Determining SmartServer Software Version Compatibility

This section describes how to determine if a SmartServer software version can be used for your specific SmartServer hardware. Read this section before upgrading a SmartServer, or doing a backup and restore.

  • Do not upgrade a dual core SmartServer to SmartServer 3.2 or higher.
  • Do not restore a full backup on a SmartServer if the original software version is not supported on the new hardware. In this case, backup only the database and settings, and restore only the database and settings.

Before upgrading a SmartServer, or restoring a backed up image to a SmartSever with a different software version, verify that the software version you want to use supports your SmartServer hardware. See the table in the Hardware Versions and Software Compatibility Overview section on this page for details.

This section consists of the following:

Hardware Versions and Software Compatibility Overview

SmartServers shipped from the factory since 2021 include a quad core ARM processor with a Dialog DA9063 power management integrated circuit (PMIC) or an NXP PFUZE100 PMIC. See Checking Your SmartServer Hardware on this page for instructions on how to determine your hardware revision and installed PMIC.

The following table summarizes the SmartServer IoT hardware version, hardware type, and software compatibility.

Hardware RevisionHardware TypeSupported SmartServer Software Versions
A-DDual Core with NXP PFUZE100 PMICSmartServer IoT 2.4 - 3.1
F+

Quad Core with Dialog DA9063 PMIC

SmartServer IoT 3.3 or higher

F+Quad Core with NXP PFUZE100 PMICAll

Upgrading Older SmartServer Hardware to Newer Software

To upgrade older SmartServer hardware to newer software, follow the guidelines below.

  • Update (using GLPO file), or re-image, to upgrade the SmartServer to a new software version.
  • With SmartServer 3.3 and higher, you need a device capacity license, unless you are using the SmartServer for RNI or IP-852 routing only. 
  • With SmartServer 3.3 and higher, if you want the SmartServer to be upgradable to a newer software version, then you will also need a maintenance license.
  • Device capacity and maintenance licenses are not affected by a software upgrade or re-image. That is, once licensed, the license remains on the SmartServer after a software update or re-image.

Backing up and Restoring the SmartServer

For backup and restore operations, follow the guidelines below.

  • Full backups can only be restored to the SmartServer hardware that supports that software version. Software versions are hardware specific.
  • To support a newer hardware version, back up the database and settings so that you can restore only the database and settings using the Import/Export () button.
    • On older software versions, the settings can be exported with the Settings button () → Export action.
  • For example, since SmartServer 3.26 is not supported on the Rev F quad core, you cannot restore a backed up full image for SmartServer 3.26 on the Rev F hardware.
    • With SmartServer 3.26, you can back up the database, and separately back up the settings using the Settings button () → Export action. On the new SmartServer, import the database and then the settings.

Checking Your SmartServer Hardware

To check your hardware, follow the guidelines below.

  1. Determine the hardware version and whether you are using a dual core or quad core SmartServer; look at the serial number that is printed on the label located on the bottom of the SmartServer.
    1. In most cases, the serial number that is shown on the SmartServer System Configuration page is the same serial number as the one that is printed on the SmartServer label. 
    2. A board revision number is incorporated into the serial number. Revision information appears as an alpha character a-z in the format 44yywwrxxxxx, where ww is the week of the year, yy is the year, and r is hardware revision. xxxxx indicates other characters in the serial number.
      Example: 442050F00100 
      1. Datecode: 2050F
        1. 50th week of 2020
        2. Hardware revision F indicates a quad core. All SmartServers delivered from the factory since 2021 are quad core.
    3. You can also determine whether the SmartServer is a dual or quad core by using the SSH/console command lscpu.

      1. 2 indicates dual core

      2. 4 indicates quad core

        lscpu

        Dual core SmartServers are supported with SmartServer 2.4 to 3.1. Quad core SmartServers software versions are dependent on PMIC type. 

  2. Verify the PMIC type using the command shown below.

    sudo /root/.setup/pmic/pmic_checker.sh
    • PFUZE100 – supported for all SmartServer releases.
    • DA9063 – supported for SmartServer 3.3 and higher.

Example

The SmartServer has the serial number 442205H00100, and lscpu shows four CPUs (or datecode 2022) and a DA9063 PMIC

  • For serial number 442205H001002205H indicates manufacturing in the 5th week of 2022; H represents revision H.
  • This SmartServer is a quad core with a DA9063 PMIC.
  • This SmartServer can only use software version 3.27.001, or 3.30.057 and higher (3.30.001 through 3.30.056 is not supported).

Check hardware information
~$ lscpu
Architecture:        armv7l
Byte Order:          Little Endian
CPU(s):              4
On-line CPU(s) list: 0-3
Thread(s) per core:  1
Core(s) per socket:  4
Socket(s):           1
Vendor ID:           ARM
Model:               10
Model name:          Cortex-A9
Stepping:            r2p10
CPU max MHz:         792.0000
CPU min MHz:         396.0000
BogoMIPS:            6.00
Flags:               half thumb fastmult vfp edsp neon vfpv3 tls vfpd32

$ sudo /root/.setup/pmic/pmic_checker.sh
DA9063