Download APIC, APIC CIMC, switch and additional rules for pre-upgrade validation on APICs

Determine if you want to import the firmware image from a local or a remote location.

If you want to import the firmware image from your computer, in the Location field, click the Local radio button. Click the Choose File button, then navigate to the folder on your local system with the firmware image that you want to import. Go to Step 6.
If you want to import the firmware image from a remote location, click either Secure copy or HTTP, depending on the method that you want to use to import the firmware image from the remote location:
- If you selected the Secure copy radio button, enter the Secure Copy Protocol (SCP) source that you want to use to download the software image:
  1. In the URL field, enter the URL from where the image will be downloaded.
    
    The format for the SCP source is:
    
    <SCP server IP or FQDN>:/<path>/<filename>
    
    An example URL is 10.1.2.3:/path/to/the/image/aci-apic-dk9.6.2.1a.iso.
  2. In the Username field, enter your username for secure copy.
  3. In the Authentication Type field, select the type of authentication for the download. The type can be:
    - Password
    - Ssh Public Private Files
    The default is Password.
    - If you selected Password, in the Password field, enter your password for secure copy.
    - If you selected Ssh Public Private Files, enter the following information:
      - Ssh Key Contents: The SSH private key content.
      - Ssh Key Passphrase: The SSH key passphrase that is used for generating the SSH private key.
        
        Note
        
        Based on the provided SSH private key, the Cisco APIC internally creates a temporary SSH public key just for this transaction to establish a connection with the remote server. You must ensure that the remote server has the corresponding public key as one of the "authorized_keys". After the authentication check is performed, the temporary public key on the Cisco APIC is deleted.
        
        You can generate an SSH private key (~/.ssh/id_rsa) and a corresponding SSH public key (~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub) on one of the Cisco APICs by entering the following:
        
        ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 2048 -C "<username>@<apic_name>"
        
        Or you can generate them on another machine. For either method, you need to provide the generated private key for each download configuration.
- If you selected the HTTP radio button, enter the http source that you want to use to download the software image.
  
  The format for the HTTP source is:
  
  <HTTP server IP or FQDN>:/<path>/<filename>
  
  An example URL is 10.1.2.3:/path/to/the/image/aci-apic-dk9.6.2.1a.iso.

	1.	Download the desired target version from the Cisco Software Download site (for example, 5.2(1g) release) to your file server or local machine.
	2.	On the menu bar, choose Admin > Firmware. The Dashboard window appears, which provides general information one the controllers and the leaf and spine switches (nodes).
	3.	Click Images in the left navigation bar. The Image window appears, which shows the images that you downloaded previously.
	4.	Click the Actions icon and select Add Firmware from the drop-down menu. The Add Firmware Image popup window appears.
	5.	Determine if you want to import the firmware image from a local or a remote location. If you want to import the firmware image from your computer, in the Location field, click the Local radio button. Click the Choose File button, then navigate to the folder on your local system with the firmware image that you want to import. Go to Step 6. If you want to import the firmware image from a remote location, click either Secure copy or HTTP, depending on the method that you want to use to import the firmware image from the remote location: If you selected the Secure copy radio button, enter the Secure Copy Protocol (SCP) source that you want to use to download the software image: In the URL field, enter the URL from where the image will be downloaded. The format for the SCP source is: <SCP server IP or FQDN>:/<path>/<filename> An example URL is 10.1.2.3:/path/to/the/image/aci-apic-dk9.6.2.1a.iso. In the Username field, enter your username for secure copy. In the Authentication Type field, select the type of authentication for the download. The type can be: Password Ssh Public Private Files The default is Password. If you selected Password, in the Password field, enter your password for secure copy. If you selected Ssh Public Private Files, enter the following information: Ssh Key Contents: The SSH private key content. Ssh Key Passphrase: The SSH key passphrase that is used for generating the SSH private key. Note Based on the provided SSH private key, the Cisco APIC internally creates a temporary SSH public key just for this transaction to establish a connection with the remote server. You must ensure that the remote server has the corresponding public key as one of the "authorized_keys". After the authentication check is performed, the temporary public key on the Cisco APIC is deleted. You can generate an SSH private key (~/.ssh/id_rsa) and a corresponding SSH public key (~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub) on one of the Cisco APICs by entering the following: `ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 2048 -C "<username>@<apic_name>"` Or you can generate them on another machine. For either method, you need to provide the generated private key for each download configuration. If you selected the HTTP radio button, enter the http source that you want to use to download the software image. The format for the HTTP source is: <HTTP server IP or FQDN>:/<path>/<filename> An example URL is 10.1.2.3:/path/to/the/image/aci-apic-dk9.6.2.1a.iso.
	6.	Click Submit. The Cisco APICs begins downloading the specified firmware images from the configured source. The download progress is shown in the Download Status column

Procedure