Unable to upgrade Cisco 3850 stack switch

[krisvamcee]

Hi all,

I was upgrading Cisco 3850 stack (2 switches) from 03.06.03 E to Denali 16.3.6, however it couldn't upgrade and the error it was saying is not enough flash to install the IOS, however the switch has 2 GB flash and when I checked the space on flash it is showing 1.6 GB free space available (I understand the remaining space is used for some internal purposes). I thought I would do "software clean" comman, however I was not sure if it would delete the existing OS. 

Please advise if anybody has come across this issue.

Error from device

-----------------

[1]: % flash: requires 524975 KB of free space, but only 233400 KB is available. Operation aborted.

[2]: % flash: requires 524975 KB of free space, but only 233400 KB is available. Operation aborted.

Regards

Kris

[Leo Laohoo]

Software clean will only delete old IOS files not being used.
I'd recommend rebooting the stack first and then attempt the software upgrade.

[krisvamcee]

Thanks Leo. The only IOS file it has is the new bin file which is Denali 16.3.6. Do u mean software clean would delete that?
Also how does rebooting the stack resolve the flash memory issue?

[Leo Laohoo]

No, software clean will delete only the IOS files not currently loaded by the switch. If there's only one IOS set of files then software clean will not touch them.
So if you're saying that the flash only contains one set of IOS files, then I'd recommend rebooting the stack and see if you can perform an Install Mode with the new IOS.

[krisvamcee]

Thanks Leo.

Also at first instance I got the compatibility issue and I have to use new force at the end of software install command to make it work. Do you think that could be the issue?

Error

-----

[1]: % Candidate package compatibility checks failed because the following
package dependencies were not satisfied. Operation aborted.

Please see the below output of flash, I see new pkg files have been created. If I do software clean will those files go as the new IOS is not working.

Directory of flash:/

23282 -rw- 2097152 May 3 2018 05:39:07 +12:00 nvram_config
23283 -rw- 83297376 Aug 4 2016 07:15:42 +12:00 cat3k_caa-base.SPA.03.06.05E.pkg
23284 -rw- 4012732 Aug 4 2016 07:15:43 +12:00 cat3k_caa-drivers.SPA.03.06.05E.pkg
23285 -rw- 33786860 Aug 4 2016 07:15:42 +12:00 cat3k_caa-infra.SPA.03.06.05E.pkg
23286 -rw- 43048256 Aug 4 2016 07:15:43 +12:00 cat3k_caa-iosd-universalk9.SPA.152-2.E5.pkg
23287 -rw- 28343180 Aug 4 2016 07:15:43 +12:00 cat3k_caa-platform.SPA.03.06.05E.pkg
23288 -rw- 111260480 Aug 4 2016 07:15:43 +12:00 cat3k_caa-wcm.SPA.10.2.150.0.pkg
23289 -rw- 1236 Aug 4 2016 07:15:57 +12:00 packages.conf
23290 drwx 4096 Aug 4 2016 07:35:29 +12:00 dc_profile_dir
23292 -rw- 1096 Oct 28 2017 02:50:19 +13:00 vlan.dat
23293 -rw- 537577577 Jun 21 2018 10:31:19 +12:00 cat3k_caa-universalk9.16.03.06.SPA.bin
23296 -rw- 15950464 Jul 5 2018 14:02:55 +12:00 cat3k_caa-guestshell.16.03.06.SPA.pkg
23297 -rw- 22302593 Jul 5 2018 14:02:55 +12:00 cat3k_caa-rpbase.16.03.06.SPA.pkg
23298 -rw- 265124472 Jul 5 2018 14:02:57 +12:00 cat3k_caa-rpcore.16.03.06.SPA.pkg
15521 -rw- 9095808 Jul 5 2018 14:02:57 +12:00 cat3k_caa-srdriver.16.03.06.SPA.pkg
15522 -rw- 211675764 Jul 5 2018 14:03:15 +12:00 cat3k_caa-wcm.16.03.06.SPA.pkg
15523 -rw- 13423228 Jul 5 2018 14:03:16 +12:00 cat3k_caa-webui.16.03.06.SPA.pkg

Regards

Kris

[Leo Laohoo]

No it won't. I always use the "force" option.

[krisvamcee]

Cand you see the flash output and advise, I don't think there are old bin files which I can delete? Correct?

[Leo Laohoo]

There are no old BIN files but you can delete the package files (using "software clean") for 3.6.5.

[krisvamcee]

Yeah, are you suggesting to remove the below, but they are for the current IOS, right? If I delete them, wouldn't the existing IOS go?

23283 -rw- 83297376 Aug 4 2016 07:15:42 +12:00 cat3k_caa-base.SPA.03.06.05E.pkg
23284 -rw- 4012732 Aug 4 2016 07:15:43 +12:00 cat3k_caa-drivers.SPA.03.06.05E.pkg
23285 -rw- 33786860 Aug 4 2016 07:15:42 +12:00 cat3k_caa-infra.SPA.03.06.05E.pkg
23286 -rw- 43048256 Aug 4 2016 07:15:43 +12:00 cat3k_caa-iosd-universalk9.SPA.152-2.E5.pkg <------------------not sure what this is for, may be this can be deleted
23287 -rw- 28343180 Aug 4 2016 07:15:43 +12:00 cat3k_caa-platform.SPA.03.06.05E.pkg
23288 -rw- 111260480 Aug 4 2016 07:15:43 +12:00 cat3k_caa-wcm.SPA.10.2.150.0.pkg <------------------not sure what this is for, may be this can be deleted

[Leo Laohoo]

The files above can be deleted using the software clean option.

[krisvamcee]

Thanks Leo, what I am suspecting is I think may be when the bin file is expanded it is looking for contigous 524975 KB free space which is not available and may be not a flash free memory issue.

Regards
Kris

[michael.winders]

What was the solution to this problem?  I just had the exact same issue over the weekend.  Was it the reboot?

Thanks!

Mike

[Leo Laohoo]

Hey Mike, 

Create a new thread so we can have a look.