Updating Firmware on an Avocent Cyclades ACS Classic

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I’m using a trusty old Cyclades / Avocent ACS-16 console server in my home-lab.
I got this device a few years ago, and while it’s EOL it still serves its purpose quite well. It even has the fancy Dual-PSU option – No compromises even in the lab environment :).



My device was running firmware 2.6.0.1 and I never got around to upgrade to the most recent version 3.3.0.16 which was published in 2014.

After trying to update via the WebGUI (Using FTP) the binary upgrade file was never accepted (File transfer was not succesful) even after the transfer itself took place.

From my experience, the best way to upgrade is via the Linux shell of the ACS itself.

To do so, proceed as follows:

cd /mnt/flash (Older versions used /proc/flash, coming from 2.6.0.1 it was the first option)
ftp 172.16.1.1

ftp>bin

ftp>get FL0536-017.bin zImage (Overwrite existing Firmware Image)

ftp>quit

#reboot

Firmware can be downloaded from the Vertiv site (They acquired Avocent a while ago): https://www.vertiv.com/en-us/support/software-download/it-management/legacy/acs-classic-advanced-console-servers-software-downloads/

Here’s an old upgrade reference, which I used to derive the above steps, but is referencing the old mountpoint:
http://www.citi.umich.edu/lab/admin-notes/cyclades-upgrades.html


Published by Andreas Semmelmann