The Problem - insufficient space in router flash
I has some new firmware to install on an MSR3012 router running Comware 7, but there was not enough free space. The process involves copying the large IPE file containing all the BIN files, but that means having at least three time more space on the flash that the IPE:
- original BIN files (current firmware)
- new IPE file
- space for the extracted BIN files (new firmware)
As you can see from this view, there is simply not enough space.
<MSR3012>dir /all-filesystems
Directory of cfa0: (VFAT)
0 -rw- 96491520 May 29 2021 01:01:31 MSR3000-CMW710-R0821P11.ipe
1 -rw- 222928 Aug 22 2018 16:32:56 bendi.zip
2 -rw- 29983 Apr 10 2015 03:30:36 diag.gz
3 drw- - Feb 21 2013 02:12:30 diagfile
4 -rw- 735 Jan 06 2017 11:07:46 hostkey
5 -rw- 327 Feb 17 2021 15:11:18 ifindex.dat
6 drw- - Apr 09 2015 21:28:42 license
7 drw- - May 29 2021 01:28:01 logfile
8 -rw- 7662592 Jun 21 2019 22:50:16 msr3000-cmw710-boot-r0707p12.bin
9 -rw- 3461120 Jun 21 2019 22:51:06 msr3000-cmw710-data-r0707p12.bin
10 -rw- 530432 Jun 21 2019 22:51:04 msr3000-cmw710-security-r0707p12.bin
11 -rw- 67052544 Jun 21 2019 22:50:36 msr3000-cmw710-system-r0707p12.bin
12 -rw- 1300480 Jun 21 2019 22:51:04 msr3000-cmw710-voice-r0707p12.bin
13 drw- - Feb 21 2013 02:12:30 seclog
14 -rw- 591 Jan 06 2017 11:07:46 serverkey
15 -rw- 8890 Feb 17 2021 15:11:19 startup.cfg
16 -rw- 151141 Feb 17 2021 15:11:19 startup.mdb
17 -rw- 72732 Aug 22 2018 16:32:56 weixin.zip
252164 KB total (79294 KB free)
The "brave" solution
As the snobby waiter said to me in a fancy restaurant after I selected tap water over the other expensive offerings, "
that's a brave choice, sir."
Don't try this on a whim; if things go wrong, it could be a messy exercise getting the router back online, because this process deletes the files used for fallback.
Process
- Delete all the current firmware version BIN files from the flash - they are now running in memory.
- Run the upgrade with the new firmware IPE file.
- Check for successful completion.
- Reboot the router.
Steps
Delete the existing BIN files. You may want to FTP them off first, just in case something goes wrong...
- msr3000-cmw710-boot-r0707p12.bin
- msr3000-cmw710-data-r0707p12.bin
- msr3000-cmw710-security-r0707p12.bin
- msr3000-cmw710-system-r0707p12.bin
- msr3000-cmw710-voice-r0707p12.bin
Use the following example:
<MSR3012>delete /unreserved msr3000-cmw710-system-r0707p12.bin
The file cannot be restored. Delete cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-system-r0707p12.bin? [Y/N]:y
Deleting the file permanently will take a long time. Please wait...
Deleting file cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-system-r0707p12.bin... Done.
You should also empty the recycle bin in case there are other deleted files taking up space.
<MSR3012>reset recycle-bin
<MSR3012>dir
Directory of cfa0: (VFAT)
0 -rw- 96491520 May 29 2021 01:01:31 MSR3000-CMW710-R0821P11.ipe
1 -rw- 222928 Aug 22 2018 16:32:56 bendi.zip
2 -rw- 29983 Apr 10 2015 03:30:36 diag.gz
3 drw- - Feb 21 2013 02:12:30 diagfile
4 -rw- 735 Jan 06 2017 11:07:46 hostkey
5 -rw- 327 Feb 17 2021 15:11:18 ifindex.dat
6 drw- - Apr 09 2015 21:28:42 license
7 drw- - May 29 2021 22:09:27 logfile
8 drw- - Feb 21 2013 02:12:30 seclog
9 -rw- 591 Jan 06 2017 11:07:46 serverkey
10 -rw- 8890 Feb 17 2021 15:11:19 startup.cfg
11 -rw- 151141 Feb 17 2021 15:11:19 startup.mdb
12 -rw- 72732 Aug 22 2018 16:32:56 weixin.zip
252164 KB total (157428 KB free)
Run the upgrade process with the new IPE file
<MSR3012>boot-loader file cfa0:/MSR3000-CMW710-R0821P11.ipe main
Verifying the file cfa0:/MSR3000-CMW710-R0821P11.ipe on the device................................Done.
HPE MSR3012 images in IPE:
msr3000-cmw710-boot-r0821p11.bin
msr3000-cmw710-system-r0821p11.bin
msr3000-cmw710-security-r0821p11.bin
msr3000-cmw710-voice-r0821p11.bin
msr3000-cmw710-data-r0821p11.bin
This command will set the main startup software images. Please do not reboot the device during the upgrade. Continue? [Y/N]:y
Add images to the device.
Decompressing file msr3000-cmw710-boot-r0821p11.bin to cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-boot-r0821p11.bin.......Done.
Decompressing file msr3000-cmw710-system-r0821p11.bin to cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-system-r0821p11.bin.....................................................................Done.
Decompressing file msr3000-cmw710-security-r0821p11.bin to cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-security-r0821p11.bin...Done.
Decompressing file msr3000-cmw710-voice-r0821p11.bin to cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-voice-r0821p11.bin...Done.
Decompressing file msr3000-cmw710-data-r0821p11.bin to cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-data-r0821p11.bin.....Done.
Verifying the file cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-boot-r0821p11.bin on the device....Done.
Verifying the file cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-system-r0821p11.bin on the device............................Done.
Verifying the file cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-security-r0821p11.bin on the device...Done.
Verifying the file cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-voice-r0821p11.bin on the device...Done.
Verifying the file cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-data-r0821p11.bin on the device...Done.
The images that have passed all examinations will be used as the main startup software images at the next reboot on the device.
Decompression completed.
You are recommended to delete the .ipe file after you set startup software images for all slots.
Do you want to delete cfa0:/MSR3000-CMW710-R0821P11.ipe now? [Y/N]:y
Verify that the files are in place and the boot points to the new files.
<MSR3012>dir
Directory of cfa0: (VFAT)
0 -rw- 222928 Aug 22 2018 16:32:56 bendi.zip
1 -rw- 29983 Apr 10 2015 03:30:36 diag.gz
2 drw- - Feb 21 2013 02:12:30 diagfile
3 -rw- 735 Jan 06 2017 11:07:46 hostkey
4 -rw- 327 Feb 17 2021 15:11:18 ifindex.dat
5 drw- - Apr 09 2015 21:28:42 license
6 drw- - May 29 2021 22:09:27 logfile
7 -rw- 8985600 May 29 2021 22:11:45 msr3000-cmw710-boot-r0821p11.bin
8 -rw- 3651584 May 29 2021 22:13:02 msr3000-cmw710-data-r0821p11.bin
9 -rw- 545792 May 29 2021 22:12:59 msr3000-cmw710-security-r0821p11.bin
10 -rw- 82000896 May 29 2021 22:12:40 msr3000-cmw710-system-r0821p11.bin
11 -rw- 1299456 May 29 2021 22:13:00 msr3000-cmw710-voice-r0821p11.bin
12 drw- - Feb 21 2013 02:12:30 seclog
13 -rw- 591 Jan 06 2017 11:07:46 serverkey
14 -rw- 8890 Feb 17 2021 15:11:19 startup.cfg
15 -rw- 151141 Feb 17 2021 15:11:19 startup.mdb
16 -rw- 72732 Aug 22 2018 16:32:56 weixin.zip
252164 KB total (157432 KB free)
<MSR3012>display boot
Software images on the device:
Current software images:
cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-boot-r0707p12.bin
cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-system-r0707p12.bin
cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-security-r0707p12.bin
cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-voice-r0707p12.bin
cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-data-r0707p12.bin
Main startup software images:
cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-boot-r0821p11.bin
cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-system-r0821p11.bin
cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-security-r0821p11.bin
cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-voice-r0821p11.bin
cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-data-r0821p11.bin
Backup startup software images:
cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-boot-r0106p31.bin
cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-system-r0106p31.bin
cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-security-r0106p31.bin
cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-voice-r0106p31.bin
cfa0:/msr3000-cmw710-data-r0106p31.bin
Reboot!
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Richard Litchfield
Airheads MVP 2020, 2021
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