Standalone ESU Upgrade

• Upgrading while using only one ESU card will interrupt traffic flow when the ESU switches control from the old software revision to the new one.  Please note that any system that is simplex (only has single ESU card) will experience a much longer outage when not protected by a standby ESU or PPG group.

In an Upgrade with two ESU Cards: 

• Upgrading with a properly configured redundant ESU system prevents interruption to the data flow when the ESU switches traffic control from the old software revision to the new one.  Since the ESU cards are redundant, an outage will not occur during their switch to the new software.  Outages only occur during the reboot of OIU or ONT cards which happens at the end of the software upgrade.

During the software download, the EMS is instructed to download the updated software into secondary flash banks on the ESUs and OLTs.  Software download is nonservice affecting.  Then, when instructed, the OLT will replace the active software on the Standby ESU with the new revision, and then reboot the card. As the card reboots, the software will then update each PON element, collect its parameters and update the database.

After the database has been updated in the Standby ESU, the system will automatically switch traffic control from the Primary ESU to the Standby ESU. Because the database was updated, and everything was rebooted on the Standby ESU, the switchover of traffic control from the Primary to Standby ESU will only produce a reduced flow of traffic as the Standby ESU takes over traffic control.

Pre-Upgrade

To Download and Print an Upgrade Checklist click Here.

Pre-upgrades will be used for all Software upgrades.

1. Verify Download Complete: Verify that all downloads are complete and that no auto-downloads are in progress. If any are in progress, allow them to be completed. 
2. Capture System State: Capture the current state of the system. In high value networks, this gives the ability to validate that all devices have returned to service and the system is fully operational after upgrade.
   1. Capture MACS: Capture all MAC addresses if needed to validate that all devices have returned to service by utilizing the Verifying MAC Counts Before/After Upgrade procedure.
   2. Capture Alarms: Capture all current alarms for the system so that they can be checked after the upgrade to ensure no new alarms are present by utilizing the Verifying Alarms Before/After Upgrade procedure.
   3. PPG In Sync: Ensure all PPG Sync alarms are cleared.
3. If utilizing a Golden Card: Run the Golden Card procedure.  This enables rapid rollback in case of upgrade issues.

Software Upgrade

1. Verify Pre-Upgrade is complete. 
2. Notify all parties of maintenance start.
3. Disable SNMP: Disable SNMP on OLTs by utilizing the Disable/Enable SNMP Agent procedure.
   1. Verify SNMP has been disabled on the Primary and Standby OLTs, if needed, to prevent unnecessary trouble tickets during upgrade.

      Note: This is optional. There may be alarms and report tickets generated during a software update. To prevent this, SNMP should be disabled.

4. Switch Primary OLT: Initiate a software switch on the Primary OLT which will start the new software running on the Primary OLT.

   WARNING: During this procedure, traffic will be interrupted and come back online in around 15 minutes and a full restoration of the network is expected within 35 minutes.

   1. Select the Download  Icon in the Application window, the OLT in the Common Tree, and the Manual Switch tab in the Main window.
   2. In the Switch to Version pulldown menu, select the latest version software package.
   3. Click on the Execute Switch  button in the Main window.
      
      
       

      Note: The System Switch Status window will show download status messages as the software is updating the ESUs.

   4. System Switch Status will indicate Complete when switching is completed.
5. Validate Traffic: Utilize the data gathered prior to the upgrade to ensure that all devices have returned to service, all alarms have returned to their pre-upgrade state. 
   1. Capture MACS: Capture all MAC addresses to validate that all devices have returned to service by utilizing the Verifying MAC Counts Before/After Upgrade procedure.
   2. Capture Alarms: Capture all current alarms for the system after the upgrade to ensure no new alarms are present by utilizing the Verifying Alarms Before/After Upgrade procedure. 
6. Re-enable SNMP: Enable SNMP so that normal ticketing and system surveillance will return to normal by utilizing the Disable/Enable SNMP Agent procedure. (If disabled before software update).
7. Backup OLT: Perform a backup of the OLT. This action typically takes about 1–2 minutes per OLT. Backup the OLTS utilizing the Backup OLT Database procedure.

   Note: Ensure all the OLTs are backed up. It is good practice to ensure that backups are copied off of the machine to protect them in the event of any machine failure.

8. Validate Installation

   1. Utilize available tools (device controllers, SNMP tools, ping, sweeps, etc.) to identify any network problems (Offline devices, uninstalled devices, PoE issues, physical plant problems, Etc.)
9. Notify parties that the upgrade is now complete.