Firmware management

Upload SPP firmware baselines, check firmware compliance, install appliance updates, and update server firmware in HPE OneView.

HPE OneView centralizes firmware management through Service Pack for ProLiant (SPP) baselines. A baseline is uploaded once and can then be applied to any managed server.

Adding firmware baselines

Upload an SPP ISO or component firmware file with Add-OVBaseline. The file must be accessible on the machine running the PowerShell session.

1. Locate the SPP ISO file

   $SppFile = Get-ChildItem -Path "\\fileserver\SPP" -Filter "*.iso" | Select-Object -First 1
   
2. Upload the baseline to the appliance

   $SppFile | Add-OVBaseline
   

   Or with an explicit path:

   Add-OVBaseline -File "C:\SPP\SPP_2024_03.iso"
   
3. Verify the baseline was added

   Get-OVBaseline
   

Uploading with a component signature file

Some individual components ship with a companion .compsig signature file. Pass both files together:

Add-OVBaseline -File "C:\FW\ilo6_1.50.iso" -CompSigFile "C:\FW\ilo6_1.50.compsig"

Uploading asynchronously

Large ISO files can take several minutes to upload. Use -Async and track the task separately:

$Task = Add-OVBaseline -File "C:\SPP\SPP_2024_03.iso" -Async

# Check progress
$Task | Wait-OVTaskComplete

Checking firmware compliance

Show-OVFirmwareReport compares the installed firmware of a resource against a baseline and reports components that are below (or not equal to) the baseline version.

Check a single server

$Server   = Get-OVServer -Name "Encl1, bay 3"
$Baseline = Get-OVBaseline -FileName "SPP_2024_03.iso" -ErrorAction Stop

$Server | Show-OVFirmwareReport -Baseline $Baseline

Installation policy

By default, Show-OVFirmwareReport flags components whose version is lower than the baseline. To flag components that don’t exactly match the baseline version (including newer components), set -InstallationPolicy NotEqualToBaseline:

Get-OVServer | Show-OVFirmwareReport -Baseline $Baseline -InstallationPolicy NotEqualToBaseline

Installing appliance updates

Install-OVUpdate applies an appliance firmware bundle that upgrades the OneView management software itself (not server firmware).

Appliance updates restart the OneView service and disconnect all active sessions. Plan the update for a maintenance window. The operation cannot be rolled back.

1. Stage the update file

   Staging uploads the file but does not immediately apply it, giving you time to review release notes.

   Install-OVUpdate -File "C:\Updates\OneView_8.x_Update.bin" -Stage
   
2. Review pending updates

   Get-OVPendingUpdate
   
3. Apply the staged update

   Install-OVUpdate -InstallNow
   

Stage and install in one step

# Uploads and immediately applies the update
Install-OVUpdate -File "C:\Updates\OneView_8.x_Update.bin"

Viewing pending updates

$Pending = Get-OVPendingUpdate

if ($Pending) {

    Write-Host "Pending update: $($Pending.version) - $($Pending.fileName)"

} else {

    Write-Host "No pending updates."

}

Updating server firmware

Update-OVServerFirmware applies a baseline directly to a server or server profile, without requiring a full profile update operation.

1. Get the target server and baseline

   $Server   = Get-OVServer -Name "Encl1, bay 3" -ErrorAction Stop
   $Baseline = Get-OVBaseline -FileName "SPP_2024_03.iso" -ErrorAction Stop
   
2. Preview what would change (dry run)

   Update-OVServerFirmware -InputObject $Server -Baseline $Baseline -PreviewOnly
   
3. Apply the firmware update

   Update-OVServerFirmware -InputObject $Server -Baseline $Baseline | Wait-OVTaskComplete
   

Firmware installation modes

The -FirmwareInstallMode parameter controls how the update is applied:

Mode	Description
FirmwareAndSoftware	Updates firmware and drivers together (default). Requires OS to be online.
FirmwareOnly	Updates iLO and system ROM only.
FirmwareOffline	Boots to a maintenance OS to apply firmware offline.
FirmwareAndOSDrivers	Updates firmware plus OS-level drivers.
FirmwareOnlyOfflineMode	Applies firmware using offline method without booting to maintenance OS.

# Update iLO and ROM only, using an offline method
Update-OVServerFirmware `
    -InputObject $Server `
    -Baseline $Baseline `
    -FirmwareInstallMode FirmwareOffline |
    Wait-OVTaskComplete

Installation policy

By default, only components below the baseline version are updated. To update components that differ in any direction (including downgrading), use -FirmwareInstallationPolicy NotEqualToBaseline:

Update-OVServerFirmware `
    -InputObject $Server `
    -Baseline $Baseline `
    -FirmwareInstallationPolicy NotEqualToBaseline |
    Wait-OVTaskComplete

Forcing reinstallation

To reinstall firmware even when the component is already at the baseline version:

Update-OVServerFirmware `
    -InputObject $Server `
    -Baseline $Baseline `
    -ReinstallFirmware |
    Wait-OVTaskComplete

Updating multiple servers

$Baseline = Get-OVBaseline -FileName "SPP_2024_03.iso" -ErrorAction Stop

# Update all servers in a specific enclosure asynchronously
Get-OVServer | Where-Object { $_.locationUri -match "Synergy-Encl-1" } | ForEach-Object {

    Update-OVServerFirmware -InputObject $_ -Baseline $Baseline -Async

}

# Wait for all running firmware tasks to complete
Get-OVTask -State Running | Where-Object name -EQ "Update server firmware" | Wait-OVTaskComplete

Use -Async when updating many servers simultaneously. The appliance handles the queue internally. Poll Get-OVTask to monitor progress.