Upgrading to AOS-10

This section describes the procedure to upgrade AOS-10 devices.

This section only applies to devices that are running AOS-10. If your device is running AOS-8, you will have to first migrate to AOS-10 either manually or as part of the Aruba Central Firmware Compliance Policy, before attempting an upgrade. For more information on migrating to AOS-10, see Migrating APs to AOS-10.

This section includes the following topics:

Important Points to Remember

To upgrade your gateway or AP:

  • Schedule the upgrade during a maintenance window and notify your community of the planned upgrade. This prevents users from being surprised by a brief wireless network outage during the upgrade. These steps are not required if the upgrade type is a live upgrade.
  • Avoid making any changes to your network, such as configuration changes, hardware upgrades, or changes to the rest of the network during the upgrade. This simplifies troubleshooting.
  • Know your network and verify the state of the network by answering the following questions:
    • How many gateways and APs are present in the group you are upgrading?

      To view the number of devices in each group, complete the following steps in HPE Aruba Networking Central:

      1. In the HPE Aruba Networking Central app, set the filter to an AP group.
      2. Under Manage, click Devices.

        By default, the Access Points device page is displayed.

    • What version of AOS runs on your gateways or APs?

    • Ensure all the devices are assigned a license such as foundation or advanced. If the upgrade type is live upgrade, ensure all the APs are assigned with an advanced license. For more information, see Overview of HPE Aruba Networking Central Foundation and Advanced Licenses.

  • Resolve any existing issues (consistent or intermittent) before you upgrade.
  • Ensure the devices are reachable to public networks and the uplinks have sufficient bandwidth to download the image from the Aruba Activate Server.
  • Multiversion is supported within the gateway cluster. The gateways and the APs can be in different AOS versions. For more information, see Mixing AOS-10 Software Versions.

RAM and FLASH Storage Requirements

All HPE Aruba Networking gateways store critical configuration data on an onboard compact flash memory module. Ensure that there is always free flash space on the Gateways. Loading multiple large files such as JPEG images for RF Plan can consume flash space quickly. Following are best practices for memory management:

  • Ensure sufficient RAM and flash space is available on the gateway/controller/MD/BGW before proceeding with the upgrade.
  • Execute the show memory command to identify the available free RAM.
  • Execute the show storage command to identify the available flash space.
  • If the output of the show storage command indicates that there is insufficient flash RAM, free some used memory. Copy any log files, crash data, or flash backups from your gateways to a desired location. Delete the following files from the gateway/controller/MD/BGW to free FLASH storage:
    • Crash data: Execute the tar crash command to compress crash files to a file named crash.tar. Use the procedures described in Backing up Critical Data to copy the crash.tar file to an external server. Execute the tar clean crash command to delete the file from the gateway/controller/MD/BGW.
    • Flash backups: Use the procedures described in Backing up Critical Data to back up the flash directory to a file named flashbackup.tar.gz. Execute the tar clean flash command to delete the file from the gateway/controller/MD/BGW.
    • Log files: Execute the tar logs command to compress log files to a file named logs.tar. Use the procedures described in Backing up Critical Data to copy the logs.tar file to an external server. Execute the tar clean logs command to delete the file from the gateway/controller/MD/BGW.

  • The show commands are available under Analyze > Tool > Commands section of HPE Aruba Networking Central.

If available RAM is not suffiicient to meet the requirements stated in the appropriate release notes, it may be necessary to reboot the device and then immediately upgrade, or disable some functionality. Please consult HPE Aruba Networking technical support for guidance.

The device CLI can be accessed from HPE Aruba Networking Central. Select the device, Overview > Summary > Actions > Console.

Deleting a File

You can delete a file using the following command:

(host) #delete filename <filename>

Backing up Critical Data

It is important to frequently back up all critical configuration data and files on the flash memory to an external server or mass storage device. You should include the following files in these frequent backups:

  • Configuration data
  • WMS database
  • Local user database
  • Licensing database
  • Custom captive portal pages
  • x.509 certificates
  • Log files
  • Flash backup

Backing up and Restoring Flash Memory

You can backup and restore the flash memory using the CLI.

The device CLI can be accessed from HPE Aruba Networking Central. Select the device, Overview > Summary > Actions > Console.

The following steps describe how to back up and restore the flash memory:

  1. Execute the following command to back up the contents of the flash memory to the flashbackup.tar.gz file.

    (host) #backup flash

    Please wait while we take the flash backup.......

    File flashbackup.tar.gz created successfully on flash.

    Please copy it out of the controller and delete it when done.

  2. Execute either of the following commands to transfer the flash backup file to an external server or storage device.

    (host) #copy flash: flashbackup.tar.gz ftp: <ftphost> <ftpuser> <remote-directory> <destinationfilename> <ftpuserpassword>

    (host) #copy flash: flashbackup.tar.gz usb: partition <partition-number> <destinationfilename>

    You can transfer the flash backup file from the external server or storage device to the flash memory by executing either of the following commands:

    (host) #copy tftp: <tftphost> <filename> flash: flashbackup.tar.gz

     

    (host) #copy usb: partition <partition-number> <filename> flash: flashbackup.tar.gz

  3. Execute the following command to untar and extract the flashbackup.tar.gz file to the flash memory.

    (host) #restore flash

    Please wait while we restore the flash backup........

    Flash restored successfully.

    Please reload (reboot) the controller for the new files to take effect.

Upgrading a Single Device or Multiple Devices

To upgrade a single device or multiple devices, complete the following steps:

  1. In the HPE Aruba Networking Central app, select one of the following options:
    1. To select a group, site or global in the filter:
      • Set the filter to one of the options under Group or Sites. For all devices, set the filter to Global. The dashboard context for the selected filter is displayed.
      • Under Maintain, click Firmware.
      • Select one or more devices from the device list and click the Upgrade icon at the bottom of the page or hover over one of the selected device and click the Upgrade icon. The Upgrade <Device> Firmware pop-up window opens.
    2. To select a device in the filter:
      • Set the filter to Global.
      • Under Manage, click Devices, and then click Access Points, Switches, or Gateways. A list of devices is displayed.
      • Click a device listed under Device Name. The dashboard context for the device is displayed.
      • Under Maintain, click Firmware and click Upgrade in the Firmware Details window. The Upgrade <Device> Firmware pop-up window opens.

  2. In the Upgrade <Device> Firmware pop-up window, select the desired firmware version.

    You can either select a recommended version or manually choose a specific firmware version.

    • To obtain custom build details, contact HPE Aruba Networking Technical Support.

    • The recommended firmware versions can be different for different devices and depends on the device model and software architecture.

  3. Select one of the following radio buttons to specify if the compliance must be carried out immediately or at a later date and time:

    • Now—Allows you to set the compliance to be carried out immediately.

    • Later Date—Allows you to set the compliance to be carried out at the later date and time. Select a specific time zone from the Select Zone drop-down options to schedule the firmware compliance in a specific time zone.

    Steps 4 and 5 are applicable only if you are upgrading HPE Aruba Networking Switches, Aruba CX Switches, and Branch Gateways. If you are upgrading an Access Point, proceed to step 6.

  4. From the Install On drop-down, select any one of the following partition options:

    • Primary partition—Select this if you want to install the firmware version in the primary partition.

    • Secondary partition— Select this if you want to install the firmware version in the secondary partition.

  5. Select the check box if you want HPE Aruba Networking Central to automatically reboot after device upgrade.

  6. Click Upgrade. The device downloads the image from the server, saves it to flash, and reboots.

    Depending on the progress and success of the upgrade, one of the following messages is displayed:

    • Upgrading—While image upgrade is in progress.

    • Upgrade failed—When the upgrade fails.

  7. If the upgrade fails, retry upgrading your device.

    After upgrading a switch, click Reboot.

Important Points When Upgrading Gateway Devices

When you upgrade a gateway device from any AOS-8 version to an AOS-10 version, it is recommended to do write erase all, and then upgrade the image. Most of the AOS-8 command and license mechanism is not supported in AOS-10.

When you downgrade a branch gateway or VPNC or Mobility gateway from AOS-10 to AOS-8, it is recommended to do write erase all, and then downgrade the image. In AOS-10, license (capacity) and other configurations are not supported in AOS-8.

Upgrading Devices using Upgrade All Option

To upgrade multiple devices using the Upgrade All option, complete the following steps:

  1. In the HPE Aruba Networking Central app, set the filter to one of the options under Group or Sites.

    For all devices, set the filter to Global. The dashboard context for the selected filter is displayed.

  2. Under Maintain, click Firmware. 
    The firmware dashboard for Access Points is displayed by default.

  3. Click Upgrade All.

    The Upgrade <Device> Firmware pop-up window opens.

  4. In the Upgrade <Device> Firmware pop-up window, select the specific site or multiple sites from the Sites drop-down list.

    This option is available only at the global context.

  5. Select the desired firmware version (for Access points and Gateways) and AOS-S firmware version and CX firmware version (for HPE Aruba Networking Switches and Aruba CX Switches) from their respective drop-down list.

    You can either select a recommended version or manually choose a specific firmware version.

    • To obtain custom build details, contact HPE Aruba Networking Technical Support.

    • The recommended firmware versions can be different for different devices and depends on the device model and software architecture.

  6. In the Upgrade Type, select one of the following options:

    • Standard

    • Live

    • Live upgrade is only supported for APs and gateways in cluster mode. For more information, see Live Upgrades.

    • Live upgrade operation requires the devices to be assigned with Advanced license. On the group dashboard, live upgrade is not initiated for the group if any of the device within the group is assigned with Foundation license. HPE Aruba Networking Central recommends that you create a group with devices that are assigned with Advanced license for seamless operation.

  7. Select one of the following radio buttons to specify if the compliance must be carried out immediately or at a later date and time:

    • Now—Allows you to set the compliance to be carried out immediately.

    • Later Date—Allows you to set the compliance to be carried out at the later date and time. Select a specific time zone from the Select Zone drop-down options to schedule the firmware compliance in a specific time zone.

    Steps 8 and 9 are applicable only if you are upgrading HPE Aruba Networking switches (AOS-S and AOS-CX) and Branch gateways. If you are upgrading an Access Point, proceed to step 10.

  8. From the Install On drop-down, select any one of the following partition options:

    • Primary partition—Select this if you want to install the firmware version in the primary partition.

    • Secondary partition— Select this if you want to install the firmware version in the secondary partition.

  9. Select the check box if you want HPE Aruba Networking Central to automatically reboot after device upgrade.

    The Install On drop-down option and auto reboot check box option is available only for HPE Aruba Networking switches (AOS-S and AOS-CX) and Branch gateways.

  10. Click Upgrade.

    The device downloads the image from the server, saves it to flash, and reboots. Depending on the progress and success of the upgrade, one of the following messages is displayed:

    • Upgrading—While image upgrade is in progress.

    • Upgrade failed—When the upgrade fails.

  11. If the upgrade fails, retry upgrading your device.

    After upgrading a switch, click Reboot.