Cisco MDS 9000 Family Release Notes for Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 5.2(8a) (OL-27554-05, May 16, 2013)

Cisco MDS 9000 Family Release Notes for Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 5.2(8a)

OL-27554-05

Upgrading Your Cisco MDS NX-OS Software Image

NPE Software Images

No payload encryption (NPE) images are available with some releases of Cisco MDS NX-OS Release

5.2(x) software. The NPE images are intended for countries who have import restrictions on products

that encrypt payload data.

To differentiate an NPE image from the standard software image, the letters npe are included in the

image name as follows:

• m9500-sf2ek9-kickstart-mz-npe.5.2.2.bin

• m9500-sf2ek9-mz-npe.5.2.2.bin

When downloading software, ensure that you select the correct software images for you Cisco MDS

9000 Series switch. Nondisruptive software upgrades or downgrades between NPE images and non-NPE

images are not supported.

Upgrading Your Cisco MDS NX-OS Software Image

This section lists the guidelines recommended for upgrading your Cisco MDS NX-OS software image

and includes the following topics:

• Upgrading Guidelines Specific to NX-OS Release 5.2(8a), page 15

• General Upgrading Guidelines, page 17

• Nondisruptive Upgrade Paths, page 17

• FICON Supported Releases and Upgrade Paths, page 19

Note Before you begin the upgrade process, review the list of chassis and modules that Cisco MDS NX-OS

Release 5.2(8) supports. See the “MDS 9000 Chassis and Module Support” section on page 8.

For detailed instructions for performing a software upgrade using Cisco DCNM, see the Cisco DCNM

Release Notes, Release 5.2, which is available from the following website:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10495/prod_release_notes_list.html

Upgrading Guidelines Specific to NX-OS Release 5.2(8a)

Follow these guidelines when upgrading to Cisco MDS NX-OS Release 5.2(8a):

• Follow the upgrade path to NX-OS Release 5.2(8a) that is specified in Table 11.

• Upgrade to NX-OS Release 5.2(x) before you install any Generation 4 module in an MDS 9500

Series switch. Generation 4 modules include the FCoE module and the 32-port and 48-port 8-Gbps

Advanced Fibre Channel modules. NX-OS Release 5.2(x) is needed for the switch to recognize the

new hardware.

• Perform a full switch reload on an MDS 9509 or MDS 9506 switch after you install NX-OS Release

5.2(1) and install any Generation 4 module, including the FCoE module. The switch reload is

required for the new hardware to come up. Once you perform the switch reload, the fabric mode

changes to support the Generation 4 hardware. Because of the changed fabric mode, you cannot

subsequently perform a nondisruptive software downgrade from NX-OS Release 5.2(1). For

additional information, see the “Downgrading Guidelines Specific to NX-OS Release 5.2(8a)”

section on page 20.