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Upgrading Dell PowerConnect 54xx switch firmware

This is the procedure I’ve used to upgrade the firmware of my PowerConnect 5448 and 5424 switches. You should have set up a tftp server in same network as switch admin ip is. There are plenty of howtos to do this in the web like this, so I assume that you have already running the tftp server.

First, connect to to your switch via ssh or serial cable and enable privileged commands:

> enable

Copy new firmware from your tftp server:

# copy  tftp://tftp_server_ip/switch/powerconnect_54xx-20046.ros image
# copy tftp://tftp_server_ip/switch/powerconnect_54xx_boot-2000.rfb boot

Now, you should view the new firmware image ready, but not active:

# show bootvar
Image  Filename   Version     Date                    Status
-----  ---------  ---------   ---------------------   -----------
1      image-1    1.0.0.31    31-Oct-2007  10:32:13   Active* 
2      image-2    2.0.0.46    14-Apr-2011  13:10:53   Not active

"*" designates that the image was selected for the next boot

Select image-2 as active for the next boot:

# boot system image-2

The image is selected as active for the next system boot

# show bootvar
Image  Filename   Version     Date                    Status
-----  ---------  ---------   ---------------------   -----------
1      image-1    1.0.0.31    31-Oct-2007  10:32:13   Active  
2      image-2    2.0.0.46    14-Apr-2011  13:10:53   Not active*

Now, we only have to reload the switch to boot with updgraded image.

# reload

I’ve upgraded several switches and in all of them the switch configuration has been preserved.