Cisco Cisco IOS Software Release 12.4(15)T Fiche De Données

Data Sheet

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example in Figure 1). All these methods accomplish the same thing. The single-line method can be quite useful

when upgrading multiple systems, especially if they are being upgraded to the same software version.

Figure 1. Single-Line Command

Router # upgrade automatic getversion {cisco username username password pass image
image | url } [at hh:mm | now | in hh:mm] [disk-management auto | confirm | no]

How It Works

Cisco IOS Auto-Upgrade Manager performs several tasks. First, it finds the specified software and loads it on the

system to be upgraded. The user must provide the image name and location. The image name can be obtained from

any of numerous sources, including research the user has done, often on the Cisco Software Center

(

http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/download/index.html

); a recommendation from a Cisco engineer, an authorized

Cisco partner organization, the Cisco Technical Assistance Center, or other source. Cisco IOS Auto-Upgrade

Manager can obtain the software version from Cisco (the default) or other FTP or TFTP server that may be on the

user’s internal network or even possibly a partner site. When downloading from Cisco, the Cisco IOS Auto-Upgrade

Manager uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for a secure connection, requiring the user to configure the Cisco SSL

certificate (refer to the Cisco IOS Auto-Upgrade Manager feature documentation for details). Cisco IOS Auto-

Upgrade Manager then checks to ensure that there is enough space in secondary storage (usually flash memory) to

store the image. If not, it attempts to make enough space by performing a disk clean-up. If the application cannot

find or make space, it attempts to upgrade the router directly with the source image, and then deletes the previous

image and downloads the new image to secondary storage. It terminates the process if direct upgrade is not

possible or if it is not accepted by the user. Otherwise, it downloads the new software version onto secondary

storage and, if downloading from Cisco, verifies the image. It sends the console status messages of the progress

and ultimate success or failure of the download.

Next Cisco IOS Auto-Upgrade Manager must perform the actual upgrade of the system software at the time the user

specified. The auto-upgrade manager uses the existing Warm Upgrade capability to perform this upgrade, so the

new version is decompressed and loaded into RAM before the system reloads. This process can significantly reduce

the system downtime. If the Warm Upgrade process fails, the system “rolls back” to the old software version. During

a successful Warm Upgrade, the application keeps a record of any configuration lines that the new software version

does not understand, a situation that can happen if a command has been changed or eliminated in newer software,

but is more common when downgrading to older software that may not support all of the configured functions. The

application stores this record in the file system, and users can view it by using the show autoupgrade configuration

unknown command.

Finally, Cisco IOS Auto-Upgrade Manager logs the status of the upgrade and, if configured, sends the user a status

e-mail. Many e-mail systems can also generate a page with the status information.

Applications

Cisco IOS Auto-Upgrade Manager can be used in many environments. As mentioned previously, the interactive

mode of Cisco IOS Auto-Upgrade is quite useful for novice users, guiding them through each step of the upgrade

process. Similarly, this mode can also be helpful when providing telephone support to novice users. The single-line

mode streamlines the upgrade process for experienced users. The single command line can easily be scripted or

entered through a “copy and paste” operation, simplifying the repetitive process of upgrading multiple systems at the

same time. Users can schedule the Warm Reload at a convenient time, immediately or delayed, helping minimize

the effect of the short outage associated with upgrades.