How to Determine IOS Upgrade

[Hershey1702]

Hello All,

I am very new to all this and I am hoping someone can give me hints or tips on how to search for an IOS upgrade. We have very old equipment at my site and it seems like they are all on different IOS's. Some are on "lanbase" while others are on "universal", some show ".bin" while some have no file extensions, or ".tar"s which I guess are packages you have to unpack. The are different version numbers as well.

Also, are the IOS specific to port number as well, meaning do I need to look for different IOS's based on how many ports the switch has besides both devices being 2690?

I have been able to transfer an IOS and set the boot system to boot from the newer one, but now I am getting this upon booting:

control-plane
^
% Invalid input detected at '^' marker.
¦ŸÿÌÎNNOÌÞ[_ ŽMO›ÎÌÎ>GÌ ;ÛÚ..Ìø·ÿÎmÌ_Îo/¯M

On this switch I went from c2960-lanbase-mz.122-35.SE5 to 2960-lanbasek9-mz.122-55.SE12.bin. I am assuming I chose the wrong update and will revert to see what that does.

My switches are from the 2960 series.

1. When do I use universal vs. lanbase, or others?

2. What do I need to know about or consider when searching for IOS updates? Do things like port number matter and do I need to know more info about the model than what is listed on the front-top-right "Catalyst 2960 Series"?

3. How do I determine the latest IOS release for the switch I am working on?

4. Is there anything else I may need to consider?

[balaji.bandi]

2960-lanbasek9-mz.122-55.SE12.bin  - this should work.

[Kasun Bandara]

Hi,

what is the exact switch model you are using? you can use

#show version

command to get exact model, OS version, serial etc.

below is the LANBASE datasheet. check if your switch model is already in the switch models.

if switch is belong to lan base models, you can use lan base image. if not check for lan lite. also universal images are for license based OSs. for 2960 series, you can use lan base ir lan lite images.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en_in/products/collateral/switches/catalyst-2960-series-switches/product_data_sheet0900aecd80322c0c.html

rate this and mark as answer, if you resolved your issue

[Joseph W. Doherty]

#0 BTW, often (i.e. there are some exceptions), legally, you need a maintenance agreement to upgrade a Cisco's device IOS.  Further, if you also want to "upgrade" a feature set, that requires a license upgrade too.

#1 Depends on what features you need the device to support.  However, within many Cisco switches I recall LANBASE switches do not support software feature upgrades (beyond possible improvements in version upgrades).

Cisco switches are often offered with various feature sets, per IOS physical file, often maybe just two, or perhaps up to about four.  As just noted, the most basic feature set might not allow feature upgrades (within the same IOS version).

Later Cisco switches often provide a "universal" physical file that has all possible features, but what's permitted is determined by an installed license.

#2 Number of ports, generally, doesn't matter.  Kind of ports, though, might impact the feature set needed.  Sometimes you very much need to know the specific model your wish to upgrade, although often an IOS file applies to multiple models within a series.  (BTW, there's "Release Notes" that go along with IOS versions which should describe most, if not all, the "got chas".)

As to searching for IOS upgrades, and choosing them, many, within the same IOS version train, are bug fixes.  The release notes will described what's been fixed, per IOS release.  Generally, later releases in the same IOS version train are more stable, but sometimes, a "fix" creates a bug.  (So, moving immediately to the very latest release can be a bit of gamble, less gamble if it's a well developed [e.g. double digit release number] train.)

#3 Just examine the software upgrades page for your device.

#4 Yes, software doesn't wear out, so there's some truth to "if it ain't broken, don't fix it".  However, it is annoying to run into a bug that was fixed two years ago, but you never bother to upgrade.  Basically, you want a methodology for managing upgrades.  You might want to consider obtaining outside consultation for additional suggestions for defining such.