Updating Library and Tape Drive Firmware
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Updating Library and Tape Drive Firmware: Dell™
PowerVault™ ML6000 Tape Library User's Guide
Upgrading Library Firmware
Updating Tape Drive Firmware
Autoleveling Tape Drive Firmware
There are two types of firmware that can be upgraded on the library: library firmware (including drive sled firmware) and
tape drive firmware. There may be times when you will need to upgrade your library and tape drive firmware as directed by
Dell Technical Support. You can also regularly monitor the Dell Support website at
http://support.dell.com for firmware
upgrades, but you need to make sure that the firmware you download is compatible with your library and tape drives.
Note: Check the information provided on the Dell Support website at http://support.dell.com to verify that you are
selecting the correct firmware version to download.
Upgrading Library Firmware
The library firmware upgrade operation allows you to upgrade library firmware using the Web client. Upgrading library
firmware can take up to an hour for large configurations. You can download library firmware upgrades from the Dell Support
website:
http://support.dell.com.
Library firmware version 200G.GSxxx and 210G.GSxxx support library configurations of up to 14U. Library firmware
300G.GSxxx supports library configurations up to 23U. Library firmware versions 320G.GSxxx and higher support library
configurations up to 41U. Make sure you are running the appropriate firmware version to support the size of your library. It is
recommended that you use the most current version of firmware regardless of library size.
Saving the current library configuration before you upgrade library firmware is recommended in case the upgrade fails. After
you have upgraded the firmware, save the library configuration again. For more information, see
Saving and Restoring the
Library Configuration.
It is also a good idea to capture a snapshot of current logged information before making any significant change to your
system such as upgrading library firmware. Technical support personnel can, if necessary, use the snapshot file to
troubleshoot the library. For more information, see
Capturing Snapshots of Library Information.
Caution: If you are currently running library firmware version 320G.GS004 or 400G.GS006, you must first install and
run the Library Service Utility before upgrading firmware. If you do not first run the Library Service Utility, then the
firmware upgrade may not complete successfully. The Library Service Utility and installation instructions are located in
the ".zip" file that contains the firmware download files.
If you are currently running library firmware prior to version 320G.GS004, do not upgrade to version 320G.GS004 or
400G.GS006, but instead upgrade to the latest version. You will not need to run the Library Service Utility.
Note: If you downgrade from one major firmware version to an earlier major version, library configuration settings will
be reset to the factory defaults. You can restore the other configurable items using a configuration file that was saved
when the earlier version of library firmware was installed on the library, or you can reconfigure your library's settings.
For more information, see
Saving and Restoring the Library Configuration.
• If you are running firmware code level 400G or higher and your library has Fibre Channel (FC) I/O blades installed,
you can downgrade to level 400G or higher. Firmware versions 320G and lower do not support FC I/O blades. If your
library does not have FC I/O blades, you can downgrade to a lower version of code.
Note: If you purchased your library after October 15, 2008, you cannot downgrade library firmware to below version
520G.
Note: This operation should not be performed concurrently by multiple administrators. You can access the screen, but
you cannot apply changes while another administrator is performing the same operation.
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