Description:
This document describes how to update the firmware of managed LANCOM access points with a LANCOM WLAN controller and a USB flash drive acting as a file server.

This procedure cannot be applied on a vRouter (vWLC).



Requirements:


Procedure:
Preparing the USB storage medium:
The following describes how to set up a USB medium for operating with a LANCOM device:
  • File system: Format the USB medium with the FAT16 or FAT32 file system.
  • Base directory: Create the directory public_html on the USB medium. In the default setting, the HTTP server in LCOS only accesses files in that directory and its subdirectories (e.g. a subdirectory called firmware). All other files on the USB medium are ignored.
  • USB connection: Connect the mass storage device to the USB connector on the LANCOM device.

Configuration of Firmware management on the WLAN Controller:
1) Open the configuration of the WLAN controller in LANconfig, navigate to the menu WLAN controller → AP update and in the field Firmware URL, enter the address of the USB stick where the firmware file/s is/are saved.
Optionally you can modify the maximum number of firmware files that the WLAN Controller can store simultaneously in the field Max no. of loaded firmware files . The default value is 5. Depending on your requirements, you can vary the number between 1 and 10.

When using a USB flash drive, the firmware URL must use the following syntax:
127.0.0.1/filesrv/<mountpoint>/<folder name in the public_html directory on the USB flash drive> (Example: 127.0.0.1/filesrv/usb/firmware)

2) Switch to the menu item WLAN Controller → AP Update →  Firmware version management. 

3) Click on the Add button in the Firmware version management dialog.

If an entry is present in this table, the WLAN Controller will keep the affected devices on the specified firmware version. If the table is empty and the link to the internal fileserver with the USB stick has been entered, the WLAN Controller checks by means of the firmware date whether the firmware in the access points is newer than the version on the USB flash drive.

4) Enter the following parameters:
  • Device: Using the drop-down menu, define the Device type for which the firmware is to be managed.
  • MAC address: Optionally you can enter the MAC address of a specigic access point. In this case the Firmware Management only applies to this device. If the MAC address 000000000000 is entered (predefinded in the drop-down menu), this entry applies to all devices of the specified type. 
  • Version: In the  Version  box, specify the firmware version for which an update for the specified devices or device types is to be made. This is stated in the form:  xx.yy , e.g.  10.40 .
  • If you specify  All  under  Device  the firmware management applies to all devices. In this case it is possible to specify any MAC adress albeit it is advisable to specify the first address available in the drop-down menu ( 000000000000 ). 
  • In the case of a firmware upgrade to a newer version, it is not necessary to create a completely new entry in the firmware management list. All you have to do is change the version number in the  Version  field (e.g. to 10.42).
  • The Date  allows you to downgrade to a specific firmware version within a release, for example from a Release Upgrade (RU) on an earlier upgrade. Possible values: 8 characters from 0123456789. The entry must match the format of the UPX header, e.g.  01092014  for September 01,   2014.

5) Close the configuration dialogs with the  OK  button and write the configuration back to the WLAN controller. The firmware update commences once the configuration is written to the device.



Activation of the updated firmware on the access points:
The new firmware is only activated on the access points once they have been restarted. You can execute a manual reboot or as an alternative you can also set up a  cron job on the WLAN controller, which performs the restart during the night hours, for example, if it is not possible to reboot the access points during operations. 

1) Reboot updated access points manually:
1.1) To restart the access points manually, open the configuration of the WLAN controller in WEBconfig and go into the menu  Extras → LCOS Menu Tree → Setup →  WLAN-Management → Central-Firmware-Management and click on the option  Reboot-updated-APs.
1.2) Click on the  Execute  button in the next dialog window.
1.3) A message is displayed to indicate the successful execution of the reboot command. The access points with updated firmware now reboot.

2) Automated reboot of the updated access points at a certain time via cron job:
2.1) Open the configuration dialog  Date & Time → General → Cron table  on the WLAN controller. 
2.2) Click on the  Add  button to create a new cron job. 
In the fields  Minutes  and  Hours , enter the desired values. In this example, the cron job will run daily at 01:00 AM. 
In the  Commands  box enter the following command line: 
do /setup/WLAN-Management/Central-Firmware-Management/Reboot-updated-APs
2.3) Close the configuration dialogs with the  OK  button and write the configuration back to the WLAN controller.