Firmware Upgrade Wizard

Use the Firmware Upgrade Wizard to easily upgrade the firmware images on your network devices. The wizard gives you the flexibility of performing an immediate upgrade or scheduling the upgrade to take place at a later time. If you schedule the upgrade, the wizard will automatically perform the upgrade at the scheduled time, and then alert you that the upgraded devices need to be reset via the Reset Wizard.

You can also use the Firmware Upgrade Wizard to upgrade the firmware images on your NAC (64-bit) hardware and virtual appliances, and your Application Analytics hardware and virtual appliances.

To access the wizard, select Tools > Wizards > Firmware Upgrade Wizard from the menu bar or click on the toolbar.

There are certain steps you must perform before you can upgrade your firmware. The steps vary depending on whether you are using a mapped file transfer server (as configured in the Suite-Wide Option Services for NetSight Server view) or an alternate remote file transfer server (as configured in the Alternate Firmware Servers view in the Options window) to perform the upgrade. For instructions, see Preparing to Upgrade.

	NOTE:	The Firmware Upgrade Wizard can also be used to downgrade firmware to a previous revision. Downgrading firmware 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 firmware to an earlier version, it is recommended that you use one of the following two procedures: Downgrade the firmware on a network device using the Firmware 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 firmware image being downloaded. This will reset the device. or Downgrade the firmware on a network device using the Firmware 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 firmware 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 firmware 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. In addition, if you are upgrading devices that support HAU (Highly Available Upgrade) you should perform a Firmware Discovery or Refresh to ensure you have the latest HAU values before launching the firmware wizard.

CAUTION:

Prior to upgrading firmware 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.

In addition, if you are upgrading devices that support HAU (Highly Available Upgrade) you should perform a Firmware Discovery or Refresh to ensure you have the latest HAU values before launching the firmware wizard.

Device Selection Window

Use this window to select the devices to include in the firmware upgrade operation.

	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).

Click the graphic for more information.

Select devices to upgrade

This panel displays your current devices as they are listed in the left-panel Network Elements tab. Expand the folders and select the single device or device group, or multiple devices or device groups (using the Control or Shift keys) that you want to upgrade. Click the Add button to add the devices to the Selected Devices table. If there were devices that failed the previous upgrade, use the Add Failed button to add those devices to the table.

	TIP:	If you open the Firmware Upgrade Wizard from a device or device group in the left-panel Network Elements tab, the selected device(s) will be automatically displayed in the Selected Devices table.

Selected Devices

Lists the devices selected for the upgrade operation. Devices that do not support firmware download or have never been contacted, are not listed. If you want to remove a device from the table, select the device and click Remove.

IP Address: The device's IP address. Note that chassis that support Distributed Forwarding Engines (DFEs), such as the N-Series, display a single management IP even though there may be multiple DFE modules in the chassis.

Device Type: The device's model number or hardware type.

Firmware Version: The current firmware version installed in the device.

Firmware Download: A indicates the device supports the ability to download firmware images using this wizard.

Boot PROM Version: The current version of Boot PROM installed in the device.

Boot PROM Download: A indicates the device supports the ability to download boot PROM images using the Boot PROM Upgrade Wizard.

Add Button: Select a single device or device group, or multiple devices or device groups, and click Add to add them to the Selected Devices table.

Remove Button: To remove a device from the Selected Devices table, select the device and click Remove.

Add Failed Button: If there were devices that failed the previous firmware upgrade, click the Add Failed button to add those devices to the Selected Devices table. This button will not be displayed if there are no devices that failed the previous upgrade.

Firmware Selection Window

Use this window to select and assign the firmware images to be used in the upgrade. Firmware is assigned according to device type or binary family (device types that share the same firmware image). The left panel lists the device types selected for the firmware upgrade.

The right panel lists firmware images compatible with a selected device type. Use the Assign to: buttons to assign an image to a specific device type or to the entire binary family. You must assign an image to each device type. If there are no images listed, it means that there are no images in the firmware images directory on the NetSight server. You must first add your firmware images to the firmware directory and perform a firmware discovery. Inventory Manager uses the default tftpboot\firmware\images directory for storing your firmware. For more information, see the Preparing to Upgrade section of the How to Upgrade Firmware Help topic and the Firmware Discovery Help topic.

	NOTES:	If there are no images listed, it means that there are no images in the firmware images directory on the NetSight server. You must first add your firmware images to the firmware directory and perform a firmware discovery. Inventory Manager uses the default tftpboot\firmware\images directory for storing your firmware. For more information, see the Preparing to Upgrade section of the How to Upgrade Firmware Help topic and the Firmware Discovery Help topic. Before proceeding with the upgrade, be sure to verify that the 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.

Click the graphic for more information.

Assignments

This table lists the device types of all the devices selected for the firmware upgrade. Select a device type to display compatible firmware images in the right panel. If necessary, click the Refresh Images button to perform a firmware discovery and update the list of firmware images. Then, in the right-panel, select a firmware image and use the Assign to: buttons 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 device type.

	NOTE:	A device type group may include some devices that use the local mapped file transfer server for firmware downloads, and some that use an alternate remote firmware download server. In that case, the device type would have multiple entries in the Assignments table, one for each server. When you select an entry that uses an alternate server, only firmware records associated with that alternate server will be displayed in the Image list table (unless you select Show All Images.)

Family: The product family to which the device type belongs.

Device Type: The device's model number or hardware type.

Server ID: The firmware download server specified for the device type. All devices are initially configured to use the mapped file transfer server (as configured in the Suite-Wide Option Services for NetSight Server view) for firmware downloads. You can specify an alternate firmware download server, which allows a remote device to use a server in its own local network. For more information see How to Set Up Alternate Firmware Download Servers.

Image Name: The firmware image assigned to the device type.

HAU Compatible

HAU (Highly Available Upgrade) is a feature on certain devices that allows firmware to be upgraded with minimal (if any) downtime. HAU is configured using the device CLI or by creating a FlexView in Console (ethsyHauSystemHauMode). When the device HAU status is set to "If Possible" or "Always" mode, Inventory Manager will attempt to perform an HAU upgrade if the HAU firmware compatibility key is the same for the currently running firmware and the newly selected firmware. During firmware selection, Inventory Manager will attempt to determine if the keys are compatible. This column displays whether the firmware image and the device are HAU compatible. The icons specify:

(Compatible) - The firmware on the device has the same compatibility key as the newly selected firmware and a HAU upgrade will be performed.
(Not Compatible) - The firmware on the device does not have the same compatibility key as the newly selected firmware. Downloading images with different compatibility keys can cause the device to be unreachable while the upgrade completes.
No Icon (Unknown) - Inventory Manager is unable to determine the compatibility key for either image.

NOTE:

The firmware version currently running on the device must have been upgraded to the device using Inventory Manager in order for Inventory Manager to detect compatibility.

Image List

This table lists all the compatible firmware images for the device type selected in the Assignments table. (If there are no images listed, see the Note above.) If you select a device type entry that uses an alternate remote firmware download server, only firmware records associated with that alternate server will be displayed. Select a firmware image and use the Assign to: buttons to assign the image to the selected device type or to the entire binary family. The image will appear in the Image Name column in the Assignments table. You must assign an image to each device type. Use the Refresh Images button to perform a firmware discovery and update the list of firmware images, if desired.

Show All Images: By default, only firmware images that are compatible with the selected device type are listed. Select the Show All Images checkbox to override this filter and display all your firmware images. If by selecting this checkbox you assign a firmware image that's associated with the mapped server, to a device type that specifies an alternate firmware download server, the wizard will use the mapped server to perform the download.

Image Name: The name of the firmware image as it appears in your firmware images directory.

Server: Displays the firmware download server associated with the firmware image. A discovered firmware image that is accessible by the mapped file transfer server (as configured in the Suite-Wide Option Services for NetSight Server view) will display "Mapped Server". A user-defined firmware record will display its associated alternate firmware download server, as configured in the Create Firmware Record window. For more information see How to Set Up Alternate Firmware Download Servers.

Image Path: The path to the location where the image is stored.

Version: The version number of the firmware image. If the version number is not available from the image file, and Inventory Manager has not performed a firmware upgrade using this image, this field will display N/A (not available).

HAU Compatibility Key: HAU (Highly Available Upgrade) is a feature on certain devices that allows firmware to be upgraded with minimal (if any) downtime. HAU is configured using the device CLI or by creating a FlexView in Console (ethsyHauSystemHauMode). When the device HAU status is set to "If Possible" or "Always" mode, Inventory Manager performs the upgrade based on this status, and the comparison of the HAU firmware compatibility key on the current firmware with the key on the newly selected firmware.; During firmware selection, Inventory Manager will attempt to determine if the keys are compatible. This column displays the HAU Compatibility Key, if one is detected on the firmware image. The HAU Compatible column (in the Assignments table) displays whether the firmware image and the device are HAU compatible.; The following table explains the upgrade procedure for HAU devices.

HAU Mode on Device	New Image HAU Compatible?	Upgrade Procedure
Never	Yes	Standard Upgrade
Never	No	Standard Upgrade
If Possible	Yes	HAU
If Possible	No	Standard Upgrade
Always	Yes	HAU
Always	No	Upgrade Fails

Assign to Device Type Button: Use the Assign to: Device Type button to assign a firmware image to the device type.

Assign to Entire Family Button: Use the Assign to: Entire Family button to assign a firmware image to each entry that is a member of that binary family.

Refresh Images Button: Performs a firmware discovery and updates the list of firmware images.

Download Progress Window

Use this window to configure download parameters, start the download, and monitor download progress. Alternately, you can click Schedule to open the Download Schedule window where you can schedule the firmware download to take place in the background at a future time.

Click the graphic for more information.

Show all devices/Show only incomplete and failed: Once the upgrade operation starts, the device list table updates with status information for each device. An alert icon will appear in the Alert column of the table if a download operation fails for a specific device. You can use these radio buttons to show all devices or show only those devices whose download operations are incomplete or have failed.

Device List Table

A list of the devices you have selected for your download operation. Once the download is started, this table updates with status information for the download operation:

Alert - an alert icon will appear in the Alert column if a download operation fails for a specific device.
IP Address - The device's IP address. Note that chassis that support Distributed Forwarding Engines (DFEs), such as the N-Series, display a single management IP even though there may be multiple DFE modules in the chassis.
Image - The name of the image file being downloaded.
Status - The status of the download operation: Initial (the operation has not started), Success (the operation succeeded), Failure (the operation failed).
Operation - The type of operation performed: Firmware Download.
% Progress - A progress bar showing the percent completed of the operation.
Bytes Trans. - The number of bytes transferred during the download.
Message - Initially, this column shows the file transfer server and the firmware image being used for the download operation. Once the download is started, it displays a message relating to the status of the operation.

	TIP:	Use the table options and tools to find, filter, sort, print, and export information in a table and customize table settings. You can access the Table Tools through a right-mouse click on a column heading or anywhere in the table body, or by clicking the Table Tools button in the upper left corner of the table (if you have the row count column displayed). For more information, see the Suite-Wide Tools Table Tools Help topic.

Status Summary: Once the download is started, this area updates with status information for the download operation.

Download Type: 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.

Start Button: Initiates the download operation. The table at the top of the window updates with status information, as will the status area in the bottom left of the window.

Schedule Button: Opens the Download Schedule window where you can schedule the firmware upgrade to take place in the background at a future time.

Download Schedule Window

If you are scheduling your download for a future time, use this window to configure scheduling information and process settings for the download operation. Although a scheduled download runs automatically and does not require your supervision, you will still need to reset any devices that require reset, once the scheduled downloads have completed. After the firmware has been downloaded at the scheduled time, a Reset Device icon is displayed in the status bar indicating that there are devices that have received new firmware images and need to be reset. Double-click the icon to open the Devices Need Reset window where you can launch the Reset Device Wizard for those devices.

Click the graphic for more information.

Name: Enter a name for the scheduled download, or use the default name which is based on the date the schedule is created.

Schedule

Select Date: Use the drop-down list to select the month you want the download to start. A calendar corresponding to the selected month is displayed. Select the desired starting day by clicking on the calendar. You can use the arrows on either side of the drop-down list to change the month, and change the year by entering a new year in the text field.

Start Time: Set the starting time for the operation and select AM or PM.

Process

Groups of: The download will be performed in parallel (simultaneously) on the number of devices specified in the Groups of field. Set the value to 1 to have the operation performed serially, one device after another.

Abort on failure: Select the Abort on Failure checkbox to stop the download operation after a failure. This is useful if you are performing a download operation on multiple devices and you want the operation to stop after a failure on a single device.

Finish Button: Schedules the download operation. When the scheduled download is performed, you can monitor the progress, if desired, via the Active Status panel, just as you do for scheduled archives. You can view or cancel scheduled downloads using the Scheduled Events window (Tools > Scheduled Events).

Reset Devices: Timed Reset Supported Window

Once the downloads have completed, use this window to reset those devices that support Timed Reset. Timed Reset gives you the flexibility to schedule your reset operation, 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.

	NOTE:	During the device reset, Inventory Manager learns the current firmware version installed on the device. Inventory Manager uses this information to determine whether the firmware version installed on the device matches the firmware 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.

Click the graphic for more information.

Show devices not supporting timed reset: This window lists those devices that support Timed Reset. Select this checkbox to include devices that do not support timed reset. Devices that do not support timed reset cannot be reset from this window; proceed to the next window to reset those devices.

Show devices that failed firmware upgrade: Select this checkbox to include devices that failed the firmware upgrade.

Device List Table

A list of the devices you have selected for your reset operation. Once the reset operation has started, you must click Refresh to update the device information in the table.

Selected - Use the checkboxes in this column to select or deselect devices to be reset. Devices that do not support timed reset cannot be selected.
Running New Firmware - Following the reset, a indicates the device is running the new firmware version. (The checkmark is only displayed if the firmware version changes.) Remember to click Refresh to update the information in the table following the reset.
IP Address - The device's IP address. Note that chassis that support Distributed Forwarding Engines (DFEs), such as the N-Series, display a single management IP even though there may be multiple DFE modules in the chassis.
Firmware Version - Shows the current firmware version installed in the device. Following the reset, the new firmware version will be displayed. Remember to click Refresh to update the information in the table following the reset.
Device Status - The device's connection status (Contact or No Contact) and, therefore, its ability to respond to SNMP requests.
Downloaded Image - The name of the image file that was downloaded.
Download Status - The status of the download operation: Success (the operation succeeded), Failure (the operation failed).
Reset Request Status - The status of the reset operation: Initial (the operation has not started), Success (the operation succeeded), Failure (the operation failed).
Message - A message relating to the status of the operation.

	TIP:	Use the table options and tools to find, filter, sort, print, and export information in a table and customize table settings. You can access the Table Tools through a right-mouse click on a column heading or anywhere in the table body, or by clicking the Table Tools button in the upper left corner of the table (if you have the row count column displayed). For more information, see the Suite-Wide Tools Table Tools Help topic.

Reset Time: This field displays the date and time the reset is scheduled to take place. Click the Select button to open the Select Reset Time window where you can schedule a date and time for the reset. Use the drop-down list to select the month you want the download to start. A calendar corresponding to the selected month is displayed. Select the desired starting day by clicking on the calendar. You can use the arrows on either side of the drop-down list to change the month, and change the year by entering a new year in the text field. Set the starting time for the operation and select AM or PM.

Reset Type: Select the type of reset: Warm boot (restarts the device) or Cold boot (same as turning device power off and on).

Elapsed Time: The amount of time in minutes:seconds since the reset operation started.

Start Button: Starts the timed resets. Resets occur simultaneously. Once the reset operation has started, you must click Refresh to update the device information in the table.

Refresh Button: Once the reset operation has started, use the Refresh button to update the device information in the table.

Reset Devices: Timed Reset Not Supported Window

Once the downloads have completed, use this window to reset those devices that do not support Timed Reset. Devices will be reset one at a time, waiting until a device is fully booted before beginning the next device.

	NOTE:	During the device reset, Inventory Manager learns the current firmware version installed on the device. Inventory Manager uses this information to determine whether the firmware version installed on the device matches the firmware 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.

Click the graphic for more information.

Show devices that failed firmware upgrade: Select this checkbox to include devices that failed the firmware upgrade.

Device List Table

Lists those devices that do not support timed reset. Once the reset operation has started, you must click Refresh to update the device information in the table.

Selected - Use the checkboxes in this column to select or deselect devices to be reset.
Running New Firmware - Following the reset, a indicates the device is running the new firmware version. (The checkmark is only displayed if the firmware version changes.) Remember to click Refresh to update the information in the table following the reset.
IP Address - The device's IP address. Note that chassis that support Distributed Forwarding Engines (DFEs), such as the N-Series, display a single management IP even though there may be multiple DFE modules in the chassis.
Firmware Version - Shows the current firmware version installed in the device. Following the reset, the new firmware version will be displayed. Remember to click Refresh to update the information in the table following the reset.
Device Status - The device's connection status (Contact or No Contact) and, therefore, its ability to respond to SNMP requests.
Downloaded Image - The name of the image file that was downloaded.
Download Status - The status of the download operation: Success (the operation succeeded), Failure (the operation failed).
Reset Request Status - The status of the reset request.
Message - A message relating to the status of the operation.

	TIP:	Use the table options and tools to find, filter, sort, print, and export information in a table and customize table settings. You can access the Table Tools through a right-mouse click on a column heading or anywhere in the table body, or by clicking the Table Tools button in the upper left corner of the table (if you have the row count column displayed). For more information, see the Suite-Wide Tools Table Tools Help topic.

Reset Type: Select the type of reset: Warm boot (restarts the device) or Cold boot (same as turning device power off and on).

Elapsed Time: The amount of time in minutes:seconds since the reset operation started.

Start Button: Initiates the reset operation. Resets occur one at a time, continuing only after a device is fully booted. After the reset operation is completed, you can click Refresh to update the device information in the table.

Refresh Button: Once the reset operation has completed, use the Refresh button to update the device information in the table.

Related Information

For information on related tasks: