Upgrading firmware on 2960

[Gonzo1]

Hello,

I need to upgrade an old switch.  I've copied over the newer firmware via tftp, but I see the original is a directory and not a bin file.  Can I simple add boot system flash:/c2960-lanbasek9-mz.150-2.SE11.bin and reload and it should take the newer one?

Thanks

[Mark Malone · Accepted solution]

Hi
just do this below , save it check boot and then reload , just tested on spare 2960

(config)#boot system flash:c2960-lanbasek9-mz.150-2.SE11.bin
(config)#do wr
Building configuration...


sh boot
BOOT path-list : flash:c2960-lanbasek9-mz.150-2.SE11.bin
Config file : flash:/config.text
Private Config file : flash:/private-config.text
Enable Break : no
Manual Boot : no
HELPER path-list :
Auto upgrade : yes
Auto upgrade path :
NVRAM/Config file
buffer size: 65536
Timeout for Config
Download: 0 seconds
Config Download
via DHCP: disabled (next boot: disabled)

[Philip D'Ath]

@Mark Malone is right.

You can either get the firmware package as a "tar" file which you extract.  It creates that subdirectory you can see with the web interface, and it updates the boot environment.

You can read about the process here (jump down to "Extracting a tar File"):

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/lan/catalyst2960/software/release/12-2_58_se/configuration/guide/2960scg/swiosfs.html#86987

Or you can just copy the boot file and update the boot environment yourself.

[Gonzo1]

Thanks that worked.

Just doing another switch and it's flash has lots config files, I guess because of crashes, but I'm not sure.  See photo.

Also the firmware seems to be an EX3 file what is this?

[TomWI]

Just in case there's a problem with the (copy of the) new firmware on the device, I prefer to leave a fallback - you can specify multiple boot options and it will stick with the first one that works. If you're dealing with a stack of multiple switches, you need to copy the firmware to all of them and also tell it that you want to change the boot for ALL switches.  To accomplish these two tasks, this was a recent (2023) usage for me:

boot system switch all flash:/c2960x-universalk9-mz.152-7.E7.bin;flash:/c2960x-universalk9-mz.152-7.E5/c2960x-universalk9-mz.152-7.E5.bin

That way if E7 doesn't work, it falls back to E5 (which was in a subfolder, whereas E7 isn't)