Dell POWEREDGE M1000E - Manual (Page 257)

Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide 257
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Firmware download process overview
9
Upgrading and downgrading firmware
Upgrading means installing a newer version of firmware. Downgrading means installing an older
version of firmware.
In most cases, you will be upgrading firmware; that is, installing a newer firmware version than the
one you are currently running. However, some circumstances may require installing an older
version; that is, downgrading the firmware. The procedures in this section assume that you are
upgrading firmware, but they work for downgrading as well, provided the old and new firmware
versions are compatible. Always reference the latest release notes for updates that may exist
regarding downgrades under particular circumstances.
For details on Administrative Domains and the firmware download process, refer to Chapter 17,
“Managing Administrative Domains” for more information.
For details about testing and restoring firmware, refer to “Testing and restoring firmware on
Backbones” on page 270.
Passwordless firmware download
You can download firmware without a password using the sshutil command for public key
authentication when SSH is selected. The switch must be configured to install the private key, and
then you must export the public key to the remote host. Before running the firmwareDownload
command, you must first configure the SSH protocol to permit passwordless logins for outgoing
authentication as described in
“Configuring outgoing SSH authentication” on page 181.
Considerations for FICON CUP environments
To prevent channel errors during nondisruptive firmware installation, the switch CUP port must be
taken offline from all host systems.
HA sync state
High Availability (HA) synchronization occurs when two CPs in a Backbone are synchronized. This
state provides redundancy and a nondisruptive firmware download. In order for a firmware
download to successfully occur, the two CPs in a Backbone must be in sync.
If the CPs have mixed versions when you enter the firmwareDownload command, the CPs may not
be in HA sync. In this case, you must enter the firmwareDownload –s command first to upgrade or
downgrade the standby CP to the same level as the active CP, and then upgrade the CPs to the
desired version of firmware.
NOTE
Do not run mixed firmware levels on CPs.
Table 49 shows the sync state of a Backbone that has different Fabric OS versions installed on the
active and standby CPs. Use the table to determine if you need to use the firmwareDownload -s
command.