For use with Version 7 Release 7.9.0

Date: 25 April 2014

Contents

The information in this Readme contains fix list and other package information about the Hardware Management Console.

• Description
• Upgrade notes
• Enhancements and new function
• General fixes
• Known issues in HMC
• Web browser requirements
• Installation
• National Language Support

This package represents the Recovery image that can be used to upgrade your HMC from HMC V7R7.6.0 or higher to HMC V7R7.9.0. HMC Version 7 Release 7.9.0 does not support upgrades from HMC levels lower than V7R7.6.0. This package can also be used to install a clean version of HMC V7R7.9.0. You can also reference this package by APAR MB03774 and MB03775.

1. Prior to upgrading from V7R7.6.0 or V7R7.7.0, users with many partitions and partition profiles must verify that their current server configuration is compatibile with HMC Version 7 Release 7.8.0 and later. The HMC uses a storage area on each managed server to persist the server configuration. HMC V7R7.8.0 and later increases the usage of this storage area. Servers already containing a large number of profiles may not have sufficient space to allow an upgrade to HMC Version 7 Release 7.8.0 and later.

For further information and detailed instructions on validating existing configurations see:
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=nas8N1019821

2. Verify server firmware is compatible with HMC Version 7 Release 7.9.0
Prior to upgrading the HMC, determine if any managed server or flex node is at one of the following server firmware levels:

• 01Ax770 levels 032 (GA) to 064
• 01Ax773 levels 033 to 051
• 01Ax780 levels 040 (GA) to 050

If any Power Server is at an impacted level then concurrently update the server firmware to the latest available fix before upgrading the HMC. 
For further information on this restriction see IBM Support document at http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=nas8N1020088

3. When two HMCs manage the same server, both HMCs must be at the same version. Once the server is connected to the higher version of the management console, the partition configuration is migrated to the latest version. Lower management consoles will not be able to understand the data properly and may fail. Before upgrading an HMC, you must disconnect the redundant HMC from the managed systems. Once the first upgrade is complete, you can upgrade the disconnected HMC, then reconnect it to the managed systems when the HMCs are at the same level again.

For further information and detailed upgrade instructions see:
http://www-912.ibm.com/s_dir/SLKBase.nsf/00e42b791a3dab7b862565c9004ec1af/964673bf5de1dece86257cb30040d25f?OpenDocument

4. Once the server is managed by N level of management console version, should you want to go back with N-1 management console version, then you must initialize the server. You can restore a backup taken at the older level or recreate the partitions. If the server is not initialized, partition configuration corruption can occur when you use lower levels of management consoles and Incomplete or Recovery state may be displayed as a result.

• When two HMCs manage the same server, both HMCs must be at the same version. When a server is managed by a more recent HMC version, its partition configuration storage area is migrated to a new format. If the server is then managed, or dual managed, by a HMC at an older version, the older HMC version may cause unpredictable results. The older HMC may show an incomplete state (V7R7.7) or the HMC may hang or experience severe performance issues (V7R7.6 and earlier). The older HMC may also damage the configuration file causing a recovery state. If a user wants to revert back to an older management console version, then user must initialize the server. Users can restore a backup taken at the older level or recreate the partitions.
• In V7R7.8 and later, a new port, 12443, is opened in the HMC firewall when "remote access" is enabled. For remote web browser connectivity to HMC V7R7.8.0 and later, this port must also be opened in any firewall that is between a remote client and the HMC.
• HMC Version 7 Release 7.9.0 requires model CR3 or later model rack-mount HMC or C05 or later deskside HMC. Models CR2, C03, and C04 are not supported.
• Model C05 is not supported when the HMC is managed by IBM Systems Director.
• HMC Version 7 Release 7.9.0 will be the last version to support HMC models CR3 and CR4.
• HMC Version 7 Release 7.9.0 requires a minimum of 1Gig of memory; 4Gig is recommended.
• Additional memory requirements include:
  
  • 2Gig minimum when using the Power Enterprise Pools GUI
  • 3Gig minimum when using IBM Systems Director to manage an HMC or if the HMC manages more than 254 partitions.
• HMC Version 7 will be the last version to support HMCs with 1 GB of RAM.
• The "enabled routed" feature (RIP protocol) will be removed in a future version of the HMC.
• HMC Version 7 Release 7.9.0 supports managing a maximum of 48 servers (non Power 590/595 models) or 32 IBM Power 590/595 servers with a maximum of 1024 partitions across the managed servers.
• The following HMC System plan functions are not implemented for POWER7 servers:
  • Create system plan (mksysplan) capture of VIOS provisioning info (storage pools, etherchannels, shared ethernet adapters)
  • Deploy system plan Auto-install of VIOS, AIX and Linux partitions.
  • Auto-provisioning of storage pools, shared ethernet adapters and etherchannels by system plan deployment.
  • Power blades are not support for any system plan operation.
• HMC Version 7 Release 7.9.0 supports upgrading from the following releases, with or without Service Packs or efixes: HMC V7R7.6.0, HMC V7R7.7.0, and HMC V7R7.8.0.
• The DHCP range choices of 9.6.24.x and 9.6.25.x are no longer available as DHCP server range selections in the HMC GUI for V7. The POWER 595 FHA/FHB system internal network utilizes this range. If a V6 HMC is upgraded to V7 and a POWER 595/FHA system addition is planned, change the range to an alternate available selection prior to introducing the system to the HMC. For all other system environments the range can still be used, but is not visible in the GUI.
• DVD-RAM is no longer supported for backup and restore of console data.

New function in HMC Version 7 Release 7.9.0:

• Added support for Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) adapters. An SR-IOV adapter can be configured in shared mode and be shared by multiple logic partitions at the same time. HMC supports the configuration of the logical ports assigned to partitions and supports the configuration, backup, and restore of the adapter and physical port properties.

• Added support for Power Integrated Facility for Linux (Power IFL) with compliance monitoring. Power IFL provides lower cost processor activations for use by Linux partitions.

This package provides the following fixes:

• Remove duplicate posting of the "deferred level" service pack level number column on the HMC Updates panel.
• Added support for Oracle jre 7u51 or later. This resolves an issue where attempts to log on to the HMC using Internet Explorer or to open a terminal window (vterm) fails with a java error stating that "This appliation will be blocked in a future Java security update because the JAR file manifest does not contain the Permissions attribute. Please contact the Publisher for more information."
• Fixed an issue where disk drives are missing from a create system plan when they are assigned to an IBM i partition using redundant physical disk controllers.
• Fixed an issue where attempting to copy a user profile that has password age set to never expire fils with ACT03019.
• Corrected a problem where the HMC event log may report a status of "failure" for a command with the "-q' quiet mode switch specified, even though it completed successfully.
• Fixed a problem that can result in serviceable event E212E116 being reported when there are HMCs at V7R7.2 and earlier on the same network. HMC performance issues and hangs may also be reported.
• Fixed an issue where the updhmc command writes extraneous output to the screen.
• Fixed a problem where chhmc -g does not report an error if the command fails.
• HMC V7R7.9 is not affected by CVE-2014-0160 and CVE-2014-0076. If a HMC is upgraded from an unpatched release that is affected to a fixed release, such as HMC V7R7.9, additional instructions for remediation are still required after the upgrade.

  For further information, see:
  "Security Bulletin: Power Hardware Management Console is affected by vulnerabilities in OpenSSL (CVE-2014-0160 and CVE-2014-0076)"
  http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=nas8N1020021

Security

• Disabled some ssh ciphers considered weak to resolve security scans reporting SSH Weak MAC Algorithms Enabled.

Command line changes

• The following commands have been enhanced to support Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) adapters:
  • chhwres
  • chsyscfg
  • lshwres
  • lssyscfg
  • mksyscfg
  • rsthwres
• The hwdbg command has been added for hardware service personnel to set SR-IOV hardware debug mode for SR-IOV logical ports.
• The following commands have been enhanced to show the number of Power Integrated Facility for Linux (Power IFL) processors that are permanently licensed and configurable on a server: lscod and lshwres.

This package has the following known issues (the 2nd issue is modified from the 780 Readme):

• You cannot use the GUI to view the history log for a Power enterprise pool. You can view the history log for a Power enterprise pool by running one of the following HMC commands:
  lscodpool -t hist -p <pool name>
  or
  lscodpool -t hist --id <pool ID>
• You cannot use the GUI to set a new master HMC for a Power enterprise pool when the new master HMC is not configured as the backup master HMC for the pool or if the new master HMC does not have valid backup data for the pool. You can perform this operation by running one of the following HMC commands:
  chcodpool -o setmaster --mc this -p <pool name> -v [-f <file>]
  or
  chcodpool -o setmaster --mc this --id <pool ID> -v [-f <file>]
• HMC users with a custom managed resource role cannot use the Power Enterprise Pools GUI. To use the Power Enterprise Pools GUI, an HMC user must have access to all system resources.
• You cannot use the GUI to remove Mobile CoD resources from a server that has a state of No Connection, Pending Authentication, or Failed Authentication. You can use the HMC chcodpool command to perform the operation.
• Performing Concurrent Maintenance operations on the power domain containing SRIOV Adapters in shared mode will fail to Vary On the resources if any of the adapters in SR-IOV mode do not have the VFs configured. To workaround this issue, switch these adapters with no configured VFs to dedicated mode prior to performing the Concurrent Maintenance operation.
• SSL/TLS is supported with weak RC4 cipher(s) which may cause customer's environments to become insecure. You can remove RC4 related cipher(s) using the HMC chhmcencr command through the command line interface.

The following browsers have been tested.

Microsoft Internet Explorer

• Internet Explorer 8.0 and 9.0 are supported.
• Internet Explorer 10.0 and later are not supported; however all known issues are resolved by running Internet Explorer in compatibility mode.

Firefox

• Firefox 3, 3.5.19 and 3.6.4 are no longer supported.
• Firefox Versions 17 and Version 24 Extended Support Release (ESR) are supported.

Installation instructions for HMC Version 7 upgrades, updates and corrective service can be found at these locations:

Installation methods for HMC Version 7 updates and fixes

Upgrading or restoring HMC Version 7

Instructions and images for upgrading via a remote network install can be found here (for all HMC releases):

HMC network installation images