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Clarification needed for upgrading stacked switch

Nandhini
Level 1
Level 1

Hi, We prefer to use below command to upgrade stacked switch. It automatically extracts from the archive, pushed imager to all member switches and sets boot statement.

archive download-sw /leave-old-sw ftp://username:password@10.4.1.104/c2960x-universalk9-tar.154-4.E4.tar

I would like to have some clarifications regarding upgrade of stacked switch:

  1. If 1 of the member switch is in READY state and another member switch in some other state, Can we or not proceed with IOS upgrade of entire stack?

  2. In case if we can upgrade, will cpoying of image and upgrade happen only to switch in ready state and will switch in error state be automatically ignored?

Thanks in advance.

6 Replies 6

balaji.bandi
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

Make sure you read the release notes - from what version you upgrading from to and understand the cavieats.

 

I would like to have some clarifications regarding upgrade of stacked switch:

    If 1 of the member switch is in READY state and another member switch in some other state, Can we or not proceed with IOS upgrade of entire stack?

    In case if we can upgrade, will cpoying of image and upgrade happen only to switch in ready state and will switch in error state be automatically ignored?

 

the upgrade suggests doing all devices in the stack, not by each one, once the upgrade is done, it required the whole stack to reboot to get the new IOS to take effect.

 

most case of upgrade goes smooth, in case it fails, you can manually upgrade and join the failed switch back to stack. (should be the same version)

 

Note: as per my experience if the stack running for more than 2 years suggest reloading the stack before uprade.,

 

 

 

BB

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Hello

1- what other state would you refer to? - the switch stack master and it members need to running correctly before you attempt a upgrade, if for some reason the switches in the stack are reporting errors, then you should fix the problem before the upgrade.

 

2- when you initiate a upgrade via the method you've shown then all switches in the stack are upgraded prior to a full reload of the stack which will then reload onto the new software.


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Paul

Hi Paul,

 

I remember seeing 1 of the member switch in a state that was not READY though i can't recollect the exact state it was in. But that switch was shown as part of the stack. So my understanding is it was connected to stack but was down or had an error for whatsoerver reason.

 

1. So in these kind of scenarios, you suggest making all switrches to READY state and then begining upgrade?

 

2. As i understand, the other states apart from READY state are waiting, initializing, progressing, Feature Mismatch, version mismatch. Are these the only states or am i missing anything else?  Reason iam asking ie bcause iam writing an ansible script to automate IOS upgrade and i ned to make sure all member switches are in READY state before progressing to next step.

Hello @Nandhini ,

I agree with @paul driver all member switches have to be fully operational before attempting to make a SW upgrade.

If you like you can post the output of

show switch

 

The switch that is not Ready may be stopped in ROMMON and in any case there is a communication issue with master switch so the process of copying the new image to it will likely fail.

Edit:

other possible options issues with stack cables connecting the affected member to the rest of the stack so you should investigate and fix this issue first.

 

Hope to help

Giuseppe

 

Hi Giuseppe,

 

Thanks for the explanation.

 

iam writing an ansible script to automate IOS upgrade and the script needs to check that all member switches are in READY state before progressing to ios image copying.

 

So assuming a switch is detected in stack (when i give 'sh switch') but not in READY state, what are the possible states it could be in?

 

Reason iam askling is because i will write script to check for these problematic states before proceeding tgo next step. My research shows that the other states apart from READY state are waiting, initializing, progressing, Feature Mismatch, version mismatch. am i missing anything else? 

Hopefull you are upgrading the stack which was life, show switch will give you information. (that also give you how many switches in the stack,)

with this, you can also copy the image to flash if you are not using archive install.

 

there is some scripts available in Cisco DevNet  you can refer.

 

you can find different current state here :

 

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/lan/catalyst3750/software/troubleshooting/switch_stacks.html

BB

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