HP Web Jetadmin - Upgrading Firmware Using HP Web Jetadmin

7
DEFINING FIRMWARE PROPERTIES
The properties of a firmware image in the
repository can be applied by selecting
Edit Properties (Figure 12). Properties
include providing an optional description
of the firmware image or defining
whether the image is internally qualified.
An excellent example of where a
description might become useful is for
devices such as the HP LaserJet M5035
where a separate firmware image is
required for Asian languages. The header files for both the English and Asian versions are identical,
so uploading both images would result in two identical images appearing in the repository and two
identical images offered for upgrades. To distinguish one image from the other, a description can be
applied to one of the images. Thus, when attempting to upgrade firmware, it will be apparent which
image is the appropriate language image to be applied.
Images might also need to be internally tested and qualified as acceptable before allowing HP Web
Jetadmin to offer those images for upgrades. HP Web Jetadmin provides a checkbox to define
whether the Image is qualified. An administrator can provide permissions through roles to allow
firmware upgrades with qualified images only.
AUTOMATIC UPGRADES USING POLICIES
Devices can have firmware upgrades
applied automatically by HP Web
Jetadmin through the use of group
policies (Figure 13). A trigger can be set
to apply the policy when a device is
either added to or removed from the
group. If the group is defined as an
automatic group, certain filter criteria can
dictate which devices are automatically
added. This means that discovered
printers can be automatically added to a
group and HP Web Jetadmin can
automatically perform a firmware
upgrade on those devices. Policy actions
include upgrading either the printer or
HP Jetdirect firmware to the latest version
or a qualified version in the repository. If
more than one version is qualified, a
screen prompts the user to select a
version.
DOWNGRADING FIRMWARE
By default, HP Web Jetadmin only offers upgrades of either printer or HP Jetdirect firmware. If older
versions of firmware are present in the repository, they are not offered for downgrade. Some earlier
versions of HP Web Jetadmin might have offered firmware downgrades, but downgrades are now
disabled for several reasons. Downgrades of HP Jetdirect firmware require a special .dld image made
specifically for downgrades. If a regular version of HP Jetdirect firmware is attempted in a
Figure 12—Edit Image Properties
Figure 13—Automatic upgrades using policies