Cisco Pix 7.0 on a Cisco 520 Platform

[neutroncraig]

Good afternoon. This question may have been asked already. If so please forgive me.

Can anyone tell me if pix os 7.0 can be installed on a Pix 520 with 128mb ram and 16 mb flash.

It would seem logical that if the system meets the memory requirements that the IOS would be able to be utilized.

Are there any other requirements other than memory that must be met in order to use the new operating systmem.

Thanks

Craig

[Patrick Iseli]

PIX 520 is officially not supported !

Support Appliance are:

• Cisco PIX 515 Security Appliance

• Cisco PIX 515E Security Appliance

• Cisco PIX 525 Security Appliance

• Cisco PIX 535 Security Appliance

See Table 5: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/vpndevc/ps2030/products_data_sheet0900aecd80225ae1.html

sincerely

Patrick

[thibaut.leduc]

Hi,

I hope that Cisco will launch quickly a new release for PIX 501 & 506...

[Patrick Iseli]

I guess they will need remove some code for the PIX 501 and 506. I do not think it is possible to double the memory as it is the case for the other appliances.

sincerely

Patrick

[thibaut.leduc]

Yes, Of course, I agree with you... it will be "light" but... when ?

[drumrb0y]

While officially not supported, you seem to have enough RAM and flash memory; I installed 7.0 on a spare 525 to test it, however, and crashed the box... so beware.

*picking up pieces*

Marc

[neutroncraig]

Thanks Marc for the reply. Were you able to recover your system

[drumrb0y]

Yes, I was;

To the vindication of v7.0, the issue was a bad activation key, caused by the replacement of the PIX motherboard in the past, outside of my knowledge.

With Cisco TAC assistance, I created a boot-helper floppy for the 520 (found out it wasn't a 525 also) and booted to rommon...then loaded v6.3.4 via tftp and activated with a new key provided by Cisco TAC after a 'sh ver' revealed the actual serial number of the box (which did not match the S/N on the sticker).

Tomorrow I'll be loading the v7.0 code and begin rewriting the config for the new command set. Bug hunting to follow...

Marc

[neutroncraig]

Once again thank you.

So to sum up, it is possible to upgrade a 520 to 7.0 provided that you meet the hardware req's..?

appreciate the help...

btw what were your motherboard spec's

I have pII 233, 128mb , 16mb flash

[drumrb0y]

I'm about to find out...Fortunately, this is a test PIX that's sitting on my desk and not a production box; I'm going to use it as a testbed for the new configuration we'll have to write with the new commands.

If you like, give me until about lunchtime EDT and I'll have results for you :-)

Not sure what CPU my 520 has (the floppy drive covers the CPU), but I doubled the RAM to 256 and it has 16MB flash.

Marc

[drumrb0y]

I'm about to find out...Fortunately, this is a test PIX that's sitting on my desk and not a production box; I'm going to use it as a testbed for the new configuration we'll have to write with the new commands.

If you like, give me until about lunchtime EDT and I'll have results for you :-)

Not sure what CPU my 520 has (the floppy drive covers the CPU), but I doubled the RAM to 256 and it has 16MB flash.

Marc

[alanholmes]

Well, did it work?

[drumrb0y]

Hell no!

After loading v7.0 onto the 520, it crashed on bootup. I had to roll back to v6.3.4 and get a new activation key from licencing support.

That means that, following the upgrade, my two 520s will be all but useless for production testing :-(

M