User's Manual

Software installation 17
NOTE: When using PCI pass-through, if you upgrade the firmware on an IO Accelerator, you
must cycle the power for the change to take place. Restarting the virtual machine does not apply
the change.
Upgrading device firmware from VSL 1.x.x or 2.x.x to 3.x.x
CAUTION: You cannot downgrade an HP IO Accelerator device firmware to an earlier version
after you have upgraded the device.
CAUTION:
Upgrading IO Accelerator devices that were previously configured for VSL 1.x.x or
2.x.x to work with VSL 3.x.x requires a low-level media format of the device. No user data is
maintained during the media format process. Be sure to backup all data on your IO Accelerator
device as instructed before upgrading the firmware.
Version 3.1.x of the HP IO Accelerator VSL supports new features, including the latest generation of IO
Accelerator architecture and improved Flashback protection. These features require the latest version of the
firmware. Every IO Accelerator device in a system running 3.1.x or later must be upgraded to the latest
version of the firmware.
For example, if you have a system running 2.3.1 HP IO Accelerator VSL with IO Accelerator devices
previously installed, and you want to install new IO Accelerator Gen2 devices (that require the latest version
of the firmware), then you will need to upgrade all of the existing devices to the latest firmware version.
Upgrade path
Depending on the current version of your HP IO Accelerator device, to preserve the internal structure of the
device, you might have to perform multiple upgrades. The following path is the minimum upgrade path that
you must follow. Upgrade the HP IO Accelerator VSL software on the system, and upgrade the firmware to
the compatible version in the following order:
1.2.4 > 1.2.7 > 2.1.0 > 2.2.3 > 3.1.x
For VSL upgrade information for the HP IO Accelerator, see the HP IO Accelerator Release Notes on the HP
website (http://www8.hp.com/us/en/support-drivers.html). General upgrade instructions, including the
firmware update instructions, are available in the HP IO Accelerator User Guide for each operating system.
Overformatting not supported
The –o overformat option is not supported in the 3.x.x VSL software. All upgraded HP IO Accelerator
devices are formatted to the maximum advertised capacity, regardless of whether the device was
overformatted prior to the upgrade.
Upgrading procedure
Be sure to follow the upgrade path and make sure that all previously installed IO Accelerator devices are
updated with the appropriate 2.3.1-compatible firmware.
If you plan to use IO Accelerator Gen1 devices and IO Accelerator Gen2 devices in the same host, perform
this upgrade on all existing IO Accelerator Gen1 devices before installing the new IO Accelerator Gen2
devices.
1. Prepare each existing IO Accelerator device for upgrade:
a. Backup user data on each IO Accelerator device.