Manage Firmware

The WAP device maintains two firmware images. One image is active and the other is inactive. If the active image fails to load during bootup, the inactive image is loaded and becomes the active image. You can also swap the active and inactive images.

As new versions of the AP firmware become available, you can upgrade the firmware on your devices to take advantage of new features and enhancements. The AP uses a TFTP or HTTP client for firmware upgrades.

After you upload new firmware and the system reboots, the newly added firmware becomes the primary image. If the upgrade fails, the original firmware remains as the primary image.

NOTE     When you upgrade the firmware, the access point retains the existing configuration information.

Swapping the Firmware Image

To swap the firmware image running on the AP:

  1. Select Administration > Manage Firmware in the navigation pane.
  2. Click Swap Active Image.

    3. A dialog box appears confirming the firmware image switch and subsequent reboot.

  3. Click OK to proceed.

    4. The process may take several minutes, during which time the access point is unavailable. Do not power down the access point while the image switch is in process. When the image switch is complete, the access point restarts. The AP resumes normal operation with the same configuration settings it had before the upgrade.

TFTP Upgrade

To upgrade the firmware on an access point using TFTP:

  1. Select Administration > Manage Firmware in the navigation pane.

    2. The Product ID (PID VID) and active and inactive firmware versions appear.

  2. Select TFTP for Transfer Method.
  3. Enter a name (1 to 256 characters) for the image file in the Source File Name field, including the path to the directory that contains the image to upload.

    4. For example, to upload the ap_upgrade.tar image located in the /share/builds/ap directory, enter: /share/builds/ap/ap_upgrade.tar

    The firmware upgrade file supplied must be a tar file. Do not attempt to use bin files or files of other formats for the upgrade; these types of files do not work.

    The filename cannot contain the following items: spaces, <, >, |, \, : , (, ), &, ; , #, ? , *, and two or more successive periods.

  4. Enter the TFTP Server IPv4 Address and click Upgrade.

    5. Uploading the new software may take several minutes. Do not refresh the page or navigate to another page while uploading the new software, or the software upload is aborted. When the process is complete the access point restarts and resumes normal operation.

  5. To verify that the firmware upgrade completed successfully, log into the user interface and display the Upgrade Firmware page and view the active firmware version.

HTTP Upgrade

To upgrade using HTTP:

  1. Select HTTP for Transfer Method.
  2. If you know the name and path to the new file, enter it in the Source File Name field. Otherwise, click the Browse button and locate the firmware image file on your network.

    3. The firmware upgrade file supplied must be a tar file. Do not attempt to use bin files or files of other formats for the upgrade; these types of files do not work.

  3. Click Upgrade to apply the new firmware image.

    4. Uploading the new software may take several minutes. Do not refresh the page or navigate to another page while uploading the new software, or the software upload is aborted. When the process is complete, the access point restarts and resumes normal operation.

  4. To verify that the firmware upgrade completed successfully, log into the user interface, display the Upgrade Firmware page, and view the active firmware version.