Application Control Engine Module Administration Guide (Software Version A1(2))
Upgrading Your ACE Software
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Table Of Contents

Upgrading Your ACE Software

Overview of Upgrading ACE Software

Software Upgrade Quick Start

Copying the Software Upgrade Image to the ACE

Configuring the ACE to Autoboot the Software Image

Setting the Boot Variable

Configuring the Configuration Register to Autoboot the Boot Variable

Verifying the Boot Variable and Configuration Register

Reloading the ACE Module

Recovering the ACE from ROMMON Utility

Booting the ACE from ROMMON with the Correct Image Name

Copying the ACE Image to the Supervisor Engine

Displaying Software Image Information


Upgrading Your ACE Software

This appendix provides information to upgrade your Cisco Application Control Engine (ACE) module. It contains the following major sections:

•Overview of Upgrading ACE Software

•Software Upgrade Quick Start

•Copying the Software Upgrade Image to the ACE

•Configuring the ACE to Autoboot the Software Image

•Reloading the ACE Module

•Displaying Software Image Information

Overview of Upgrading ACE Software

The ACE comes preloaded with the operating system software. To take advantage of new features and bug fixes, you can upgrade your ACE with a new version of software when it becomes available.

In the Admin context, you will use the copy command in Exec mode to manually upgrade the ACE software. After the software installation is finished, set the boot variable and configuration register to autoboot the software image. Then, reboot the module to load the new image.

To minimize any disruption to existing network traffic during a software upgrade or downgrade, deploy your ACE modules in a redundant configuration. For details about redundancy, see Chapter 7, Configuring Redundant ACE Modules. The following steps provide an overview on upgrading a redundant configuration used in conjunction with the procedures in this appendix:

1. Upgrade the active module first.

2. Reboot the active ACE after the software installation. When you reboot the active ACE, it fails over to the standby module and existing traffic continues without interruption.

3. Upgrade the new active module.

4. Reload the active ACE after the redundant module is up and the high availability (HA) state is hot. A similar failover occurs when you reboot this ACE and once again the existing traffic continues. The original active ACE is active once again.

Software Upgrade Quick Start

Table A-1 provides a quick overview of the steps required to upgrade the software on the ACE. Each step includes the CLI command or a reference to the procedure required to complete the task. For a complete description of each feature and all the options associated with the CLI commands, see the sections that follow Table A-1.

Table A-1 Software Upgrade Quick Start 

Task and Command Example

1. Login to the ACE. The Exec mode prompt appears at the CLI. If you are operating in multiple contexts, observe the CLI prompt to verify that you are operating in the Admin context. If necessary, log directly in to, or change to the Admin context. 

host1/Admin#

2. Use the copy command to load the new software image on your ACE. For example, to copy the image with the name c6ace-t1k9-mzg.3.0.0_A0_2.3.bin through FTP, enter: 

host1/Admin# copy 
ftp://server1/images/c6ace-t1k9-mzg.3.0.0_A0_2.3.bin image:

 

3. Configure the ACE to autoboot from the image. To set the boot variable and configuration register to 1, use the boot system image: and config-register commands in configuration mode. For example, enter: 

host1/Admin# config

host1/Admin(config)# boot system 
image:c6ace-t1k9-mzg.3.0.0_A0_2.3.bin

host1/Admin(config)# config-register 1

host1/Admin(config)# exit

host1/Admin#

You can set up to two images through the boot system command.If the first image fails, the ACE tries the second image.

Note Use the no boot system image: command to unset the previously configured boot variable.

4. To verify the boot variable, use the show bootvar command. For example, enter: 

host1/Admin# show bootvar

BOOT variable = "disk0:c6ace-t1k9-mzg.3.0.0_A0_2.3.bin"

Configuration register is 0x1

host1/Admin#

5. To reload and reboot the module, use the reload command. For example, enter: 

host1/Admin# reload

This command will reboot the system

Save configurations for all the contexts. Save? [yes/no]: [yes]


Copying the Software Upgrade Image to the ACE

To copy a software image to the ACE, use the copy command in the Admin context from the Exec mode. You can copy a software image to the ACE from a variety of sources, including:

•FTP server

•SFTP server

•TFTP server

The copy command allows you to rename the image copied to the ACE.

The syntax for this command is:

copy {ftp://server/path[/filename] | sftp://[username@]server/path[/filename] | tftp://server[:port]/path[/filename]} image:[name]

The keywords, arguments, and options:

•ftp://server/path[/filename]—URL of the software image located on an FTP server. This path is optional because the ACE prompts you for this information if you omit it.

•sftp://[username@]server/path[/filename]—URL of a software image on a secure FTP server. This path is optional because the ACE prompts you for this information if you omit it.

•tftp://server[:port]/path[/filename]—URL of a software image on a trivial FTP server. This path is optional because the ACE prompts you for this information if you omit it.

•image:[name]—The name for the software image copied to the ACE. If you do not enter the name argument, the ACE uses the default name of the image.

For example, to copy the image 6ace-t1k9-mzg.3.0.0_A0_2.3.bin located on an FTP server to the ACE, enter: 

host1/Admin# copy ftp://server1/images/6ace-t1k9-mzg.3.0.0_A0_2.3.bin 
image:

To set the boot variable and configure the ACE to autoboot this image, see the "Configuring the ACE to Autoboot the Software Image" section.

Configuring the ACE to Autoboot the Software Image

After you copy the image on to the ACE, configure it to autoboot the image by setting the boot variable and the configuration register. The boot variable specifies the image from which the ACE boots at startup. The configuration variable can be set to autoboot the image defined by the boot variable.

This section contains the following topics:

•Setting the Boot Variable

•Configuring the Configuration Register to Autoboot the Boot Variable

•Verifying the Boot Variable and Configuration Register

For detailed information on the boot variable and configuration register, see Chapter 1, Setting Up the ACE.

Setting the Boot Variable

To set the boot variable, use the boot system image: command in the Admin context from the configuration mode. The syntax for this command is:

boot system image:image_name

The image_name argument is the name of the installed image.

Caution If you set a single image through the boot system image: command, be sure to enter the image name correctly. Otherwise, when you attempt to reload the ACE, it uses the incorrect image name, fails the reload, and accesses the ROMMON utility. For information on recovering from this problem, see the "Recovering the ACE from ROMMON Utility" section.

You can set up to two images through the boot system command.If the first image fails, the ACE tries the second image.

For example, to set the boot variable with the 6ace-t1k9-mzg.3.0.0_A0_2.3.bin image, enter: 

host1/Admin(config)# boot system image:6ace-t1k9-mzg.3.0.0_A0_2.3.bin

Use the no boot system image: command to unset the previously configured boot variable.

Configuring the Configuration Register to Autoboot the Boot Variable

To configure the ACE to autoboot the system image identified in the boot environment variable, use the config-register command in the Admin context from the configuration mode and set the configuration register to 1.

Note A config-register setting of 0 instructs the ACE to ACE boots to the rommon prompt upon a reboot. The ACE remains in ROMMON mode at startup.

For example, to set the register to 1, enter: 

host1/Admin(config)# config-register 1

Verifying the Boot Variable and Configuration Register

To verify the boot variable and configuration register, use the show bootvar command in the Admin context from the Exec mode. For example, enter: 

host1/Admin# show bootvar

BOOT variable = "disk0:6ace-t1k9-mzg.3.0.0_A0_2.3.bin"

Configuration register is 0x1

host1/Admin#

The 0x1 indicates that the configuration register is set to 1.

Reloading the ACE Module

For the ACE to use the installed software upgrade, reload the ACE module. To reload the ACE, use the reload command in the Admin context from the Exec mode. The syntax for this command is:

reload

For example, enter: 

host1/Admin# reload

This command will reboot the system

Save configurations for all the contexts. Save? [yes/no]: [yes]

If you reload the ACE and rommon mode prompt appears, a problem with the upgrade or the ACE has occurred. See the "Recovering the ACE from ROMMON Utility" section for more information.

Recovering the ACE from ROMMON Utility

If you reload the ACE and rommon mode prompt appears, one of the following problems may have occurred:

•You entered the installed image name incorrectly. This problem assumes that you correctly installed the image on the ACE.

•The downloaded ACE image is corrupted.

•The ACE compact flash had a hardware failure.

If you incorrectly entered the image name, boot the ACE from the rommon prompt and then after the ACE reboots, correct the image name in the boot variable. For more information, see the "Booting the ACE from ROMMON with the Correct Image Name" section.

If the dowloaded image is corrupted or the compact flash failed, copy the ACE image on the supervisor engine and boot the ACE from the supervisor engine. For more information, see the "Copying the ACE Image to the Supervisor Engine" section.

Booting the ACE from ROMMON with the Correct Image Name

If you set a single image through the boot system command, you must enter the image name correctly for the ACE to reload successfully. Otherwise, when you attempt to reload the ACE, it uses the incorrect image name, fails the reload, and accesses the ROMMON utility as indicated by the rommon mode prompt.

After the attempted reload, a boot message appears in the CLI indicating that the image could not load, similar to the following message: 

boot: cannot load "disk0:c6ace-t1k9mz3.0.0_A1_4.bin"

Verify whether the image name is correct. If it is, then the problem could be a corrupted image or a compact flash failure. For more information on how to reload the ACE from these conditions, see the "Copying the ACE Image to the Supervisor Engine" section.

In this example, the image name is incorrect. The c6ace-t1k9mz3.0.0_A1_4.bin image in the message should be c6ace-t1k9-mz3.0.0_A1_4.bin.

To boot the ACE with the correct image name from rommon mode and correct the image name in the boot variable, perform the following steps:

1. Access the disk0: directory to view the correct image name. For example, enter: 

rommon 1> dir disk0:

Directory of disk0:


20903		28583947			-rw- c6ace-t1k9-mz.3.0.0_A1_4.bin <correct image

2		74448896			-rw- TN-CONFIG

....

rommon 2>

2. Set the boot image that is on ACE. For example, enter: 

rommon 2> BOOT=c6ace-t1k9-mz.3.0.0_A1_4.bin

3. Verify the boot image in the configuration variables. For example, enter: 

rommon 3> set

PS1+rommom!>

RELOAD_REASON=reload command by admin

?=0

BOOT=c6ace-t1k9-mz.3.0.0_A1_4.bin

rommon 4>

4. Boot the image on the ACE. For example, enter: 

rommon 4> boot

Loading disk0:c6ace-t1k9-mz.3.0.0_A1_4.bin. Please wait...

The boot process may take several minutes to finish.

5. When the login prompt appears, log in to the ACE. For example, enter: 

host1 login: admin

Password:

Cisco Application Control Software (ACSW)

TAC support: http://www.cisco.com/tac

Copyright (c) 2002-2006, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

The copyrights to certain works contained herein are owned by

other third parties and are used and distributed under license.

Some parts of this software are covered under the GNU Public

License. A copy of the license is available at

http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html.

host1/Admin#

6. Access configuration mode in the Admin context and unset the previously configured boot variable by using the no boot system image: command. For example, enter: 

host1/Admin# config

host1/Admin(config)# no boot system 
image:c6ace-t1k9mz3.0.0_A1_4.bin

7. Reset the boot variable with the correct image name by using the boot system image: command. For example, enter: 

host1/Admin(config)# boot system 
image:c6ace-t1k9-mz.3.0.0_A1_4.bin

8. To verify the boot variable has the correct image name, use the show bootvar command in the Admin context from the Exec mode. For example, enter: 

host1/Admin# show bootvar

BOOT variable = "disk0:c6ace-t1k9-mz.3.0.0_A1_4.bin"

Configuration register is 0x1

host1/Admin#

Copying the ACE Image to the Supervisor Engine

If you dowload a corrupted ACE image or the ACE compact flash has failed, you can boot the ACE from an image copied to the supervisor engine.

From the supervisor engine CLI, perform the following steps:

1. To copy the ACE image to disk0: on the supervisor engine, use the copy command. For example, to copy c6ace-t1k9-mz.3.0.0_A1_4.bin image from an TFTP server to disk0:, enter: 

Router# copy 
tftp://192.168.144.14/tftpboot/c6ace-t1k9-mz.3.0.0_A1_4.bin disk0:

Destination filename [c6ace-t1k9-mz.3.0.0_A1_4.bin]?

Accessing 
tftp://192.168.144.14/tftpboot/c6ace-t1k9-mz.3.0.0_A1_4.bin ...

Loading /tftpboot/c6ace-t1k9-mz.3.0.0_A1_4.bin from 192.168.144.14 
(via VLAN 12):!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...

[OK - 29251568 bytes]


29251568 bytes copied in 81.600 secs (358475 bytes/sec)

Router#

2. After the image is copied to the supervisor engine, access configuration mode and set the boot variable for the ACE and the image. For example, to access configuration mode and set the boot variable if the ACE is in slot 3, enter: 

Router# conf t

Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.

Router(config)#boot device module 3 
disk0:c6ace-t1k9-mz.3.0.0_A1_4.bin

Device BOOT variable = disk0:c6ace-t1k9-mz.3.0.0_A1_4.bin

Warning: Device list is not verified

Router#

From the ACE, perform the following steps:

1. Boot the ACE from the image on the supervisor engine by using the boot eobc command. For example, enter: 

rommon 1> boot eobc:

2. When the login prompt appears, log in to the ACE. For example, enter: 

host1 login: admin

Password:

Cisco Application Control Software (ACSW)

TAC support: http://www.cisco.com/tac

Copyright (c) 2002-2006, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

The copyrights to certain works contained herein are owned by

other third parties and are used and distributed under license.

Some parts of this software are covered under the GNU Public

License. A copy of the license is available at

http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html.

host1/Admin#

3. If the image on the ACE is corrupted, copy another image onto the ACE as described in the "Copying the Software Upgrade Image to the ACE" section. Then configure the ACE to autoboot the image as described in the "Configuring the ACE to Autoboot the Software Image" section.

If the compact flash on the ACE had a hardware failure, contact TAC support for assistance.

Displaying Software Image Information

To display the software image on the ACE, use the show version command in Exec mode. The syntax for this command is:

show version

For example, enter: 

host1/Admin# show version