Technical data

4-6 Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide
Publication Number: 53-0000518-09
Maintaining Firmware
4
Obtaining and Unzipping Firmware
Firmware upgrades are available for customers with support service contracts and partners on the
Brocade Web site at http://www.brocade.com.
At the Brocade Web site, click Brocade Connect and follow the instructions to register and
download firmware. Partners with authorized accounts can use the Brocade Partner Network.
You must unzip the firmware (using the UNIX tar or gzip command or a Windows unzip program)
before you can use the firmwareDownload command to update the firmware on your equipment.
When you unpack the downloaded firmware it expands into a directory that is named according to the
version of Fabric OS it contains. For example, if you download and unpack Fabric OS v5.0.1.zip, it
expands into a directory called v5.0.1. When you use the firmwaredownload command, you specify the
path to the v5.0.1 directory and append the keyword release.plist to the path.
Checking Connected Switches
If the switch to be upgraded is running v4.1.0 firmware (or later), it is recommended that all switches
directly connected to it be running versions no earlier than v2.6.1, v3.1.0, or v4.1.0. If some connected
switches are running older firmware, upgrade them to at least the earliest recommended version (shown
in Table 4-2) before upgrading firmware on your switch.
If
N
ote
Please go to http://www.brocade.com to view end-of-life policies for Brocade products. Navigate to the
Services and Support tab, then select End of Life Information. End-of-life products are not supported.
Table 4-2 Recommended Firmware
SilkWorm Model
a
Earliest Recommended Fabric OS Version
200E v5.0.1
2000 series v2.6.1
3200, 3600, 3800 v3.1.0
3016, 3250, 3850 v4.2.0
3900 v4.1.0
4012 v5.0.0
4100 v4.4.0
12000 v4.1.0
24000 v4.2.0
48000 v5.0.1