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Revised: September 27, 2017, OL-25758-02

Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Software Upgrade and

Downgrade Guide

This document describes how to upgrade or downgrade the Cisco NX-OS software.

About Software Images

Each device is shipped with the Cisco NX-OS software. The Cisco NX-OS software consists of two images—the kickstart image and the system image.

The software image install procedure is dependent on the following factors:

• Software images—The kickstart and system image files reside in directories or folders that you can access from the Cisco

NX-OS software prompt.

• Image version—Each image file has a version.

• Flash disks on the device—The bootflash: resides on the supervisor module and the CompactFlash disk is inserted into the slot0:, usb1, or usb2: device.

• Supervisor modules—There are single or dual supervisor modules.

Note

On devices with dual supervisor modules, both supervisor modules must have connections on the console ports to maintain connectivity when switchovers occur during upgrades and downgrades. See the Cisco

Nexus 7000 Series Hardware Installation and Reference Guide .

About In-Service Software Upgrades on Devices with Dual Supervisor Modules

The Cisco NX-OS software supports in-service software upgrades (ISSUs) on devices with dual supervisor modules. An ISSU can update the software images on your device without disrupting data traffic. Only control traffic is disrupted. If an ISSU will cause a disruption of data traffic, the Cisco NX-OS software warns you before proceeding so that you can stop the upgrade and reschedule it to a time that minimizes the impact on your network.

An ISSU updates the following images:

• Kickstart image

• System image

• Supervisor module BIOS

• Data module image

• Data module BIOS

• Connectivity management processor (CMP) image