Upgrading firmware from the command line CLI

You can upgrade the firmware in your Opengear device from the command line using the netflash command. 

Note: You can also use the Opengear web UI to upgrade using just your browser.

Step 1. Check the current version

The command to determine the current firmware version is:

cat /etc/version

This will print the current version and model info.  Your Opengear device will not allow you to flash the same or an earlier version.

Step 2. Back up current configuration

Configuration is maintained (migrated) across upgrades, however you should always take a backup in case of issues

Before upgrading, create a configuration backup using the command:

config -e /var/tmp/my-backup.opg

.. and copy it offbox using scp or sftp.  Full instructions are available in this article.

Step 3. Review the release notes

• Search the Release Notes file for the version you are upgrading to
• Check for any specific notes or warnings about the upgrade you are about to undertake (e.g. incompatibility of custom scripts you may have installed or known issues with your Opengear model)

Step 4. Upgrade firmware

The command to upgrade firmware is netflash.  There are three options to let netflash load the firmware file:

• Option 1: netflash downloads the firmware file directly from the Opengear site using FTP or HTTP
• Option 2: netflash downloads the firmware file staged on a local TFTP, FTP or HTTP server
• Option 3: Manually copy the file to the Opengear device then run netflash using the local file

To begin, login to the Opengear CLI as root, or an admin group user and become root with:

sudo -s

Option 1: Download the firmware image directly from the Opengear site using FTP or HTTP

• Browse to the Opengear downloads server: http://ftp.opengear.com/download/release/current/
• Choose the correct file for your Opengear device model, these are detailed in the Release Notes file in the Stable Releases section (in the example below we are upgrading the firmware image for an IM7200 series product)
• At the command line of the Opengear device run the netflash command with full HTTP URL, replacing x.y.z with the version to upgrade to:

netflash http://ftp.opengear.com/download/release/current/x.y.z/im72xx-x.y.z.flash

• Or to use the FTP protocol:

netflash -f ftp.opengear.com /release/current/x.y.z/im72xx-x.y.z.flash

• If you are prompted to authenticate to the site, use anonymous for the username and hit enter when prompted for a password

Option 2: Stage the firmware image on a local TFTP, FTP or HTTP server

First download the appropriate firmware image from the Opengear downloads server and copy to the local server.

Where address.of.local.server is the DNS or IP address of your local server and im72xx-x.y.z.flash is the filename of the firmware image:

• TFTP is the default load protocol – ensure the firmware image file is in the TFTP root directory, and run:
  

netflash address.of.local.server im72xx-x.y.z.flash

• To use FTP – with the firmware image file in any FTP server directory (such as /firmware/opengear/), run:

netflash -f address.of.local.server /firmware/opengear/im72xx-x.y.z.flash

• Or to use HTTP, specify the full URL including path and filename:

netflash http://address.of.local.server/firmware/opengear/im72xx-x.y.z.flash

Option 3: Manually copy the firmware image to the Opengear device

If your Opengear device does not have reliable access to a download server, you may copy the firmware image to the Opengear device's internal mass storage using scp or sftp.

• Download the appropriate firmware image from the Opengear downloads server to your computer
• Determine the mount point of your Opengear device's internal mass storage (it is typically /var/mnt/storage.usb or /var/mnt/storage.nvlog):

mount | awk '/mnt/ { print $3 }'

• Using scp, WinScp, FileZilla or similar, copy the firmware image from your computer to the Opengear device into the storage directory
• On the Opengear device, where /var/mnt/storage the storage directory and im72xx.x.y.z.flash is the firmware image filename, run:

netflash /var/mnt/storage.nvlog/im72xx-x.y.z.flash

You may delete the file using rm after the upgrade is complete.

Step 5. Wait for upgrade to complete, then verify

• The firmware file is loaded by netflash
• The firmware file is verified by netflash (the checksum, version and model are all checked)
• User processes are terminated to free up RAM, if you are connected via SSH you will be disconnected
• The firmware is flashed – this may take several minutes during which it is critical that the power to your Opengear device is not disturbed, doing so may render the device unbootable, necessitating a firmware recovery
• Your Opengear device reboots automatically – during this boot, configuration is migrated so it may take several additional minutes for boot to complete
• Login to the Opengear device and check the version as per Step 1

Ignore version checking (how to force a downgrade)

If you are experiencing issues with a new version of firmware, we first recommend that you contact Opengear support for assistance.

You may skip the version checking step by specifying the following additional parameter to netflash in Step 4:

-i

For example if you are use a local TFTP server:

netflash -i address.of.local.server im72xx-x.y.z.flash

Note: Configuration migration is not supported across downgrades.  After downgrading, you must factory reset and reconfigure your Opengear device or restore the configuration backup taken before upgrade.