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Manual Chapter : Storage Drive Maintenance

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Manual Chapter

Storage Drive Maintenance

About upgrading storage drive firmware

If you are running BIG-IP software version 12.0 or later, you can use the
disk-firmware-update.pl
 script to update the firmware on storage drives, that is, hard disk drives (HDDs) or solid-state drives (SSDs), that are installed in a BIG-IP platform or VIPRION blade.

View storage drive information using tmsh

You can use the TMOS Shell (
tmsh
) to view information about storage drives (hard disk drives or solid-state drives) that are installed in your system.
  1. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system using an account with root access.
  2. Open the TMOS Shell (
    tmsh
    ).
    tmsh
  3. View information about the platform, including specific information about installed storage drives.
    show sys hardware
    This is an example excerpt of the output specific to storage drives that you might see when you run this command: 
    Name              HD2
Type              physical-disk
Model             WDC WD1003FBYX-01Y7B1
Parameters        --                --
Manufacturer      Western Digital
SerialNumber      WD-WMAW31591872
Size              931.51G
Firmware Version  01.01V02

Upgrade the storage drive firmware on a BIG-IP platform

You can use the
disk-firmware-update.pl
 script to update the storage drive firmware for drives installed in a system that is running BIG-IP software version 12.0.0 and later.
  1. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system using an account with root access.
  2. Run the
    disk-firmware-update.pl
     script.
    disk-firmware-update.pl --value enabled
    The system displays a confirmation message similar to this example: 
    Changed fw update to 'enabled' for: disk: sdb - The FW will be updated on the next reboot
Changed fw update to 'enabled' for: disk: sda - The FW will be updated on the next reboot
  3. Confirm that the firmware update is enabled.
    disk-firmware-update.pl --status
    The system displays a message similar to this example: 
    /dev/sdb enabled for FW update
/dev/sda enabled for FW update

Upgrade the storage drive firmware on a VIPRION blade

You can use the
disk-firmware-update.pl
 script to update the storage drive firmware for drives installed in a VIPRION blade.
  1. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the primary blade using an account with root access.
  2. Run the
    disk-firmware-update.pl
     script.
    disk-firmware-update.pl --value enabled --slot 1
    The system displays a confirmation message similar to this example:
    Changed fw update to 'enabled' for: disk: sda slotid: 1 - The FW will be updated on the next reboot
  3. Confirm that the firmware update is enabled.
    disk-firmware-update.pl --status
    The system displays a message similar to this example: 
    Slot 2: /dev/sda enabled for FW update
Slot 1 (local slot): /dev/sda enabled for FW update

Disk firmware upgrade script options

The
disk-firmware-update.pl
 script includes these options:
Option
Description
--slot
Specify a value for the slot number.
--status
View the current disk firmware update enabled/disabled status for the specified slot or platform.
--verbose
Enable debug logging.
--value X
Specify a value for the firmware status. Choose from
enabled
 or
disabled
.
--slot Y
Specify a value for a slot number.

About performing a disk erase on storage drives

You can use the F5 Disk Erase Utility to perform a single pass/zero write disk erase operation of storage drives, that is, hard disk drives (HDDs) or solid-state drives (SSDs), that are installed in selected F5 platforms. For example, you might want to erase data from the drives prior to returning a unit for Return Material Authorization (RMA) replacement, for security purposes.
You must be able to access the serial console to perform a disk erase on your platform.

Supported platforms

The F5 Disk Erase Utility is available on these platforms.

BIG-IP

The platform must be running BIG-IP software version 11.6 or later.
  • BIG-IP 2000 Series
  • BIG-IP 4000 Series
  • BIG-IP 5000 Series
  • BIG-IP 7000 Series
  • BIG-IP 10000 Series
  • BIG-IP 12000 Series
  • BIG-IP i2000 Series
  • BIG-IP i4000 Series
  • BIG-IP i5000 Series
  • BIG-IP i7000 Series
  • BIG-IP i10000 Series
  • BIG-IP i11000 Series
  • BIG-IP i15000 Series

VIPRION

The platform must be running BIG-IP software version 11.6 or later.
  • VIPRION B2100
  • VIPRION B2150
  • VIPRION B2250
  • VIPRION B4300

F5 rSeries

The platform must be running F5OS-A software version 1.0.0 or later.
  • F5 r2000
  • F5 r4000
  • F5 r5000
  • F5 r10000

VELOS

The platform must be running F5OS-C software version 1.0.0 or later.
  • VELOS BX110

Perform a disk erase operation on a storage drive in BIG-IP/VIPRION systems

You can use the F5 Disk Erase Utility to erase data from storage drives (hard disk drives or solid-state drives) in your BIG-IP/VIPRION system, provided there is at least one erase-capable drive installed.
  1. Connect to the system using a management console or console server.
  2. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system using an account with root access.
  3. Reboot the system.
    reboot
  4. During the system boot sequence, type
    e
     when a message similar to this displays:
    Press <c> to enter setup.
Press <e> to launch F5 Disk Erase Utility.
  5. When the system displays a message similar to this example, select
    Continue
    :
    /---------- F5 DISK ERASE UTILITY ----------\                  
|                                           |                  
|  This utility is capable of performing a  |                  
| single-pass zero write, causing PERMANENT |                  
|  DATA LOSS on selected storage devices.   |                  
|                                           |                  
|-------------------------------------------|                  
|       Cancel               Continue       |                  
\-------------------------------------------/
    The screen updates with a menu of supported drives.
  6. When the system displays a message similar to this example, press any key to continue with the disk erase operation:
    The system must reset to prepare devices.
Press any key to reset.
  7. On the F5 Disk Erase Utility menu, select the drives that you want to erase and press Enter.
    The menu looks similar to this example:
    /--------------------------------------------------\
              |              F5 DISK ERASE UTILITY               |
              |--------------------------------------------------|
              | Drive in Bay 1, Shelf A                          |
              | Exit                                             |
              |--------------------------------------------------|
              |   All data on selected devices will be erased.   |
              |            ^ and v to move selection             |
              |                 ENTER to select                  |
              \--------------------------------------------------/
  8. When you are prompted to confirm the disk erase operation, select
    Erase-All-Data
    .
  9. After the disk erase operation is complete, you can either erase another drive or select
    Exit
     to reboot the system.

Perform a disk erase operation on a storage drive in F5 rSeries systems

You can use the F5 Disk Erase Utility to erase data from storage drives (hard disk drives or solid-state drives) in your F5 rSeries system, provided there is at least one erase-capable drive installed.
  1. Connect to the system using a management console or console server.
    The default baud rate and serial port configuration is 19200/8-N-1.
  2. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system using an account with root access.
  3. Reboot the system.
    reboot
  4. During the system boot sequence, type
    e
     when a message similar to this displays:
    Press <c> to enter setup.
Press <e> to launch F5 Disk Erase Utility.
  5. When the system displays a message similar to this example, select
    Continue
    :
    /---------- F5 DISK ERASE UTILITY ----------\                  
|                                           |                  
|  This utility is capable of performing a  |                  
| single-pass zero write, causing PERMANENT |                  
|  DATA LOSS on selected storage devices.   |                  
|                                           |                  
|-------------------------------------------|                  
|       Cancel               Continue       |                  
\-------------------------------------------/
    The screen updates with a menu of supported drives.
  6. On the F5 Disk Erase Utility menu, select the drives that you want to erase and press Enter.
    The menu looks similar to this example:
    /--------------------------------------------------\
|              F5 DISK ERASE UTILITY               |
|--------------------------------------------------|
| Internal Drive                                   |
| Exit                                             |
|--------------------------------------------------|
|   All data on selected devices will be erased.   |
|            ^ and v to move selection             |
|                 ENTER to select                  |
\--------------------------------------------------/
  7. When you are prompted to confirm the disk erase operation, select
    Erase-All-Data
    .
  8. After the disk erase operation is complete, you can either erase another drive or select
    Exit
     to reboot the system.

Perform a disk erase operation on a storage drive in VELOS systems

You can use the F5 Disk Erase Utility to erase data from storage drives (hard disk drives or solid-state drives) in your VELOS system, provided there is at least one erase-capable drive installed.
  1. Connect to the system using a management console or console server.
    The default baud rate and serial port configuration is 19200/8-N-1.
  2. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system controller using an account with root access.
  3. Reboot the system.
    reboot
  4. During the system boot sequence, type
    e
     when a message similar to this displays:
    Press <c> to enter setup.
Press <e> to launch F5 Disk Erase Utility.
  5. When the system displays a message similar to this example, select
    Continue
    :
    /---------- F5 DISK ERASE UTILITY ----------\                  
|                                           |                  
|  This utility is capable of performing a  |                  
| single-pass zero write, causing PERMANENT |                  
|  DATA LOSS on selected storage devices.   |                  
|                                           |                  
|-------------------------------------------|                  
|       Cancel               Continue       |                  
\-------------------------------------------/
    The screen updates with a menu of supported drives.
  6. On the F5 Disk Erase Utility menu, select the drives that you want to erase and press Enter.
    The menu looks similar to this example:
    /--------------------------------------------------\
|              F5 DISK ERASE UTILITY               |
|--------------------------------------------------|
| Internal Drive                                   |
| Exit                                             |
|--------------------------------------------------|
|   All data on selected devices will be erased.   |
|            ^ and v to move selection             |
|                 ENTER to select                  |
\--------------------------------------------------/
  7. When you are prompted to confirm the disk erase operation, select
    Erase-All-Data
    .
  8. After the disk erase operation is complete, you can either erase another drive or select
    Exit
     to reboot the system.
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