Mechanism to safely perform system firmware update in logically partitioned (LPAR) machines

摘要

A method for managing system firmware in a data processing system having a plurality of logical partitions is provided. Responsive to a request to update the system firmware from a first logical partition within the plurality of logical partitions in the data processing system, a determination is made whether the first logical partition within the plurality of logical partitions is present in the data processing system. Responsive to the determination that the first logical partition within the plurality of logical partitions is present in the data processing system, the system firmware is updated from the first logical partition in the data processing system. Then starting of additional partitions within the plurality of logical partitions in the data processing system is inhibited until the firmware update from the first logical partition is complete.