Firmware compatibility issues HPE/H3C: 1810P12

[K_Johansson]

Hello,

  Today we made an attempt to go from our three years old firmware to the latest official 1810P12, it applied well and was distributet over to the other switches in our IRF stack.

  After reboot we realized that the H3C marked individuals didnt approve of this firmware, instead we got "invalid version". 

  On H3C's webpage there seems to be firmwares corresponding to the current HPE ones, should one start to mix, and use HPE on HPE marked ones and H3C on the H3C branded?

http://www.h3c.com.hk/Technical_Support___Documents/Software_Download/Switches/H3C_S5800_5820X_Series_Switches/H3C_S5800_5820X_Series_Switches/

  But.. it dont feel quite right to mix two different firmwares on a IRF stack (6 devices in total).

Any thoughts on this? When did HPE and H3C part ways? And how to manage this today? The old firmware 1808P21 did not have any compability issues and the same file worked on all six devices.

Cheers

Kent Johansson

[parnassus]

AFAIK an IRF Stack should always be formed (and be made of) Switch members belonging to the same brand (HP or H3C, not by both).

H3C, 3Com and HP Switches can generally be (re)branded to let them behave coherently in case you want to form an IRF Stack (Hardware can be marked H3C and HP (HP was changed to HPE since release of R1810 on December 2015) or 3Com but Software must be the same from (a) brand and (b) release version points of views).

Which Switches your IRF Stack is made of exactly (HP SKU please)?

[K_Johansson]

Well our stack is a strange breed then, 3xHPE and 3xH3C..

The command "display device manuinfo" returns the following:, with some irrelevant data edited our:

Slot 1:

DEVICE_NAME          : A5800-24G JC100A

DEVICE_SERIAL_NUMBER : CN2BBFN0F9

VENDOR_NAME          : HP

Slot 2:

DEVICE_NAME          : S5820X-28S

DEVICE_SERIAL_NUMBER : 210235A370H10C000035

VENDOR_NAME          : H3C

Slot 3:

DEVICE_NAME          : A5800-24G-SFP JC103A

DEVICE_SERIAL_NUMBER : CN18BFR06X

VENDOR_NAME          : HP

Slot 4:

DEVICE_NAME          : A5800-24G JC100A

DEVICE_SERIAL_NUMBER : CN18BFN034

VENDOR_NAME          : HP

Slot 5:

DEVICE_NAME          : S5820X-28S

DEVICE_SERIAL_NUMBER : 210235A370H117000005

VENDOR_NAME          : H3C

Slot 6:

DEVICE_NAME          : S5800-32F

DEVICE_SERIAL_NUMBER : 210235A374H115000027

VENDOR_NAME          : H3C

And as this its been working fine for 3+ years with 5.20 1808P21, with "slot 1" acting as the commander. But when we applied 1810P12 today the H3C ones said "invalid version" and we had to revert back to the old firmware.

Cheers

Kent Johansson 

[parnassus]

What's the current output of display version issued on each IRF Member?

That's to understand exactly which software versions (and brands) are currently running on your IRF Stack.

IMHO, before any other IRF Stack software update attempt to R1810P12 from R1808P21, you should evaluate the H3C to HP (re)branding approac: there is a 2015 HP Series Switch & Router Brand Migration Feature Guide here [*], it explains the rebranding process in details with restrictions and implementation notes.

Note what was reported exactly on that guide regarding IRF and HP/H3C and 3Com brand(s) interaction:

"Different Brands used in a single IRF fabric

Some HP, H3C and 3Com switches can form an IRF fabric, and their MPUs are interchangeable. If differently branded MPUs are used on your switch or IRF fabric, change the MPU brand to be the same to prevent an active/standby MPU switchover or master re-election from causing network management problems."

[*] An older 2011 HP A Switch Series Brand Migration Feature Guide written specifically for HP A Switch Series is also available here.