Upgrade and Downgrade i40e NVM Firmware on Routing Engines with VM Host Support

Automatic Upgrade of i40e NVM Firmware

Junos OS Release 21.4R1 onwards the devices support NVM firmware version 7.00 and the firmware will be automatically upgraded during VM Host software installation.

The latest Junos OS releases support direct upgrade of NVM from version 4.26 to version 7.00

Automatic Upgrade i40e NVM Firmware from version 6.01 to version 7.00 and version 6.01 to version 9.10

Junos OS Release 21.4R1 onwards NVM firmware version 7.00 is used and the firmware is automatically upgraded during the software installation. The pre-requisite is that you have to manually upgrade the NVM firmware to version 6.00.

If the Junos OS version is upgraded to 21.4R1 or later using the Junos OS upgrade process, the i40e NVM firmware upgrade is done automatically during the upgrade process. The corresponding i40e driver version to support i40e NVM version 7.0 will be version 2.8.43 (or later).

Starting in Junos OS Release 24.1R1, in order to install VM Host image based on Linux WR LTS22, you have to upgrade the i40e NVM firmware to version 9.1 or later.

Automatic Upgrade of i40e NVM Firmware from version 4.26 to version 7.00 (automatic update on selected LTS19 releases)

The following Junos OS Releases support automatic i40e NVM firmware upgrade from version 4.26 to version 7.00. This allows you to upgrade devices directly from older Junos OS Releases like 18.2 to Junos OS Releases 21.4 and higher.

• 21.4R3-S5 and higher

• 22.1R3-S3 and higher

• 22.2R3-S1 and higher

• 22.3R3 and higher

• 22.4R3 and higher

• 23.1R2 and higher

• 23.2R2 and higher

• 23.3R1 and higher

• 23.4R1 and higher

If you have to downgrade from any of the above mentioned releases, you can downgrade only to release mentioned in Table 1

You can install older Junos OS images on the Routing Engine with an upgraded i40e NVM firmware as it supports i40e 2.4.3 driver versions. If you install an older version of the VM Host image, which is not listed in Table 3, using USB, the Routing Engine does not start up properly. In such a case, you can reinstall the VMHost image with a version which supports the new i40e NVM firmware.

Manual Upgrade of i40e NVM Firmware (version 4.26 to version 6.01 )

Before you begin upgrading the firmware, check the current firmware version of the i40e NVM.

If the value of Current version is less than 6.01, then you can use the following procedure for the i40e NVM firmware upgrade.

To upgrade i40e NVM firmware on routers with single Routing Engine:

1. Upgrade the device with the Junos OS image version which supports i40e NVM firmware upgrade. See Table 3.

   Copy and install the jfirmware-vmhost package to the device.

   If the file has been obtained from JTAC, use FTP or SCP to load the firmware file on the device. Save the file in the /var/tmp directory.

   user@host> request vmhost software add /var/tmp/jfirmware-vmhost-x86-64-19.2R1.tgz

2. Upgrade the NVM firmware.

   To initiate the upgrade, use the following command:

   Monitor the upgrade status by using the show system firmware command. If the upgrade is initiated the output displays PROGRAMMING (0%) as the status. However, note that the status PROGRAMMING (0%) does not increment during the process.

3. Reboot the device by using the request vmhost reboot command.

4. Verfiy the progress of i40e NVM upgrade on the console. You may have to perform power recycle of the Routing Engine multiple times. When you are prompted for a power cycle on your console, use external power cycle for power cycling the Routing Engine.

   The following message is displayed on the console prompting you to perform a power cycle:

5. After a successful upgrade, verify the version of the firmware.

   Note:

   The Current version is displayed as 6.1 instead of 6.01.

   Note:

   In case, you have run the request vmhost snapshot command with a Junos OS image which does not support i40e NVM firmware upgrade, (if the SSD recovery snapshot has a Junos OS version older than the Junos OS versions mentioned in Table 3) we recommend you to take a snapshot using the request vmhost snapshot command again. Hence, in case of a recovery process, the SSD recovery snapshot will have a Junos OS image which supports NVM 6.01.

On routers with dual Routing Engines, you must use the request chassis cb (offline | online) slot slot-number to power cycle the Routing Engine. Thereby, you can avoid using an external power cycler and avoid abrupt power cycling of backup RE, which may cause file system errors.

To upgrade i40e NVM firmware on routers with dual Routing Engines:

1. Upgrade the device with the Junos OS image version which supports i40e NVM firmware upgrade. See .Table 2

   Copy and install the jfirmware-vmhost package to the device.

   If the file has been obtained from JTAC, use FTP or SCP to load the firmware file on the device. Save the file in the /var/tmp directory.

   user@host> request vmhost software add /var/tmp/jfirmware-vmhost-x86-64-19.2R1.tgz

2. Upgrade the NVM firmware.

   To initiate the upgrade, use the following command:

   Monitor the upgrade status by using the show system firmware command. If the upgrade is initiated the output displays PROGRAMMING (0%) as the status. However, note that the status PROGRAMMING (0%) does not increment during the process.

3. Switch to the backup Routing Engine by using the request chassis routing-engine master switch command to switch primary role to other RE (i.e, RE1).

   Note:

   This step is necessary, because in Step 6 you have to power cycle the Routing Engine which is undergoing the NVM upgrade (i.e, RE0) from RE1

4. Reboot the device by using the request vmhost reboot command from the Routing Engine which is undergoing the NVM upgrade (i.e, RE0).

5. Monitor the console output. You may have to perform power recycle of the Routing Engine multiple times. When you are prompted for a power cycle on your console, use external power cycle for power cycling the Routing Engine. Or, you can use the command request chassis cb slot slot offline as described in Step 6.

   The following message is displayed on the console prompting you to perform a power cycle:

6. From RE1, power cycle the RE0 using following command request chassis cb slot slot offline.

   To power off RE0, use the command request chassis cb slot 0 offline and to power on RE0, use the command request chassis cb slot 0 online.

7. After a successful upgrade, verify the version of the firmware.

   Note:

   The Current version is displayed as 6.1 instead of 6.01.

   Note:

   In case, you have run the request vmhost snapshot command with a Junos OS image which does not support i40e NVM firmware upgrade, (if the SSD recovery snapshot has a Junos OS version older than the Junos OS versions mentioned in Table 3) we recommend you to take a snapshot using the request vmhost snapshot command again. Hence, in case of a recovery process, the SSD recovery snapshot will have a Junos OS image which supports NVM 6.01.

8. Similarly, while upgrading i40e NVM on RE1, power cycle RE1 from RE0.

9. You need to perform this step only if the image you downloaded does not contain debugfs based mechanism to stop LLDP.

   Download the lldp-patch-for-i40e-upgrade.tgz package. Copy and install the file in the /var/tmp/ directory on each Routing Engine.

10. Reboot the device by using the request vmhost reboot command. The upgrade process is complete when the Routing Engine comes back online.

Automatic downgrade from version 9.10 to version 7.00 ( in selected LTS19 releases)

Junos OS supports downgrade to version 7.00 NVM firmware in the latest LTS19 releases.

If there is a downgrade from LTS22 release to LTS19 release (which has downgrade support), then the firmware will be downgraded from version 9.10 to version 7.00.

Downgrade from LTS19 to WRL9 ( selected releases with drivers supporting version 7.00 firmware)

You can downgrade the firmware from version 9.10 to version 7.00 in selected LTS19 release. However, you cannot downgrade to releases below WRL9.