Dell N2128PX-ON Use and care manual

Dell™ Networking N2128PX-ON
Upgrading Dell™ Networking
N2128PX-ON Series Switches
to 6.3.6.9 Firmware
Date: Nov 2017
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
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Subject to Change Without Notice
ii
Table of Contents
Introduction...............................................................................................................1
Global Support............................................................................................................1
Firmware Upgrade Overview...........................................................................................1
Firmware Upgrade Procedure for Dell Networking N2128PX-ON Series Switches..............................2
How to Access Serial Console on N2128PX-ON Series switches ...................................................3
Upgrading Example for Dell Networking N2128PX-ON Series Switches ..........................................3
Stacking Notes............................................................................................................7
Switch Recovery Procedure.............................................................................................8
Switch Recovery Example...............................................................................................8
End of document.......................................................................................................12

Firmware Upgrade Procedure Dell™ Networking N2100 Series Switches
Page 1
Introduction
This document provides specific procedures for upgrading the firmware to the Dell™ Networking N2128PX-
ON switches
IMPORTANT: Dell Networking N2128PX-ON Series switches support 6.3.6.9
and later firmware version.
It is recommended that this document be thoroughly reviewed prior to installing or upgrading of this product.
Global Support
For information regarding the latest available firmware, release note revisions, or additional assistance, please visit
support.dell.com.
Firmware Upgrade Overview
Administrators must have access to the CLI via telnet, SSH or the serial port to perform the upgrade procedure.
IMPORTANT: Administrators upgrading N2128PX-ON series switches MUST follow the instructions documented in
Upgrading Dell Networking N2128PX-ON Switches to firmware version 6.3.6.9.pdf. Upgrade the switch to the latest firmware
version by downloading the latest image from support.dell.com. It is recommended that the latest version of switch firmware
(6.3.6.9) be used as it contains multiple fixes and feature enhancements.
IMPORTANT: Dell Networking N2128PX-ON switches with HW revision of 4 and later require firmware version 6.3.6.9 or
later and cannot be downgraded to earlier 6.3.x.x releases. Dell Networking N2128PX-ON switches with HW revision of 4 can
be stacked with N2128PX-ON series switches with HW revision of 3 or older. If N2128PX-ON Series unit with HW Rev.4 is to
be deployed as a member within a stack of N2128PX-ON Series switches with HW revision of 3 or older, the entire stack will be
required to run 6.3.6.9 or later. The “show version” CLI command will help to identify the Switch Hardware version of the
switch.
Part Numbers for Dell Networking N2128PX-ON Series (HW Rev. 4) P/N
Dell Networking N2128PX-ON 1N25N

Firmware Upgrade Procedure Dell™ Networking N2100 Series Switches
Page 2
Firmware Upgrade Procedure for Dell Networking N2128PX-ON Series Switches
The procedure given below to download firmware to an individual switch or a stack of switches. Please do not
interrupt switch operation during the downloading process as this may result in corruption of flash memory.
Do not power off a switch undergoing the upgrade process unless specifically directed to do so by the
instructions.
An annotated download example is shown following this section.
1. Back up your configuration.
2. If using telnet or ssh to perform the upgrade procedure and if the current configuration does not contain a
non-default enable authentication method or enable password, configure an enable password and save the
configuration. Example steps to configure an enable password are shown below:
console#configure
console(config)#enable password <password>
console(config)#exit
console#copy running-config startup-config
3. Download the 6.3.6.9 firmware image (N2100v6.3.6.9.stk) to the switch or stack master.
NOTE: Activate the image to use as the boot (active) image after the switch
resets. Images on the N2128PX-ON series switches are named active and
backup.
4. Activate 6.3.6.9 firmware.
5. Reload the switch.
NOTE: A TFTP server must be on the network and the switch software
must be accessible to the TFTP server before attempting to download
the switch software by TFTP.
NOTE: The following TFTP server may be used if you do not have one:
http://tftpd32.jounin.net/tftpd32_download.html

Firmware Upgrade Procedure Dell™ Networking N2100 Series Switches
Page 3
How to Access Serial Console on N2128PX-ON Series switches
NOTE: How to access serial console of the N2128PX-ON Series switch? Use a supplied “RJ45 Yost
to DB9 serial cable” to access the serial console. Connect the RJ45 end of the cable to the RJ45 serial
console port and the DB9 connector to your PC. Download and Install the terminal emulation software on
your PC (for example, PuTTY) to access the serial console with the correct settings (default setting 115200
baud, 8 data bits, no parity bit, 1 stop bit, and no flow control).
Figure.1 N2128PX-ON Switch Console Port Location
Upgrading Example for Dell Networking N2128PX-ON Series Switches
This example shows an annotated upgrade example for a N2128PX-ON switch. This example presumes the
administrator is logged in to the switch or stack via Serial console. You can also follow this upgrade procedure via
telnet or SSH after setting enable password if it is not set so.
1. Back up your configuration. The following commands copy the running-config to a TFTP server:
console#copy running-config tftp://10.10.10.200/myconfig.txt
Mode........................................... TFTP
Set TFTP Server IP............................. 10.10.10.200
TFTP Path...................................... ./
TFTP Filename.................................. myconfig.txt
Data Type...................................... Config Script
Source Filename................................ running-config
Management access will be blocked for the duration of the transfer
Are you sure you want to start? (y/n) y
11062 bytes transferred
File transfer operation completed successfully.
console#
2. Set an enable password and save the configuration (not required if an alternative enable authentication
method is already configured).
console#configure
console(config)# enable password <password>
console(config)# exit
console# copy running-config startup-config
3. Download the 6.3.6.9 firmware image from a TFTP server.
console#copy tftp://10.10.10.200/N2100v6.3.6.9.stk backup
Transfer Mode.................................. TFTP
Server IP Address.............................. 10.10.10.200
Source File Path............................... ./
Source Filename................................ N2100v6.3.6.9.stk
Data Type...................................... Code
Destination Filename........................... backup
Management access will be blocked for the duration of the transfer
Are you sure you want to start? (y/n) y
TFTP Code transfer starting...
27459957 bytes transferred...
File contents are valid. Copying file to flash...
Attempting to send the STK file to other units in the stack...
File transfer operation completed successfully.

Firmware Upgrade Procedure Dell™ Networking N2100 Series Switches
Page 4
console#show version
Machine Description............... Dell Networking Switch
System Model ID................... N2128PX-ON
Machine Type...................... Dell Networking N2128PX-ON
Serial Number..................... 15114M0002LF
Manufacturer...................... 0xbc00
Burned In MAC Address............. 001E.C9E5.BD0F
System Object ID.................. 1.3.6.1.4.1.674.10895.3066
SOC Version....................... BCM56150_A0
HW Version........................ 1
CPLD Version...................... 16
unit active backup current-active next-active
---- ----------- ----------- -------------- --------------
1 6.3.6.4 6.3.6.9 6.3.6.4 6.3.6.4
NOTE: Set the image to use as the boot (active) image after the switch
resets. Images on the N2128PX-ON series switches are named active and
backup.
4. Activate the 6.3.6.9 firmware
console#boot system backup
Activating image backup ..
5. Reload the switch.
console#reload
Management switch has unsaved changes.
Are you sure you want to continue? (y/n) y
Configuration Not Saved!
Are you sure you want to reload the stack? (y/n) y
NOTE: If using the serial port to update the firmware, the following output
will be observed. If logged in via telnet or SSH, rebooting the switch will close
the connection. Rebooting may take several minutes to complete and the
switch may reboot itself more than once during the upgrade procedure.
Reference platform resetting ...
Unmounting config filesystem...
starting pid 1700, tty '': '/etc/rc.d/rc.rebootRebooting system!
The system is going down NOW!
Sent SIGTERM to all processes
Sent SIGKILL to all processes
Requesting system reboot
U-Boot SPL 2012.10-g8642dcd (Jan 19 2017 - 13:14:29)
DCO: 35 (PASS)
Device:Helix4 (0xdc14)
SKU: Unknown (0xb547)
DRAM: DDR3, 750MHz
Validate DDR shmoo parameters stored in flash ..... OK
Press Ctrl-C to run DDR shmoo ..... skipped
Restoring DDR shmoo parameters from flash ..... done
Running simple memory test ..... OK
DDR Interface Ready
(ONFI), MT29F32G08ABAAAWP , blocks per lun: 1000 lun count: 1
NAND: 1024 KiB blocks, 8 KiB pages, 16B OOB, 8-bit
NAND: chipsize
U-Boot 2012.10-g8642dcd (Jan 19 2017 - 13:14:29) - ONIE 4.30.1.2 - Bristol N2128PX V1.0.5

Firmware Upgrade Procedure Dell™ Networking N2100 Series Switches
Page 5
DRAM: 1008 MiB
WARNING: Caches not enabled
Bad bus: 2
NAND: (ONFI), MT29F32G08ABAAAWP , blocks per lun: 1000 lun count: 1
NAND: 1024 KiB blocks, 8 KiB pages, 16B OOB, 8-bit
NAND: chipsize 4096 MiB
EEPROM: TlvInfo v1 len=173
soc_pcie_hw_init : port->reg_base = 0x18012000 , its value = 0x1
PCIe port in RC mode
==>PCIE: LINKSTA reg 0xbe val 0x1001
**************
port 0 is not active!!
**************
In: serial
Out: serial
Err: serial
CLOCKS:ARM Core=1000Hz, AXI=500Hz, APB=125Hz, Peripheral=500Hz
USB0: Bringing USB2 host out of reset...
EEPROM: TlvInfo v1 len=173
EEPROM: TlvInfo v1 len=173
Net: eth-0
boot in 3 s
Creating 1 MTD partitions on "nand0":
0x000004e00000-0x000100000000 : "mtd=6"
UBI: attaching mtd1 to ubi0
UBI: physical eraseblock size: 1048576 bytes (1024 KiB)
UBI: logical eraseblock size: 1032192 bytes
UBI: smallest flash I/O unit: 8192
UBI: VID header offset: 8192 (aligned 8192)
UBI: data offset: 16384
UBI: attached mtd1 to ubi0
UBI: MTD device name: "mtd=6"
UBI: MTD device size: 4018 MiB
UBI: number of good PEBs: 4014
UBI: number of bad PEBs: 4
UBI: max. allowed volumes: 128
UBI: wear-leveling threshold: 4096
UBI: number of internal volumes: 1
UBI: number of user volumes: 1
UBI: available PEBs: 44
UBI: total number of reserved PEBs: 3970
UBI: number of PEBs reserved for bad PEB handling: 40
UBI: max/mean erase counter: 3/2
UBIFS: recovery needed
UBIFS: recovery deferred
UBIFS: mounted UBI device 0, volume 0, name "open"
UBIFS: mounted read-only
UBIFS: file system size: 4042063872 bytes (3947328 KiB, 3854 MiB, 3916 LEBs)
UBIFS: journal size: 33030144 bytes (32256 KiB, 31 MiB, 32 LEBs)
UBIFS: media format: w4/r0 (latest is w4/r0)
UBIFS: default compressor: LZO
UBIFS: reserved for root: 5182151 bytes (5060 KiB)
Loading file '/image2' to addr 0x70000000 with size 27624092 (0x01a5829c)...
Done
## Booting kernel from Legacy Image at 70000074 ...
Image Name: System for iproc_bri
Image Type: ARM Linux Multi-File Image (gzip compressed)
Data Size: 27623912 Bytes = 26.3 MiB
Load Address: 61008000
Entry Point: 61008000
Contents:
Image 0: 2636152 Bytes = 2.5 MiB
Image 1: 1794839 Bytes = 1.7 MiB
Image 2: 474 Bytes = 474 Bytes
Image 3: 23192424 Bytes = 22.1 MiB
Verifying Checksum ... OK
## Loading init Ramdisk from multi component Legacy Image at 70000074 ...

Firmware Upgrade Procedure Dell™ Networking N2100 Series Switches
Page 6
## Flattened Device Tree from multi component Image at 70000074
Booting using the fdt at 0x70439d58
Image is not a fdt
Continuing to boot without FDT
Uncompressing Multi-File Image ... OK
boot_prep_linux commandline: console=ttyS0,115200n8 maxcpus=2 mem=1008m envaddr=0x1C400000
root=/dev/ram mtdparts=nand_iproc.0:4m(uboot),4m(uboot-
env),2m(shmoo),4m(sys_eeprom),32m(diags),32m(onie),-(open) ubi.mtd=open quiet
Starting kernel ...
recovery_signal_init:vaddr=0xFEC00000 mapped address=0x18000000
recovery_signal_init:setting GPIO-1 to output
recovery_signal_init:writing GPIO-1 high
starting pid 1013, tty '': '/etc/init.d/rcS'
starting pid 1145, tty '/dev/ttyS0': '/etc/rc.d/rc.fastpath'
Mounting /dev/mtdblock6 at /mnt/fastpath...done.
Mounting tmpfs at /mnt/application...done.
Dell Networking Boot Options
============================
Select a menu option within 3 seconds or the Operational Code will start automatically...
1 - Start Operational Code
2 - Display Boot Menu
Select (1, 2)#
Extracting Operational Code from .stk file...done.
Loading Operational Code...done.
Decompressing Operational Code...done.
Uncompressing apps.lzma
Uncompressing python.lzma
Installing Python
<185> Nov 27 18:53:09 0.0.0.0-0 General[fp_main_task]: unitmgr.c(6606) 1 %% Reboot 1 (0x1)
DMA pool size: 16777216
AXI unit 0: Dev 0xb547, Rev 0x01, Chip BCM56547_A0, Driver BCM56340_A0
SOC unit 0 attached to PCI device BCM56547_A0
Using a clock divider of 16 for mac_cclk
<186> Nov 27 18:53:18 0.0.0.0-1 General[fp_main_task]: bootos.c(191) 8 %%
Event(0xaaaaaaaa)
started!
<185> Nov 27 18:53:18 0.0.0.0-1 SIM[Cnfgr_Thread ]: sim_util.c(3889) 10 %% Switch was
reset due to operator intervention.
(Unit 1 - Waiting to select management unit)>
Applying Global configuration, please wait ...
Applying Interface configuration, please wait ...
Console>
6. After the switch has finished rebooting, log in and verify that the firmware has been updated to the 6.3.6.9
version using the show version command. A single switch will typically reboot in around two minutes. A
stack may take significantly longer to complete the upgrade process.
console#show version
Machine Description............... Dell Networking Switch
System Model ID................... N2128PX-ON
Machine Type...................... Dell Networking N2128PX-ON
Serial Number..................... 15114M0002LF
Manufacturer...................... 0xbc00
Burned In MAC Address............. 001E.C9E5.BD0F
System Object ID.................. 1.3.6.1.4.1.674.10895.3066
SOC Version....................... BCM56150_A0
HW Version........................ 1
CPLD Version...................... 16

Firmware Upgrade Procedure Dell™ Networking N2100 Series Switches
Page 7
unit active backup current-active next-active
---- ----------- ----------- -------------- --------------
1 6.3.6.9 6.3.6.4 6.3.6.9 6.3.6.9
7. The switch or stack is now ready for normal operation. Verify the configuration and make any changes
needed prior to connecting the switch to the operational network.
Stacking Notes
Regarding steps 2, 3 and 4 above:
 The “copy” command will take longer to complete with a stack of switches. This is due to the master
switch copying the software to the member switches. The master switch will display the line “Distributing
the code to the members of the stack!” for several minutes until the copy is done.
 The “copy” command will copy the software to all the switches as “backup” image
console#show version
Machine Description............... Dell Networking Switch
System Model ID................... N2128PX-ON
Machine Type...................... Dell Networking N2128PX-ON
Serial Number..................... 15114M0002LF
Manufacturer...................... 0xbc00
Burned In MAC Address............. 001E.C9E5.BD0F
System Object ID.................. 1.3.6.1.4.1.674.10895.3066
SOC Version....................... BCM56150_A0
HW Version........................ 1
CPLD Version...................... 16
unit active backup current-active next-active
---- ----------- ----------- -------------- --------------
1 6.3.6.4 6.3.6.9 6.3.6.4 6.3.6.4
2 6.3.6.4 6.3.6.9 6.3.6.4 6.3.6.4
3 6.3.6.4 6.3.6.9 6.3.6.4 6.3.6.4
console# boot system backup
Activating image backup ..
console#show version
Machine Description............... Dell Networking Switch
System Model ID................... N2128PX-ON
Machine Type...................... Dell Networking N2128PX-ON
Serial Number..................... 15114M0002LF
Manufacturer...................... 0xbc00
Burned In MAC Address............. 001E.C9E5.BD0F
System Object ID.................. 1.3.6.1.4.1.674.10895.3066
SOC Version....................... BCM56150_A0
HW Version........................ 1
CPLD Version...................... 16
unit active backup current-active next-active
---- ----------- ----------- -------------- --------------
1 6.3.6.4 6.3.6.9 6.3.6.4 6.3.6.9
2 6.3.6.4 6.3.6.9 6.3.6.4 6.3.6.9
3 6.3.6.4 6.3.6.9 6.3.6.4 6.3.6.9
Reload the stack of switches.
console#reload
Management switch has unsaved changes.
Are you sure you want to continue? (y/n) y
Configuration Not Saved!
Are you sure you want to reload the stack? (y/n) y

Firmware Upgrade Procedure Dell™ Networking N2100 Series Switches
Page 8
After the stack of switches has finished rebooting, log in and verify that the firmware has been updated to the
6.3.6.9 version using the show version command. A single switch will typically reboot in around two minutes. A
stack may take significantly longer to complete the upgrade process.
console#show version
Machine Description............... Dell Networking Switch
System Model ID................... N2128PX-ON
Machine Type...................... Dell Networking N2128PX-ON
Serial Number..................... 15114M0002LF
Manufacturer...................... 0xbc00
Burned In MAC Address............. 001E.C9E5.BD0F
System Object ID.................. 1.3.6.1.4.1.674.10895.3066
SOC Version....................... BCM56150_A0
HW Version........................ 1
CPLD Version...................... 16
unit active backup current-active next-active
---- ----------- ----------- -------------- --------------
1 6.3.6.9 6.3.6.4 6.3.6.9 6.3.6.9
2 6.3.6.9 6.3.6.4 6.3.6.9 6.3.6.9
3 6.3.6.9 6.3.6.4 6.3.6.9 6.3.6.9
Switch Recovery Procedure
NOTE: The Switch Recovery procedure requires one to connect to each
switch individually via the serial port. It will not upgrade stack members
other than the switch directly connected via the serial port. If the
switches are connected via stacking cables, disconnect the stacking
cables to perform the recovery procedure.
1. Connect a serial cable to the serial console port on the switch (8-No Parity-1-115200-No Flow Control).
Use the supplied RJ45 Yost to DB9 serial cable. Connect the RJ45 end to the switch console port and the
DB9 connector to your PC. Set the terminal emulation software (for example., PuTTY) to the correct
settings (default setting 115200 baud, 8 data bits, no parity bit, 1 stop bit, and no flow control).
2. When the boot menu appears, select 2 – Start Boot Menu within 10 seconds of the prompt appearing. If the
boot menu does not appear after power cycling the switch, check the serial port settings and the serial cable
connections. Make sure that RTS/CTS (HW flow control) and XON/XOFF (SW flow control) are disabled
on the terminal. It is preferred to use the serial cable supplied with the switch. If you do not have the
original serial cable, it may be necessary to use a NULL modem device to access the switch via the serial
cable. Check the serial cable setup with an operational switch to verify that it works properly.
3. Download 6.3.6.9 firmware to the switch using TFTP by selecting option 4 - Load new operational code
from the boot menu.
4. Verify that the firmware has been updated to the 6.3.6.9 version using the show version command.
Switch Recovery Example
1. Connect a serial cable to the serial console port of the switch (8-No Parity-1-115200-No Flow Control)
2. Power cycle the switch
3. When the boot menu appears, select 2 – Start Boot Menu