Firmware Update page
From the Firmware Update page, you can see the current, primary, and secondary firmware versions and you can upload firmware files.
Figure 1 Firmware update showing image versions
Uploads are performed through the REST Representational State Transfer. REST is a simple and stateless architecture that the web services use for providing interoperability between computer systems on the Internet. In a RESTful web service, requests made to the URI of a resource will elicit a response that may be in XML, HTML, JSON or some other defined format. interface.
After the update starts it cannot be cancelled, however users can access other functionalities by opening a new browser tab for the same session.
Prior to updating, a message is displayed: Are you sure you want to update the primary/secondary image?
After the firmware upload is completed, a new dialog box is displayed that contains the message: New firmware has been successfully uploaded. Verifying and writing system firmware...
You may need to press Reboot on the page or select the Reboot item in the top right System menu for the image to take effect.
Selecting Reboot reboots the switch.
After you select Reboot, you cannot cancel the request.
After selecting Reboot, you will be prompted to verify that you want to reboot the switch and to choose an image to use when rebooting.
Figure 2 Reboot confirmation dialog box
Firmware site distribution
Firmware site distribution is a feature in which a switch can upgrade its firmware by downloading image from another switch in the network. It enables switches to download firmware from switch or remote server rather than all switches requesting multiple downloads from a remote location. This reduces the traffic to external networks, reduces network overhead, and speeds up the upgrade process.
The WebUI provides support for this feature through the Firmware Update page under the System group in the Navigation pane. Switches may download their firmware from a remote switch or from any HTTP server.
Selecting the Download from Firmware Distribution Server reveals additional options:
- Remote Switch
- Remote Server
Figure 3 Enabling the Firmware Distribution Server feature
In the event that downloading firmware fails, the WebUI will display an error message sent by the REST module.
Only two switch clients can simultaneously install firmware from a remote switch. If the remote switch receives a request from a third client while currently serving two others, then firmware installation will fail for the 3rd client.
Figure 4 Firmware download error message
Downloading firmware from a remote switch
The following values are required to download firmware from a remote switch:
|
Value |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Switch IP/host name |
IP address or hostname of the switch which has the firmware to be downloaded in its image bank. |
|
Image location |
Image bank in the remote switch. Firmware from either the primary or secondary bank can be downloaded. |
|
VRF |
Mgmt, Default, or any user-created VRF to reach the remote switch. |
Figure 5 Example of downloading an image from a remote switch
In the example shown above the firmware is downloaded from primary bank of switch 20.0.0.1 using default VRF.
When trying to download firmware from another switch, the WebUI provides a warning message to user to ensure the configuration is done on the remote switch.
Figure 6 WebUI warning before downloading firmware from a remote switch
Downloading firmware from a remote HTTP server
The following values are required to download firmware from a remote HTTP server:
|
Value |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Image location |
The complete URL of the image location in the remote HTTP server, for example, http://www.example.com/images/FL_10_06_0100AM.swi?merchantId=ACTIVATE_DROPBOX |
|
VRF |
VRF to reach the HTTP server. |
Figure 7 Example of downloading an image from a remote server
To upgrade using firmware from another switch, the Firmware Site Distribution feature must be enabled in the remote switch. Please refer to the Firmware Mgmt page section for additional information.
