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Make config files as compatible as possible across firmware updates

I've had an unfair share of trouble when trying to restore saved configuration files (.cfg config) to GS108Ev2 running firmware 1.00.12. Eventually, I gave up and reprogrammed 3 switches from scratch. I had to go through the whole building to locate them. Brought with myself a laptop and had a phone handy to talk to a guy in the control room.

 

I think I found out what happened: Older versions of the Plus Utility do not support the password encryption required by V1.00.10 firmware. The old config files had unencrypted passwords (I checked with a hex editor). The new firmware expects its password encrypted, so it couldn't load the old password. I was locked out of the switches.

 

A cleartext header in the config file could help, so the switch (or the user!) knows which firmware version saved the config. If you want to make it really functional, have the firmware perform appropriate checks at load (restore) time, so old unencrypted passwords keep on working on new firmware versions.

 

 

2 Comments
DaneA
NETGEAR Employee Retired

Hi inky,

 

Gave kudos to this post.

 

 

Regards,

 

DaneA

NETGEAR Community Team

inky
Guide

 Thanks 🙂