Fabric OS Administrator’s Guide 191
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Chapter
9
Installing and Maintaining Firmware
In this chapter
•Firmware download process overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
•Preparing for a firmware download . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
•Firmware download on switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
•Firmware download on a Backbone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
•Firmware download from a USB device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
•FIPS support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
•Test and restore firmware on switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
•Test and restore firmware on Backbones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
•Validating a firmware download . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Firmware download process overview
Fabric OS v7.0.1 provides nondisruptive firmware installation.
This chapter refers to the following specific types of blades inserted into the Brocade DCX and DCX
8510 Backbone families:
• FC blades or port blades that contain only Fibre Channel ports; the Brocade FC10-6 and the
Brocade FC8-16, FC8-32, FC8-48, and FC8-64.
• AP blades contain extra processors and specialized ports: Brocade FR4-18i, FA4-18,
FCOE10-24, and FX8-24.
• CP blades have a control processor (CP) used to control the entire switch; CP blades can be
inserted only into slots 6 and 7 on the Brocade DCX or DCX 8510-8, and slots 4 and 5 on the
Brocade DCX-4S or DCX 8510-4.
• CORE8 and CR4S-8 core blades provide ICL functionality between two Brocade DCX
Backbones. CORE8 blades can be inserted only into slots 5 and 8 on the Brocade DCX. CR4S-8
blades can be inserted only into slots 3 and 6 on the Brocade DCX-4S.
• CORE8 and CR4S-8 core blades provide ICL functionality between two Brocade DCX 8510-8
Backbones. CORE8 blades can be inserted only into slots 5 and 8 on the Brocade DCX. CR4S-8
blades can be inserted only into slots 3 and 6 on the Brocade DCX 8510-4.
For more information on troubleshooting a firmware download, refer to the Fabric OS
Troubleshooting and Diagnostics Guide.