Contents

Upgrading software· 1

About software upgrade· 1

Software types· 1

Software release forms· 1

Upgrade methods· 2

Software image loading· 2

Restrictions and guidelines: Software upgrade· 2

Upgrading device software by using the boot loader method· 3

Software upgrade tasks at a glance· 3

Prerequisites· 3

Preloading the BootWare image to BootWare· 3

Specifying startup images and completing the upgrade· 3

Synchronizing startup images from the master device to subordinate devices· 4

Installing or uninstalling features or patches· 5

Installing features or patches· 5

Uninstalling features or patches· 5

Display and maintenance commands for software image settings· 6

Software upgrade examples· 6

Example: Upgrading device software· 6

Upgrading software

About software upgrade

Software upgrade enables you to upgrade a software version, add new features, and fix software bugs. This chapter describes software types and release forms, compares software upgrade methods, and provides the procedures for upgrading software from the CLI.

Software types

The following software types are available:

·          BootWare image—Also called the Boot ROM image. This image contains a basic segment and an extended segment.

¡  The basic segment is the minimum code that bootstraps the system.

¡  The extended segment enables hardware initialization and provides system management menus. When the device cannot start up correctly, you can use the menus to load software and the startup configuration file or manage files.

Typically, the BootWare image is integrated into the Boot image to avoid software compatibility errors.

·          Comware image—Includes the following image subcategories:

¡  Boot image—A .bin file that contains the Linux operating system kernel. It provides process management, memory management, and file system management.

¡  System image—A .bin file that contains the Comware kernel and standard features, including device management, interface management, configuration management, and routing.

¡  Feature image—A .bin file that contains advanced or customized software features. You can purchase feature images as needed.

¡  Patch image—A .bin file that is released for fixing bugs without rebooting the device. A patch image does not add or remove features.

Patch images have the following types:

-      Incremental patch images—Multiple incremental patch images can coexist on the device at the same time. A new patch image can cover all, part, or none of the functions provided by an old patch image.

-      Non-incremental patch images—Only one non-incremental patch image can exist on the device. The device uninstalls the old non-incremental patch image before installing a new non-incremental patch image. A new non-incremental patch image covers all functions provided by an old non-incremental patch image.

An incremental patch image and a non-incremental patch image can coexist on the device.

Comware images that have been loaded are called current software images. Comware images specified to load at the next startup are called startup software images.

BootWare image, boot image, and system image are required for the device to operate.

Software release forms

Software images are released in one of the following forms:

·          Separate .bin files. You must verify compatibility between software images.

·          As a whole in one .ipe package file. The images in an .ipe package file are compatible. The system decompresses the file automatically, loads the .bin images and sets them as startup software images.

 

NOTE: Software image file names use the model-comware version-image type-release format. This document uses boot.bin and system.bin as boot and system image file names.

 

Upgrade methods

Upgrade method	Software types	Remarks
Upgrading from the CLI by using the boot loader method	·         BootWare image ·         Comware images (excluding patches)	This method is disruptive. You must reboot the entire device to complete the upgrade.
Upgrading from the BootWare menu	·         BootWare image ·         Comware images	Use this method when the device cannot start up correctly. To use this method, first connect to the console port and power cycle the device. Then, press Ctrl+B at prompt to access the BootWare menu. For more information about upgrading software from the BootWare menu, see the release notes for the software version.  IMPORTANT: Use this method only when you do not have any other choice.

 

This chapter covers only upgrading software from the CLI by using the boot loader method.

Software image loading

Startup software images

To upgrade software, you must specify the upgrade files as the startup software images for the device to load at next startup. You can specify two lists of software images: one main and one backup. The device first loads the main startup software images. If the main startup software images are not available, the devices loads the backup startup software images.

Image loading process at startup

At startup, the device performs the following operations after loading and initializing BootWare:

1.        Loads main images.

2.        If any main image does not exist or is invalid, loads the backup images.

3.        If any backup image does not exist or is invalid, the device cannot start up.

Restrictions and guidelines: Software upgrade

As a best practice, store the startup images in a fixed storage medium. If you store the startup images in a hot swappable storage medium, do not remove the hot swappable storage medium during the startup process.

Upgrading device software by using the boot loader method

Software upgrade tasks at a glance

To upgrade software, perform one of the following tasks:

·          Upgrade the IRF fabirc:

a.    (Optional.) Preloading the BootWare image to BootWare

If a BootWare upgrade is required, you can perform this task to shorten the subsequent upgrade time. This task helps reduce upgrade problems caused by unexpected power failure. If you skip this task, the device upgrades the BootWare automatically when it upgrades the startup software images.

b.    Specifying startup images and completing the upgrade

·          (Optional.) Synchronizing startup images from the master device to subordinate devices

Perform this task when the startup images on subordinate devices are not the same version as those on the master device.

Prerequisites

1.        Use the display version command to verify the current BootWare image version and startup software version.

2.        Use the release notes for the upgrade software version to evaluate the upgrade impact on your network and verify the following items:

¡  Software and hardware compatibility.

¡  Version and size of the upgrade software.

¡  Compatibility of the upgrade software with the current BootWare image and startup software image.

3.        Use the dir command to verify that all IRF member devices have sufficient storage space for the upgrade images. If the storage space is not sufficient, delete unused files by using the delete command. For more information, see "Managing file systems."

4.        Use FTP or TFTP to transfer the upgrade image file to the root directory of a file system. For more information about FTP and TFTP, see "Configuring FTP" or "Configuring TFTP." For more information about file systems, see "Managing file systems."

Preloading the BootWare image to BootWare

Perform the following steps in user view:

1.        Load the upgrade BootWare image to the Normal area of BootWare.

bootrom update file file slot slot-number-list

Specify the downloaded software image file for the file argument.

The new BootWare image takes effect at a reboot.

Specifying startup images and completing the upgrade

Perform the following steps in user view:

1.        Specify main or backup startup images for all member devices.

¡  Use an .ipe file:

boot-loader file ipe-filename [ patch filename&<1-16> ] { all | slot slot-number } { backup | main }

¡  Use .bin files:

boot-loader file boot filename system filename [ feature filename&<1-30> ] [ patch filename&<1-16> ] { all | slot slot-number } { backup | main }

As a best practice in a multichassis IRF fabric, specify the all keyword for the command. If you use the slot slot-number option to upgrade member devices one by one, version inconsistencies occur among the member devices during the upgrade.

2.        Save the running configuration.

save

This step ensures that any configuration you have made can survive a reboot.

3.        Reboot the IRF fabric.

reboot

4.        (Optional.) Verify the software image settings.

display boot-loader [ slot slot-number ]

Verify that the current software images are the same as the startup software images.

Synchronizing startup images from the master device to subordinate devices

About startup image synchronization

Perform this task when the startup images on subordinate devices are not the same version as those on the master device.

This task synchronizes startup images that are running on the master device to subordinate devices. If any of the startup images does not exist or is invalid, the synchronization fails.

The startup images synchronized to subordinate devices are set as main startup images, regardless of whether the source startup images are main or backup.

Restrictions and guidelines

If a patch installation has been performed on the master device, use the install commit command to update the set of main startup images on the master device before software synchronization. This command ensures startup image consistency between the master and subordinate devices.

Procedure

Perform the following steps in user view:

1.        Synchronize startup images from the master to subordinate devices.

boot-loader update { all | slot slot-number }

2.        Reboot the subordinate devices.

reboot slot slot-number [ force ]

Installing or uninstalling features or patches

Installing features or patches

Restrictions and guidelines

Before installing patch images, check whether the device is already running patch images.

·          If not, install patch images.

·          If yes, read the release notes to identify the functionality differences between the running patch images and the new patch images.

¡  If the new patch images cover all functions provided by the old patch images, activating the patch images overwrites the old patch images. After activating the new patch images, deactivate the old patch images and delete them from the storage medium to release the storage space.

¡  If the new patch images do not cover one or more functions provided by the old patch images, activating the patch images does not affect the old patch images. The device uses both the new patch images and the old patch images. Do not deactivate or delete the old patch images.

To ensure a successful feature or patch installation, do not reboot the device or perform a master/subordinate switchover during the feature or patch installation.

After installing a feature image, you must log in to the device again to use the commands provided in the image.

Procedure

1.        Use FTP or TFTP commands to transfer the image file to the default file system on the master device.

You do not need to transfer or copy the image file to subordinate member devices. The system will automatically copy the image file to the subordinate members when you activate the images on them.

For more information about FTP and TFTP, see "Configuring FTP" and "Configuring TFTP."

2.        Activate features and patches in the file.

install activate feature filename&<1-30> slot slot-number

install activate patch filename { all | slot slot-number }

Images run in memory immediately after they are activated. However, only images activated by using the install activate patch filename all command still run in memory after a reboot. For other images to take effect after a reboot, you must commit the software change by using the install commit command.

3.        Commit the software change.

install commit

For images that cannot stay activated after a reboot, you must execute this command to commit the software changes.

Uninstalling features or patches

Restrictions and guidelines

After uninstalling a feature image, you must log in to the device again for the commands in the image to be removed.

Procedure

1.        Deactivate the features and patches installed from an image file.

install deactivate feature filename&<1-30> slot slot-number

install deactivate patch filename { all | slot slot-number }

Images deactivated by using the install deactivate patch filename all command do not run after a reboot. To prevent other deactivated images from running after a reboot, you must commit the software change by using the install commit command.

2.        Commit the software change.

install commit

This step removes the image file from the startup image list but does not delete the image file from the default file system.

The device will not load features and patches from the image files at startup.

Display and maintenance commands for software image settings

Execute display commands in any view.

 

Task	Command
Display current software images and startup software images.	display boot-loader [ slot slot-number ]

 

Software upgrade examples

Example: Upgrading device software

Network configuration

As shown in Figure 1, use the file startup-a2105.ipe to upgrade software images for the IRF fabric.

Figure 1 Network diagram

 

Procedure

# Configure IP addresses and routes. Make sure the device and the TFTP server can reach each other. (Details not shown.)

# Configure TFTP settings on both the device and the TFTP server. (Details not shown.)

# Display information about the current software images.

<Sysname> display version

# Back up the current software images.

<Sysname> copy boot.bin boot_backup.bin

<Sysname> copy system.bin system_backup.bin

# Specify boot_backup.bin and system_backup.bin as the backup startup image files for all IRF member devices.

<Sysname> boot-loader file boot flash:/boot_backup.bin system flash:/system_backup.bin slot 1 backup

<Sysname> boot-loader file boot flash:/boot_backup.bin system flash:/system_backup.bin slot 2 backup

# Use TFTP to download the startup-a2105.ipe image file from the TFTP server to the root directory of the flash memory on the master device.

<Sysname> tftp 2.2.2.2 get startup-a2105.ipe

# Specify startup-a2105.ipe as the main startup image file for all IRF member devices.

<Sysname> boot-loader file flash:/startup-a2105.ipe slot 1 main

<Sysname> boot-loader file flash:/startup-a2105.ipe slot 2 main

# Verify the startup image settings.

<Sysname> display boot-loader

# Reboot the device to complete the upgrade.

<Sysname> reboot

# Verify that the device is running the correct software.

<Sysname> display version