Network Management

Hello,

I have been tasked with getting our HP Flexfabric 5710 switches up to date. Our current setup is:
Product: 5710 48GXT 6QS+/2QS28 (JL586A)
Software Version: 7.1.070 Release 2612P08
Bootrom Version : 238.

I can see in compatibility matrix in the release notes for version HPE 5710-CMW710-R6715,  the required boot rom version is 243 or higher.
Everything else in the compatibility table appears to be acceptable.
How do I update the boot rom to the required version? The notes reference transferring a file to the device to update but I can't find those files. I can also see that boot rom is generally updated alongside the software update.. does that mean that the switch does not need to have compatible bootrom before the update and will have it afterwards?

Many Thanks
Chris 

Hi Davide,

Thank you for your quick reply here. I am reading through the release notes at the minute and I can't seem to find anything relating to 'upgrade path viability'. Here is the hardware and software compatibility matrix:
And here is the ISSU compatibility table (I am not concerned about actually using ISSU). This table references the base version of the software I am currently running. do you think that implies compatibility in general?
Do you know of anywhere else in the release notes that would confirm which upgrade paths are possible? I am also wondering that if I attempt to upgrade from an incompatible software version, will the switch simply not accept it or is there a chance of disruption?

Thank you for any help on this

Chris

First time forum user here.

We have the same series of switches (might be the same model, didn't double check) and I recently ran a similar firmware upgrade path to you. In answer to your original question, I think the bootrom was updated automatically as part of installing the latest IPE/bin files, so there's no specific action that's required to be taken. I think it's just the documentation/release notes being incredibly verbose.

I'm going to volunteer some other thoughts now, and knowing this is a forum for professionals, just know that I'm .... suppressing ... how I'd naturally say this over a coffee. I may have some exact numbers or commands incorrect below, I'm going off memory here.

• I was a first timer going through the upgrade process and relied on HPE's support through it. Their support left a lot to be desired.
• Our switches have a very simple configuration - straight L2, no L3 or what I'd consider "advanced" configurations.
• I was able to use the ISSU commands to upgrade the firmware just fine. The ISSU commands are not problematic by themselves. It works just fine, including the switchover and all the other sub-commands I don't remember off-hand. This is in spite of HPE support's adamant comments (in my support cases) that they are not supported. The software would indicate otherwise.
• We did face a bug in the latest 6715P01 firmware revision which was corrected by the HS02 hot fix. Specifically, the issue with traffic not working/breaking on interfaces with `undo jumboframes` present. I strongly recommend re-enabling jumboframes if you find interfaces with them disabled.
• HS02 is cumulative with HS01 (per a support case), so you can skip HS01 if you wish and go straight to HS02.
• I personally prefer the ISSU method of upgrades even though it may not be 100% covered by HPE support. As someone who doesn't do these upgrades very often, it's very good to have a commands/process which is pretty clear in what it's doing and puts you on rails so that you can't get things going too sideways when you're upgrading (before the switchover itself I suppose...).
• I disabled the `irf auto-upgrade` feature before beginning any of the ISSU work. I don't know precisely how that feature works, but I think either the release notes or flexfabric documentation covers how that feature might conflict/interfere with ISSU.

Good luck on your upgrades.