Recovering from a Failed Software Upgrade on an EX Series Switch

Troubleshooting Software Installation

• Recovering from a Failed Software Upgrade on an EX Series Switch
• Rebooting from the Inactive Partition
• Freeing Up Disk Space for Software Installation

Recovering from a Failed Software Upgrade on an EX Series Switch

Problem

If the Junos
OS loads but the CLI is not working for any reason, or if the switch
has no software installed, you can use this recovery installation
procedure to install the Junos OS.

Solution

If there is already a Junos OS image on the system,
you can either install the new Junos OS package in a separate partition
and have both Junos OS images remain on the system, or you can wipe
the disk clean before the new installation proceeds.

If there is no Junos OS image on the system, follow the instructions
in Booting an EX Series Switch Using a Software Package Stored on a USB Flash Drive to get an
image on the system and boot the switch.

To perform a recovery installation:

1. Power on the switch. The loader script starts.

   After the message Loading /boot/defaults/loader.conf displays, you are prompted with:

   Hit [Enter] to boot immediately, or space bar for command
   prompt.

2. Press the space bar to enter the manual loader.
   The loader> prompt displays.
3. Enter the following command:
   loader> install [– –format] [–
   –external] source

   where:

   • format—Use this option to wipe the installation
     media before installing the software package. If you do not include
     this option, the system installs the new Junos OS package in a different
     partition from the partition used by the most recently installed Junos
     OS package.
   • external—Use this option to install the
     software package on an external media.
   • source—Represents the name and location
     of the Junos OS package either on a server on the network or as a
     file on the USB flash drive:
     • Network address of the server and the path on the server;
       for example, tftp://192.17.1.28/junos/jinstall-ex-4200-9.4R1.5-domestic-signed.tgz
     • The Junos OS package on a USB device is commonly stored
       in the root drive as the only file; for example, file:///jinstall-ex-4200-9.4R1.5-domestic-signed.tgz

   The boot process proceeds as normal and ends with a login
   prompt.

Rebooting from the Inactive Partition

Problem

An
EX Series switch ships with the Junos OS loaded on the system disk
in partition 1. The first time you upgrade, the new software package
is installed in partition 2. When you finish the installation and
reboot, partition 2 becomes the active partition. Similarly, subsequent
software packages are installed in the inactive partition which becomes
the active partition when you reboot at the end of the installation
process.

If you performed an upgrade and rebooted, the system resets
the active partition. You can use this procedure to manually boot
from the inactive partition.

Note: If you have completed the installation of the software image but have not yet rebooted, you can issue the request system software rollback command to return to the original software installation package.

Solution

Reboot from the inactive partition:

user@switch> request system reboot partition
alternate

Note: If you cannot access the CLI, you can reboot from the inactive partition using the following procedure from the loader script prompt: Unload and clear the interrupted boot from the active partition: loader> unloadloader> unset vfs.root.mountfrom Select the new (inactive) partition to boot from: loader> set currdev=diskmediaspartition: where media is either 0 (internal) or 1 (external) and partition indicates the partition number, either 1 or 2. You must include the colon (:) at the end of this command. Boot the Junos OS from the inactive partition: loader> boot

Freeing Up Disk Space for Software Installation

Problem

The
software installation process requires a certain amount of unused
disk space. If there is not enough space, you might receive an error
message such as:

fetch: /var/tmp/incoming-package.tgz: No space left on device

Solution

Identify and delete unnecessary files by using the request system storage cleanup command.