A client of mine has encountered an issue while trying to upgrade the IOS XE firmware of a Cisco Catalyst 3850 series switch.

The error stated the following message - "FAILED: switch local is not booted with provisioning file".

After some research, I found out that this is a typical error you get when trying to upgrade a switch which is in Bundle mode.

I won't be deep diving into the differences between Bundle mode and Install mode as it will be covered in a dedicated post.

Following are the steps to overcome this issue and successfully complete the upgrade process:

1. Verify the switch is running in Bundle mode using a simple "show version" command.
2. Remove the .pkg files of the current (old) firmware using the following commands:

• delete /force flash:cat*.pkg
• delete /force flash:packages.conf

1. Copy the .bin file of the newest firmware to the flash (if not there already - verify by "show flash:" command).
2. Remove boot system configuration using "no boot system" command.
3. Extract the newly upload .bin file using "request platform software package expand switch all flash:packages.conf".
4. Configure packages.conf as the new boot system file using "boot system switch all flash:packages.conf".
5. Save configuration using "write".
6. Verify the new boot system parameters using "show boot system".
7. Reload the switch using "reload".
8. Verify the process completed successfully using "show version" and the switch is fully operational.

Important note: if you're upgrading a STACK, please remember to upload the desired .bin file to all of the switches (to the flash drive).

This post was originally posted on my blog: https://lonelypacket.wordpress.com/