Preparing Your SRX Series Services Gateway for Software Upgrades

Before you begin upgrading the software on an SRX Series device, make sure that you have done the following:

• You have a Juniper Networks Web account and a valid support contract. You must have an account to download software upgrades.

  To obtain an account, complete the registration form at the Juniper Networks website: https://www.juniper.net/registration/Register.jsp.

• You have backed up your primary boot device onto a secondary storage device.

  Creating a backup has the following advantages:

  • If, during an upgrade, the primary boot device fails or becomes corrupted, the device can boot from backup and comeback online
  • Your active configuration files and log files are retained.
  • If an upgrade is unsuccessful, the device can recover using a known, stable environment.

You can use either the J-Web interface or the CLI to back up the primary boot device on the secondary storage device.

For instructions on backing up your system using the J-Web interface, see Configuring a Boot Device for Backup on SRX Series Services Gateways (J-Web Procedure).

For instructions on backing up your system using the CLI, see Configuring a Boot Device for Backup on SRX Series Services Gateways (CLI Procedure).

Table 123 lists the secondary storage devices available on an SRX Series devices.

During a successful upgrade, the upgrade package completely reinstalls the existing software. It retains configuration files, log files, and similar information from the previous version. After a successful upgrade, remember to back up the new current configuration to the secondary device.