The Software Management application automates the steps associated with upgrade planning, scheduling, downloading software images, and monitoring your network.
Benefits of Software Management
The Software Management application provides tools making it easier to store backup copies of all Cisco software images running on network devices, as well as any additional software images that you may wish to maintain, and to plan and execute software image upgrades to multiple devices on the network at the same time.
It can analyze devices against software image requirements to determine device compatibility and make recommendations prior to performing a software upgrade. If any errors occur during a software image upgrade, Software Management will allow you to roll back to the previous version. Optionally, for added security and change-management control, software images will not be downloaded unless approved by specifically assigned users. Software Management reports also allow you to track all software upgrades and monitor known bugs in the software versions running on your network.
Software Management Functional Flow
Software images must be imported into Essentials to be maintained in the Software Image Library. Images can initially be imported to the Essentials Software Library from all managed Cisco devices on the network to create a baseline backup copy of all software images running on your network. Images can also be imported from Cisco.com or the local machine to be used for software image upgrades.
Figure 2-15 Software Management Functional Flow
After images are imported into the Software Image Library, the Software Management application can be configured to automatically poll devices on the network and produce a report of images running on devices that are not stored in the Essentials database. This ensures that for disaster recovery purposes, there is a backup of all software images running on the network in the software library at all times.
Any image that is stored in the Software Image Library can be used to perform a software upgrade. Each step of the process is recorded in the distribution, so if there is a failure, the network administrator will know the reasons for the failure. Software Manager maintains a log of all software upgrades, to make it easy to identify and track when software modifications are made to devices.
In addition, whenever a change is made to the software image on a device, a change record is sent to the Change Audit application, which collects and organizes all changes to network devices.
Software Management can also be configured to periodically check Cisco.com for known software bugs, and produce a report to show all bugs that affect devices on
Change Audit Cisco.com Browse/Search library Reports File Software images Network devices Track Bugs/ Sync library Device upgrades 77258
Figure 2-16 Software management Workflow
The image depicts the Software Management workflow and associated tasks within Essentials:
• Device requirements must be verified to ensure that Essentials will be able to access the devices to retrieve and upgrade software images.
• Perform setup tasks to begin using Software Management. Setup tasks include setting preferences that will be used for all Software Management import and upgrade jobs, creating any approver lists that will be used to approve software jobs, and scheduling jobs to periodically synchronize the software library with network devices and check Cisco.com for known software bugs.
• When Software Manager is set up, software and bug reports can be used to help identify when software upgrades might be needed.
• If a software upgrade is required, Software Management features can be used to analyze whether or not devices can accommodate the new image, and to
77111 Verify device requirements Establish preferences Import network baseline Schedule Sync & bug jobs
Create approver lists Setup
View bug reports View software reports Community strings Telent/Enable mode access rcp (if desired)
Identify upgrades needed Import images Update upgrade info CCO/library upgrade analysis Plan upgrade
Check syncronization report
Delete old software images and job records Ongoing maintenance and troubleshooting
Distribute images Execute upgrade
Browse job status View software history
Verify upgrade
Table 2-14 shows the tasks you can accomplish with the Software Management application.
Table 2-14 Software Management Tasks
Task Purpose Action
Set up your Software Management preferences.
Specify information such as history page size, the directory where images are stored, the pathname of the
user-supplied script to run before and after each device software upgrade.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Administration > Software
Management > Edit Preferences.
Add images to the library.
Import images from all Software Management supported devices in your network into the Software Image Library.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Software Management > Library > Add Images.
Download images from Cisco.com into the Software Image Library.
Add images from a device to the Software Image Library.
Add images from a filesystem to the Software Image Library.
Browse the library.
Generate a report of all the images in the Software Image Library.
You can also delete images from the image library and edit image attributes.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Software Management > Library > Browse Images.
Search the library.
Generate a report of a subset of images in the Software Image Library, based on details such as, device type, image type, and version.
You can also delete images from the image library and edit image attributes.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Software Management > Library > Search for Images.
View a
synchronization report.
Generate a synchronization report to determine which Software
Management-supported devices are
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Software Management > Library > Synchronization Report.
Schedule a synchronization job.
Specify the date, time, and frequency of a synchronization job.
Cancel a scheduled synchronization job.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Administration > Software
Management > Schedule Synchronization Job. Create approver
lists.
Specify who can approve the various tasks necessary during a software upgrade.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Administration > Job Approval > Create Approver List.
Edit or delete approver lists.
Edit and delete the list specifying who can approve tasks during a software upgrade.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Administration >Job Approval > Edit Approver List.
Schedule image upgrade jobs.
Schedule device upgrades with the selected images.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Software Management > Distribution > Distribute Images.
After you schedule and complete the image upgrade job, you can undo the upgrade and roll back to the previous image.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Software Management > Job
Management > Browse Jobs.
Plan an upgrade from Cisco.com.
Determine the impact to and prerequisites for a new software deployment using images that reside in Cisco.com.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Software Management > Distribution > CCO Upgrade Analysis.
Plan an upgrade from the library.
Determine the impact to and prerequisites for a new software deployment using images in your software library.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Software Management > Distribution > Library Upgrade Analysis.
Review
scheduled jobs or undo an upgrade.
Review, modify, or remove schedule jobs.
You can also retry failed jobs and undo completed image upgrade jobs.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Software Management > Job
Management > Browse Jobs.
Table 2-14 Software Management Tasks (continued)
View recent software upgrade results.
Generate a report summarizing the most recent device software upgrade results stored in the history database.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > 24-Hour Reports > Software Upgrade Report.
Mail or copy log files.
Mail or copy log files if requested to do so by Cisco Support after you report abnormal Software Management behavior.
Delete unnecessary log files after mailing or copying them.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Software Management > Job
Management > Mail or Copy Log File.
Browse history. Generate a summary of device software upgrades stored in the history database.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Software Management > History > Browse History.
Search history by device.
Generate a summary of software upgrades for selected devices.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Software Management >History > Search History by Device.
Search history by user.
Generate a summary of software upgrades performed by a particular user.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Software Management > History > Search History by User.
Browse bugs. Compare images running on Software Management supported devices in your network with the images on Cisco.com and report catastrophic and severe bugs specific to your network.
Identify devices running deferred software images.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Software Management > Bug Reports > Browse Bugs.
Schedule a Browse Bugs job.
Specify the date, time, and frequency of a Browse Bugs job.
Cancel a scheduled Browse Bugs job.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Administration > Software
Management > Schedule Browse Bugs Job.
Browse bugs by device.
Generate a summary of software image bugs for a group of devices.
Select Resource Manager Essentials > Software Management > Bug Report >
Table 2-14 Software Management Tasks (continued)