPM after the upgrade, execute the following command:

rpm -e firmware-hdd-e320db791d-MPK78H5Q-3.1.x86_64

Note: Do not include the .rpm extension when running this command.


5. Conclusion

In this guide, we covered the complete process of upgrading the firmware for your HPE NVMe drive on a Linux system—from downloading the firmware file, installing the RPM package, to executing the upgrade and verifying the results. Keeping your firmware updated ensures that your system remains stable, secure, and performs at its best.

If you have any questions or run into issues during the upgrade process, feel free to leave a comment below or reach out to HPE support for further assistance.

Happy upgrading!

 

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