Why upgrade Rommon in c9800

[nikolas-pereira]

We have a 9800 controller running the version Cupertino 17.9.4a and the Rommon version 16.10(2r). We want to upgrade it to version 17.12.3.

My question is whether it's necessary to update the Rommon to avoid issues during this upgrade?

[marce1000]

  - Depends lookup the Release Notes for 17.12.3 and then look for ROMMON with find in the browser , to check if an upgrade of ROMMON is needed (first)
                                 Note this may also depend on the particular 9800-model!!

 M.

[Leo Laohoo]

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@nikolas-pereira wrote:
My question is whether it's necessary to update the Rommon to avoid issues during this upgrade?

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Short answer, YES.  

Upgrade the ROMMON when it is still possible.  

Upgrading the ROMMON and then upgrade the firmware only requires ONE (1) reboot (and not two as what Cisco says).

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@marce1000 wrote:
Depends lookup the Release Notes for 17.12.3

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That depends on the technology.  Some Release Notes will "recommend" upgrading the ROMMON but some will not.  For example, 1000-series router's Release Notes does not mention anything about 17.7(1r) ROMMON is mandatory in 17.12.X.  Direct upgrade from, say, 17.6.X (and earlier), to 17.12.X and the router will boot-crash-loop.

I've always maintained the position to disregard what the Release Notes will say and upgrade the ROMMON when it is possible.

[ammahend]

17.7(3r) is a mandatory requirement to upgrade to Cisco IOS-XE 17.9.x and later releases.

more details here