Each device is shipped with the Cisco NX-OS software. The Cisco NX-OS software consists a single NXOS software image. Only this image is required to load the Cisco NX-OS operating system. This image runs on all Cisco Nexus 3500 Series switches.

Note

Another type of binary file is the software maintenance upgrade (SMU) package file. SMUs contain fixes for specific defects. They are created to respond to immediate issues and do not include new features. SMU package files are available for download from Cisco.com and generally include the ID number of the resolved defect in the filename. For more information on SMUs, see the Cisco Nexus 3500 Series NX-OS System Management Configuration Guide.

Cisco recommends performing a Nexus Health and Configuration Check before performing an upgrade. The benefits include identification of potential issues, susceptible Field Notices and Security Vulnerabilities, missing recommended configurations and so on. For more information about the procedure, see Perform Nexus Health and Configuration Check.

Upgrading the Cisco NX-OS software has the following prerequisites:

• Ensure that everyone who has access to the device or the network is not configuring the device or the network during this time. You cannot configure a device during an upgrade. Use the show configuration session summary command to verify that you have no active configuration sessions.

• Save, commit, or discard any active configuration sessions before upgrading or downgrading the Cisco NX-OS software image on your device. On a device with dual supervisors, the active supervisor module cannot switch over to the standby supervisor module during the Cisco NX-OS software upgrade if you have an active configuration session.

• Ensure that the device has a route to the remote server. The device and the remote server must be in the same subnetwork if you do not have a router to route traffic between subnets. To verify connectivity to the remote server, use the ping command.

  switch# ping 172.18.217.1 vrf management
  PING 172.18.217.1 (172.18.217.1): 56 data bytes
  64 bytes from 172.18.217.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=239 time=106.647 ms
  64 bytes from 172.18.217.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=239 time=76.807 ms
  64 bytes from 172.18.217.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=239 time=76.593 ms
  64 bytes from 172.18.217.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=239 time=81.679 ms
  64 bytes from 172.18.217.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=239 time=76.5 ms
  
  --- 172.18.217.1 ping statistics ---
  5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0.00% packet loss
  round-trip min/avg/max = 76.5/83.645/106.647 ms
  
  

For more information on configuration sessions, see the Cisco Nexus 3500 Series NX-OS System Management Configuration Guide.

Downgrading the Cisco NX-OS software has the following prerequisites:

• Verify the compatibility of the software using the show incompatibility system bootflash:filename command. If an incompatibility exists, disable any features that are incompatible with the downgrade image before downgrading the software.

Note

The Cisco Nexus 3500 Series NX-OS Release Notes contain specific upgrade guidelines for each release. See the Release Notes for the target upgrade release before starting the upgrade. The Cisco Nexus 9000 and 3000 ISSU Support Matrix provides information about recommended paths for upgrades from your current to a target release.

Before attempting to upgrade to any software image, follow these guidelines:

• Cisco Nexus 3500 family switches support 32 bit image.

• An upgrade to Cisco NX-OS Release 10.1(1) is supported only for the Cisco Nexus C3548P-XL switch.

• Schedule the upgrade when your network is stable and steady.

• Avoid any power interruption, which could corrupt the software image, during the installation procedure.

• The supervisor module must have connection on the console ports to maintain connectivity when switchovers occur during a software upgrade. See the Hardware Installation Guide for your specific chassis.

• The following upgrade paths are supported for upgrading from an earlier release to Cisco NX-OS Release 10.1(1):

  • 9.2(4) and later → 10.1(1)

  • 9.3(6) → 10.1(1)

  To upgrade from Cisco NX-OS Release 9.2(4) and later, we recommend that you use the install all command. To upgrade from Cisco NX-OS Release 9.3(6) you must copy the running configuration to the startup configuration and reload the device.

• Cisco Nexus 3500 family switches support 32-bit image.

• Ultra-low power mode is not support in DC devices.

Before attempting to downgrade to an earlier software release, follow these guidelines:

• The supervisor module must have connection on the console ports to maintain connectivity when switchovers occur during a software downgrade. See the Hardware Installation Guide for your specific chassis.

• Cisco NX-OS automatically installs and enables the guest shell by default. However, if the device is reloaded with a Cisco NX-OS image that does not provide guest shell support, the existing guest shell is automatically removed and a %VMAN-2-INVALID_PACKAGE message is issued. As a best practice, remove the guest shell with the guestshell destroy command before downgrading to an earlier Cisco NX-OS image.

• You can downgrade the switch software from Cisco NX-OS Release 10.1(1) to Cisco NX-OS Release 9.2(4) and later, or to 9.3(6) by using the install all command.

You can optionally choose to boot the switch from an external flash memory drive at the loader prompt. The supported BIOS version for the Cisco Nexus C3548P-XL switch is 5.4.1. Following are the various options for loading the image from an external flash memory drive:

• You can load the image from USB1 when either the USB1 slot is occupied or when both the USB slots are occupied.

  Loader> boot usb1: <image>

• You can load the image from USB2 only when the USB2 slot is occupied.

  Loader> boot usb2: <image>

• You can load the image from USB2 when both the USB slots are occupied.

  Loader> boot usb2: <image>

• You can load the image from USB1 when only the USB1 slot is occupied or when both the USB slots are occupied.

• You can load the image from USB2 when only the USB2 slot is occupied.

• You can load the image from USB2 when both the USB slots are occupied.