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Software upgrade by installing hotfixes
Hotfix can repair software defects of the current version without rebooting the switch, protecting the
running services of the switch from being interrupted.
Basic concepts in hotfix
Patch and patch file
A patch, also called patch unit, is a package used to fix software defects. Generally, patches are
released as patch files. A patch file may contain one or more patches. After being loaded from the
storage media to the memory patch area, each patch is assigned a unique number, which starts from 1,
for identification, management and operation. For example, if a patch file has three patch units, they are
numbered as 1, 2, and 3 respectively.
Incremental patch
An incremental patch means that the patch is dependent on the previous patch units. For example, if a
patch file has three patch units, patch 3 can be running only after patch 1 and 2 take effect. You cannot
run patch 3 separately.
The currently released patches are all incremental patches.
Common patch and temporary patch
There are common and temporary patches:
•
Common patches are formally released through the version release flow.
•
Temporary patches are not formally released through the version release flow, but temporarily
provided to solve the emergent problems.
Common patches always include the functions of the previous temporary patches. The patch type only
affects the patch loading process. The system deletes all of the temporary patches before it loads the
common patch.
Patch package file
A patch package file contains multiple patches released at the same time. Patch package file upgrade is
an improvement of patch file upgrade.
The filename of a patch file is strictly defined. Each type of hardware corresponds to a patch file with a
fixed filename, which cannot be changed. When the software of a component needs to be upgraded,
you need to download the corresponding patch file, and rename the file as the filename pre-defined for
the hardware. If the filename does not match, the upgrade operation fails. If there are multiple
components, you need to repeat this operation multiple times.
When you use a patch package file to upgrade software, you need to download the package file and
execute the file only once, and all components of the device can be upgraded, simplifying patch
operation and patch version management.
Patch state
Each patch has a state, which can be switched only by commands. The relationship between patch state
changes and command actions is shown in
. The patch can be in IDLE, DEACTIVE, ACTIVE, or
RUNNING state. Load, run temporarily, confirm running, stop running, delete, install, and uninstall are
operations and they correspond to the following commands:
patch load
,
patch active
,
patch run
,
patch
