Software upgrades and image signing
The Software Upgrade page of the management console enables you to perform these software management activities:
• View a history of previously installed software versions.
For Controller appliances, such as the Client Accelerator Controller and SteelCentral Controller for SteelHead, upgrading may update some policies. After the upgrade is complete, the optimization service on managed devices might automatically restart.
For most products, the Software Upgrade page is in the Administration section of the Management Console.
About software image signing certificates
Riverbed software images are now digitally signed, ensuring the integrity and authenticity of the image. Verifying an image is performed by comparing a public key, or image signing certificate, with the image signature. For details, including a copy of the public key and intermediate certificate, go to Knowledge Base article
S33657.
Image verification is enabled by default. We strongly recommend that it remain enabled at all times. Disable this feature only when absolutely necessary.
The feature requires a public key in a certificate to verify the digital signature of the software image. The certificate is automatically installed on the appliance, but you can import an updated version, if needed. During the verification process, the appliance compares the signature in the image with the Riverbed public certificate. If they match, the installation continues. If not, the system alerts you to a potential problem. As long as image signature verification is enabled, you cannot continue with an installation that cannot verify the image signature.
Importing image signing certificates
Enable Image Signature Verification. If you clear the Image Signing Verification check box, you disable this feature and a warning message appears indicating images will not be verified.
Ensure the appliance has a valid certificate. You can use the certificate that is installed by default, or you can upload a PKCS #12, PEM, or DER format certificate or copy and paste a PEM certificate.
About software upgrades
To find allowed upgrades between software versions and recommended upgrade paths, use the software upgrade tool for your product on the Riverbed Support site. The tool includes all of the recommended intermediate versions.
Software images can be quite large; uploading the image to the appliance and installing it can take several minutes. After the installation is complete, you’ll need to restart the appliance to switch to the new version of the software and complete the upgrade process. Restarting can take a few minutes.
Do not press Ctrl+C, unplug, or otherwise shut down the system during restart.
After the upgrade is complete, the Dashboard, Software Upgrade, and Help pages of the Management Console display the new software version.
The following sections describe different methods to upload and install software upgrade packages.
Using an image located on the network
Specify the URL. Any of these URL formats are valid:
• http://host/path/to/file
• https://host/path/to/file
• ftp://user:password@host/path/to/file
• scp://user:password@host/path/to/file
Using an image located on the Riverbed Support site
Download an image directly from the Riverbed Support site to the appliance or the appliance host. Select the target release number from the drop-down list. The system uploads and installs the new image immediately after you initiate the installation.
Optionally, schedule another date or time before you initiate the installation.
Using an image located on the local system
Browse to the file using your system file browser and install it; or, optionally, schedule the upgrade for a later time. Remember, you’ll need to restart the appliance after the installation completes.
Switching to the backup software version
Select to switch to the backup version on the next restart, and then restart the appliance.