Using GMS 9.3 to upgrade firmware on a group of firewalls

This article provides the steps on how to upgrade firmware, on a group of firewalls, when using GMS 9.3.

Prerequisite:

• Have admin access to SonicWall GMS
• Download the Firewall firmware file from MSW based on Firewall model/s you need to upgrade firmware

First you will need to log into to your mysonicwall.com account and download the latest firewall firmware.

To upgrade the firewalls to the latest firmware, complete the following steps:

NOTE: In order for changes on this page to take effect, the SonicWall appliance(s) are automatically restarted. We recommend scheduling the firmware update to run when network activity is low.

1. Login to GMS and then in the left pane, right click on the "Global View" and then click to "Change View"
   
   
   
2. Select "ModelView" on the Popup, as you will be pushing firmware based on the model type.
   
   
   
   
3. Now the view will show up as "ModelView" on the left panel.
   
4. Click the Management Panel icon at the top of the screen.
   
5. In the left panel select the Model Group where firmware upgrade need to be done and Scroll down in the mid pane and navigate to "Register/Upgrades" and select "Firmware Upgrades"
   
   
   
6. Select one of the following three methods for upgrading firmware:
   
   -Upgrade from Local File
   To upgrade from a firmware file on the local drive of your desktop system, click on "Choose File" and then browse to locate the firmware file. Click Upgrade firmware from local file.
   
   
   - Upgrade from GMS Server
     To use this option, you will first need to upload the firmware file to GMS by following below steps  For Virtual Appliance:

          - Login to GMS and go to Appliance page and then go to "System|File Manager " page
          - Once on the page, select the "/Firmware/Current" folder and click on "+"Icon on the right and upload the firmware file previously downloaded from mysonicwall.com.

       For Windows:

      - Go to the GMS installed Drive and change to GMSVP\Firmware\Current

      - Once uploaded, click the "Upgrade from GMS Server" option.


-Upgrade from MySonicWall
This option downloads the latest General release from MySonicWall and push it onto the firewalls and may not include latest maintenance firmware release

Note: Its recommended to use "Upgrade from Local File" or "Upgrade from GMS Server" option to upgrade to latest firmware.  This option allows you to choose the firmware version you want to upgrade to, based on your current deployment or situation.

1. Once selected one of the option above, below approval Popup will come up. Click "OK" to acknowledge the same
   
   
   CAUTION: Upgrading firmware requires that the Firewalls to be restarted. Selecting any of the above firmware upgrade methods displays a warning message that states This will involve restarting the Appliance(s).
   
   
2. Once acknowledged, below Popup will come up to create task in GMS
   
   
   NOTE: Please note that "Immediate" option will create and push the task to upgrade the firewall immediately. "Default" option will create the task and add it to queue on scheduler and may be pickup up later as per queue priority. Since firmware upgrade task requires Firewall reboot, its highly recommended to use "AT" option to schedule firmware upgrade.
   
3. If want to schedule at later time select "At" option and below calendar will show up. 
   
   
   
4. Select date and time and click "Accept" and the task will be scheduled for the selected time and pushed on the Firewall/s

Note: It is always recommended to create a firewall backup before pushing a firmware upgrade.  If you are not already doing auto backups with GMS, this is a good time to create a backup of these firewalls. To create a backup, follow below steps:  

-Click on the Model Group and then go to "System|Settings".

-Under "Store new settings" click the update button.

- Select when you want to create the backup.

- Once GMS finishes making the backup, you will see backups listed in the "Saved Settings" area for all firewalls in the group.