Upgrading a TS AND config file

To understand how upgrading will affect the files, it may be worth first understanding how the file structure of a TS works.

There are 3 main files which are in the /proc/flash directory.

• The boot file - this gives the TS the bootup parameters. ie console speed, hardware checks, network speeds etc
• The zImage file - this is in essence the zip of all the "default" files of the TS. All the files and directories of a default box come from this file.
• The script file - When you issue a saveconf command to the TS, it is simply tar'ing all the files that are listed in the /etc/config_files

So when the TS unit boots up, it firstly extracts all the default files from the zImage. Then if there is a script file, extracts all the files from the script file and overwrites the original ones, and hence you are back to where to were when you last saved.

Now, the problem is when a TS is upgraded the pslave.conf file is usually updated with all the things that can be modified in the new version. ie. In 1.3.2 there was all.syslog, but in 1.3.3 this changed for the syslog-ng and so the default pslave.conf config file was altered. But because you are loading a old pslave.conf file from a previous version save, how do you update to the new pslave.conf file ?

Well theoretically you don't actually have to, but you may find that some parts of your old script don't work or that something new that should work isn't in you config file. These are the steps i normally go thru if there have been some major changes in the config files between versions :

1. Upgrade the zImage file as per normal. This is explained in the installation manual (which can be downloaded from the previous web page)
2. Reboot the Box, so the new zImage takes affect. The ip address of the box should still exist as should the routes as these parts should not change. You may see a number of errors occur when the script file is loading. Take a note of these but don't worry too much about them at the moment.
3. cd /etc/portslave
4. In this directory you will find a pslave.save file. This is the default config file from the new version of the code. Best thing to do is firstly save off you original pslave.conf file. (Either by FTP'ing it off or simple cutting and pasting it to your local pc).
5. Edit the pslave.save with the same parameters as what you were using in the pslave.conf file. You may notice some commands aren't there any more or some new command is there. Make the relevant choice for those commands or if unsure just leave them. The IMPORTANT part that you need to make sure you edit correctly is the conf.eth_ip so that you can get back into the box via the ip.
6. Save the pslave.save file.
7. Copy the pslave.save file over the pslave.conf file (remember you have a copy of the pslave.conf file already saved don't you) From the prompt the command is
   TSx000#   cp pslave.save pslave.conf
8. The reload the config file
   TSx000#   signal_ras hup
9. And save the new config file
   TSx000#   saveconf

And thats all there is to it. You are in essence rewriting your config file into the new pslave.save file, but by doing this you maintain that the config file is correct and up to date.