80-20
Cisco ASA 5500 Series Configuration Guide using ASDM
Chapter80 Managing Software and Configurations
Downgrading Your Software
•Replacing the running configuration uses the backed-up running configuration only.
•Skipping the step does not restore the backed-up running configuration.
ASDM displays a status dialog box until the restore operation is finished.
Step7 If you replaced or merged the running configuration, close ASDM and restart it. If you did not restore
the running configuration or the running configuration, refresh the ASDM session for the changes to take
effect.
Downgrading Your Software
When you upgrade to Version 8.3, your configuration is migrated. The old configuration is automatically
stored in flash memory. For example, when you upgrade from Version 8.2(1) to 8.3(1), the old 8.2(1)
configuration is stored in flash memory in a file called 8_2_1_0_startup_cfg.sav.
Note You must manually restore the old configuration before downgrading.
This section describes how to downgrade and includes the following topics:
•Information About Activation Key Compatibility, page80-20
•Performing the Downgrade, page80-21

Information About Activation Key Compatibility

Your activation key remains compatible if you upgrade to the latest version from any previous version.
However, you might have issues if you want to maintain downgrade capability:
•Downgrading to Version 8.1 or earlier versions—After you upgrade, if you activate additional
feature licenses that were introduced before 8.2, the activation key continues to be compatible with
earlier versions if you downgrade. However if you activate feature licenses that were introduced in
Version 8.2 or later versions, the activation key is not backward compatible. If you have an
incompatible license key, see the following guidelines:
–
If you previously entered an activation key in an earlier version, the ASA uses that key (without
any of the new licenses you activated in Version 8.2 or later versions).
–
If you have a new system and do not have an earlier activation key, you need to request a new
activation key compatible with the earlier version.
•Downgrading to Version 8.2 or earlier versions—Version 8.3 introduced more robust time-based key
usage as well as failover license changes:
–
If you have more than one time-based activation key active, when you downgrade, only the most
recently activated time-based key can be active. Any other keys are made inactive.
–
If you have mismatched licenses on a failover pair, downgrading will disable failover. Even if
the keys are matching, the license used will no longer be a combined license.