Network Products
Updated: 5 March 1997
 

Procedure to update the GIGAswitch Firmware using FLASHloader (clearVISN).


Upgrading Firmware on GIGAswitch/FDDI Modules

In addition to the switch itself, two network entities are required to upgrade GIGAswitch/FDDI firmware:

  • A network management station (NMS)

      This is used to issue the commands to perform the upgrade, and to display the status of the operation. Any NMS that supports SNMP can be used to initiate the upgrade. It is used in conjunction with the GIGAswitch MIB. A special program, called FLASHloader, is available from DIGITAL as part of clearVISN which provides an easy-to-use GUI to facilitate firmware upgrades on network products from DIGITAL, including the GIGAswitch/FDDI System.

      The FLASHloader program runs on a WNT or W95 system, and is available without cost as part of DIGITAL's clearVISN suite of network mangement applications. To download a copy of clearVISN that provides unlimitied use of FLASHloader and a 30 day free license for the rest of clearVISN, click here.

      WARNING: The clearVISN file is about 50 Megabytes and the download takes more than 4 hours with a 28.8 modem. A clearVISN CD complete with hardcopy documentation, unlimited use of FLASHloader, and the 30 day free licanse for other clearVISN applications, can be ordered for a minimal cost. The part number is QA-5FBAV-H8.

  • A TFTP server, which stores the image file(s) to be loaded.

    The TFTP server may be on the same network node as the NMS, or on a different node. Each of these entities must have an IP address, and must be connected to the GIGAswitch/FDDI System, either directly, or through a bridge or router. In the following instructions we assume that FLASHloader will be used to issue the upgrade instructions, and that users will supply a TFTP server of their choice.

    Perform the following steps to upgrade the GIGAswitch/FDDI firmware:

    1. Power up the GIGAswitch/FDDI System. After 1-2 minutes the hex display of the SCP (Switch Control Processor) will show the letter E (for "Elected"). If there is a backup SCP present its hex display will show the letter B (for "Backup").

    2. Connect a terminal to the serial port on the CLOCK module, as described in the GIGAswitch/FDDI System Manager's Guide, or Installation Guide. This is the OBM (Out-of-Band Management) terminal, or console terminal. The OBM terminal may also be connected via a modem, as described in the System documentation.

        The CLK> prompt will appear when <CR> is pressed.

    3. Start the OBM application by pressing <control O> on the OBM terminal.

      Select the Show/set slot configuration choice to see a description of the module occupying each slot. For an SCP running v3.0 firmware or later this is choice 2; for an SCP running earlier firmware use choice 2, followed by choice 2 on the succeeding menu.

      The slot table will indicate, for each slot, the module type, the hardware revision, the firmware revision, and the status of that module. The information for each slot will not be available until the module in that slot has completed its boot process. Once the SCP has been elected, other linecards should take no longer than 2 minutes to boot.

      In particular, use the slot table to determine for sure which firmware revision is running on the Elected SCP. In the following instructions the directions for using OBM menus assume that the elected SCP is running v3.0, or later. Directions for use of pre v3.0 versions of OBM appear in brackets [ ].

    4. Determine the most recent firmware version available for the modules in the GIGAswitch/FDDI System. This information is available by following the appropriate link on the previous web page.

        If all modules are running the most recent firmware revisions, then no upgrade is required. Otherwise copy the file(s) containing the firmware image(s) to be loaded from the web page to the TFTP server. (when using FTP, specify "bin" or "image" before beginning the transfer)

        Be sure the TFTP server application has been properly installed and initialized.

    5. Establish the port(s) which the firmware upgrade process will use:

      • one for access by the NMS (FLASHloader)
      • one for access by the TFTP server

      These may be two different ports, or the same port. If the same host is used for running FLASHloader and the TFTP server, then, of course, only a single port is required. If these applications run on different hosts, then they may or may not require separate GIGAswitch/FDDI ports, depending on the network topology.

      The ports chosen for these connections must be on linecards whose status in the slot display (step 3) is "Initialized". Once the ports are identified, proceed to step 6.

      There are three reasons why a linecard may have status other than "Initialized":

      • It is still running selftest, in which case wait until that is completed.
      • It has failed selftest, in which case it should be replaced.
      • It has a firmware mismatch, indicated by "FW Mismatch" in the status column. This means that the firmware running on the linecard is inconsistent with the firmware running on the elected SCP module, or with some configured setting.

      When pre v3.0 linecards are running in a GIGAswitch/FDDI system whose SCP has v3.0 firmware (or later) these linecards will boot into a special Firmware Mismatch state. Linecards in this state cannot carry traffic into or out of the switch. But they can be upgraded to a new firmware revision.

      As long as some initialized linecard is available, through which the NMS and TFTP server can communicate with the switch, proceed to step 6.

      If ALL linecards are in the FW Mismatch state, perform the following operations to reboot the switch in a mode that allows these linecards to carry traffic:

      1. Return to the Main Menu (by pressing <CR>)
      2. Select Extended Options Menu (choice 12)
      3. Select Hunt Group menu (choice 3)
      4. Select Disable hunt groups (choice 2)

      After a warning message (respond "yes") the switch will reboot. This time all ports will boot as "Initialized".

    6. Next assign an IP address to the port(s) chosen as the the access for the NMS and the TFTP server (a single IP address is sufficient even if 2 ports are used):

      • Press <CR> to return to the Main Menu . Press <CR> twice, for pre v3.0 SCP. If the switch has rebooted press <control O>.
      • Press 9 ("IP Menu") to bring up the IP Menu [for pre v3.0 SCP press 1 ("Show/Set IP addresses")]
      • Choose the selction to add a new IP address
      • Assign an IP address to the port(s) that will be used for the upgrade.
      • Use the available menu option to add a route - in case the NMS or the TFTP server is in a different subnet than the GIGAswitch/FDDI System.

    7. Be certain the NMS and the TFTP server are connected (directly or indirectly) to the GIGAswitch/FDDI port(s) chosen for this activity (steps 5 and 6). Be certain that the TFTP server is running and property configured.

    8. Be sure the Security Keyswitch on the GIGAswitch/FDDI Chassis is in position 3 or 4. (to allow write access to the SNMP MIB objects)

    9. Start the FLASHloader application.

    10. In the FLASHloader screen enter the following information:
      • IP address of "Agent to be Loaded" (that's the address assigned to the chosen GIGAswitch/FDDI ports (step 6)
      • IP address of TFTP server
      • The Read-Write community string of the GIGAswitch/FDDI System

        This string is the password that allows the NMS to set SNMP objects. If this string has been changed in the past, then one must remember the proper value. If it has never been changed then the default Read-Write community string is still in effect. The default is the lowest MAC address assigned to this switch. The assigned address range is printed on the outside of the CLOCK card located in slot 7, or can be viewed from OBM by choosing menu item #1 "Show Box Configuration" from the Main Menu.

    11. Specify the slot number of the module to be upgraded.

        ** If the elected SCP is running pre v3.0 code, then be sure to upgrade the other linecards first.

    12. Enter the loadfile (on the TFTP) server for the image file to be loaded, if different from what the FLASHloader display indicates.

    13. Press LOAD

      When the firmware load is complete the linecard will reboot. FLASHloader will report success - except in the case that the card being loaded is one of the following:

      • elected SCP
      • CLOCK card
      • Linecard containing the port via which NMS communicates with switch

      In these cases, FLASHloader will lose communication with the GIGAswitch/FDDI system and will not be able to report the status properly.

      Once the linecard has rebooted use the "Show/Set Slot Configuration"in OBM to confirm the proper firmware revision is running on the module.

      Repeat this process for each module that requires an upgrade.

      If step 5 required a reboot to deal with a FW Mismatch on all linecards present, repeat that process again, this time enabling (rather than disabling) hunt group support.

Common Problems Encountered

Checklist for common problems encountered upgrading GIGAswitch/FDDI firmware:

  • Read-write community

      Read-write community string is not being specified properly. SNMP access to the GIGAswitch/FDDI system is controlled by the read community string for SNMP GET commands and the read-write community string for SNMP SET commands. This is necessary for every Network Management System including Multichassis Manager.

      The default read community string is "public", in lower case, without the quotes.

      SNMP SETs are done during the load process, either explicitly or implicitly. The "password" required for SNMP sets is the read/write community string.

      The default read-write community string for the GIGAswitch/FDDI system is the lowest MAC address assigned to the multi-address ROM contained on the clock card (also known as the "box address". This is displayed by OBM in the configuration menu, and is also visible on a label on the outside of the clock module.

      If you are standing in front of the GIGAswitch/FDDI system, the easiest way to obtain the box address is to look at the front of the clock module, which is in slot 7. The LAN address range should be on a label on the clock module. The lowest address is the default read/write community string.

      If the label isn't there, you can get this information from OBM in the configuration part of the main menu.

      Note: that the default read/write community string contains all lower case characters and no "-", ":", " " or other separators, I.E. it looks like 08002ba4c180

      Common errors:

        08-00-2b-a4-c1-80 "-" are not part of the default read/write community string

        08002BA4C180 Upper case characters are not used in the default read/write community string

      Note: that to initiate the load using OpenVMS applications, you most likely need to encase the read/write community string in double quotes since otherwise it will probably be converted to uppercase for you. I.E. you need to say "08002ba4c180"

      Also note that cutting and pasting the box address from OBM won't yield the correct results, since OBM displays it in upper case, separated by "-".

  • IP

      The most common problems are that there is no IP address assigned to the port over which the GIGAswitch/FDDI system is trying to send a reply, or that a valid default gateway has not been defined for communication outside a subnet. Use the IP Menu choice "Show/Set IP Routes" in OBM to setup a gateway.

  • Keyswitch position

      The GIGAswitch/FDDI system has four keyswitch positions. The leftmost two key positions disallow SNMP Set requests. The rightmost two key positions allow SNMP Set requests (Normal Access, or Easy Access (aka world access)). Make certain that the keyswitch position allows SNMP Set requests.

  • Bootserver ports/Privileged ports

      The GIGAswitch/FDDI system allows the network manager to place restrictions on which ports can send firmware upgrades and which ports can do network management (SNMP).

      By default, all ports are enabled to allow upgrades (bootserver ports) and all ports are enabled to allow network management (privileged ports), however this may have been changed by a network manager.

  • Load file names

      Various operating systems, and various server software have load file name limitations. Keep these in mind. I.E. If you're using DOS, you're limited to 9 characters. OpenVMS MOP is limited to 16 characters.

      OpenVMS MOP supplies a default extension of .SYS if you don't supply it.

  • Load software

      Be certain that your load software does not conflict with existing network software.
  • Impatience

      Don't power cycle the GIGAswitch/FDDI system, or individual cards unnecessarily during the upgrade process. Some cards take a long time to upgrade (AGL-2, PSC are the two slowest).

      Starting with BL2.1, *all* the cards will reboot automatically when it is appropriate for the reboot to happen. AGL-2 cards prior to BL3.0 take about fifteen minutes to reboot!

      Be careful that you don't cause the GIGAswitch/FDDI system to reboot by upgrading the elected SCP card while the AGL-2 card is in the process of doing an upgrade!

  • Retries

      On very busy networks, or networks with lots of errors, frame drops may cause the load attempt to fail - Just do a retry.
  • Incompatible firmware

      Occasionally, there are dependencies in the various modules on other modules revision levels. Please read the release notes for the proper order of upgrades. Also check to see if management memory must be cleared.

      SCP BL2.20 or later must be running in order to load SCP BL3.0 or later firmware! This is due to the larger size of the image file.

      When upgrading to BL3.0 or later, linecards (FGLs, AGLs) should be upgraded before the SCP is upgraded.

      If you are in the situation where the SCP has already been upgraded (replacing a FGL with an older one from logistics, for example), you can temporarily restore operation by turning off hunt group support, upgrading the card, then restoring hunt group support.

      It is *not* recommended that hunt group support be disabled in normal operation.

      How to disable/enable hunt group support:

      Main Menu

    System  	1. Show box configuration

		2. Show/set slot configuration

		3. Show/set system time

		4. Clear management memory

		5. Reboot menu

           Port	6. Show LAN address assignments

		7. Show/set privileged and bootserver ports

		8. Show/set delayed ports

		9. IP Menu

    Bridge     10. Bridge menu

    MIBs       11. MIB viewer menu

    Extensions 12. Extended options menu

    OBM        13. OBM menu

	       14. End OBM session

    Choice: 1

    Extended Options Menu   1. Statistics and counters menu

			    2. Debug options menu

			    3. Hunt group menu

			    4. Management memory deletions

			    5. SCP revision history

			    6. Return to main menu

     Choice: 3

     Hunt Group Menu	    1. Hunt group configuration menu

			    2. Set/disable hunt group support

			    3. Return to previous menu
     Choice: 2

	Hunt groups are currently supported

	Do you want to change the configuration to disable
	hunt groups?

	WARNING: If you answer yes, the switch will REBOOT.

	Do you want to do this? (yes/no): yes

    • Corrupt copy of the firmware

        The load files are binary files and care must be taken that they are copied properly. When using FTP, specify "binary" or "image" before doing the copy.

    • Upgrades to the power system controller (PSC)

        The PSC firmware version is visible in the OBM box configuration menu, not the slot configuration menu. As a result, it occasionally does not get upgraded when appropriate.

        The PSC does not reside in a slot, but is connected to the clock card via a serial connection. When doing PSC upgrades, specify slot 7, (the clock slot) as the slot to be upgraded.

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