3Com ENTERPRISE OS 11.3 Primary, Secondary, and Test Boot Sources, Automatic or Manual Recovery

10CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW

Figure 1 shows the typical upgrade process.

Figure 1 Upgrade Process

Restore old

software

version

If hardware

upgrade, reinstall

old hardware

Do final cleanup

Begin

Install software

and utilities

on NMS*

Accept

upgrade?

No

?

Reject Yes

	Back up config
	and boot files
	from bridge/router			Update
	to NMS			config files
Verify		Reboot bridge/router,
upgrade		test software images
			and config files
			Copy config
			and boot files
			to bridge/router

Is hardware

upgrade

required?

Yes

?

No

Perform

hardware

upgrade

Reset IP config and

SNMP

Done!

*NMS = network management station

How the Utilities Work The software on your bridge/router or switch consists of a bootable image file and configuration files that store all your settings. The Enterprise OS Upgrade Management Utilities update all your software files after copying them to a UNIX or Windows NMS. Because the upgrade occurs on a copy of the files on the NMS, the bridge/router remains operational during the upgrade. The utilities then copy the new image and updated files back to the bridge/router.

Primary, Secondary, and Test Boot Sources

The NETBuilder bridge/router or PathBuilder switch boots from a default directory, called the primary boot source, which can be set using the SysconF command in the Enterprise OS user interface. If you have more than one set of boot images, you can specify a backup directory, called the secondary boot source. There is also a test boot source, which the utilities use to test a new upgrade before making it the primary boot source. Because the boot sources are only pointers to particular directories, the utilities can dynamically change the boot sources without having to move any files.

Automatic or Manual Recovery

If your switch or bridge/router has enough flash memory, you can have both sets of software: the old version and the new version. After a successful test boot with the new software, the primary boot source is changed to the new version. If the test boot is not successful, the system automatically reboots with the old version. Dual-image support is described in the procedures for automatic recovery.

If you have only enough flash memory for the new version, you can still recover the old version from the NMS using the utilities. Single-image support is described in the procedures for manual recovery.

For memory requirements for automatic or manual recovery, see Chapter 3.