Change of TFTP server 2

[rjblanch]

Hi All,

We are in the middle of an IP phone rollout and as such, some of our 4610 phones have been updated and some have not. Now that we have a set FTP and TFTP server, I am wishing to get all of the phones up to date with all of the latest firmware/patches etc...

Is there a way that I can schedule the phones set to load the correct settings for the files in the TFTP server, without walking around to all of them.

Regards...

 

[nohuhu]

rjblanch,

1. make sure you have correctly set up a DHCP string, including TFTPSRVR parameter.
2. make sure your tftp server is running continuously. if you use avaya default tftp server, add it as a scheduled task to run upon server startup -- don't assume it will start automatically otherwise.
3. make sure you unpacked the latest (or the one you need) firmware into tftp server outbound directory. avaya default tftp server makes difference between 'em.
4. make sure you put all needed parameters into 46xxsettings.txt file on the tftp server and comment out all unneeded ones.
5. use 'list registered' command to detect phones that didn't upgrade firmware.
6. use busyout/release station sequence to reboot a single phone.
7. use 'reset ip-stations xxx' command to reset 'em a bunch.
8. remember that ip phone will get new firmware only upon booting. there's no way to otherwise schedule this process like with digital phones. thus, to update firmware you need to reboot a phone.

 

[rjblanch]

Thanks for the information, dwalin.

The one issue that I am wondering about is the first point where you state the DHCP string. Is that a phone setting, PABX or network parameter?

 

[nohuhu]

rjblanch,

it is a setting on your network dhcp server. a phone can get its ip address two ways: either you program it statically -- it is a valid method but only for small installations, if you have more than ten phones it's becoming a maintenance headache; or, if you don't program a static ip address, a phone sends a broadcast dhcp request upon starting up. a dhcp server that sits somewhere in the same network subnet should respond to this request sending a packet with some options: an ip address; network subnet mask; lease time -- this option specifies how long a device (a phone, in this case) can use this unique ip address, you should make sure this parameter is set to its maximum; other optional settings and the one most vital for avaya ip phones: option 176 string. this string specifies different parameters applicable only to the phones and meaningless to other devices: gatekeeper address(es), tftp server ip address, tftp server directory and other. this string should look like that: "MCIPADD=x.x.x.x,TFTPSRVR=y.y.y.y,TFTPDIR=/path/to/tftp/files". note that tftp directory path is relative to the physical tftp directory. for example, in unix systems it is common to have /tftpboot directory dedicated to tftp server. a tftp server software itself is looking for files only in this /tftpboot directory. but having a lot of files in one directory is not too handy, so it is common practice to create subdirectories and place needed files in these subdirectories. suppose we create an "avaya" subdirectory. on the physical file system its path will be /tftpboot/avaya, but in the 176 option string you shouldn't specify "/tftpboot", the parameter should look like "TFTPDIR=avaya". essentially, these three parameters (or two, if you store avaya files in the root of tftp server, you may skip TFTPDIR parameter) should be sufficient to get your phones up and running the latest firmware.
anyway, it wouldn't hurt to read lan administrator's guide, there's a description of all parameters and software pieces needed for ip phones.