Do I need to update the Cisco ASA software?

[emilioj.romero]

Hi,

I have two Cisco ASA firewall, the first 5510 with 1 Gb and the second 5540 with 2G. The IOS is 8.3 (1) asa831-k8.bin and ASDM version is 6.3 (1) asdm-631.bin.

New software updates appear in the cisco website

There is a folder called Interim, what does it means? For example, what are the differents between 8.4.1 Interim and 8.4.1 ED ?

The latest update is 8.4.2 ED-k8.bin asa842 and ASDM
asdm-645.bin. As I said before, my Cisco 5510 has 1G and my cisco 5540 has 2G, do these fulfill the needed requeriments for upgrading?

The Cisco 5510 has a module csm ccs and the Cisco 5540 has an AIP-SSM module 10. Do I have to update these modules?. Do I have to modify anytihing in the configuration file loaded if I update the software?

In short, Is it recommended to update the firewall with the new version or can I continue with the version 8.3?

Thank you.

[mirober2]

Hi Emilio,

Good reasons to upgrade would be to a) get a fix for a bug that is affecting your environment, or b) use a new feature implemented in a later software version. You can find the list of fixed bugs in 8.3(2) and 8.4.x here:

8.3(2) bug fixes:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/security/asa/asa83/release/notes/asarn83.html#wp430477

8.4.x bug fixes:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/security/asa/asa84/release/notes/asarn84.html#wp536788

You can find a list of new features here:

8.3(2) New Features:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/security/asa/asa83/release/notes/asarn83.html#wp460655

8.4.x New Features:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/security/asa/asa83/release/notes/asarn83.html#wp460655

The "Interim" folder you see on the software download page is where interim images are posted (such as 8.4.2.2). The interim version is the 4th number (images are labeled as major.minor.maintenance.interim). Interim images are usually built to address a specific set of bugs that customers may need before the next maintenance release is built.

Hope that helps.

-Mike