How to Upgrade Boot PROM

Use the Boot PROM Upgrade Wizard to easily upgrade the boot PROM images on your network devices.

Instructions on:

Preparing to Upgrade

There are certain steps you must perform before you can upgrade your boot PROM images. The steps vary depending on whether you are using a mapped file transfer server (as configured in the Services for NetSight Server view of the Suite-Wide Options window) or an alternate remote file transfer server (as configured in the Alternate Firmware Servers view in the Options window) to perform the upgrade.

If you are using a mapped file transfer server:

If you are using an alternate remote file transfer server:

  • You must have the alternate server configured and running to perform the download operation. See Configuring the Alternate Server for instructions.
  • Set the file transfer method for the devices you wish to upgrade. See How to Set a File Transfer Method for instructions.
  • Store the boot PROM image that you want to download in a specified alternative firmware directory.
  • Create firmware records to associate with the alternate server and add them to the Inventory Manager database. In addition, you must assign the firmware record to the appropriate product families or device types. See Creating and Assigning Firmware Records for instructions.
  • Specify which alternate server a device will use when performing firmware downloads. See Setting the Firmware Server for instructions.

Once these steps have been performed, you are ready to use the Boot PROM Upgrade Wizard.

  NOTE: The Boot PROM Upgrade Wizard can also be used to downgrade boot PROM to a previous revision. Downgrading boot PROM is inherently risky due to possible feature differences between revisions. Restoring configurations from different firmware revisions carries the same risk. Should you need to downgrade your boot PROM to an earlier version, it is recommended that you use one of the following two procedures:
  • Downgrade the boot PROM on a network device using the Boot PROM Upgrade Wizard. Do not proceed to the Reset Devices portion of the wizard, instead select [Finish]. Restore an archived configuration that was previously created with the boot PROM image being downloaded. This will reset the device.
    or
  • Downgrade the boot PROM on a network device using the Boot PROM Upgrade Wizard. Complete the downgrade using the wizard Reset Devices screens. Clear NVRAM on the device and reconfigure the network configuration parameters of the device using the local console.

In addition, when downgrading boot PROM on SNMPv3 devices, it is possible that Inventory Manager will lose contact with the device. SNMPv3 adds a level of difficulty to downgrade operations, because counters and timers related to security features of SNMPv3 may get out of sync. Following the downgrade, you will need to restart Inventory Manager to re-establish contact with the device.

  CAUTION: Prior to upgrading boot PROM on a device, it is recommended that you archive the latest configuration for the device being upgraded. This will aid you in downgrading should you choose to do so.

Performing an Upgrade

Use these steps to upgrade boot PROM. Be sure to perform the steps in Preparing to Upgrade before beginning the upgrade operation

  NOTE: During the device reset, Inventory Manager learns the current boot PROM version installed on the device. Inventory Manager uses this information to determine whether the boot PROM version installed on the device matches the boot PROM reference image set for the device's binary family. (This information is displayed in the All Devices Details View tab.) If the version number is not available from an image file, you can manually set the version number in the Firmware Image General Tab.
  1. Select Tools > Wizards > Boot PROM Upgrade Wizard from the menu bar or click   on the toolbar. The Boot PROM Upgrade Wizard opens.
  2. Select the devices to upgrade:
    1. Expand the folders under the left-panel tree and select the single device or device group, or multiple devices or device groups (using the Control or Shift keys). Click Add.
       NOTE:If you have multiple tree nodes representing the same device but with varying SNMP contexts, keep in mind that not all device contexts will provide access to the MIBs required to perform the operation. When selecting your devices, make sure that any device with SNMP context has access to the required MIBs, or select the device with default context (switch mode).
    2. The devices are listed in the Selected Devices table. Devices that do not support the boot PROM upgrade operation, or have never been contacted, are not listed. If you want to remove a device from the list, select the device and click Remove.
    3. Click Next.
      TIP: If you open the Boot PROM Upgrade Wizard from a device or device group in the left-panel Network Elements tab, the selected device(s) will be automatically displayed under Selected Devices.
  3. Assign a boot PROM to each device type or family:
    1. If necessary, click the Refresh Images button to perform a firmware discovery and update the list of boot PROM images.
    2. Select a family/device type in the left-panel Assignments table.
    3. In the right-panel, select a boot PROM image and use the Assign to: arrows to assign the image to the device type or to each entry that is a member of that binary family. The image will appear in the Image Name column in the Assignments table. You must assign an image to each table entry.
    4. Before proceeding with the upgrade, verify that boot PROM and firmware images that will be on the device after the upgrade operation are compatible. Refer to the boot PROM and firmware release notes for more information.
    5. Click Next.
  4. Initiate the Boot PROM Upgrade operation:
    1. Specify the Download Type option. The downloads will be performed in parallel (simultaneously) on the number of devices specified in the Groups of field. Enter the value 1 to have the downloads performed serially, one device after another.
    2. Click Start to initiate the boot PROM upgrade operation. The table at the top of the window will update with status information as will the status area in the bottom left of the screen.
    3. Review results. An alert icon   will appear in the Alert column of the table if a download fails for the specific device. You can select to show all devices or show only those that are incomplete or have failed.
    4. Click Next.
  5. Reset devices that support Timed Reset:
    If you are resetting devices that support Timed Reset, you will see a window listing those devices. Timed Reset gives you the flexibility to set up your reset operation with a time delay, so that the actual device resets take place at a later time. This can be useful when trying to schedule resets for a time when the network is least busy.
    1. In the Selected column, select the devices that you want to reset. You can select an option to display devices that do not support timed reset and devices that failed the firmware upgrade; however, these devices cannot be reset from this window.
    2. Enter the reset delay. This is the amount of time (in seconds) until the device resets after the reset operation begins. For example, if you start the reset operation at 4:00 pm with a 7 hour reset delay (420 seconds), the device(s) will reset at 11:00 pm. This allows you to schedule your resets for a time when the network is least busy.
    3. Select the reset type: Warm boot (restarts the device) or Cold boot (same as turning device power off and on).
    4. Click Start to initiate the timed resets. Once the devices are back up, click Refresh to see if the new boot PROM is running.
  6. Reset devices that do not support Timed Reset:
    If you are resetting devices that do not support Timed Reset, you will see a window listing those devices.
    1. In the Selected column, select the devices that you want to manually reset.
    2. Select the reset type: Warm boot (restarts the device) or Cold boot (same as turning device power off and on).
    3. Click Start to initiate the manual resets. Resets occur one at a time, continuing only after a device is fully booted.
    4. After the reset operation is completed, click Refresh to see if the devices are running the new boot PROM.
  7. Click Finish to close the wizard.

Related Information

For information on related tasks:

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