What is the Controller Boot Software for??

[simonwynn]

Quick question - I'm about tio upgrade our WLC 2106 to 7.0.220 - there are two files, one for the controller software and one for

Cisco Unified Wireless Network Controller Boot Software - what is the boot software for? Is this an emrgeny image?

I assume I just unstall both.

thanks,

Simon

[Ven Taylor]

Yes.  It's an "emergency backup" image.

Do the regular software first, then reboot.

Once it comes up, upgrade the boot image.

Ven

[stokke]

A quick question regarding the sequence of image uploads and reboots.

Is it really necessary to do a reboot after uploading the software image and then another reboot for the ER-image upload? Or is it possible to upload both images to the WLC and then do a reboot?

The reason for asking is that if I can do this combined with predownloading the new software to the APs, I will reduce downtime considerably. Then the sequence would be this:

* Upload both ER-image and software image to WLC

* Predownload to APs connected

* Reboot.

[George Stefanick]

Ive been told by tac the emergency backup image is not needed.. Anyone from TAC here want to discuss or confirm this ?

[Ven Taylor]

I'm a big fan of the saying, "better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it".

Ven

[Stephen Rodriguez]

Not in TAC anymore, but....yes, you do need the ER image.  This has bootloader fixes that enable the WLC to boot correctly.  While not every release has a ER image for it, if there is one available for the train you are on, you should load it.

HTH,

Steve

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[George Stefanick]

All my WLCs have it as well. But had more than 1 TAC engineer mention that, "egh no biggy if you dont have it" .. LOL

[Stephen Rodriguez]

well, not all ER have an actual bootloader update.

Before I left TAC I was trying to convince WNBU to bundle the latest bootloader with each ER image, and then run a check at installation to see if they needed to upgrade the bootloader or not.

This would save on loading multiple ER's to be on the latest BL.  Not sure if anyone picked up my torch on that or not.

[Leo Laohoo]

I always upgrade the bootloader (ER). 

[Salil Prabhu]

Hi,

Hope this helps :

ER.aes = contains your Bootloader, emergency kernel and emergency recovery image to run the Bootmenu which is when you press ESC key while the device is booting.

If you consider your PC, it is similar to what you have as BIOS.

.aes = contains main image code and AP images.

The reason we have two seperate files is a result of this old bug :

CSCsh32333    Crashes while saving bootloader to flash will disable the unit

If both images were bundled to single file then if we saw any issues during code upgrade hang/or crashes during bootup or post crash we pretty much have to RMA the device.

So by splitting the boot parameters the chances are reduced dramatically as BOOTLOADER is not updated regularly. Only WLC code gets updated. and any issues with code upgrade or WLC crashes, we can still recover without doing an RMA.

It is recommended to run latest ER.aes image for your device as the WLC code is based of that bootcode ..

Thanks..Salil

[mchiaravalle_2]

HI,

So I'm planning to upgrade a standalone 5508 from 7.0.98 to 7.0.220, which I've already downloaded from cisco.com. The current Field Recovery Image or ER.aes? is 6.0.182.  I didn't see any ER.aes images to download.  The release notes for 7.0.220 mentions the following:

..."You cannot install the Cisco Unified Wireless  Network Controller Boot Software 7.0.116.0ER.aes file on the Cisco 5500  Controller platform."

What ER should I install and where to get it?

Thanks for your time.

Michael

[Scott Fella]

It’s for the boot loader the menu you see when you boot up the WLC.  The boot software is included in the image if it requires one.

If you look at the other platforms like the 4404, 4402, etc. you will see an ER image for thoses ex. AIR-WLC4400-K9-7-0-220-0-ER.aes

[Leo Laohoo]

The 5508 doesn't have a bootstrap yet. 

[mchiaravalle_2]

Thanks leolaohoo and Scott!  Do I need to be concerned at all with updating the Field Recovery Image?

Thanks again.

[Scott Fella]

No... You will be fine. I'm running that code on a some of my newer installs.

Sent from my iPhone