Brocade Mobility 5181 Access Point Product Reference Guide (Supporting software release 4.4.0.0) - Manual (Page 100)

86 Brocade Mobility 5181 Access Point Product Reference Guide
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Updating device firmware
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Updating device firmware
Brocade periodically releases updated versions of the Mobility 5181 Access Point device firmware
to the Brocade Web site. If the Mobility 5181 Access Point firmware version displayed on the
System Settings page (see
“Configuring system settings” on page 45) is older than the version on
the Web site, Brocade recommends updating the Mobility 5181 Access Point to the latest firmware
version for full feature functionality.
The access point’s automatic update feature updates the access point’s firmware and
configuration file automatically when the access point is reset or when the access point initiates a
DHCP request.
The firmware is automatically updated each time firmware versions are found to be different
between what is running on the access point and the firmware file located on the server. The
configuration file is automatically updated when the configuration file name on the server is
different than the name of the file previously loaded on the access point or when the file version
(on the server) is different than the version currently in use on the access point.
Additionally, the configuration version can be manually changed in the text file to cause the
configuration to be applied when required. The parameter name within the configuration file is
“cfg-version-1.1-01.” The access point only checks the two characters after the third hyphen (01)
when making a comparison. Change the last two characters to update the access point’s
configuration. The two characters can be alpha-numeric.
Upgrading from a legacy to a new firmware version is a two step process requiring the same
upgrade procedure to be repeated twice. The first upgrade will result in a bootloader change, and
the second upgrade will result in the actual firmware update. For subsequent upgrades, a single
download will suffice. Using Auto Update, the access point will automatically update itself twice
when upgrading.
Upgrading to a new access point firmware baseline does not retain the configuration of the
previous (lower version) firmware. Brocade recommends users export their 1.0 configuration for
backup purposes prior to upgrading.
When downloading to a lower firmware version, all configuration settings are lost and the access
point returns to factory default settings of the lower version.
CAUTION
If downgrading firmware from to a lower version, the access point automatically reverts to default
settings of the lower version, regardless of whether you are downloading the firmware manually
or using the automatic download feature. The automatic feature allows the user to download the
configuration file at the same time, but since the firmware reverts to the default settings of the
lower version, the configuration file is ignored.
CAUTION
Loaded and signed CA certificates will be lost when changing the access point’s firmware version
using either the GUI or CLI. After a certificate has been successfully loaded, export it to a secure
location to ensure its availability after a firmware update.