Overview
Did you know that you can download a firmware image from a custom location for AOSS as well as CX? The UPGRADE SWITCH FIRMWARE page indicates this is only possible for CX, but AOSS works too.
The option to load firmware that is not specifically listed within Central can be useful in scenarios such as these:
- Support has provided a new version of firmware to test.
- Newly released firmware is not immediately available in Central. It may take days or weeks for new firmware to be added to Central, depending on the cluster.
Preparation
- Set up a webserver local to you (or at least where the browser is) from where the custom firmware can be accessed.
- This is inside the network, not public.
- I tested with HTTP on port 80
- Anonymous, ie no login requirements
- Copy the firmware file into a suitable directory, eg firmware
- Test access from your web browser
The firmware file is uploaded from the browser, not the switch. (For AOSS; I haven't tested with CX.)
Download
From the firmware page, choose the switch to be upgraded, and click the green Upgrade arrow on the right side.
Double-check the list to see if the version required has been added - I want 16.11.0004 which is not listed yet.
Select Custom Build, and add the specific version/build number.
- You can also schedule the upgrade for out-of-hours and automatically reboot.
- Click Upgrade
The Upgrade Status column will say "Initiated firmware upgrade for the device" if you chose upgrade now.
From the CLI, you will see messages similar to these. In this case, automatically reboot was not selected, and needs to be performed later. Click the reboot button at the right end,
Upgrade Complete
Now Central reports the new FW version!
Troubleshooting
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Richard Litchfield
Airheads MVP 2020, 2021, 2022
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