Upgrade NX-OS Version

I had to upgrade some Nexus switches at work recently so thought I'd write a post showing the process as it's a bit different to a normal Cisco IOS or even IOS-XE device. In saying that, if you're using install mode on IOS-XE it's not that different. To learn how to use install mode, see my post here. As with any IOS upgrade, first thing you'll want to do is download your NX-OS version and copy it to the switch. I've used FTP for this process but you can use a USB, TFTP, or SCP to transfer the image file as well. 

NXOSSW1# copy ftp://ray@10.1.1.10/nxos64-cs.10.3.5.M.bin bootflash: vrf management
Password: 
                                                       
***** Transfer of file Completed Successfully *****
Copy complete, now saving to disk (please wait)...
Copy complete.

Now that the NX-OS image is on the device, you can use the show install command to verify the upgrade process before you proceed. This is optional so you can skip this step if you want but it can be useful to show you the impact of the upgrade. 

NXOSSW1# show install all impact nxos bootflash:///nxos64-cs.10.3.5.M.bin
Installer will perform impact only check. Please wait. 

Verifying image bootflash:/nxos64-cs.10.3.5.M.bin for boot variable "nxos".
[####################] 100% -- SUCCESS

Verifying image type.
[####################] 100% -- SUCCESS

Preparing "nxos" version info using image bootflash:/nxos64-cs.10.3.5.M.bin.
[####################] 100% -- SUCCESS

Preparing "bios" version info using image bootflash:/nxos64-cs.10.3.5.M.bin.
[####################] 100% -- SUCCESS

Performing module support checks.
[####################] 100% -- SUCCESS

Notifying services about system upgrade.
[####################] 100% -- SUCCESS



Compatibility check is done:
Module  bootable          Impact  Install-type  Reason
------  --------  --------------  ------------  ------
     1       yes      disruptive         reset  default upgrade is not hitless



Images will be upgraded according to following table:
Module       Image                  Running-Version(pri:alt)           New-Version  Upg-Required
------  ----------  ----------------------------------------  --------------------  ------------
     1        nxos                                   10.2(3)               10.3(5)           yes
     1        bios     v05.47(04/28/2022):v05.47(04/28/2022)    v05.51(11/29/2023)           yes

Once the show install process has finished you can see in the above output that the NXOS and BIOS versions need to be updated, and that the impact is disruptive as it requires a reboot of the device. Before running the next command, make sure you are ready for the device to reboot as it will do so automatically. Once ready, run the install all nxos bootflash:///<filename> command on the switch to begin the install process for the new OS. Once the install is done, you will be prompted to continue with the install process as it will require a reboot, press Y to continue the install. Once the install has completed, it will automatically reboot the switch. 

NXOSSW1# install all nxos bootflash:///nxos64-cs.10.3.5.M.bin
Installer will perform compatibility check first. Please wait. 
Installer is forced disruptive

Verifying image bootflash:/nxos64-cs.10.3.5.M.bin for boot variable "nxos".
[####################] 100% -- SUCCESS

Verifying image type.
[####################] 100% -- SUCCESS

Preparing "nxos" version info using image bootflash:/nxos64-cs.10.3.5.M.bin.
[####################] 100% -- SUCCESS

Preparing "bios" version info using image bootflash:/nxos64-cs.10.3.5.M.bin.
[####################] 100% -- SUCCESS

Performing module support checks.
[####################] 100% -- SUCCESS

Notifying services about system upgrade.
[####################] 100% -- SUCCESS



Compatibility check is done:
Module  bootable          Impact  Install-type  Reason
------  --------  --------------  ------------  ------
     1       yes      disruptive         reset  default upgrade is not hitless



Images will be upgraded according to following table:
Module       Image                  Running-Version(pri:alt)           New-Version  Upg-Required
------  ----------  ----------------------------------------  --------------------  ------------
     1        nxos                                   10.2(3)               10.3(5)           yes
     1        bios     v05.47(04/28/2022):v05.47(04/28/2022)    v05.51(11/29/2023)           yes


Switch will be reloaded for disruptive upgrade.
Do you want to continue with the installation (y/n)?  [n] y


Install is in progress, please wait.

Performing runtime checks.
[####################] 100% -- SUCCESS

Setting boot variables.
[####################] 100% -- SUCCESS

Performing configuration copy.
[####################] 100% -- SUCCESS

Module 1: Refreshing compact flash and upgrading bios/loader/bootrom.
Warning: please do not remove or power off the module at this time.
[####################] 100% -- SUCCESS


Finishing the upgrade, switch will reboot in 10 seconds.

Once the switch has rebooted you can verify the NX-OS upgrade was successful by logging in and running the show version command

WRMEMSW01# sh ver
Cisco Nexus Operating System (NX-OS) Software
TAC support: http://www.cisco.com/tac
Copyright (C) 2002-2024, Cisco and/or its affiliates.
All rights reserved.
The copyrights to certain works contained in this software are
owned by other third parties and used and distributed under their own
licenses, such as open source.  This software is provided "as is," and unless
otherwise stated, there is no warranty, express or implied, including but not
limited to warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
Certain components of this software are licensed under
the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2.0 or 
GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3.0  or the GNU
Lesser General Public License (LGPL) Version 2.1 or 
Lesser General Public License (LGPL) Version 2.0. 
A copy of each such license is available at
http://www.opensource.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.php and
http://opensource.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html and
http://www.opensource.org/licenses/lgpl-2.1.php and
http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/library.txt.

Software
  BIOS: version 05.51
  NXOS: version 10.3(5) [Maintenance Release]
  Host NXOS: version 10.3(5)
  BIOS compile time:  11/29/2023
  NXOS image file is: bootflash:///nxos64-cs.10.3.5.M.bin
  NXOS compile time:  4/30/2024 12:00:00 [05/08/2024 19:39:13]
  NXOS boot mode: LXC

Hardware
  cisco Nexus9000 C93108TC-FX3P Chassis 
  Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU D-1526 @ 1.80GHz with 32803148 kB of memory.
  Processor Board ID FDO271606ZK
  Device name: BNEPRDNETSANACCSWA01
  bootflash:  115805708 kB

Kernel uptime is 0 day(s), 0 hour(s), 2 minute(s), 8 second(s)

Last reset at 935541 usecs after Fri Aug  2 14:15:27 2024
  Reason: Reset due to upgrade
  System version: 10.2(3)
  Service: 

plugin
  Core Plugin, Ethernet Plugin

Active Package(s):

And that's how you upgrade the version of NX-OS. If you've noticed anything missing or have any issues with this post or just want to say Hi, please leave a comment and let me know.