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IBM SAN switch upgrade method
Upgrading firmware for IBM SAN switches
Ganesh Kudale (gakudale@in.ibm.com)
IT Specialist
IBM
Nitin Thorve (nithorve@in.ibm.com)
Senior Associate IT Specialist - UNIX
IBM
15 July 2013
In storage area network (SAN) environments, we need SAN switches with different hardware
and firmware levels. Most of the time, we face requirements for upgrading or downgrading SAN
switch firmware. This tutorial explains both the graphical and command-line interface (CLI)
methods to perform this task.
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Introduction
There are two ways by which you can upgrade SAN switches. First is the graphical method and
other is the CLI method. To implement it by the graphical method, you need the SAN switch
management tool. And, to implement it through CLI, you need to use the command prompt. This
tutorial provides step-by-step instructions on both these methods.
Method 1 Graphical
1. Log in to SAN switch GUI using root credentials. You will get the graphical interaction with the
switch. In the Manage panel, click Switch Admin.
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Figure 1.
2. The Switch Admin option helps in providing details about package download, such as the
path, IP address, mode of package transfer, and system credentials from where you can
download the firmware package. It also validates your inputs.
Now, first check the current firmware version from the current version frame as shown in the
following figure.
Figure 2.
Note : Make sure that you have the earlier firmware version to take fall back if the upgrade
operation fails. Go ahead and provide the required details to download the firmware package from
the remote system. Here, we are upgrading the SAN switch firmware version from 6.2.2f to 6.3.2e.
After providing all the details, firmware package download begins and installs it to the switch.
Figure 3.
3. You can verify the upgraded package version (same as mentioned in step 2), after the commit
operation has been successfully completed. While the switch upgrade occurs, you might get
warning messages, such as loose network or disruption in other devices. You can ignore
those warning messages unless you are upgrading to a proper version for proper SAN switch.
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4. After successfully completion of the commit operation, you can verify whether the upgraded
package version is the same as that mentioned in step 2.
Method 2 CLI
1. Log in to the SAN switch from a remote system that is in the SAN network.
2. Use the help command to get all the SAN switch commands.
3. Use the version command to check the current firmware version. A sample output of the
command is shown in the following figure.
Figure 4.
4. Use the firmwaredownload command and provide all the details, as required in Method 1.
This command prompts for remote system details and its credentials, path of the firmware
package, and the mode of package transfer. Here, we are upgrading the SAN switch firmware
version from 6.3.2e to 6.4.3c.
Figure 5.
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5. After successful download of the package it automatically upgrades the SAN firmware to the
new release. After the commit operation of the firmware changes, the switch reboots and
this causes network disruption for a while which is negligible. Now again, check the firmware
version using the version command.
Figure 6.
Now, you have upgraded the firmware successfully.
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Resources
Ethernet switches and SAN switches - Brocade
IBM SAN overview
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About the authors
Ganesh Kudale
Ganesh Kudale is working as an IT Specialist with IBM and has around five years
of experience. He has experience in Linux administration, IBM storage boxes and
storage/OS virtualization technologies along with entire automation techniques.
He is working as an Automation Engineer for ISL SVC Tester Team and working
on Loadstone libraries. Ganesh is a Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) and an
AIX Certified Engineer. He has also conducted international workshops on network
virtualizations and Linux security.
Nitin Thorve
Nitin Thorve is a Senior Associate IT Specialist, with more than three years of
experience in IBM India. He has experience in IBM, NetApp Storage administration,
IBM AIX including IBM Power hardware and IBM cluster technologies, such as
IBM General Parallel File System (IBM GPFS) and IBM HACMP. Till date, he
has published three international papers and journals. Nitin is an SNIA certified
Storage professional and holds other certifications from Brocade and IBM in related
technologies.
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