Installation Guide
QX-S5500G Series Ethernet Switches
6-1
6. Upgrading software
This chapter describes types of software used on the switch and how to upgrade software
while the switch is operating normally or when the switch cannot correctly start up.
6.1 System software file types
Software required for starting up the switch includes:
Boot ROM image
—Also called a Boot ROM image. This image is a “.bin” file that
contains a basic segment and an extended segment. The basic segment is the
minimum code that bootstraps the system. The extended segment enables hardware
initialization and provides system management menus. You can use these menus to
load software and the startup configuration file or manage files when the device
cannot start up correctly.
Comware image
—Includes the following image subcategories:
Boot image
—A “.bin” file that contains the Linux operating system kernel. It
provides process management, memory management, and file system
management.
System image
—A “.bin” file that contains the Comware kernel and standard
features, including device management, interface management, configuration
management, and routing.
Comware images that have been loaded are called current software images. Comware
images specified to load at the next startup are called startup software images.
Boot image, and system image are required for the system to operate. These images might
be released separately or as a whole in one “.ipe” package file. If an “.ipe” file is used, the
system decompresses the file automatically, loads the .bin images and sets them as startup
software images.
6.2 System startup process
Upon power-on, the Boot ROM image runs to initialize hardware and then the software
images run to start up the entire system, as shown in Figure 6-1.
