A J-series Services Router is delivered with the JUNOS software preinstalled. When you power on the router, it starts (boots) up using its primary boot device. All Services Routers support a secondary boot device that allows you to back up your primary boot device and configuration.
As new features and software fixes become available, you must upgrade your software to use them. Before an upgrade, we recommend that you back up your primary boot device.
On a Services Router, you can initialize the primary or secondary boot device with a “snapshot” of the running configuration, default factory configuration, or rescue configuration. You can also replicate the configuration for use on another J-series Services Router, or configure the device to receive core dumps for troubleshooting.
If the router has no secondary boot device configured and the primary boot device becomes corrupted, you can reload the JUNOS recovery software package onto the corrupted compact flash with either a UNIX or Microsoft Windows computer.
This chapter contains the following topics. For more information about installing and upgrading JUNOS software, see the JUNOS Software Installation and Upgrade Guide.