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archive download-sw: Can it be run before a maintenance window

I need to perform an IOS update on a stack of two 3750X switches and have an after hours maintenance window, but would like to do as much as possible before the window to reduce downtime. I plan on running the archive download-sw command to pull the new IOS version from a tftp server but I am not sure if this itself will cause any downtime. Am I able to run this command beforehand and then wait until the maintenance window to issue the reload command with out causing any downtime?

 

Thanks in advance for any help

1 Accepted Solution

Accepted Solutions

Reza Sharifi
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

As long as you don't include the "reload" statement, it will not reload the stack after the image load. You can than reloaded the stack in a maintenance window.

Here is anther way to upgrade:

1-load the image into flash1 and flash2 using a the USB port on the switch. You can also load the image into flash1 (switch1) and than copy from flash1 to flash2.

2-change the boot variable by adding the "boot system switch all <new image>....

3-save config (wr).

4-verify the boot statement is correct by issuing "sh boot" command

5-unplug the power cords from both switches during the maintenance window, wait 30 seconds, plug in the power cord for the master first and than plug in the cord for the second switch.

5-The switches should be back online in about 6 minutes.

HTH

 

 

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3 Replies 3

Reza Sharifi
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

As long as you don't include the "reload" statement, it will not reload the stack after the image load. You can than reloaded the stack in a maintenance window.

Here is anther way to upgrade:

1-load the image into flash1 and flash2 using a the USB port on the switch. You can also load the image into flash1 (switch1) and than copy from flash1 to flash2.

2-change the boot variable by adding the "boot system switch all <new image>....

3-save config (wr).

4-verify the boot statement is correct by issuing "sh boot" command

5-unplug the power cords from both switches during the maintenance window, wait 30 seconds, plug in the power cord for the master first and than plug in the cord for the second switch.

5-The switches should be back online in about 6 minutes.

HTH

 

 

Thanks for your help!

Joseph W. Doherty
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

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Posting

As Reza has already described, yes you can.  However, do be aware that copying images onto flash will increase the CPU (not normally a problem, but you might see the CLI get very slow.  Often loading a new image requires removing the running image, first.  If that's needed, if for any reason the stack reloads during the copying process, the stack may not boot normally.  Also, after the stack is configured for the new software (again if old software had to be removed), any premature reload will boot into it.  If you do have sufficient flash space for both old and new, you can keep or set boot var pointing to the old code.

Using the bin IOS images saves some space on flash and the image copying goes a bit faster, especially if you can open multiple telnet sessions and copy to multiple stack members concurrently.

When Reza mentions using a USB, you can, but you can also do what he describes using a TFTP or FTP server.

Some IOS upgrades' first boot take much, much longer to boot (as they also upgrade firmware).

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