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Manual Chapter : Storage Drive Maintenance

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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.

Viewing storage drive information using tmsh

You can use the Traffic Management Shell (tmsh) to view information about storage drives (hard disk drives or solid-state drives) that are installed in your system.
  1. Log on to the command line of the system using an account with root access.
  2. Open the Traffic Management 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

Upgrading 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 on to the command line 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

Upgrading 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 on to the command line 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

If you are running BIG-IP® software version 11.6 or later, 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 a BIG-IP® platform or VIPRION® blade. 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.

Important: 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, when 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® B2100
  • VIPRION B2150
  • VIPRION B2250
  • VIPRION B4300

Performing a disk erase operation on a storage drive

You can use the F5® Disk Erase Utility to erase data from storage drives (hard disk drives or solid-state drives) that are installed in your system.
  1. Connect to the system using the serial console.
  2. Log on to the command line 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:
    This utility is capable of performing a
single-pass zero write, causing PERMANENT
DATA LOSS on selected storage devices.
  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.
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