Updating Cisco Nexus 5000 NX-OS firmware from 4.1(3)N2(1) to 4.2(1)N2(1a)

I’m no networking expert but I’m always interested in learning new skills and I had the opportunity to update a Cisco Nexus 5000 switch during my visit to Charlotte, NC so while this is nothing special to all of the networking professionals out there, I took the time to document the procedure and thought it would be handy to write a blog post for me or other systems professionals to reference in the future.

Let me begin by listing the version that I had to upgrade from and the version I had to upgrade to:

Current Nexus 5000 NX-OS firmware version: 4.1(3)N2(1)

Nexus 5000 NX-OS firmware version to be updated to: 4.2(1)N2(1a)

The guide I used was for this upgrade was:  Cisco_Nexus_5000_Series_NX-OS_Software_Upgrade_and_Downgrade_Guide__Release_421.pdf

The first step as per the document above is to check to amount of space available on the Nexus 5000’s bootflash by executing the following command:

dir bootflash

Review the output from the command and ensure that there is enough space to upload the new firmware.  Once you’ve confirmed that you have enough space, download the firmware version you would like to upgrade the Nexus 5000 to:

System Image: n5000-uk9.4.2.1.N2.1a.bin

Kickstart Image: n5000-uk9-kickstart.4.2.1.N2.1a.bin

Have a TFTP server with the firmware ready to be downloaded by your Nexus 5000 switch.  For this example, I used 3CDaemon:

Through the console of the Nexus 5000 switch, execute the following:

copy tftp://<IPofTFTPserver>/<SystemImage.bin> bootflash:<SystemImage.bin> vrf management

Note: Notice the vrf management command included at the end of the line.  The reason this is required is because I’m using the management port on the Nexus 5000 switch to grab the image off of the TFTP server.  Without this, you may get a “No route to host” error because the Nexus 5000 switch will try to go out a different interface/vrf.

Once you’ve copied the System Image to the Nexus 5000’s bootflash, continue and copy the the Kickstart Image as well:

copy tftp://<IPofTFTPserver>/<KickstartImage.bin> bootflash:<KickstartImage.bin> vrf management

Now that the images have been successfully copied, continue by executing the show install all impact command:

show install all impact kickstart bootflash:<KickstartImage.bin> system bootflash:<SystemImage.bin>

After the show install all impact command successfully executes, proceed with executing the install all command:

install all kickstart bootflash:<KickstartImage.bin> system bootflash:<SystemImage.bin>

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Make sure you don’t inadvertently execute:

install all kickstart bootflash:<KickstartImage.bin> system bootflash:<KickstartImage.bin>

… or you’ll get a FAIL. Return code 0x4045001E (mismatch between actual image type and boot variable). error:

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Once the update completes, you will be asked to reload the switch if you are upgrading to a major revision (i.e. 4.1 to 4.2):

Once the switch successfully reloads, execute a show version to confirm that the intended NX-OS has been loaded:

Simple for the seasoned network engineer, easy enough to follow by a server professional.