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This is a checklist for upgrading switch software

To do THE DAY BEFORE the upgrade:

1. Schedule Down Time and send an Outage Notice at least a week in advance per normal NETS procedures.
   
2. Verify that copies of the images you'll need are on netserver in /tftpboot/images (if not, get them from CCO and verify their sizes), for example:
   cat6000-sup2.6-3-5.bin [5.46 MB (5,733,300 bytes)]
   cat6000-sup.6-3-5.bin [8.49 MB (8,903,161 bytes)]
3. Copy the image to the device
   • be sure it is the appropriate file for the switch you are upgrading
   • the version number must match the supervisor card version
   • erase old files as necessary; squeeze bootflash (if needed)
     

   ** Be sure to copy the image to both Supervisors of an IOS system**
   If you do not copy the image to the standby blade, that module will not come up after the switch is reset
   
   
   Examples:
   "dir" to see how much space is available in bootflash or sup-bootdisk
   "copy tftp flash" or "copy tftp sup-bootdisk" (then specify tftp and file names appropriately)
   "delete bootflash:cat6000-sup2.6-1-1d.bin" or "delete sup-bootdisk:s3223-ipbasek9-mz.122-33.SXF7.bin" (to get rid of the "two versions back" file if you need to make space)
   "squeeze bootflash:" (to remove deleted files)

4. Make a copy of the running config (pre-upgrade) to flash
   -- that way you'll have a copy locally should you need go back to it in the event you need to take the switch back to the "pre-upgrade" version or if other problems arise where you might need it
   "copy config flash" (Example filename: "ml-062-c1-gs-2002-08-19")
5. [Optional] copy the switch config (pre-upgrade) and image files to your laptop
   -- they're available on netserver:/tftpboot/pancho-configs as well but if you want to be really paranoid (er, prepared) and maybe cut down on potential transfer problems should something go wrong and you get in a time crunch
6. Set boot variables appropriately
   set boot system flash bootflash:cat6000-sup2k9.8-4-5.bin prepend
   or
   boot system flash sup-bootdisk:s3223-ipbasek9-mz.122-33.SXH4.bin
   write mem
   -- you might have to do a "no boot system flash sup-bootdisk:s3223-ipbasek9-mz.122-33.SXF7.bin" and a "boot system flash sup-bootdisk:s3223-ipbasek9-mz.122-33.SXF7.bin" to get the newer image to be listed first on IOS systems
7. " clear boot system flash bootflash:cat6000-sup2.6-1-1d.bin" or "no boot system flash sup-bootdisk:s3223-ipbasek9-mz.122-33.SXF7.bin" (removes older entries from the boot variable)
   -- please remove boot variables for images that have been deleted from the flash
8. Check your work
   "show boot" or "show run" to verify the files, boot variables and locations
9. Verify that you have console access
   • from the terminal server at the site you are upgrading
   • connect to the switch console directly -- verify that you have the correct cables and laptop setup

The DAY OF the upgrade:

1. Verify your work from the above steps is complete
   -- synchronization between supervisors (initiated from some of the steps above) will take some time so you should plan ahead do your prep work well before your change or at least remember to allow plenty of time before you need to reset the switch
2. Notify the NOC at x1200 of your work in case they missed your Outage Notice
3. Log on to the switch via console access
4. Issue the "reset system" or "reload " command and wait for the switch to come back up.

To do AFTER the upgrade:

1. Re-connect to the switch and verify the configuration
   • is the configuration information for every module still present?
   • does the "show ver" indicate the upgrade was successful?
   • do a "show port" looking for active unnamed ports in VLAN1
     -- there shouldn't be any cards without configured ports -- if there is you should investigate further.
   • any error messages in the log (show logging buffer 1023)
   • other obvious errors or problems?
   • check the etherchannels (show channel) and verify that the uplink is etherchanneled and operating properly.
2. Other command examples you might try:
   • show module
     
   • show test all
     
   • show port status
     
   • show channel
     
   • show trunk
     
   • show config
3. Notify the NOC at x1200 that your work is complete.
   
4. Notify NNAG of the upgrade completion (reply to your Outage Notice).

Here are some related, potentially relevant URLs for reference:

• Recovering Catalyst 4000, 5000, and 6000 Series Switches from Corrupted or Missing Software, or an Upgrade Failure, or from ROMmon Mode
• Upgrading Software Images and Working with Configuration Files on Catalyst Switches

Upgrade an IOS Image on an MSFC(2) running in Single Router Mode

This section describes how to upgrade the Cisco IOS image on the active and standby MSFC when SRM is running. The new image name in this example is c6msfc2-jsv-mz.9E. The standby MSFC cannot load an image using TFTP, but it can load an image from the ACTIVE supervisor engine's Flash PC card (sup-slot0:).

NOTE: The steps below are connection method agnostic. Your method of accessing the standby MSFC will vary depending on whether you have a console or telnet connection to the supervisor engine. Accessing the MSFC from the Console Port and Accessing the MSFC from a Telnet Session sections below describe the different access methods. The IOS upgrade procedure follows.

Accessing the MSFC from the Console Port

You can enter the switch console command to access the MSFC from the switch CLI directly connected to the supervisor engine console port. To exit from the MSFC CLI and return to the switch CLI, press Ctrl-C three times at the Router> prompt.

To access the MSFC from the switch CLI, perform this task:

switch console [ mod ] 1

1 The mod keyword specifies the module number of the MSFC; either 15 (if the MSFC is installed on the supervisor engine in slot 1) or 16 (if the MSFC is installed on the supervisor engine in slot 2). If no module number is specified, the console will switch to the MSFC on the active supervisor engine.

Note    To access the Cisco IOS CLI on the standby MSFC, connect to the console port of the standby supervisor engine.

Accessing the MSFC from a Telnet Session

You can enter the session mod command to access the MSFC from the switch CLI using a Telnet session. To exit from the MSFC CLI back to the switch CLI, enter the exit command at the Router> prompt.

Note    The supervisor engine software sees the MSFC as module 15 (when installed on a supervisor engine in slot 1) or module 16 (when installed on a supervisor engine in slot 2).

Upgrading IOS Images with Single Router Mode Enabled

Note This procedure impacts data traffic and its recommend that it be performed during a scheduled maintenance window.

To upgrade the images, perform these steps:

1. Access the active MSFC. Issue the show redundancy command and verify that SRM is enabled. Exit the MSFC.

jeffcor#show red
Designated Router: 2 Non-designated Router: 1
Redundancy Status: designated
Config Sync AdminStatus : enabled
Config Sync RuntimeStatus: enabled
Single Router Mode AdminStatus : enabled
Single Router Mode RuntimeStatus: enabled
Single Router Mode transition timer : 120 seconds

2. Access the standby MSFC. Issue the show redundancy command and verify that SRM is enabled. Exit the MSFC. NOTE: Since the standby MSFC doesn't have any active interfaces, its not able to reach the authentication server. The backup password will have to be used.

jeffcor#show redundancy
Designated Router: 2 Non-designated Router: 1
Redundancy Status: non-designated
Config Sync AdminStatus : enabled
Config Sync RuntimeStatus: enabled
Single Router Mode AdminStatus : enabled
Single Router Mode RuntimeStatus: enabled
Single Router Mode transition timer : 120 seconds

3. On the active supervisor engine, enter the copy tftp sup-slot0: command and follow the prompts to load the new (c6msfc2-jsv-mz.9E) image onto the supervisor engine Flash PC card.
4. If you have a console connection, enter the switch console command to access the active MSFC. If you are connected through a Telnet session, enter the session mod command to access the active MSFC.
5. On the active MSFC, copy the new image from the supervisor engine Flash PC card to the MSFC bootflash as follows:

copy sup-slot0:c6msfc2-jsv-mz.9E bootflash:c6msfc2-jsv-mz.9E

6. Access the standby MSFC.
7. On the standby MSFC, copy the new image from the supervisor engine Flash PC card to the MSFC bootflash as follows:

copy sup-slot0:c6msfc2-jsv-mz.9E bootflash:c6msfc2-jsv-mz.9E

8. Access the active MSFC. On the active MSFC, specify that the new image is booted when the MSFC is reloaded as follows:

boot system flash bootflash:c6msfc2-jsv-mz.9E

9. On the active MSFC, enter the write memory command to ensure that the standby MSFC start-up configuration gets the boot information.
10. Access the standby MSFC. Enter the reload command to reload the standby MSFC.
11. Enter the show redundancy command on the active and standby MSFCs to ensure that both have the following configuration statement:

Single Router Mode RuntimeStatus: enabled

12. Access the active MSFC. Enter the reload command to reload the active MSFC.
Both MSFCs are now running the c6msfc2-jsv-mz.9E image.
13. Check your work:
    • Do a "show boot" on each MSFC and verify that the BOOT variable is set to use the new image and that the config register is set correctly.
    • Do a "show start" on each MSFC and verfiy that the "boot" command is set to use the new image.

Document revision history:

Jeff Custard - September 16, 2002 - Version 1.0
Teresa Shibao - August 23, 2007 - Version 1.2