To make sure that the server boots to the USB stick, enter the BIOS settings before the server boots into the hypervisor and do a manual boot override to the Rufus USB stick. The final step is to insert the Rufus USB stick (or mount it over IPMI) and fire up the server.
Once completed, copy over the extracted zip folder from Step 1 and put it in the root directory of the Rufus USB stick. I used the default configuration, but still took a screenshot below for you to refer to.
Download the app, pop in a USB stick (pretty much any size will do), and tell Rufus to make the USB stick bootable. I use it all the time for OS-less firmware upgrades on various servers and components. If you’ve not used Rufus before, it’s just a simple little app that formats a USB stick so that it boots into DOS. In my case I am running 1.1a so I’ll need to use AMI_1.BAT in Step 3.Įxtract the contents of the zip to a folder for later. Note: There are also two batch files included – AMI_1.BAT is for BIOS 1.1a or lower, and AMI_2.BAT is for BIOS 2.00 or higher. Inside are a handful of files – the large file with a weird extension is the actual BIOS bin file. Once you click on the link you’ll need to read and accept a EULA. I strongly recommend making sure that your server is plugged into a UPS before moving forward with the upgrade. The latest firmware will be offered for download, with a giant warning telling you that upgrading firmware is risky business. In my case, it’s the X9SCM.Ĭlick the BIOS Downloads or Get BIOS button. Here are the three steps to follow: Step 1 – Grab The Latest Supermicro Firmwareįire up the Supermicro download page and put in your motherboard model. The method that I found to be easiest was to use Rufus to create a bootable USB stick, and then just add the Supermicro BIOS firmware onto the USB stick. Either way, the goal is to wipe the old BIOS firmware and load the latest and greatest. Some call it flashing the BIOS (like me) and others call it updating the BIOS.
This post will go over how to easily update the BIOS on a Supermicro board, along with another post that will cover using the Emulex OneCommand software plugin for vCenter to easily discover and update the CNA firmware. After a bit of troubleshooting I finally discovered the root cause: the motherboard BIOS version was too far out of date to support the cards. I did have a bit of difficulty getting the cards to correctly load and become available in vSphere 5.1.
For now, the two hosts are directly connected using a cross-over LC/LC SR fiber optic cable. With that said, I recently acquired a pair of Emulex 10102-FX UCNA cards to provide some 10 GbE connectivity testing between two of my vSphere lab hosts, with hopes of adding a 10 GbE switch in the future.
I’m incredibly happy with the built-in IPMI and remote KVM / Media abilities that come standard with the X9SCM board. Supermicro makes some really amazing motherboards and are a key piece of my home lab whitebox strategy.