Huawei system upgrade and patch installation

Details: Philip Schaller; Created: 17 March 2024; Last Updated: 05 May 2024

This article simply describes how to perform a system upgrade for a Huawei device (switch, router, WLAN controller, etc.) and install a patch.

Upgrading a Huawei device can be done in different ways. This example describes the way via the CLI with uploading the image using SCP.

1.	Download the right system image and patch from the Huawei website. The respective model is entered in the search bar. If you don't know your exact model then you can find it out from the CLI using `display version`. The system images has the ending .cc and the patches .pat. ➡️ It is important to read the release notes to find out possible dependencies.
2.	Upload the image and patch to the Huawei device. This can be done for example with SCP - see the article File upload to Huawei device with SSH.
3.	Check with the command `dir` if the image (e.g. s5720li-v200r011c10spc600.cc) and patch (s5720li-v200r011sph005.pat) is saved in the flash.
4.	Check if the image is valid (command is only available on newer Huawei CloudEngine switches) `<HUAWEI> check system-software s5720li-v200r011c10spc600.cc`
5.	Configure the switch to load the new system image the next time it reboots `<HUAWEI> startup system-software flash:/s5720li-v200r011c10spc600.cc`
6.	Configure the switch to load the new patch the next time it reboots `<HUAWEI> startup patch flash:/s5720li-v200r011sph005.pat`
7.	Check if the new system image and patch is active for the next startup
8.	Save the configuration `<HUAWEI> save` `The current configuration will be written to flash:/vrpcfg.zip.` `Are you sure to continue?[Y/N]Y` `Now saving the current configuration to the slot 0.....` `Save the configuration successfully.`
9.	Reboot the device `<HUAWEI> reboot` `Info: The system is now comparing the configuration, please wait..........` `Info: If want to reboot with saving diagnostic information, input 'N' and then execute 'reboot save diagnostic-information'.` `System will reboot! Continue?[Y/N]:Y`
10.	After the reboot check with `display startup` if the device is booted with the new image and patch. You can also check the system image with the command `display version`