Junos OS

Hi There,

My question is very basic: I would like to understand the relation between the OS and the firmware on the Routing-Engine.

I tried to look after documentation but all of them is more related on How to install, How to upgrade etc but none of them explain clearly the relation between the OS and the firmware on the routing-engine.

For example if i run the command

show system firmware
Part Type Tag Current Available Status
version version
CB 0 CB FPGA 0 0.4.0 0.4.0 OK
Routing Engine 0 RE BIOS 7 0.13.1 0.13.01 OK
Routing Engine 0 RE FPGA 2 405.0.0 405.0.0 OK

I see the column "Current version" and "Available version".  Who is "telling" to the routing-engine that there is a new version for the FPGA for example?

More, I understood that upgrade of OS and firmware of the FPGA RE are 2 separate procedures  but i am wondering if i can get the firmware of the FPGA of the RE upgraded "automatically" during a normal sw OS upgrade.

Thanks.

Hi FabNewCert,

To answer your first query about the difference between firmware upgrade and OS upgrade, let us understand what firmware is. Firmware is basically a set of instructions needed for devices to perform the tasks in a much efficient way than what they were normally designed for. Unlike software, the firmware is not created to perform specific functions on the hardware, rather it is used to get the optimal network performance, and to fix a vulnerability that could be caused over a period of time.

More often than not, our devices are running multiple programs at a time, which will eventually degrade the system performance and will slow the pace of operations. The obvious solution that people consider in such cases is to replace the old, worn-out hardware with new parts. The other and the better way out is to update /upgrade the firmware that the system runs on. Firmware updates are far more cost-effective and simpler when compared to replacing the hardware.

While an OS upgrade will upgrade the Junos operating system on the Routing Engine(in your case), Firmware updates will help us in upgrading the performance of the same Routing Engine ( FYI, firmware upgrade can be performed on various parts- RE, FPC, MIC, PIC, etc.)

Now, coming to your second query about the current and available versions of firmware. The current version is the Firmware version on the affected router or switch parts. The available version is the New versions of firmware for upgrading or downgrading. The firmware information is cached in the FRU online state if the device is accessible. This cached information is displayed even when the FRU is in error or offline condition.

The below document gives you a brief of the system output - "show system firmware"

https://www.juniper.net/documentation/en_US/junos/topics/reference/command-summary/show-system-firmware.html

To address your last query, in my knowledge, you cannot perform an OS upgrade and a firmware upgrade in the same command/automatically together. The reason being, not all Junos versions support firmware packages and the software images/files for both OS and Firmware upgrade are different and serve different purposes.

You can refer the below link for firmware packages:

https://support.juniper.net/support/downloads/

Hope this helps. 🙂

Please mark this "Accepted Solution"  if this serves your purpose.

Kudos are much appreciated too 🙂

Hello FabnewCert,

Greetings!

I would Acknowledge for the answers provided by my peer @bmanvita.

As already said, you cannot perform the Junos OS upgrade and the firmware upgrade together as they are 2 different entities. we have a separate image file for both OS and firmware.

OS- jinstall-14.1X53-D41.2-domestic.tgz

Firmware- jfirmware-x86-32-15.1F6.9.tgz

We cannot upgrade both automatically or by one common command as they are 2 different files.

Note:-

1. Check the previous version of the firmware package is installed on the router by using the show version command.

Hostname: mxHost
Model: mx480
Junos: 15.1I20160816_2117_yyin
JUNOS OS Kernel 64-bit (WITNESS) [20160723.102341_fbsd-builder_stable_10]
JUNOS OS libs [20160723.102341_fbsd-builder_stable_10]
JUNOS OS runtime [20160723.102341_fbsd-builder_stable_10]
JUNOS OS time zone information [20160723.102341_fbsd-builder_stable_10]
...
JUNOS jfirmware [20160628.005233_builder_release_151_f_throttle]
JUNOS Online Documentation [20160812.205759_yyin_release_151_f_throttle]
JUNOS FIPS mode utilities [20160816.211724_yyin_release_151_f_throttle]
....

2.If the output of the show version command displays JUNOS jfirmware.. among the list of packages that are installed on the router, then a previous version of the firmware package is installed on the router. If the output of the show version command does not display JUNOS jfirmware.. among the list of packages that are installed on the router, the firmware package is not installed on the router.

3.If a previous version of the firmware package is installed on the router,  we need to delete the firmware package from the router by using the "request system software delete jfirmware"

4. Then add the file to the device and upgrade the jfirmware.

For more understanding:-

https://www.juniper.net/documentation/en_US/junos/topics/topic-map/install-and-upgrade-firmware.html

Hit a Kudos if you feel this was informative 

Best Regards,

Lingabasappa H

Hi There,

Thanks for the answer.

The procedure you just posted is for installing or upgrading the firmware on the MIC or PIC.

I am more interested to upgrade the firmware of FPGA of the RE and in this case there is no need to delete any jfrimware before trying to upgare the FPGA.

Btw thank you for the info.

Hi FabNewCert,

If you are looking for command to upgrade the RE firmware (bios and fpga) you can try below thing which will give you individual options to upgrade bios and fpga.

labroot@e14-43> show system firmware
Part Type Tag Current Available Status
version version
CB 0 CB FPGA 0 0.239.0 0.9.0 OK
Routing Engine 0 RE BIOS 7 0.13.1 0.15.01 OK
Routing Engine 0 RE FPGA 2 304.0.0 304.0.00 OK
Routing Engine 0 RE SSD1 3 12028 12028 OK
Routing Engine 0 RE SSD2 4 12028 12028 OK
FPC 0 MPCS(0) 2 0.12.0 0.12.0 OK
PEM 0 PSU AC 1 0.5.0 OK

NOTE: You need to type the command totally " request system firmware upgrade re ?" as this is a hidden one 🙂

If this solves your problem, please mark this post as "Accepted Solution" so we can help others too

Kudos are appreciated too 🙂

Regards,

Nadeem