The purpose of this post is to outline how to upgrade a Symbol 5×00 Wireless LAN switch. In the example provided we will upgrade a switch running v1.4.3.0-R12 to v2.1.1. This upgrade is a major upgrade in that it literally replaces the core operating system with Linux. The upgrade is done in two steps. The first step you upgrade to v2.1 and in the second step you upgrade to v2.1.1.
You’ll be using the CLI interface to perform the upgrade; there will be no need for the web Java GUI until after the upgrade is complete.
[root@madmax ~]# telnet sw16r-wireless.tlh.acme.org Trying 10.115.255.253... Connected to sw16r-wireless.tlh.acme.org (10.115.255.253). Escape character is '^]'. user name: cli
When prompted for the “user name” use “cli”. When prompted for the “userid” use the default of “admin” and “symbol” as the password.
Symbol Wireless Switch WS 5000 Series. Please enter your username and password to access the Command Line Interface. userid: admin password: ********* Retrieving user and system information... Setting user permissions flags.. Checking KDC access permissions... Welcome... Creating the Event list... System information... System Name : sw16r-wireless Description : WS5000 Wireless Network Switch Location : Data Center Software Ver. : 1.4.3.0-012R Licensed to : Symbol Technologies Copyright : Copyright (c) 2000-2005. All rights reserved. Serial Number : 00A0F865B362 Number of Licenses : 0 Max Access Ports : 30 Max Mobile Clients : 4096 Active Switch Policy : Wireless Switch Policy Emergency Switch Policy : Not defined Switch Uptime : 35d:23h:41m # of Unassigned Access Ports : 0 sw16r-wireless>
It’s advised to start out by backing up the switch configuration and then uploading that configuration to the TFTP server on the network. You’ll first need to delete the existing configuration file. (If the switch is a standby switch there is no need to backup the configuration file).
sw16r-wireless> del sw16-wireless.cfg Removing sw16-wireless.cfg.... done. sw16r-wireless> save configuration sw16-wireless.cfg Saving running configuration in: sw16-wireless.cfg Saving wireless network management configuration... Configuration saved successfully. sw16r-wireless> copy sw16-wireless.cfg tftp://10.101.20.1/sw16-wireless-tlh.cfg Copying 'sw16-wireless-tlh.cfg' from Switch to tftp://10.101.20.1... File: sw16-wireless-tlh.cfg copied successfully to 10.101.20.1
Once you’ve backed up the switch configuration you need to make room for the new image. Delete all the files from the flash memory. You can use the “dir” command and “del” command.
sw16r-wireless> dir Date & Time Bytes File Name Mar 29 2005 15480 WS5000Defaults_v1.4.1.0-014R.cfg Jan 24 10:46 19591051 WS5000_v1.4.3.0-012R.sys.img Jan 24 10:48 16138 WS5K_v1.4.1.0-014R-Upg.cfg Oct 3 2005 6517 cmd_template.sym Oct 3 07:22 17345 sw16-wireless-tlh.cfg sw16r-wireless> del WS5000Defaults_v1.4.1.0-014R.cfg Removing WS5000Defaults_v1.4.1.0-014R.cfg.... done. sw16r-wireless> del WS5000_v1.4.3.0-012R.sys.img Removing WS5000_v1.4.3.0-012R.sys.img.... done. sw16r-wireless> del WS5K_v1.4.1.0-014R-Upg.cfg Removing WS5K_v1.4.1.0-014R-Upg.cfg.... done. sw16r-wireless> del cmd_template.sym Removing cmd_template.sym.... done. sw16r-wireless> del sw16-wireless-tlh.cfg Removing sw16-wireless-tlh.cfg.... done.
Now you can go ahead and download the new system image and accompanying files via FTP. I’ve already placed the system image on the FTP server. The following files will need to be downloaded from the FTP server (10.101.20.1); WS5000_v2.1.0.0-029R.sys.kdi, dominfo, PreUpgradeScript, WS5k_domfix.cfg. You can confirm that the file gets copied down by listing the directory contents using “dir”.
sw16r-wireless> copy ftp system -u mcnamm Enter the file name to be copied from FTP server : PreUpgradeScript IP address of the FTP server : 10.101.20.1 Enter the user password : ********** Copying 'PreUpgradeScript' from ftp://10.101.20.1 to Switch... Data connection mode : BINARY (Connecting as 'mcnamm') Status : Transfer completed successfully 19633 bytes received in 0.0098 seconds (2e+03 Kbytes/s) /bin/dedos: line 69: syntax error near unexpected token `dir' /bin/dedos: line 69: `dedos -R sw16r-wireless> copy ftp system -u mcnamm Enter the file name to be copied from FTP server : dominfo IP address of the FTP server : 10.101.20.1 Enter the user password : ********** Copying 'dominfo' from ftp://10.101.20.1 to Switch... Data connection mode : BINARY (Connecting as 'mcnamm') Status : Transfer completed successfully 48346 bytes received in 0.015 seconds (3.2e+03 Kbytes/s) sw16r-wireless> copy ftp system -u mcnamm Enter the file name to be copied from FTP server : WS5k_domfix.cfg IP address of the FTP server : 10.101.20.1 Enter the user password : ********** Copying 'WS5k_domfix.cfg' from ftp://10.101.20.1 to Switch... Data connection mode : BINARY (Connecting as 'mcnamm') Status : Transfer completed successfully 1410387 bytes received in 0.15 seconds (9.5e+03 Kbytes/s) Verifying configuration file... Valid configuration file. Completing verification. sw16r-wireless> copy ftp system -u mcnamm Enter the file name to be copied from FTP server : WS5000_v2.1.0.0-029R.sys.kdi IP address of the FTP server : 10.101.20.1 Enter the user password : ********** Copying 'WS5000_v2.1.0.0-029R.sys.kdi' from ftp://10.101.20.1 to Switch... Data connection mode : BINARY (Connecting as 'mcnamm') Status : Transfer completed successfully 39661568 bytes received in 22 seconds (1.8e+03 Kbytes/s) sw16r-wireless> dir Date & Time Bytes File Name Oct 3 07:28 19633 PreUpgradeScript Oct 3 07:29 39661568 WS5000_v2.1.0.0-029R.sys.kdi Oct 3 07:28 1410387 WS5k_domfix.cfg Oct 3 07:28 48346 dominfo sw16r-wireless>
The next step is to execute the PreUpgradeScript and check if there is adequate space for the upgrade. You’ll need to enter “service mode” to execute the following commands. You can enter “service mode” by entering the command “service”. The password may either be “password” or the switch admin password.
sw16r-wireless> service Enter CLI Service Mode password: ******** Enabling CLI Service Mode commands...... done. SM-sw16r-wireless> launch -c chmod +x /image/PreUpgradeScript SM-sw16r-wireless> launch -c /image/PreUpgradeScript freemem PreUpgradeScript : freemem - computing Free memory DOM firmware upgrade will NOT be performed Finding out the Free Space Needed ... !! Total Free Space on the System: 148 (in MB) OK. Required space to do the upgrade exists .. !!
If you receive the “OK” you can go ahead with the upgrade. It may be necessary (with Wireless LAN Switch 5000s) to run the “PreUpgradeScript freemem” prior to downloading the WS5000_v2.1.0.sys.kdi image. The 5000 switches only have 128Mb of flash space available.
SM-sw16r-wireless> launch -c /image/PreUpgradeScript upgrade PreUpgradeScript : upgrade - upgrading the system Deciding on DOM firmware upgrade, based on switch platform This is a butterfly 1.4.x series switch This is WS5100 switch, no need for firmware upgrade Verifying checksum for : dominfo Checksum verification for dominfo : passed Showing details of DOM Model Number______________________: Kouwell DOM Serial Number_____________________: HyFlash 00004020 Controller Revision Number________: 14/05/02 Able to do Double Word Transfer___: No Controller buffer size (bytes)____: 512 Transfer Speed____________________: > 10 Mbit/sec Drive Type________________________: Removable IORDY Supported___________________: No Can IORDY be disabled by device___: No LBA Mode supported________________: Yes DMA Supported_____________________: No Number of ECC bytes transferred___: 4 Number of sectors per interrupt___: 1 Number of Cylinders_______________: 980 Number of Heads___________________: 16 Number of Sectors per Track_______: 32 Enter the Image Name: WS5000_v2.1.0.0-029R.sys.kdi Verifying Image Checksum Image Checksum Verification Passed Saving the Configuration before upgrading Saving wireless network management configuration... Configuration saved successfully. Creating the configuration tar tar: Removing leading / from absolute path names in the archive. image/upgrade.cfg Copying the image Rebooting the system Shutting down snmpd agent.....done. Shutting down apache server...done. Shutting down cell controller.......done. Shutting down database main thread...done. Rebooting the switch... Connection closed by foreign host.
Now you’ll need to wait.; it should take between 5 and 10 minutes for the switch to upgrade and reboot. After the switch has rebooted you can re-establish your telnet session;
[root@linux ~]# telnet sw16r-wireless.tlh.acme.org Trying 10.115.255.253... Connected to sw16r-wireless.tlh.acme.org (10.115.255.253). Escape character is '^]'. =========== WS5000 Switch =========== Copyright(c) Symbol Technologies, Inc. 2005. All rights reserved. user name: cli Symbol Wireless Switch WS 5000 Series. Please enter your username and password to access the Command Line Interface. userid: admin password: ********* Retrieving user and system information... Setting user permissions flags.. Checking KDC access permissions... Welcome... Creating the Event list... System information... System Name : sw16r-wireless Description : WS5000 Wireless Network Switch Location : Data Center Software Ver. : 2.1.0.0-029R Licensed to : Symbol Technologies Copyright : Copyright (c) 2000-2005. All rights reserved. Serial Number : 00A0F865B362 Number of Licenses : 0 Max Access Ports : 30 Max Mobile Clients : 4096 MU Idle Timeout value : 1800 seconds Active Switch Policy : Wireless Switch Policy Emergency Switch Policy : Not defined Switch Uptime : 00d:00h:03m Global RF stats : Disabled # of Unassigned Access Ports : 0 CLI AutoInstall Status : Enabled sw16r-wireless> copy tftp system Enter the file name to be copied from TFTP server : WS5000_v2.1.1.0-006R.sys.img IP address of the TFTP server : 10.101.20.1 Copying 'WS5000_v2.1.1.0-006R.sys.img' from tftp://10.101.20.1 to Switch... File: WS5000_v2.1.1.0-006R.sys.img copied successfully from 10.101.20.1 Verifying imagefile... Valid imagefile. Completing verification. sw16r-wireless> restore system WS5000_v2.1.1.0-006R.sys.img This command will reset the system and boot up with the new restored image. Do you want to continue (yes/no) : yes Restoring system image and configuration from WS5000_v2.1.1.0-006R.sys.img It might take a few minutes....... Saving wireless network management configuration... Configuration saved successfully. Stopping Postgres database.. done Creating Default Configuration file for 2.1.1.0-006R.. Rebooting the switch... Shutting down dhcp daemon.. done Shutting down apache server in the SSL mode...done. Cell controller not running. Shutting down Postgres....done. Connection closed by foreign host.
You’re all done.
The only issue I’ve discovered is that you need to re-configure the SNMP community string and TIMEZONE on any upgraded switch.
Enjoy.
Hi, my symbol v1.4.3.0-012R and is out of suport. Can you send me the files of the firmware and configuration? (Motorola can’t suport). tanks
Hi Marcio,
I don’t share copyrighted software or firmware with anyone, sorry but that’s one firm rule I abide by.
While the WS5000 is probably EoL (End of Life) the WS5100 is still supported. You didn’t mention which switch you have. In any case you’ll find that v1.4.3 is a fairly stable release if you have AP100s or AP200s. I’m not sure if it supports AP300s at that release.
Good Luck!
Hi again!
when I enter in ‘service’ mode (with password: password) and choose switch do shell, what is the default password?—
SM-Diag> shell
Entering into O.S.Command shell….
password:
**incorrect**
—
tnx
I haven’t a clue what the shell password is for the WS5000/WS5100 switches.
Good Luck!
Michael You are a life saver. You have better documentation on the WS series (that I am forced to support) than the manufacturer. You have saved me days of frustration.
Hi Tanner,
I’m happy you found the information useful!
Cheers!