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

200 Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide
53-1002148-02
Firmware download on an enterprise-class platform
9
Firmware download on an enterprise-class platform
You can download firmware to a Brocade DCX, DCX-4S, or DCX 8510 enterprise-class platform
without disrupting the overall fabric if the two CP blades are installed and fully synchronized. Use
the haShow command to verify that the CPs are synchronized prior to beginning the firmware
download process. If only one CP blade is inserted or powered on, you can run firmwareDownload –
s to upgrade the CP. If the CPs are not in sync, you can run firmwareDownload –s on each of the
CPs to upgrade them. These operations are disruptive. Or if the CPs are not in sync, run the
haSyncStart command. If the problem persists, refer to the Fabric OS Troubleshooting and
Diagnostics Guide. If the troubleshooting information fails to help resolve the issue, contact your
switch service provider.
During the upgrade process, the director fails over to its standby CP blade and the IP address for
the enterprise-class platform moves to that CP blade's Ethernet port. This may cause informational
ARP address reassignment messages to appear on other switches in the fabric. This is normal
behavior, because the association between the IP addresses and MAC addresses has changed.
ATTENTION
To successfully download firmware, you must have an active Ethernet connection on each CP.
Enterprise-class platform firmware download process overview
The following summary describes the default behavior of the firmwareDownload command (without
options) on a Brocade DCX, DCX-4S, or DCX 8510 enterprise-class platforms. After you enter the
firmwareDownload command on the active CP blade the following actions occur:
1. The standby CP blade downloads firmware.
2. The standby CP blade reboots and comes up with the new Fabric OS.
3. The active CP blade synchronizes its state with the standby CP blade.
4. The active CP blade forces a failover and reboots to become the standby CP blade.
5. The new active CP blade synchronizes its state with the new standby CP blade.
6. The new standby CP blade (the active CP blade before the failover) downloads firmware.
7. Th e new standby CP blade reboots and comes up with the new Fabric OS.
8. The new active CP blade synchronizes its state with the new standby CP blade.
9. The firmwareCommit command runs automatically on both CP blades.
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.