4510R+E upgrade Path

[NGJ]

Hi

I have a 2 x 4510R+E in VSS mode.  IOS is currently 03.06.04.E  and Rommon 15.0(1r)SG10.  Can I upgrade direct to IOS XE 03.11.04E.  Or is there an upgrade path.  Also do I need to do a Rommon upgrade first, or can I remain on current version.  Struggling to confirm via the Release notes.

Many thanks

[Reza Sharifi]

Hi,

You can go directly to 03.11.04E but upgrade your Roomon to 15.1(1r)SG18 first.

HTH

[NGJ]

Thanks for reply.  I should have stated I have SUP7-E cards in the VSS switches.  I see the latest rommon available for download for those is 15.0(1r)SG16.  Is it best practice or a requirement to upgrade rommon.

Thanks

[NGJ]

The release notes with the 3.11.4E simply state

If you are upgrading to Cisco IOS XE Release 3.9.xE and using Supervisor Engine 7-E or 7L-E, you

must use ROMMON version 15.0(1r)SG10 or a higher version (if available).

Doesn't mention the rommon requirements for 3.11.4e

[Reza Sharifi · Accepted solution]

I would just upgrade to the latest available for download (15.0(1r)SG16).

HTH

[NGJ]

ok cheers, I'll give that a go.

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

Direct upgrade to 3.11.X is possible as long as the ROMMON gets upgraded first.   Read THIS.

[Mohsin Alam · Accepted solution]

You can upgrade but make sure to read release notes, there are some major changes. 

one of them being TACACS config change.

## Make sure to mark post as helpful, If it resolved your issue. ##

[NGJ]

Thanks all.  One final query. 

Our VSS switches are in a quad sup setup.  I can copy (TFTP) the rommon upgrade file to active Sup (bootflash:) and the standby sup (slavebootflash:).  However, the 2nd SUP in each chassis, believe its termed the ICS (In Chassis Standby).  I cannot view its directory.  On my current IOS XE version, the dir bootflash-ics: and dir slavebootflash-ics' are not available.  How can I get the new rommon file onto these cards.  Ive consoled on and they are sat at Rommon>, and I believe they only become active themselves if the active Sup in each chassis fails.

Thanks

Thanks

[Leo Laohoo]

---

@NGJ wrote:

Ive consoled on and they are sat at Rommon>, and I believe they only become active themselves if the active Sup in each chassis fails.

---

Wait, what?  That's not right.  I don't really care how many supervisor cards there are in a chassis because none of them are meant to be in ROMMON.  That's not how it works.  Something is totally wrong if the "redundant card" is in ROMMON.

[NGJ]

That may be due to the current IOX XE I'm currently on then (3.06.04.E)

Found this on a cisco document regarding Quad SUP VSS setup

Quad-sup VSS behavior on the Catalyst 4500 depends on the Cisco IOS XE® version that is used. Originally for quad-sup VSS setups, ICS supervisors stay in ROMMON at any given time with all uplink ports able to forward data. There is no automatic mechanism for the ICS to automatically take over (that is, participate in VSS from control plane perspective) in the event of failure.

In Version 03.08.00E and later, the Catalyst 4500 supports ICS supervisors in Route Processor Redundancy (RPR) mode that improves quad-sup functionality and failover behavior in case of supervisor failure which allows automatic failover between all supervisors in case of the failure.