Fabric OS Administrator's Guide v7.0.0 (53-1002148-02, June 2011)

198 Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide

53-1002148-02

Firmware download on switches

Brocade 300, 5100, 5300, 5410, 5424, 5450, 5460, 5470, 5480, 6510, 7800, 8000, and

VA-40FC switches maintain primary and secondary partitions for firmware. The firmwareDownload

command defaults to an autocommit option that automatically copies the firmware from one

partition to the other.

NOTE

This section only applies when upgrading from Fabric OS v6.1.x to v6.2.0, or from different versions

of v6.2.0, such as patch releases. If you are downgrading from v6.2.0 to v6.1.x, you must enter the

firmwareDownload –s command as described in “Test and restore firmware on switches” on

page 206.

This is not necessary when downgrading from Fabric OS v6.3.0 to v6.2.0 or from Fabric OS v6.4.0

to v6.3.0.

Do not override autocommit under normal circumstances; use the default. See “Test and restore

firmware on enterprise-class platforms” on page 208 for details about overriding the autocommit

option.

Switch firmware download process overview

The following list describes the default behavior after you enter the firmwareDownload command

(without options) on Brocade 300, 5100, 5300, 5410, 5424, 5450, 5460, 5470, 5480, 5424,

6510, 7800, 8000, and VA-40FC switches:

• The Fabric OS downloads the firmware to the secondary partition.

• The system performs a high-availability reboot (haReboot). After the haReboot, the former

secondary partition is the primary partition.

• The system replicates the firmware from the primary to the secondary partition.

The upgrade process first downloads and then commits the firmware to the switch. While the

upgrade is proceeding, you can start a session on the switch and use the firmwareDownloadStatus

command to observe the upgrade progress if you wish.

CAUTION

After you start the process, do not enter any disruptive commands (such as reboot) that interrupt

the process. The entire firmware download and commit process takes approximately 17 minutes.

If there is a problem, wait for the time-out (30 minutes for network problems) before issuing the

firmwareDownload command again. Disrupting the process can render the switch inoperable and

require you to seek help from your switch service provider.

Do not disconnect the switch from power during the process. The switch could be inoperable

when rebooted.