Dell BigIron RX-16, Installation Manual

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BigIron RX Installation Guide 185
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Upgrading the BigIron RX Series software
7
Upgrading the MBRIDGE FPGA image
Follow the steps given below to upgrade one or more MBRIDGE FPGA images on a BigIron RX
Series management module.
1. Place the new MBRIDGE FPGA image on a TFTP server to which the BigIron RX Series system
has access or on a PCMCIA flash card inserted in slot 1 or 2.
2. Copy the MBRIDGE FPGA image from the TFTP server or a flash card in slot 1 or 2 to all
management modules or a management module in a specified chassis slot. To perform this
step, enter one of the following commands at the Privileged EXEC level of the CLI (example:
BigIron RX
#
):
•
copy tftp mbridge <ip-addr> <image-name> MBRIDGE
•
copy slot1 | slot2 mbridge <image-name> MBRIDGE
3. After the MBRIDGE upgrade is complete, the management module must be power-cycled.
4. Verify that the MBRIDGE images have been successfully copied to the specified interface
modules by entering the following command at any level of the CLI:
•
show version
Check for the MBRIDGE image version numbers in the output.
Hitless Layer 2 OS upgrade
Version 02.3.00a and later of the Multi-Service IronWare software support hitless upgrade of the
operating system on a BigIron RX switch.
The hitless OS upgrade is designed to allow for upgrading the software in a system between two
patch releases of the OS, which support this functionality and have compatible data structures. A
hitless Layer 2 OS downgrade may also be supported if the current and target code releases have
compatible data structures.
NOTE
Hitess OS upgrade is not supported between major releases. It is supported only within a release.
For example Hitless OS Upgrade is available when upgrading from software release 02.7.00a to
02.7.00b. It is not available when upgrading from software release 02.6.00 to 02.7.00.
From time to time, it may become necessary when enhancing the software or adding new features
to change or add data structures making releases incompatible. In these cases, an upgrade or
downgrade will not be hitless, and will fall back to using the regular Brocade upgrade process –
relying on fast reboot.
The following guidance must be followed when performing a hitless OS upgrade or downgrade:
•
Hitless upgrade or downgrade is not supported in 2.3.00.
•
Hitless Layer 2 OS upgrade is supported between 2.3.00a and higher releases (unless
indicated otherwise in the target software’s release notes).
•
Hitless upgrade maintains forwarding states and control plane functionality of the active
software from which you are upgrading (i.e. 2.3.00a to 2.4.00 would only maintain the
functionality supported by 2.3.00a).
•
Hitless downgrades are recommended only between compatible patch releases of a feature
release such as between 2.3.00b to 2.3.00a (to ensure the higher release has no functional
enhancements that do not exist in the lower release).