AIX:HMC Remote Upgrade

ftp
ftp> open ftp.software.ibm.com
  Name: anonymous
  Password: ftp
ftp> cd software/server/hmc/network/v7720
ftp> prompt   (turns off interacive mode)
ftp> bin   (ensures binary transfer mode)
ftp> mget *   (downloads all six files simultaneously)
ftp> bye   (exits FTP after all files have been downloaded)”

>saveupgdata -r disk

>getupgfiles -h ftp.software.ibm.com -u anonymous --passwd ftp -d /software/server/hmc/network/v7720

while true ; do
date
ls -la /hmcdump
sleep 60
done

Once the download completes, the /hmcdump filesystem gets unmounted. That tells you that the download is finished.

"The getupgfiles operation will mount a filesystem called /hmcdump and copy the install files into the directory then unmount the filesystem. The following commands will set the HMC to boot from the network install images and allow the upgrade to proceed."

Once the download is complete:

>chhmc -c altdiskboot -s enable --mode upgrade
>hmcshutdown -r -t now

Then I waited a while until the HMC came back from the upgrade. This was actually the one mildly disconcerting bit of the whole operation; there's no feedback as to whether anything is happening. How do I know if it's actually working if I don't see something telling me it's working? How do I know that the HMC didn't have a problem on reboot and it's not just sitting there, frozen, waiting for someone to physically touch the machine?