Intel SSD DC Firmware Update

[wreedps]

Anyone ever updated the firmware on the Intel DC SSD drives? I have 20+ in my home lab attached to 9207 HBAs and the Intel update utility does not see the drives.

Any ideas on how to update these? Is it even necessary?

[airzyk]

theres a certain command line switch to allow the firmware update utility to have visibility through LSI adapters. Although if you're on an OEM server like a Cisco C240 with their own firmware on top of the LSI adapter it won't be allowed. In that case you have to directly connect the drives to SATA ports.

[wreedps]

Thanks for the reply. These are OEM Intel drives in a Dell server connected to a LSI 9207 HBA.

Do you know the command to use to allow the Intel utility to see the drives thru the LSI?

[elerium]

If you're using isdct for firmware updates, it's: isdct.exe set -system EnableLSIAdapter=true

[wreedps]

That commands seems like it would only work on Windows. Can you do the same thing with ESXi?

[elerium]

Am doubtful that it works in ESXi, but there's probably no harm in trying it.

I've done most of my firmware updating for ESXi hosts by booting the host with Win10PE or linux image. Between the two, I opt windows because updating Intel SATA SSD firmware only worked on Win10PE and not in linux & ESXi (this was true in 2016, not sure if newer versions of isdct have changed this). For updating Intel NVME SSDs, all 3 methods (ESXi/linux/WinPE) all worked.

[marioxherrera]

You can access all iscst tool features (as long as you have the Intel SSD Datacenter Tool) installed on your ESXi host by going to the path /opt/intel/isdct/ , then execute ./isdct for running all types of commands. This tool is good, and will allow you to upgrade/check firmware version . Refer to the manual.

Also, remember that each intel ssd datacenter tool is built for specific firmware/driver versions, so for example if you install the latest isdct, this will have the latest available firmware software for your NVMe/SSD drives. Always check compatibility between firmware/driver and their respective isdct utility.

Cheers,

Mario

[IRIX201110141]

I can confirm that intels datacenter tools also work on ESXI if you installed their VIB. But.... the tool only works when you also use the intel nvme driver rather thant the one from vmware.  With the intel tool you also can gather information about the flash card.

There FW ships within the datacenter tool but you have to read the docs which version is in and please consult the vmware HCL if the FW version is already certified because you cant downgrade the FW of a flash card/disk.

Regards,

Joerg