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Brocade ICX Series (cheap & powerful 10gbE/40gbE switching)

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TonyArrr

Active Member
Sep 22, 2021
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That Post was made Like 6 years ago

IT got this week a completly new 0.10 Firmware Version
I was gonna say, I thought it was getting more updates than the 72xx line.

But yeah, when the first post was made it was probably rare af and cost a small bomb.

Makes me wonder, @fohdeesha, if you were making that first post today, would you recommend anything different?
 

Cheburashka

New Member
Aug 10, 2020
17
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I've been having some issues with my ICX7150-c12p.

A while back I was using the switching only firmware and had random issues with the switch loosing connectivity/functionality. Sometimes It would continue working for existing connections but new connections that would be brought up (powered on), the switch wouldn't see those ports.

I loaded up the L3 Routing firmware instead and didn't enable any L3 functionality. Its been working fine for a while but this evening I cannot get any serial access to it or access its network management-OOBM port on the IP that it was set for.

I'm certain that once I reboot, it will come back up but for some reason, the switch seems to go dumb every so often.

My network isn't complex and I suspect it is an issue with the switch.

Anybody else experience these type issues with their Brocade/Ruckus switch?
 

Billsey

New Member
Jun 27, 2025
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So, as long as we're talking about it... I'm having an issue when trying to upgrade firmware on the ICX 7250 models when they are part of a stack. If they are running the older FI version, such as 08.0.080f and I try to upgrade to a more current version with UFI, such as 08.0.095r, the stack loses it's mind and I have to manually go in and set each member back to 080f before the stack is re-formed. :(
I assume I'm doing something wrong, but everything I've read seems to suggest the upgrade should just go smoothly as long as I'm starting on one of the 080 or later versions. Do I have to have an intermediate step with an upgrade from 080f FI to 080f UFI before taking the leap to 095r? Since these switches are in a fairly live environment I'd like them to be down for as short of time as possible...
 
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Michael.Mebert

New Member
May 30, 2022
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Hello,
first of all.

THANK YOU
fohdeesha
:):):)

AWSOME WORK you have done

I am relativly new to the brocade topic.
I got a ICX 6650 used for my tests.

So before messing up my switch I have some general questions.
I would appreciate any help, tips and advice.
I am just starting in this area. So please be patient with me, if i asking too "stupid" questions.:rolleyes:

As i not 100% understand, are there different firmware types available?
Some of them are L3 some L2 functionallity?

The firmware given by fohdeesha in the "setup-posts" which kind is it?
I need L3 function. Is this possible with the firmware out of this post?
How i can decide which type the firmware is? Can this be seen in the names?

Before i start flashing anything at all, i would really like to backup all the existing firmware and licenses, so that it will be possible th flash it back.
Somebody could help me with a detailed howto?
Or point me to a post/link which describes this procedure exactly.
Everything i found was very general, mostly not even for brocade and the 6650.

the last question.
As i understand there seem to be always two firmware images stored in the switch.
I not really understand the reason for this. can they be different types?
And generally, how to boot firmware-image 1 or 2 ?

thanks to all in advance
Michael
 

TonyArrr

Active Member
Sep 22, 2021
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Straylia
As i understand there seem to be always two firmware images stored in the switch.
I not really understand the reason for this. can they be different types?
whenever you update the firmware, it installs the new firmware without erasing the current firmware. That way, if something goes wrong with the new firmware that caused it to stop starting up, the switch can just go back to the old firmware automatically.

pretty sure there is a option when you get into the bootloader where you can choose which firmware to start up, as well, but I’ve never done so myself…
 

kpfleming

Active Member
Dec 28, 2021
459
237
43
Pelham NY USA
whenever you update the firmware, it installs the new firmware without erasing the current firmware. That way, if something goes wrong with the new firmware that caused it to stop starting up, the switch can just go back to the old firmware automatically.
That's not exactly true; there are 'primary' and 'secondary' firmware partitions. If your switch is booting from the 'primary' partition, and you write new firmware to the same partition, then existing firmware in that partition is overwritten. Generally speaking this means you need to decide which partitions you will use; you can boot from the 'primary' partition normally, install new firmware into the 'secondary' partition, boot from it, but then reboot from the 'primary' partition if something in the new firmware doesn't work. Once you're comfortable that the new firmware works properly, you can copy it to the 'primary' partition so it is in both.

I've never seen the switch automatically change partitions, so I have no idea whether that is possible.
 
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Michael.Mebert

New Member
May 30, 2022
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ok thanks. I understand this now and will research deeper how boot from which partition.
how to get a new firmware in the switch, i already understood now.
But there is still the important question, how to backup the two existing firmmware partitions and the existing licenses, which i really want do before starting any tests :)
 

olev

New Member
Oct 5, 2023
5
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I'm sorry if I missed it in my attempts to search through this set, but does someone know whether there is brackets from other manufacturers that fit the ICX 7150-C12P? It doesn't seem the same width as one of my Mikrotik or Netgear Switches.
Surely I won't be paying 60 Euros for a set so I'm looking for alternatives.
 

Billsey

New Member
Jun 27, 2025
4
0
1
So, as long as we're talking about it... I'm having an issue when trying to upgrade firmware on the ICX 7250 models when they are part of a stack. If they are running the older FI version, such as 08.0.080f and I try to upgrade to a more current version with UFI, such as 08.0.095r, the stack loses it's mind and I have to manually go in and set each member back to 080f before the stack is re-formed. :(
I assume I'm doing something wrong, but everything I've read seems to suggest the upgrade should just go smoothly as long as I'm starting on one of the 080 or later versions. Do I have to have an intermediate step with an upgrade from 080f FI to 080f UFI before taking the leap to 095r? Since these switches are in a fairly live environment I'd like them to be down for as short of time as possible...
More details on my problem. The specific stack I'm working with is a two stack of 7250s currently running SPS08061a. It looks like the upgrade image is SPS08080f. We had to redo the configuration from a backup. The other stack I tried was also a two stack, going from SPR08080f to SPR08095r. That one didn't lose the config, but did have to have the individual switches reload after the upgrade because reloading the stack lost the connection between them. I really don't want to break a stack doing a firmware upgrade...
 

Billsey

New Member
Jun 27, 2025
4
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1
More details on my problem. The specific stack I'm working with is a two stack of 7250s currently running SPS08061a. It looks like the upgrade image is SPS08080f. We had to redo the configuration from a backup. The other stack I tried was also a two stack, going from SPR08080f to SPR08095r. That one didn't lose the config, but did have to have the individual switches reload after the upgrade because reloading the stack lost the connection between them. I really don't want to break a stack doing a firmware upgrade...
Yet more details, in case it helps at all. We upgraded all of our ICX 6450 switches to the latest 08.0.30uT313, which is I believe the last support revision. We upgraded three switches to 08.0.95rT213, one of which was a single switch coming from 08.0.90kT213, one of which was a stack of two form 08.0.70dT213 and one was a stack of 3 (ICX 7210 with three ICX1750s in the stack). That middle one, the stack of two was what broke first, after the reboot the stack didn't come up and we had to manually reboot each switch for them to recognize each other. The next try was in a different building so we could access the switches better. Attempting to upgrade a stack of three 7250s from 08.0.40aT213 to 08.0.80fT213 failed with the switch booting back to the old firmware and in the process losing it's full configuration.
I believe the correct process is for any of the switches running FI firmware to upgrade to a 080 version, like 08.0.80fT213, then to load the UFI firmware on the switch and boot from it, then to load the latest firmware and boot from that. Needless to say, waiting long enough for the stack to do it's internal upgrades and for the POE stuff to happen, with a rewrite of the config each step to make sure we don't boot a newer OS from and older config. Am I right?
 

TonyArrr

Active Member
Sep 22, 2021
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Straylia
That's not exactly true; there are 'primary' and 'secondary' firmware partitions. If your switch is booting from the 'primary' partition, and you write new firmware to the same partition, then existing firmware in that partition is overwritten. Generally speaking this means you need to decide which partitions you will use; you can boot from the 'primary' partition normally, install new firmware into the 'secondary' partition, boot from it, but then reboot from the 'primary' partition if something in the new firmware doesn't work. Once you're comfortable that the new firmware works properly, you can copy it to the 'primary' partition so it is in both.

I've never seen the switch automatically change partitions, so I have no idea whether that is possible.
ah, I have misunderstood. I was under the impression it defaulted new firmware to the partition not currently booted. I’ve been working on a lot of little “embedded” type devices recently so I guess I’m mixing them up with my switches ;)

thanks for the correction!
 

kpfleming

Active Member
Dec 28, 2021
459
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Pelham NY USA
ah, I have misunderstood. I was under the impression it defaulted new firmware to the partition not currently booted. I’ve been working on a lot of little “embedded” type devices recently so I guess I’m mixing them up with my switches ;)
There's no default that I'm aware of; the commands to upload firmware require a partition name.
 

fohdeesha

Kaini Industries
Nov 20, 2016
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I was gonna say, I thought it was getting more updates than the 72xx line.

But yeah, when the first post was made it was probably rare af and cost a small bomb.

Makes me wonder, @fohdeesha, if you were making that first post today, would you recommend anything different?
Idk it's all gotten so comically cheap now, even the 7 series stuff is like 90 dollars shipped most of the time so probably not even worth grabbing 6 series stuff anymore