Updating firmware on your ACT Intel system

ACT’s servers based on Intel chassis can now be updated easier than before.  We provide a package in our YUM repository that includes firmware updates and scripts to apply the updates.  Here is how to do it.

1. Make sure you have the ACT repo enabled.  Run yum repolist and look for a repo named “ACT – EL7 Utilities”.
2. Install the firmware package on the head node with yum install packagename.  Use one of the following for the package name:
   • act_firmware-intel-broadwell – for systems using Xeon E5-26xx CPUs
   • act_firmware-intel-skl – for systems using Xeon Scalable Performance CPUs, e.g. Gold 61xx and Gold 51xx
3. Once installed, on any nodes needing to be updated, run the flash.sh script in /act/firmware/firmwarename/.
4. Reboot the system.
5. After rebooting, run the settings.sh script /act/firmware/firmwarename/.
6. Reboot the system again.

The firmware has now been updated.  Depending on the system, the following components will have their firmware updated:

• BIOS/UEFI firmware
• BMC firmware
• ME firmware
• FRU firmware (e.g. power supplies, backplanes, etc)

If you have any questions about the process, which firmware your machine needs, etc, don’t hesitate to reach out the Advanced Clustering Technologies’ support team so we can guide you through the process.