Brocade Fabric OS Command Reference Manual (53-1000240-01, November 2006)

2-228 Fabric OS Command Reference Manual
Publication Number: 53-1000240-01
firmwareDownload
2
Note: Enter commands in lowercase only; mixed case is for readability.
firmwareDownload
Downloads switch firmware from a remote host or a local directory.
Synopsis firmwaredownload [[-s [-b -n]] host,user,pfile,passwd]
Description Use this command to download switch firmware from an FTP server or from a local NFS directory to the
switch’s nonvolatile memory.
The new firmware is in the form of RPM packages with names defined in pfile, a binary file that contains
specific firmware information (time stamp, platform code, version, and so forth) and the names of
packages of the firmware to be downloaded. These packages are made available periodically to add
features or to remedy defects. Contact customer support to obtain information about available firmware
versions.
In dual-domain systems, this command by default downloads the firmware image to both CPs in rollover
mode, to prevent disruption to application services. This operation depends on HA support. If HA is not
available, you can still upgrade the CPs one at a time, using the -s option.
All systems supported by this firmware have two partitions of nonvolatile storage areas, a primary and a
secondary, to store two firmware images. firmwareDownload always loads the new image into the
secondary partition and swaps the secondary partition to be the primary. By default, it then reboots the
system and activates the new image. Finally, it performs the firmwareCommit procedure automatically,
to copy the new image to the other partition, unless -n is used. In systems with a blade processor (BP),
after the firmware downloads to the standby CP and it reboots, then it downloads to the BP blades if there
is a mismatch with the CP firmware.
For each non-director-class platform in your fabric, complete all firmware download changes before
issuing firmwareDownload on the next switch to ensure a nondisruptive download.
The command supports both noninteractive and interactive modes. If it is invoked without any command
line parameters, or if there is any syntax error in the parameters, the command goes into interactive mode,
in which you are prompted for input.
To mention the FTP server by name, you need to set up two DNS servers with dnsConfig.
Refer to the Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide “Maintaining Configurations and Firmware” chapter for
limitations when changing Fabric OS versions. When installing Fabric OS, the procedure might vary,
depending on which version of the Fabric OS you are migrating from. Refer to the release notes for
unsupported Fabric OS versions.
C
aution
For each non-director-class switch in your fabric, complete all firmware download changes before
issuing the firmwareDownload command on the next switch to ensure a nondisruptive download.
N
ote
The switchAdmin role is not allowed to change the zoning and security configuration. Therefore, zoning
and security sections in the configuration being downloaded to the switch are ignored.
Save your configuration if you are downgrading to Fabric OS v4.2.2. You might lose some of the enabled
features available in the current firmware; for example, Fabric OS v5.x supports a zone DB of 256 Kb
but v4.2.2 supports only 128 Kb.