Device Pack updates

[dudecrush]

I've got Call Manager 9.1

I've been bit by the firmware bug CSCun26289. In my case, a user can't conference call using the headset. At first I thought it was just the 7962 phones, but I have a user with a 7961 having the same problem. I also see posts that this affects all 79xx phones using our current firmware load: 41.9-3-1SR4-1S

So now I'm up to downloading a device pack to catch all the 79xx phones. Since I've never done this before (I'm newbie), I have some questions:

a)The bug-fix was to install 9.4(2), released in Sept. 2014. Can I assume that device pack 9.1(2.13076) or 9.1(2.13070) have that update? When I click on the "known bugs" or "release notes" radio button at the bottom, nothing comes up so I can't tell.

b)If a) is true, which of the two device packs is the most stable? 070 was released in Dec. '14. 076 was released in Feb 2015. There is also an 080 released April 2nd, but I'm leery of the "latest and greatest"

c) Would it just make more sense to roll-back to a previous version?

d) If I roll-back, do I just type in a previous version and reset an affected phone and be on my merry way? (Probably not that simple)

What other questions should I be asking? Advice from you pro's out there who've done these device pack upgrades would be valuable!

Thanks!

 

[gnrslash4life]

I wouldnt do a device pack as it requires a cluster reboot. I would download the firmware for your phones and upload/reset TFTP. Much simpler.

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[HmmG3]

I agree. Device Packs are great if you need to add new phone types that may not be supported yet on your current version of CUCM. But for basic phone firmware upgrades, just download the individual phone firmware files for each phone type. Once you install them on your TFTP (typically the publisher), just restart the TFTP service. After that, reboot the phones and they will upgrade. If you need to roll back, go under the Device Menu, then Device Settings and finally Device Defaults. Change the firmware version to the previous level and save. Reboot the phones again and they will switch back.

 

[dudecrush]

Thanks for mentioning that individual firmware upgrades are simpler. That was a question of mine, but I didn't ask it because I thought I needed a device-pack upgrade. (See - I told you I'm new)

So I've got another dumb question: When I go to download the firmware for the 7962, I see the following choices:

A) IP Phone Load Signed COP file - Compatible CUCM Versions: 7.1(5) +; This choice gives me one file to upload that covers both the 7942 and 7962

B) IP Firmware files Only - Compatible CUCM Versions: 7.1(5) +; This choice gives me multiple files for both the 7962 and 7942 files
* Five .sbn files (apps42.9-4-2TH1-1.sbn; cnu42.9-4-2TH1-1.sbn; cvm42sccp.9-4-2TH1-1.sbn; dsp42.9-4-2TH1-1.sbn; jar42sccp.9-4-2TH1-1.sbn)
* Three .loads files (SCCP42.9-4-2-1S.loads; term42.default.loads; term62.default.loads)


So....what the heck do I pick? I'm tempted to go with A), because it's one file and seems simpler. If B) is better, how do I update? Which files are updated first, second, etc?

 

[HmmG3]

As long as your TFTP service is on a CallManager (vast majority fall under this category), then you go with A. Download that single file and place it on a FTP or SFTP server. Then on the CallManager publisher, install that file (the release notes should provide directions on how to do this). It will take a few minutes to install and will then update the default level for those phone types. Do the same again for the 7941/61 firmware file. Once both are installed, restart the TFTP service and you can then start rebooting phones to get them to upgrade.

 

[dudecrush]

Thanks. I'll give it a go and let you know what happens.

 

[gnrslash4life]

I always put the firmware on the Subs just in case. But is not a necessity.

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[dudecrush]

Stupid question - As I'm going over the install doc's for the firmware, I read this ominous warning: "If your Cisco Unified Communications Manager does not have the required device pack to support this firmware release, the firmware many not work correctly"

I'm going to assume I can safely ignore this because:
1) The 79xx phones wouldn't appear if I didn't have the device pack installed.
2) Since all of my 79xx phones appear to be running 9.3(1) SR4-1S from March 2014, I have to presume the latest service release has been installed.

Am I right?

 

[HmmG3]

I believe that's correct. For example, if you can't add a DX80 device type, installing a DX80 firmware won't work. You have to install a Device Pack to add that device type first before then applying additional firmware upgrades. But since you already have the phone types available, there's no problem with installing firmware only. I've done several 7941/42 upgrades in the past with no issues or the need to install a full device pack.

 

[dudecrush]

Kick-butt....that's what I thought. Thanks HmmG3. Since I already had 9.3(1), and I'm going to 9.4(2), I figured I was right but I had to filter that through Cisco's logic.

 

[gnrslash4life]

Yes, device packs are really only adding devices that are currently not available for your software release that you are running.

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[dudecrush]

OK guys - it looked like that worked. After Ftp-ing the files to the Pub and both Sub's, I restarted the TFTP service in Unified Serviceability and restarted my phone. The upgrade took just shy of 6 minutes to complete. I noticed that Call Manager automatically put in the new version entry without me typing anything in. Since I didn't want all the phones to get the upgrade yet, I stopped the TFTP service on my pub and sub's.

So I have some questions:
1) What is the best way to upgrade all the phones? A reboot of the servers would do, but if one phone took 6 minutes - then 500 phones would take 3000 minutes or just over 2 days to upgrade. I'm would think Call Manager wouldn't take that type of "phone-by-phone" approach to upgrades, but I was wondering if the strain of that many firmware upgrades at one time would bring Call Manager to it's knees and screw it all up anyway. Besides, if I lost power at a remote location (or here), then all of the phones would be messed up. I was thinking that taking "chunks" of phones in Call Manager (i.e. - by department or branch) and rebooting them nightly would be a better approach. Let me know what your experience has been.


2) If I have to roll-back, is it just as dumb-simple as typing in the old version and resetting a phone, or is it more complicated than that?


3) After I upgraded my phone, I went to Device > Device Settings > Firmware Load Information to see what that would look like. Since the new device firmware default is 9.4(2), I expected to see hundreds of phones as being out-of-compliance. Yet I didn't see that - why would that be?

 

[HmmG3]

First, enable TFTP service again. Now go under the Device Menu, then Device Settings and finally Device Defaults. Change the firmware version to the level the phones are currently running and click save. Now you have full TFTP services running but the phones won't upgrade when rebooted. When you want to start upgrading, switch the firmware versions to the new one and click save (no restart of TFTP is required).

1. I like to limit upgrading phones to about 200-250 at a time (TFTP service usually can't handle much more then that). I do it by listing all phones of that type. Set the display to show 250 rows per page in the top right corner. Check the box in the upper left to select all listed phones and click reset. This will then reset all 250 phones. After 10 minutes, go to the next page and select the next 250 phones to reboot. Repeat as necessary until all phones have rebooted.

2. Switch the default firmware level back to the old one and reset the phones again. In most cases, the phones can revert back to the older version.

3. That page is for listing phones that have a specific firmware specified in their profile page. So if you manually changed a specific phone to the new firmware, it would be listed here. I typically set a few phones to the new version and test that way. After I push the firmware to all phones by setting it as the default, I go back to this page to find which phones had previously been set and clear out the specific firmware setting.

I hope that helps.

 

[ethereal112]

Be cautious. If you decide to upgrade from 9.X to 10.X, it has the same firmware bug. It will overwrite the Engineer Special Firmware file Cisco released to fix this bug.

 

[dudecrush]

Thanks guys - I appreciate the advice. I turned on TFTP services, but set back to the previous version for now. I'll need to download and install the updates for the 7941, 7961 and 7970.

One other question - As my original issue states, I'm trying to fix the "can't conference with the headset" issue. Outside of that, I haven't really had any other complaints. So, is it wiser to...
a) Upgrade all affected phones, even if they don't use the headset? OR
b) Just upgrade all the phones using a headset?


I could make arguments for both. If b), how do I know which phones actually have headsets in them? All of our phones are already enabled for headsets.

Thanks for your advice guys - I gave all of you stars!

 

[HmmG3]

Test the firmware on a few phones to confirm there are no new issues and it fixes the old one. Once tested, upgrade all phones of that type. It's just not worth it to update individual phone profiles and have a mixed environment. Also, chances are you'll need to upgrade again in the future to support newer CallManager versions. I've upgraded our 7941s 4 times now over the years just to keep current and allow for proper compatibility with the CallManager (started on version 4.1 and now running 9.1 with an upgrade to 10.5 in the near future).

 

[dudecrush]

When the firmware is installed on my Call Manager, I get the MD5 checksum value. I just clicked on "next" and went past it, but my gut tells me I should've checked it. My test 7961 failed it's upgrade (and thankfully reverted to a previous load), and that it was unable to find a certain file.

So this leads to my next question: How does one do a check on the MD5 checksum value? Older phone firmware versions had this in the release notes, but I don't see it in the later versions.

 

[HmmG3]

When you are that the Cisco.com web site and have the list of files to download (where it gives you the option to download or add to cart), simply hover your mouse over that particular file. It will then bring a popup window. This window will have the release date, file size, file name and the MD5SUM value. That should match what the CUCM says. If it doesn't, then it somehow got corrupted during the transfer process.

For cmterm-7941_7961-sccp.9-4-2-1.cop.sgn, the value is f24f414dff34e82283de475f417feb27.

 

[dudecrush]

Duh - right in front of me the whole time.

So, my 7961G upgrade failed because of a missing file. If I try and re-load the firmware again in Call Manager, is that going to cause any problems? I would guess not.

 

[HmmG3]

Nope, try it again. Just make sure to switch back the default level in the Defaults page again. Also, make sure you are resetting all TFTP services if they are running on multiple servers. Recheck the 7961 phone profile too to make sure the correct filename is specified (should be something like "SCCP41.9-4-1-1S", not the full COP file name). For all we know, the failure was simply due to a typo there. If all those check out and it still fails, get TAC involved as there could be an issue with the phone.