Cisco Nexus 9000 Series FPGA/EPLD Upgrade Release Notes, Release 10.4(4)

 

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This document lists the current and past versions of EPLD images and describes how to update them for use with the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switches.

This document also covers later releases. If a new Cisco Nexus 9000 Series FPGA/EPLD Upgrade Release Notes document isn’t available, then that means that these are the latest available numbers for upgrade.

This table lists the changes to this document.

Introduction

The Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS mode switches contain several programmable logical devices (PLDs) that provide hardware functionalities in all modules. Cisco provides electronic programmable logic device (EPLD) image upgrades to enhance hardware functionality or to resolve known issues. PLDs include electronic programmable logic devices (EPLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), but they do not include ASICs. In this document, the term EPLD is used for FPGA and CPLDs.

The advantage of having EPLDs for some module functions is that when you need to upgrade those functions, you just upgrade their software images instead of replacing their hardware.

Note:      EPLD image upgrades for a line card disrupt the traffic going through the module because the module must power down briefly during the upgrade. The system performs EPLD upgrades on one module at a time, so at any one time the upgrade disrupts only the traffic going through one module.

Cisco provides the latest EPLD images with each release. Typically, these images are the same as provided in earlier releases but occasionally some of these images are updated. These EPLD image updates are not mandatory unless otherwise specified. The EPLD image upgrades are independent from the Cisco In Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) process, which upgrades the system image with no impact on the network environment.

When Cisco makes an EPLD image upgrade available, these release notes announce their availability, and you can download the EPLD images from https://software.cisco.com/download/navigator.html.

When choosing an EPLD version for upgrade, ensure you have already installed the corresponding NXOS software version first. It is generally not supported to upgrade to a newer EPLD image built for a future version of NXOS while running on an older NXOS version, unless explicitly supported as per the specific EPLD Release Notes. NXOS and EPLD images are labeled for their related version to avoid any unsupported upgrades.

When to Upgrade EPLDs

When new EPLD images are available, the upgrades are always recommended if your network environment allows for a maintenance period in which some level of traffic disruption is acceptable. If such a disruption is not acceptable, then consider postponing the upgrade until a better time.

Note:      The EPLD upgrade operation is a disruptive operation. Execute this operation only at a programmed maintenance time. The system ISSU upgrade is a nondisruptive upgrade.

Note:      Do not perform an EPLD upgrade during an ISSU system upgrade.

EPLD version is backward compatible. The NXOS software can be downgraded for the switch and the EPLD version does not have to be downgraded to match the older NXOS version.

Switch Requirements

·       The Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switch must be running the Cisco NX-OS operating system.

·       You must be able to access the switch through a console, SSH, or Telnet (required for setting up a switch running in NX-OS mode).

·       You must have administrator privileges to work with the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switch.

EPLD Upgrades Available for NX-OS Mode Releases 10.3(1) through 10.4(4)

Each EPLD image that you can download from Software Download page is a bundle of EPLD upgrades packaged into a single EPLD image file. To see the recent updated EPLD versions for the Cisco Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, and 9500 platforms, see the tables.

Note:      All updates to an image are shown in boldface. If more than one release is shown for a column, the boldface applies to the first release listed for the column.

Note:      The 10.4(3) release of EPLD addresses the Secure Boot Hardware Tampering vulnerability for the Nexus 3K and Nexus 9000 Series switches. Please refer to Security Advisory.

Please review the advisory for affected HW-PIDs (see table) for more details on how to apply the patch. The 10.2(1) release EPLD requires a specific sequence of upgrade.

Vulnerable Products addressed in Security Advisory (cisco-sa-20190513-secureboot)

Table 1.        Nexus 9000 Series Switches

Cisco Secure Boot Hardware Tampering Vulnerability - Remediation Steps

This section details updating your EPLD version for affected switches listed in: https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20190513-secureboot

Nexus 9000 Modular chassis with dual supervisor

Note:      It is required to update both Golden and Primary regions of FPGA to address this particular vulnerability. It is by design, that we do not allow updating both primary and golden at the same time (to avoid programming errors, that may cause switch to not boot, so only one region is allowed to be programmed per reload).

Please do not attempt to upgrade Golden region of FPGA once it is on a fixed version.

1.     Copy the EPLD image to bootflash (e.g., used n9000-epld.10.4.4.img).

2.     If you have dual supervisor, determine which is the standby Supervisor by doing 'show module' and start upgrading it first. On the N9K, only supervisors need upgrade for this vulnerability. LC/FM/SC cards are not affected.

3.     Assume standby supervisor is slot 28. Update the Primary FPGA region of standby supervisor.

4.     Install epld bootflash:n9000-epld.10.4.4.img module 28.

Expected result: Switch will update primary EPLD of standby supervisor and will reload the standby supervisor module automatically. Please don't interrupt, power cycle, or reload when EPLD update is happening. Once standby is booted, it will again come up as standby supervisor.  A show version module 28 epld will continue to show old version.

Note:    The CLI content in this document is only an example. Your CLI will reflect your hardware.

This is expected, as the switch has booted from Golden FPGA that is still not updated. You can verify this from the syslog as displayed:

Expected result: Switch will update the golden EPLD of standby supervisor and will reload the standby supervisor module automatically. Please do not interrupt, power cycle, or reload when EPLD update is happening. After the standby is booted, it will again come up as ha-standby supervisor.

After this is done, when you check show version module 28 epld command, you will see FPGA version that is greater or equal to the fixed version for the standby supervisor. Your switch has the fixed version for standby supervisor.

Repeat Step 3 and  4, for the active supervisor. At the end of Step 3, supervisor in slot 27 will reload and so now will become standby supervisor. The active supervisor will be Supervisor in slot 28.

(considering SUP 27 is active to begin with, for the above activity, such as Steps 3 and 4, commands would have 27 in place of 28.)

The following Log displays what happens when EPLD upgrade happens for active supervisor.

After the supervisor in Slot 27 becomes ha-standby complete Step 4 for Slot 27, and it will again boot and become ha-standby.  Both the supervisors now have the vulnerability fixed version of FPGA.

At the end of the upgrades, switch should boot with primary for both SUPs, logs below

Nexus 9000 Modular chassis with single supervisor

Note:      It is required to update both Golden and Primary regions of FPGA to address this particular vulnerability. It is by design, that we don't allow updating both primary and golden at the same time (to avoid programming errors, that may cause switch to not boot, so only one region is allowed to be programmed per reload).

Please do not attempt to upgrade Golden region of FPGA once it is on a fixed version.

1.     Copy the EPLD image to bootflash (e.g., used n9000-epld.10.4.4.img).

2.     Assume the supervisor is in Slot27. Update the Primary FPGA region.

3.     Install epld bootflash:n9000-epld.10.4.4.img module 27

Expected result: Switch will update  primary EPLD of the supervisor and will reload the switch automatically. Please don't interrupt, power cycle, or reload when EPLD update is happening. Once the supervisor is booted, the 'show version module 27 epld' will continue to show old version

Note:    The CLI content in this document is only an example. Your CLI will reflect your hardware.

4.     As there is only one supervisor, update the Golden (also called backup) FPGA region.

Expected result: Switch will update the golden EPLD of the supervisor and will reload the switch automatically. Please do not interrupt, power cycle, or reload when EPLD update is happening.

After this is done, check show version module 27 epld command to view the FPGA version that is greater than or equal to the fixed version for the supervisor. Your supervisor has the vulnerability fixed version of FPGA.

Note:      IMPORTANT: If you attempt to upgrade the Golden region of the FPGA once it is on the fixed version, the system will not automatically allow you to upgrade the Golden region of SUP and will provide this prompt:

Since both System Controller modules need an upgrade, a chassis reload will happen at the end of the upgrade.

Do you want to continue (y/n) ?  [n] y

Nexus 9000 TOR

Note:      It is required to update both Golden and Primary regions of FPGA to address this particular vulnerability. It is by design that we don't allow updating both primary and golden at the same time (to avoid programming errors, that may cause switch to not boot, so only one region is allowed to be programmed per reload).

Please do not attempt to upgrade Golden region of FPGA once it is on a fixed version.

1.     Copy the EPLD image to bootflash (e.g., used n9000-epld.10.4.4.img).

2.     Update the Primary FPGA region.

3.     Install epld bootflash:n9000-epld.10.4.4.img module 1

Expected result: Switch will update EPLD and will reload automatically. Please don't interrupt, power cycle, or reload when EPLD update is happening. Switch would boot up with golden FPGA, show version module 1 epld would show the old FPGA version for IO, due to this. This is expected.

Note:    The CLI content in this document is only an example. Your CLI will reflect your hardware.

Expected result: Switch will update EPLD and will reload automatically. Please don't interrupt, power cycle, or reload when EPLD update is happening.

After this is done, when you check show version module 1 epld you will see FPGA version that is greater than or equal to to the fixed version.

Note:      For N3K-C36180YC-R and N3K-C3636C-R, CPU FPGA will have the fix, so look for CPU FPGA instead of IO.

Table 2.        Available EPLD Images for the Cisco Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, and 9300-FX Platform Switches

Table 3.        Available EPLD Images for the Cisco Nexus 9400 Switches

Table 4.        Available EPLD Images for the Cisco Nexus 9500 Platform Switches

Table 5.        Available EPLD Images for the Cisco Nexus 9500 Switches with R Line Card

Table 6.        Available EPLD Images for the Cisco Nexus 9800 Platform Switches

 

Determining Whether to Upgrade EPLD Images

If the current EPLD image number for a card is greater than or matches the version expected for your current NXOS software version, you can skip the upgrade.

·       To determine the EPLD upgrades needed for a Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switch running 10.4(4) software, use the show install impact epld bootflash: command on that switch, where the filename given is the n9000-epld.10.4.4.img file. First, copy this file to the bootflash to proceed. In this example, the MIFPGA and IOFPGA EPLD images do not need to be upgraded.

Note:      The CLI content in this document is only an example. Your CLI will reflect your hardware.

Upgrade During ISSU

This feature offers the option to upgrade EPLD images during disruptive system (NXOS) upgrade. You will designate the target EPLD image using the ISSU cli. The EPLD image will be validated during the pre-upgrade stage of the installation and the actual EPLD upgrade will be done before reloading the system. When the system comes back online, all EPLDs and NXOS system (including BIOS) will be upgraded to the new versions.

To upgrade your EPLD image using the ISSU cli, enter the EPLD image to be installed using the install all nxos <nxos-image> epld <epld-image> command.

For additional information about ISSU, please see the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS Software Upgrade and Downgrade Guide.

Displaying the Status of EPLD Upgrades

To display the status of EPLD upgrades on the switch, use the show install epld status command.

Limitations

When EPLDs are upgraded, apply these guidelines and observations:

●      If a module is not online, you cannot upgrade its EPLD images.

●      If there are two supervisors that are installed in the switch (Cisco Nexus 9504, 9508, and 9516 switches only), you can either upgrade only the standby or upgrade all modules (including both supervisor modules) by using these commands:

◦    install epld bootflash: image module standby-supervisor-slot-number (upgrades only the standby supervisor module)

Note:      After you use this command, you can switchover the active and standby supervisor modules and then upgrade the other supervisor.

◦    install epld bootflash: image module all (upgrades all of the modules)

●      If there is only one supervisor that are installed in the switch, your upgrading or downgrading of EPLD images is disruptive.

Related Documentation

The entire Cisco NX-OS 9000 Series documentation set.

Release Notes

The entire Cisco NX-OS 9000 Series release notes set.

Documentation Feedback

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