HP Web Jetadmin - Upgrading Firmware Using HP Web Jetadmin

INCREASING PERFORMANCE

Firmware upgrade attempts on

devices, either manual or

scheduled, can be set to occur

again automatically at a future

time for those devices that fail.

This eliminates the need to

reselect all devices that failed

and manually retry the

upgrades. The number of retries

can be set as well as the

frequency of the retries by

selecting Tools > Options >

Device Management Settings >

Firmware > General

(Figure 14).

This same Firmware upgrade options screen allows for defining multiple threads to perform firmware

upgrades in a parallel fashion rather than serially under the Maximum concurrent upgrades setting.

The default setting is to upgrade 8 devices simultaneously, although this can be increased to 10

devices in a single task if desired. Firmware installation is faster when multiple devices are upgraded

at the same time, but more network traffic is generated. Operating limitations might also restrict how

many devices can receive upgrades simultaneously. This setting applies to the number of devices

inside a single task or multiple tasks, 10 tasks is the maximum regardless.

If it is still taking too long to perform batch upgrades of firmware, one additional technique can be

used to significantly decrease the time it takes to complete a batch upgrade process. There is a trade-

off in the accuracy of reporting status, but the gains in time can be very significant.

The normal process for upgrading printer firmware involves opening a thread, sending the firmware

file through either a Port 9100 connection or Web Services connection, monitoring the upgrade status

on the device until it completes its power cycle and reports the new firmware is in place, and then

closing the thread. If the maximum thread count is set to 10, once all 10 threads complete the

process, 10 more threads are attempted. This technique allows HP Web Jetadmin to very accurately

report success or failure. However, the constant status checking after delivering the firmware file can

take upwards of 90% of the total time to complete the process.

HP Web Jetadmin 10.3 SR2 and later allows for manipulating the same FirmwareUpgrade.config.xml

file mentioned in the previous section to bypass the status checking portion of the upgrade process.

This means that HP Web Jetadmin delivers the firmware file to the device and reports success after the

file is delivered in its entirety. This can eliminate potentially 90% of the transaction time per device,

meaning many more devices are completed in a fraction of the previous time when status checking

was being employed.

Edit the following entries in the FirmwareUpgrade.config.xml file in the directory provided in the

previous section:

<type>HP.Imaging.Wjp.Sdk.Core.Framework.ConfigurationItemString</type>

</property

<type>HP.Imaging.Wjp.Sdk.Core.Framework.ConfigurationItemString</type>

</property>

Figure 14—Firmware upgrade options