Software Upgrade Window

This window appears when you take either of these actions:

You can also click here to launch it. Use it to simultaneously upgrade the software of all the switches in a cluster or the software of selected switches.

Follow these steps:

  1. Review the upgrade rules if you are upgrading a switch cluster.
  2. In the TFTP Server IP Address field, enter the IP address of your TFTP server.
    Note: To perform group upgrades, your TFTP server must be capable of handling multiple requests and sessions simultaneously. If you are using the Cisco TFTP server application, which is capable of handling multiple requests and sessions, you must disable the Show File Transfer Progress and the Enable Logging options to avoid TFTP server failures. To disable these options, select View > Options from the Cisco TFTP server menu bar and deselect these options.
  3. In the New Image File Name field, enter the name of the image file.
    For 2900 XL, 3500 XL and 3550 switches, a .tar file contains the image. For Catalyst 1900 and 2820 switches, a .bin file contains the image. For information about image filenames, see the release notes for your products.
    Note: You can enter the path and filename in this field; you can precede the path with a single slash (/) or no slash. If you enter only the filename in this field, you must set up the path in the TFTP root directory of the TFTP server application.
  4. Check the Retain Current Image File Names box if you want the new image to retain the old image name.
    By default, this box is unchecked, so the name of the new image is used.
    Note: This check box is not available for upgrading Catalyst 3550 switch software. It also does not apply to Catalyst 1900 and 2820 switches.
  5. In the Available Devices list, choose the cluster members to be upgraded, and click Add.
    Repeat this process until all members to be upgraded appear in the Selected Devices list.
    Note:  See the upgrade rules for important selection information.
    To remove switches from the Selected Devices list, select the switches and click Remove.
  6. Click Upgrade to start the upgrade.
    On Catalyst 2900 XL, 3500 XL and 3550 switches, the new image is copied over the existing one if the switch has insufficient Flash memory for two images. If the switch has sufficient Flash memory, the new image is copied to the selected switches, but it does not replace the current running image. The old image is erased only after the new image is completely downloaded, so if you experience a failure during the copy process, you can reboot your switch using the old image.
    On Catalyst 1900 and 2820 switches, the new image always overwrites the existing one.
  7. Review the Software Upgrade Status Messages area to see the history of the upgrade process.
    The status messages tell you which devices successfully upgraded and which ones failed.
  8. If you have more switches to upgrade, repeat Steps 2 through 6. (Save Catalyst 1900 and 2820 upgrades for last.)
  9. Click Reboot Cluster to reboot all switches in the cluster. To reboot specific switches, choose Administration > System Reload.
    All configuration changes are automatically saved to Flash memory. After a 1-minute delay (needed to reboot the switches), the devices in the cluster are reloaded, and the new image starts running.
    Note: You lose connectivity to the switch when you reboot the cluster.