ME5: Information Alert - Disk Updates are Available

When SupportAssist is enabled and can connect to the Dell secure remote server endpoints, the service periodically looks for available controller or disk firmware updates. You can manually invoke this by opening an SSH session to the controller management interface IP address and running the command: check support-assist-updates.

Alerts Panel

If a controller or disk firmware update is available, the alerts panel identifies an information alert.

1. Click the Information Alerts box, then click the Event.
2. This brings you to the Information Alerts tab for more details.
3. If you choose, you can acknowledge the message.

4. You may see a message as follows:

Detected Time: 2022-02-21 13:07:04
Resolved Time: N/A

Description: Disk updates are available.

Recommended Action: - Use CLI command 'check support-assist-updates' to check for updates and upgrade to the latest disk firmware

Figure 3: Event history showing warning event message

5. An event 649 or event 650 warning message is written to the event history log every 12 hours to draw your attention.

2022-02-25 13:07:03 A 650 A disk firmware update is available for your system.
Additional Information: None

Recommended Action: - Go to https://www.dell.com/support, enter your service tag and download the file. You can then use the Update Firmware function in PowerVault Manager to update.

Downloading the firmware update

The download URL is provided in the output of the command: check support-assist-updates.

Example:

# check support-assist-updates
Disk Update
-----------
Current Revision: ME5.1.0.0.0
Release Version: A25
Release Date: 2022-02-23
Criticality:
SHA256 Checksum: 022bd6fbc005e8cd4cb32ea4b06bc883bddba8959441a91c7f04d26c20df2f9c
File Size: 55449764
File Link: CUP/108/
File Name: A25_ME_Series_HDD_Firmware_with_ReadMe.zip
Download URL: https://dl.dell.com/FOLDER08233345M/1/A25_ME_Series_HDD_Firmware_with_ReadMe.zip
Release Notes Link: https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=x8pv0&oscode=ws19l&productcode=powervault-me5012
Description: The update contains critical bug fixes and changes to improve functionality, reliability, and stability of your Dell system.

Success: Command completed successfully. (2022-02-25 14:51:22)
#

1. The file can be downloaded using Dell Support.
2. Enter the service tag for your PowerVault ME system.
3. You can find the firmware update under Drivers & Downloads.
4. On Microsoft Windows 10 hosts, you can use the certutil utility to verify that the SHA256 checksum of the downloaded file matches the expected value.

C:\temp\Downloads> certutil -hashfile A25_ME_Series_HDD_Firmware_with_ReadMe.zip SHA256
SHA256 hash of A25_ME_Series_HDD_Firmware_with_ReadMe.zip:
022bd6fbc005e8cd4cb32ea4b06bc883bddba8959441a91c7f04d26c20df2f9c
CertUtil: -hashfile command completed successfully.

5. Extract the file and follow the instructions in the readme.txt where applicable.

Applying the disk drive firmware update

See the Dell PowerVault ME5 Series Administrator's Guide - firmware panel section for more information and best practices before applying firmware updates.

A short maintenance window is necessary when applying a disk firmware update since I/O to disks is paused while the disk firmware update is applied. Hosts with connected initiators must be shut down or put in maintenance mode before applying the update.

Dual controller firmware updates are nondisruptive. The hosts must have multipathing that is configured per the host configuration guide and a dual redundant path from the host to both PowerVault ME controllers.

For PowerVault ME configurations with a single controller, a maintenance window is required.

Figure 5: Apply a disk firmware upgrade by selecting the drives to be updated. Click Upload File to apply the firmware update relevant to one or more drive models.

Figure 6: Acknowledge the update completion by clicking OK.

Watch this video:

ME5: Information Alert - Disk updates are available.