Can no longer connect to VAL Board from Manager 2

[AvayaHelp]

For some reason all of a sudden my VAL Manager lost all settings and gave an error when it was launched. I had to reinstall and now I cannot connect. When trying to connect I get "Connection to PBX failed. The port is incorrect or another error occured. Connection refused"

I have the VAL Manager Software version 1.2.6
Also need to verify firmware is latest but not sure how to do this.

Our networks team tested the IP Address & port and it pings fine
A tracer was connected to check for packet errors and latency and all came back 100%
I have a G3v11 and ran the command <display ip-interfaces> and I can see the VAL enabled on the slot
I then ran <Display Ip-Services> and the VAL does not show up in the list
I then ping the node name in the switch and it will pass with 7 ms
I then ping the Ip Address in the switch and it will pass with 5 ms
The announcements work fine, recordings can be made just fine



Avaya, Octel, AUDIX, CMS and other fun stuff.

&quot;There is always a way, it may not be pretty but there is always a way.&quot;

&quot;I don't have a technical solution to your management problem.&quot; <PeaveyPhones>

P:-D

 

[SF0751]

I always have a problem remembering that the IP address when setting up the VAL Manager software is the address of my CLAN board (the one I use for ASA) and not the address of my VAL board. Also, make sure that the port is the same as set up in ip-services.

Just a thought.....

Susan
[sub]You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.[/sub]
[sup]Aristophanes, 424 B.C.[/sup]
[sup]Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est.

 

[wmharris]

It may be that the port is locked up on the VAL card. This can happen if a session ends abruptly. You can try resetting this by doing a busy and release if you have those privileges or you may be able to get control through the CLAN interface.

Login to the system through the CLAN or dialup and issue the command 'enable filesystem board [type the location (i.e. 01B10)] "login" [ftp_username (i.e. denver)] [ftp_password (i.e. broncos)]. This may not work because the card interface is already in use so it will give an error but try it anyway. Then try the next command 'disable filesystem board [type the location (i.e. 01B10)]' and press the Enter key. This may allow it to free the interface. Use the 'HELP' command to prompt you for the syntax if needed.

 

[iSDX]

Make sure your VAL board is running F/W 7

01A04 VAL-ANNOUNCEMENT TN2501AP HW02 FW007

 

[AvayaHelp]

I have never upgarded firmware, I need to do this for both my VAL and my C-LAN Cards, anyone can walk me through this please?

Thanks

 

[wmharris]

I'll try to help you. You should gather some info from your system and have that onhand and then go to the Ayava website to get the firmware versions you will need.

You have said that you are running rel. 11.x on the switch but what rel. both hardware and firmware are you running on the cards. You can do a 'list config all' command to see what is in the system and print this for ref.

I just finished upgrading at the first of the year on all the systems we have and we had a wide range of releases on the systems at that time. I currently run rel 10 on the CLAN cards and rel 7 on the VALs. I also had IPMEDPROs that were upgraded at that time but you have to be careful with these because rel 3 hardware and rel 11 hardware use different firmware loads. Be sure that the CLAN cards are the flashable type (i.e. TN799CP).

Let me know when would you like to start doing this if you want my assistance.

 

[AvayaHelp]

wmharris - thanks for the time and effort.
Ok here we go...
I have for the C-Lan cards X2: TN799DP HW01 FW007
The VAL is a TN2501AP HW02 FW006

You mention it has to be the flashable type CP but Avaya tells me I should be able to flash the DP myself.

 

[wmharris]

I was wrong when I said 'CP', the main thing is that it has the letter (P)rogrammable. The VAL card should be at rel 7 but the problems that that release solves are now behide you for now. The VAL had a Time and Date problem that could cause the announcements to seem to disapear but after February of each year it is no longer an issue. I would leave it until last for now but that is up to you.

The CLAN should be at rel 10 at the very least but there is a newer rel 11 that you could use but I have no experience with so I'm not sure if it has any problems.

Have you been able to get the software from the Avaya website? Also be sure to click on the link for the instrutions for flashing firmware. This will be on the main page for each flash version. Each flash file also comes with a seperate readme file that you should also get and read.

What type operating system are you using, I use Windows XP and it has an FTP client that works fine from the commad line window, for what you will need to do.

 

[AvayaHelp]

One more question - We are 24/7 so should this be done after-hours during off peak hours or does it matter? Is there any interuption and if so for how long?

Thanks

 

[wmharris]

Yes this will cause the card to shutdown for about 1 minute as the card reboots. Also there is one a problem with one of the cards not rebooting on its own if the system software is not at least ver 11.2 but I'll have to check the documents again if that is an issue in your case. You would need to reseat the card to get it back in service so that means someone would need to be onsite at the time of the upgrade.

You can put the new firmware on the card and the schedule the flash for a later time so that will let you get part of the job done ahead of the actual time that the upgrade takes place.

 

[SF0751]

Here is a good (and detailed) manual for firmware upgrades:

http://tinyurl.com/yscpb

In addition, I go to

http://tinyurl.com/2rbpn

for all of my firmware download files.

Susan
[sub]You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.[/sub]
[sup]Aristophanes, 424 B.C.[/sup]
[sup]Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est.

 

[wmharris]

I have checked and it is the VAL board (TN2501AP) that has to be reseated if the system software is rel 11.1.x or lower.

 

[wmharris]

Here is a list that I put together as a guide to the way I did this for the CLAN upgrade. The file names and locations may be different in your case.

1. Acquire proper upgrade file (i.e. tn799dp_f10.bin).

2. Place the upgrade file in a temporary directory (i.e. \tmp) on your PC.

3. Open a Command Prompt screen on the PC and issue the command ‘ch dir tmp’ to change to the ‘\tmp’ working directory.

4. Issue the command ‘dir’ on your PC to see that the file(s) are present.

5. Start the ASA application using terminal mode and login to the location that will be upgraded.

6. Issue the command ‘disp alarms’ from the ASA application to check for current alarms. Resolve any Major or Minor alarms before proceeding with the upgrade.

7. Issue the command ‘list node-names and print the screen.

8. Issue the command ‘disp ip-interface’ and print the screen.

9. Issue the command ‘disp ip-services’ and print the screen.

10. Issue the command ‘list config all’ and print the screen that has the information for the card that will be upgraded.

11. Switch to the PC Command Prompt session and issue the command ‘ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx’. Substitute the actual IP address for the card that will be upgrade to test the connection to the card. Make a note of the response time.

12. At the ASA session issue the command ‘disp firmware download’. There should not be a file listed at this time.

13. Issue the command ‘enable filesystem board board-location login ftp_username ftp_password’. Note that board-location is the location of the circuit card in the system (i.e. 01b10 or 03D18, etc.). ftp_username is a login name that you must assign (i.e. denver) and ftp_password is a login password that you also assign (i.e. broncos). Note that anyone that knows this login name and password will now have access through this device. Once the upgrade has been completed the login name and password are disabled.

14. From the ASA session issue the command ‘list directory board [board-location]’. There should not be a file displayed.

15. Move back to the PC Command Prompt and issue the command ‘ftp [ip-address]’. The ip-address is the same value that was used in step 12 above.

16. The ftp session will prompt for the ftp_username and this is the value that was assigned in step 14 above.

17. The ftp session will prompt for the ftp_password and this is the value that was assigned in step 14 above.

18. Type ‘bin’ and press the Enter key to place the ftp session in binary mode.

19. Type ‘put tn799dp_f10.bin’ and press the Enter key. Do not press any other keys at this time. Wait until the ftp session finishes the upload of the file or times out. This could take over 5 minutes but typically takes 1-2 minutes.

20. After the ftp session prompt returns type ‘bye’ and press the Enter key. This ends the login to the system that will be upgraded.

21. Move back to the ASA session and issue the command ‘list directory board board-location’. The firmware file should be present.

22. If the firmware file is loaded on the card then issue the command ‘change firmware download’. See the attached printout of the download screen for reference. If your ASA login session is connected to the CLAN IP interface port, you must schedule the download. You must logout of the ASA session before the upgrade starts or the upgrade may fail to complete.

23. From the PC Command Prompt you can monitor the status of the IP interface before, during and after the upgrade by issuing the command ‘ping ip-address’. The upgrade process should take less than 5 minutes but typically takes about 1-2 minutes.

24. After the upgrade process has completed and the IP interface address has become active, you can again attempt to login to the system with your ASA application.

25. From the ASA session issue the command ‘status firmware download’ and you should not see any active upgrade file listed.

26. From the ASA session issue the command ‘status firmware download last’ and you should see the status of the upgrade file. This screen should show that the file download has completed and also show the new firmware version is 10.

27. Issue the command ‘list config all’ and note the firmware version that is listed for the CLAN card that was upgraded. This should now list version 10.

28. Issue the command ‘disp alarms’ and observe any new alarms. Resolve any new alarms as needed.

29. The upgrade process is now complete.

 

[SF0751]

CAUTION. If you are using wmharris's well written-notes, be aware of the following. If you are upgrading the firmware for a VAL board, you are placed in the VAL's announcement subdirectory by default. Insert step 18a and issue the command cd / after the BIN command but before the PUT command. This will move you to the VAL board's root directory, which is where the ftp file needs to be.

Missing this step cost me about 45 minutes in trouble-shooting time last October.

Susan
[sub]You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.[/sub]
[sup]Aristophanes, 424 B.C.[/sup]
[sup]Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est.

 

[wmharris]

I was only giving the steps for the CLAN at this time and not the VAL but SF0751 is correct that you will need to change directories if doing the VAL upgrade. I just didn't want to put to much info on his plate at one time before he has a chance to digest this.

 

[AvayaHelp]

WOW All thatnk you for the effort. Lets all assume we are upgrading the C-LAN only for now. As this may cause interuption and we are 24/7, I will be using W2000 with ASA. I found the PDF How-to. The Software has not been downloaded yet as the link I have avaya.com/support takes me to a Lucent site where I have to login and I have no idea what the login is.

Also wmharris you mention at one point that someone will have to be onsite, I assume you mean me?

I have an internal process I have to follow first before this is done - submit a request to do the work. So I guess the next question is what is the worst thing that can happen if goes wrong?

Thanks again

 

[wmharris]

W2000 should be fine but you may want to try to setup the login part and make sure that you can get into the system by using FTP.

I understand about the internal process, this is what they made me do here before I could do this on our systems. One thing I had to do was hold a spare CLAN in reserve in case the card being upgraded went bad doing this and having a way to get into the remote location to make the repair if everything went wrong. The part about having someone onsite is if something goes wrong and you have to reseat the card to get it back in service. If you are like me you may have locations that are remote and if you want to run the risk that a CLAN hangs it may not be a big problem if it doesn't come back into service right away but some of our locations use IP phones and require the card to be up and running. I could log into the system using INADS if the CLAN was down but then the users with the IP phones would be complaining if they didn't have phones.

After telling you this I should also tell you that I never had any major problems except for the first one that I did and that was because I was logged into the same card that I was upgrading interactively and it tried to reset and dumped me out of the connection and then didn't complete the flash. The next time I scheduled it and then logged out while the flash took place.

I'll send you the instructions for the VAL anytime you want them but suggest that you have a current backup of all the announcements before upgrading that card(s).

 

[mrtelcom]

If you are still having a problem connecting to your VALs....
I have a very similar situation. Avaya is telling me that I must load the latest patch onto my S8700s in order to clear up a corrupted file that is inhibiting VAL Manager from connecting properly with my VALs.
I don't have much detail on this yet but you may want to explore the possibility.

 

[AvayaHelp]

Thanks All Again!! I have connected to the VAL, thanks to Susan.

wmharris - I will take your instructions and go with it, I'll let you know how it goes, thanks again.