CN105867976A - Easy-to-apply server firmware online refreshing method - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses an easy-to-apply online refresh method for server firmware. In the method, the firmware files of each chip of the server are placed in the same folder according to the classification and version; the chips that need to refresh the firmware version are listed in the XML file, When the firmware is refreshed, it is called by the script; when it is modified, the chip name, firmware version, file storage location, refresh command, and the action to be executed after the refresh are changed by modifying the XML file without changing the script. The whole process of the method of the present invention is controlled by scripts, and there will be no situation of missed brushing and refreshing failures that cannot be intercepted, thereby ensuring the quality of refreshing. There is no need for human participation in the whole process, which reduces the cost of refreshing. If the actual version of the machine firmware is consistent with the definition in the XML file, you can skip not to refresh, and refresh the chip without restarting to continue to refresh the next chip, without restarting every time you refresh, which reduces the firmware refresh time and improves the refresh efficiency.

Description

An Easy-to-Apply Online Refresh Method for Server Firmware

technical field

The invention relates to the technical field of updating server firmware, in particular to an easy-to-apply online updating method for server firmware.

Background technique

In current server manufacturing plants, online firmware refreshes for BIOS, BMC, CPLD and various PCIe cards are mostly performed. Firmware refresh can be realized in various forms. Firstly, the formats include Bin files and Hex files. The tools and commands used are also different, and the actions that need to be performed after the refresh are also different. For example, some firmware refreshes need to be restarted, and some It can be used directly without restarting. There are many types of firmware that need to be refreshed during the server machine test, so there are various problems in the current server manufacturing factory. Some factories write scripts for firmware refresh, and refresh them in turn in sequence, such as BIOS, BMC, CPLD, etc., and restart once each time. When there are many components that need to refresh firmware, it often happens that the machine is still running Constantly starting the operating system and restarting will seriously cause a waste of manpower and time, and the test efficiency will be low. Some factory firmware refreshes can write corresponding scripts according to the different types of firmware, execute the restart command after the firmware that needs to be restarted, and continue to the next firmware refresh if the firmware does not need to be restarted. When there are many chips that need to refresh the firmware, the script is complicated and cumbersome. It is very troublesome to use, debug, troubleshoot, transplant and maintain, and it is prone to errors.

Contents of the invention

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is: when the current server firmware is refreshed online, it will be refreshed in turn in order, and each refresh will be restarted once, resulting in waste of manpower and time, and low test efficiency; the script written is complicated and cumbersome, and problems in use, debugging, and troubleshooting , transplantation and maintenance are very cumbersome and prone to errors, etc., the present invention proposes an easy-to-apply server firmware online refreshing method.

The technical scheme adopted in the present invention is:

An easy-to-apply server firmware online refresh method, the method puts the firmware files of each chip of the server in the same folder according to the classification and version, which is convenient for centralized management and use; the chips that need to refresh the firmware version are listed in the XML file In fwflash.xml, the script fwflash.pl is called when the firmware is refreshed; when it is modified, the chip name, firmware version, file storage location, refresh command and the action to be executed after the refresh are changed by modifying the XML file. No need to change the script.

The method of the present invention can modify fwflash.xml at any time to change the chip name of the firmware to be refreshed, the firmware version, the location where the file is stored, the command to refresh, and the actions to be executed after the refresh, without changing the script, and personnel without programming foundation can also easily modify it XML file, easy to use, flexible and convenient.

The implementation process of the method is as follows:

First, collect all released chip firmware versions into a folder as a firmware library, which is called by the test script;

Write an Extensible Markup Language XML file as a firmware refresh control XML file, define the applicable machine model and the version of the XML file in the file, list the name of the chip to be refreshed, firmware information and refresh settings, etc.;

Write a firmware refresh script, read the machine model, grab the XML file applicable to the model, and perform actions such as checking and refreshing the firmware version of each chip step by step according to the chip sequence and settings listed in the XML file, and restarting the machine; if the machine Reboot, the refresh script is still executed after startup, until the last chip is refreshed, then the entire firmware refresh is completed.

The folder creation process is as follows:

Create a folder, and create the following subfolders under this folder: BIOS, BMC, CPLD, ME, NIC, etc., including all released chip firmware versions and files, as a firmware library, called by the script, and can be followed according to The type of firmware to be adjusted.

The Extensible Markup Language XML file, as a firmware refresh control file, is named fwflash.xml. In fwflash.xml, the applicable machine model and the XML file version are first defined, and each chip name and firmware that need to be refreshed are listed. The location where the file exists, the classification and version of the firmware, the command to execute, and the action to perform after the flash is completed.

The firmware refresh script, named fwflash.pl, first reads the machine model in the SMBIOS of the machine, grabs the fwflash.xml of this model, and reads the actual firmware version of the chip of the machine according to the order of chips listed in the fwflash.xml file , if it is consistent with the version defined in fwflash.xml, do not refresh, and continue to check the next chip firmware version, if it is inconsistent with the version in fwflash.xml, then according to the location of the firmware file in fwflash.xml, the firmware version , Refresh command Execute the refresh command, after the refresh is completed, restart or continue to check the next chip according to the settings in fwflash.xml; after the machine restarts, it still executes fwflash.pl, and checks and refreshes one by one according to the chip order in fwflash.xml , until the last chip is refreshed, the entire firmware refresh process is completed.

The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

In the method of the present invention, the refresh of each chip firmware is listed in the XML file, and the script checks and refreshes item by item according to the settings of the XML file during the test, and the whole process is controlled by the script, so that there will be no missed refresh or refresh failures that cannot be intercepted. Guaranteed refresh quality. There is no need for human participation in the whole process, which reduces the cost of refreshing. If the actual version of the machine firmware is consistent with the definition in the XML file, you can skip not to refresh, and refresh the chip without restarting to continue to refresh the next chip, without restarting every time you refresh, which reduces the firmware refresh time and improves the refresh efficiency.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a flow chart of the method of the present invention.

detailed description

Below in conjunction with accompanying drawing of description, the present invention is further described according to specific embodiment:

Example 1:

An easy-to-apply server firmware online refresh method, the method puts the firmware files of each chip of the server in the same folder according to the classification and version, which is convenient for centralized management and use; the chips that need to refresh the firmware version are listed in the XML file In fwflash.xml, the script fwflash.pl is called when the firmware is refreshed; when it is modified, the chip name, firmware version, file storage location, refresh command and the action to be executed after the refresh are changed by modifying the XML file. No need to change the script.

The method of the present invention can modify fwflash.xml at any time to change the chip name of the firmware to be refreshed, the firmware version, the location where the file is stored, the command to refresh, and the actions to be executed after the refresh, without changing the script, and personnel without programming foundation can also easily modify it XML file, easy to use, flexible and convenient.

Example 2

As shown in Figure 1, on the basis of Embodiment 1, the implementation process of the method described in this embodiment is as follows:

First, collect all released chip firmware versions into a folder as a firmware library, which is called by the test script;

Write an Extensible Markup Language XML file as a firmware refresh control XML file, define the applicable machine model and the version of the XML file in the file, list the name of the chip to be refreshed, firmware information and refresh settings, etc.;

Write a firmware refresh script, read the machine model, grab the XML file applicable to the model, and perform actions such as checking and refreshing the firmware version of each chip step by step according to the chip sequence and settings listed in the XML file, and restarting the machine; if the machine Reboot, the refresh script is still executed after startup, until the last chip is refreshed, then the entire firmware refresh is completed.

This method lists the refresh of the firmware of each chip in the XML file. During the test, the script checks and refreshes item by item according to the settings of the XML file. The whole process is controlled by the script, and there will be no missed flashes or refresh failures that cannot be intercepted, ensuring that refresh quality. There is no need for human participation in the whole process, which reduces the cost of refreshing. If the actual version of the machine firmware is consistent with the definition in the XML file, you can skip not to refresh, and refresh the chip without restarting to continue to refresh the next chip, without restarting every time you refresh, which reduces the firmware refresh time and improves the refresh efficiency.

Example 3

On the basis of Embodiment 2, the folder creation process described in this embodiment is as follows:

Create a folder named firmware-house.1.0.0, and create the following subfolders under this folder: BIOS, BMC, CPLD, ME, NIC, etc., including all released chip firmware versions and files, as The firmware library is called by the script and can be adjusted according to the type of firmware.

Example 4

On the basis of embodiment 2, the Extensible Markup Language XML file described in this embodiment is named as fwflash.xml as the firmware refresh control file. In fwflash.xml, first define the applicable machine model and the XML file version, List the name of each chip that needs to refresh the firmware, the location of the firmware file, the classification of the firmware, the version, the executed command, and the action to be executed after the refresh is completed.

Example 5

On the basis of Embodiment 2, the firmware refresh script described in this embodiment is named as fwflash.pl, first reads the machine model in the SMBIOS of the machine, grabs the fwflash.xml of this model, and lists it according to the fwflash.xml file Chip sequence, read the actual firmware version of the chip of the machine, if it is consistent with the version defined in fwflash. The location of the firmware file, the version of the firmware, and the refresh command execute the refresh command. After the refresh is completed, restart or continue to check the next chip according to the settings in fwflash.xml; The chips in .xml are checked and refreshed one by one until the last chip is refreshed, and the entire firmware refresh process is completed.

The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, but not to limit the present invention. Those of ordinary skill in the relevant technical field can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, all Equivalent technical solutions also belong to the category of the present invention, and the scope of patent protection of the present invention should be defined by the claims.

Claims (5)

1. the server firmware on line refreshable method of an easy application, it is characterised in that: the firmware file of each chip of server is placed under same file folder by described method according to classification and version；To need the chip alignment refreshing firmware version in XML file, firmware is called by script when refreshing；During amendment, action to be performed after changing the chip title of firmware to be refreshed, firmware version, position that file is deposited, the order of refreshing and refreshing by amendment XML file, script need not be changed.

The server firmware on line refreshable method of a kind of easy application the most according to claim 1, it is characterised in that it is as follows that described method realizes process:

First all announced chip firmware versions are collected and arrange in a file, as firmware library, call test script；

Write an expandable mark language XML file, as firmware refresh control XML file, define applicable machine models and this XML file version in this document, list and need to refresh the title of chip, firmware information and refreshing setting；

Write firmware and refresh script, read machine model, capture and be suitable for the XML file of this model, the chip order listed according to XML file and setting, the action such as progressively carry out whether the inspection of each chip firmware version, refreshing, and machine restart；If machine is restarted, still carrying out this refreshing script after startup, to the last a chip refresh completes, and the most whole firmware has refreshed.

The server firmware on line refreshable method of a kind of easy application the most according to claim 2, it is characterised in that it is as follows that described file creates process:

Create a file, under this file, set up following sub-folder respectively: BIOS, BMC, CPLD, ME, NIC, comprise all announced chip firmware versions and file, as firmware library, call script, follow-up can be adjusted according to the kind of firmware.

The server firmware on line refreshable method of a kind of easy application the most according to claim 2, it is characterized in that: described expandable mark language XML file, as firmware refresh control file, named fwflash.xml, in fwflash.xml, first define applicable machine models and this XML file version, list each action needing the position, the classification of firmware, version, the order of execution and the refreshing that refresh the chip title of firmware, firmware file exists to perform after completing.

nullThe server firmware on line refreshable method of a kind of easy application the most according to claim 2，It is characterized in that: described firmware refreshes script，Named fwflash.pl，First the machine models in read machine SMBIOS，Capture the fwflash.xml of this model，The chip order listed according to fwflash.xml file，This chip actual firmware version of read machine，As consistent in the version defined in fwflash.xml，Do not refresh，Continue checking for next chip firmware version，As inconsistent with the version in fwflash.xml，The position then existed according to the firmware file in fwflash.xml、The version of firmware、The order refreshed performs refreshing instruction，Carry out restarting or continue checking for next chip further according to the setting in fwflash.xml after having refreshed；Machine still performs fwflash.pl after restarting, and checks one by one according to the chip order in fwflash.xml and refreshes, and to the last a chip refresh completes, and the most whole firmware refresh flow completes.