Standalone Systems
For a standalone device, when your upgrade the device in install mode, the primary ROMMON is automatically
upgraded when the device boots. Golden ROMMON can be upgraded using the capsule upgrade.
High Availability and StackWise Virtual Systems
We recommend that you perfom In-Service-Software-Upgrade (ISSU) for devices in a high availability setup.
FPGA upgrades occur as part of ISSU.
If you are performing the upgrade in install mode with reload, do not reload both the supervisors at the same
time. With the standby supervisor in ROMMON state, boot the active supervisor. When ROMMON upgrade
is completed on each supervisor, FPGA and software image is upgraded.
Boot the standby supervisor and allow the standby supervisor to upgrade and reach standby hot state.
Capsule Upgrade
In a capsule upgrade, a secure update capsule is created and signed which is used by the primary ROMMON
after authentication for upgrading the golden ROMMON. The secure update capsule requires a secure flash
certificate. Secure flash certificate is created using the product key and added to the primary ROMMON image
to verify the authenticity of the update capsule. A capsule is now created using the secure flash certificate and
a secure boot 16 MB flash image and signed.
When the device boots, the primary ROMMON triggers the capsule upgrade for the golden ROMMON. To
perform capsule upgrade for the golden ROMMON, use the upgrade rom-monitor capsule golden switch
command in privileged EXEC mode.
The following processes occur in a capsule upgrade:
• The device checks if secure-boot FPGA upgrade is enabled. If not, the process exits.
• The device checks if bootloader protection is enabled. If not, a one-time upgrade of primary ROMMON,
golden ROMMON, and primary FPGA is initiated.
• If bootloader protection is already active, IOS copies the secure update capsule to bootflash and the
device reboots.
• When the device reboots, secure update capsule is picked for performing the upgrade.
Feature History for BIOS Protection
This table provides release and related information for features explained in this module.
These features are available on all releases subsequent to the one they were introduced in, unless noted
otherwise.
Feature InformationFeatureRelease
BIOS Protection feature enables write-protection
and secure upgrade of the golden ROMMON
image.
BIOS ProtectionCisco IOS XE Gibraltar
16.12.1
System Management Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS XE Bengaluru 17.4.x (Catalyst 9400 Switches)
352
BIOS Protection
Capsule Upgrade