Upgrade Zone Director 1000 Firmware 8.2.0.1 build 8 to 9.3.4.0.21 without premium support

[johan_harianto]

Our company currently using Zone director 1000 with firmware version 8.2.0.1 build 8 with 25 AP Licenses build inside it and the premium support already ended a long time ago. It manages 20 Ruckus Zoneflex 7363.

The problem is the client sometimes still not connected to the nearest access point causing high ping and random timeout during the Video Call, and I found out about "bss-min rate" command, but it only available on 9.3.x

I already search and read all the release notes for each firmware and guide. 
So the plan in my mind is 
8.2.0.1 (current) => 9.1.2.0.8 => 9.3.4.0.15 => 9.3.4.0.21

My question is, is it possible to upgrade the firmware without the premium support?
Also, is there any risk the new firmware will brick the controller? If the controller bricked, is there a way to recover it?

[syamantakomer]

Hi Johan,

You can upgrade the ZD1000 from current version to the desired version and no support contract is required.

To avoid upgrade failure, clear all the event and logs and then reboot the ZD, before the upgrade. This will clear some memory for smooth upgrade.

Please note that it is an old piece of hardware with very limited hardware power, so be patient and do not interrupt the upgrade. Reboot after the upgrade may take more time than expected.

Also make sure to create config backup in each upgrade step.

[johan_harianto]

@syamantak_omer

thank you for the answer, I will clear the event log and reboot it.

So I plan to disconnect it from the current network and make it only zonedirector and my laptop, to be more save, I will do it with UPS.

Also, I have another question; the zonedirector needs an upgrade path to do it. How about our access point Ruckus 7363? Does it also need an upgrade path? I know that the zonedirector will upgrade the Ruckus 7363 firmware automatically if it is connected.

Do I need to connect the AP to the zonedirector after each step upgrade path? 

[eizens_putnins]

You don't need upgrade path for APs, so you don't need to connect APs before completing ZD upgrade. When APs will be connected, it will upgrade to ZD firmware version immediately, it takes 5 - 15 min (usually 3-4 reboots) and during this time WiFi network will be affected.

[johan_harianto]

@eizens_putnins 

thank you for your answer. I appreciate that.

I will try that during off days, hope it will run smoothly.

Just to be safer, do you have any reference about recovery mode if the new firmware bricked the zonedirector?

I'm in Indonesia, so I can't easily order the zonedirector from ebay, and it will take a long time to here.

[eizens_putnins]

There is manual for Zd1100, but as much as I know, it works same way for ZD1000: https://support.ruckuswireless.com/article_attachments/kA250000000PHgqCAG?attachment_index=0

Zone Director 1100 Rescue Mode
What happens when Mini Boot System can’t load Zone Director Images?
· Power Green – Status Off – Ethernet normal
· Only access on second “Ethernet” port
The system will respond to the static default IP with a Rescue page that allows users to format the USB drive and install a new image directly from the administration PC
1. Open ZoneDirector GUI using default IP 192.168.0.2 make sure PC connected to ZD is in the same subnet.
2. From below snapshot we have options “Perform FDISK” and “Perform Reboot”
3. First try rescuing the ZD using “Perform Reboot” option as this will preserve the configuration on ZD.
Click “Perform Reboot” after reboot it will redirect to the ZD login page, if this doesn’t work follow the below steps.

5. Install/upgrade firmware on ZD using “Perform Upgrade”.