This document describes the detailed firmware upgrade procedures in the following typical scenarios.
- Bringing up M4300 and S3300 to form Mixed Stacking
- Regular Image upgrade after Mixed stacking is formed with 6.6.4 image
- Converting the M4300 units back into Full Managed M4300 mode
To find out more about the notes and restrictions, please see Smart M4300-S3300 Stacking Notes and Restrictions before converting your M4300 switch.
Bringing up M4300 and S3300 to form Mixed Stacking
Since there is no HW change in either M4300 or in S3300 products, the Mixed Stacking capability is purely software controlled. And in order to support mixed stacking between S3300 and M4300, following are the software pre-requisites:
- M4300 labelled image 12.0.2.17 (file ‘m4300v12.0.2.17.stk’)
- M4300 labelled image 6.6.4.x (file ‘m4300v6.6.4.x.stk’)
- S3300 labelled image 6.6.4.x (file ‘s3300v6.6.4.x.stk’)
There are two separate images, one for S3300 and another for M4300, as part of 6.6.4.x release.
M4300 and S3300 should have EXACT SAME version number in order for them to mix stack successfully. For example, they both should be loaded with 6.6.4.1 version of respective images. If one loads 6.6.4.1 and the other one loads 6.6.4.2, the mix stack would report “Code Mismatch” and won’t be operational.
Steps to follow for M4300:
Step-1: Download 12.0.2.17 into a M4300-12X12F or into a M4300-24X or into a homogeneous or heterogeneous stack of them.
Note: This 12.0.2.17 image can also be downloaded into other M4300 models and that won’t cause any trouble. However, 12.0.2.17 image will make sure that 6.6.4.x image can be downloaded ONLY on M4300-12X12F and M4300-24X and not in any other M4300 platforms.
Step-2: Activate 12.0.2.17 and reload the unit or stack with it.
Note: This stack can be of any M4300 models, but we need just M4300-12X12F and M4300-24X for the below steps.
Step-3: When 12.0.2.17 is running, download 6.6.4.x image into this unit/stack.
Note: 6.6.4.x image can be downloaded in the usual way via Web UI (and also through CLI). This image can be downloaded as Active or as Backup image. If the image is downloaded as backup image, activate this image via Web UI (or via CLI).
Step-4: Reload the switch to come up with 6.6.4.x image.
Note: At this stage, all previous configurations from 12.0.2.x will be lost and the switch will come up with a default configuration, similar to default configuration of S3300.
Step-5: Now that the switch is running 6.6.4.x, configure a maximum of 4 ports (any 4 from the below 8 available ports) into Stacking mode and reload the switch.
- M4300-24X: port 17~24;
- M4300-12X12F: port 9~12 and port 21~24.
Note: When M4300 is running with 6.6.4.x image, configuration setting via service port and console port will not be available any more. SCC (Smart Control Center) can be used to discover the smart M4300 and do some basic settings; just same as that can be done on S3300.
Steps to follow for S3300:
Step-1: Download 6.6.4.x directly into the S3300 unit or the stack from the running 6.6.0.x or 6.6.1.x image.
Note: 6.6.4.x image can be downloaded in the usual way via Web UI. This image can be downloaded as Active or as Backup image. If the image is downloaded as backup image, activate this image via Web UI.
Note: 6.6.4.x release WILL accept configuration from 6.6.0 or 6.6.1 release. Thus configuration from those previous releases will be accepted on 6.6.4.x
Step-2: Once the switch is running with 6.6.4.x, configure (if not done already) a maximum of 4 uplink 10G ports (the last 4) into Stacking mode and reload the switch.
Forming mixed stacking:
Now that both M4300 and S3300 units are running with EXACT SAME 6.6.4.x code, they can be connected together to form mixed stacking via the stacking ports on M4300 and S3300.
Regular Image upgrade after Mixed stacking is formed with 6.6.4 image
After the mixed stacking is formed following the instruction in the previous section, the mixed stack can now be upgraded to a newer 6.6.4 image. Following are the steps towards that:
Step-1: Download a new S3300 6.6.4 image (e.g., 6.6.4.2 image when the stack is running with 6.6.4.1) through Web UI.
This will update the S3300 units in the mix stack with the new 6.6.4 image (e.g., 6.6.4.2) but won’t download this image into the M4300 units.
Step-2: Download a new M4300 6.6.4 image through Web UI.
This will update the M4300 units with the new 6.6.4 image (e.g., 6.6.4.2) but won’t download this into the S3300 units.
Note: both Step-1 and Step-2 are required to be performed since we have 2 images for each 6.6.4 release. And this can be done irrespective of whether M4300 or S3300 is the Stack master.
Step-3: After both the 6.6.4 images are downloaded into the respective units, activate the new image and reload the stack
Note: the new 6.6.4 image can be downloaded into either Active or into Backup image. In case both the 6.6.4 images are downloaded into backup, activate them using Web UI (in the usual way via Maintenance -> File Management -> Dual Image -> Dual Image Configuration option in Web UI.
The stack should come up with new 6.6.4.x image (i.e., 6.6.4.2)
Converting the M4300 units back into Full Managed M4300 mode
The two M4300 units that are part of mixed stacking with S3300 can be brought back to regular M4300 mode (in Managed form with 12.0.2 image). To do that, follow the below steps:
Step-1: Disconnect the M4300 units from the mixed stack such that they either become standalone or form a homogeneous stack among themselves.
Step-2: Connect network port to the master unit, if not already connected
Step-3: Download any released 12.0.2 image via Web UI and activate it.
Note: the 12.0.2 image can be loaded as either Active or as backup image
Step-4: Reload the unit with 12.0.2 image
M4300 units should come up with 12.0.2 image and their Service Port becomes active. Also FASTPATH CLI appears on the console.
Note: The existing configuration from 6.6.4 mixed stacking get migrated to 12.0.2 release (with unsupported configuration being discarded and that would generate logs into memory log buffer for each of those failed/non-migrated configuration).