Accessing the Bootloader

The Bootloader of the switch initializes certain important switch variables during the boot process. In the event the switch does not boot properly, some boot option functions can be accessed through the Bootloader.

Interaction with the Bootloader is required only under special circumstances and should be done only under the direction of Extreme Networks Customer Support. The necessity of using these functions implies a nonstandard problem which requires the assistance of Extreme Networks Customer Support.

Attach a serial cable to the console port of the switch.
Attach the other end of the serial cable to a properly configured terminal or terminal emulator, power cycle the switch, and press the spacebar key on the keyboard of the terminal during the bootup process.
Note

When you see the Bootloader banner, press the spacebar key to get into the Bootloader application.

As soon as you see the BOOTLOADER> prompt, release the spacebar. You can issue a series of commands to:
- View the installed images.
- Select the image to boot from.
- Load a recovery image over the management port.
- To see a list of available commands or additional information about a specific command, enter h or type help.
  
  The following describes some ways that you can use the Bootloader:
  - Viewing images — To display a list of installed images, use the show image command.
  - Selecting an image — To change the image that the switch boots from in flash memory, use the boot {image number} command. If you specify image number, the specified image is booted. If you do not specify an image number, the default image is booted.
To exit the Bootloader, use the boot command. Specifying boot runs the currently selected ExtremeXOS image.