As part of any system, from time to time you need to install updates, patches, and upgrade code. The joys of IOS XR code is that you can actually installed patches that fix bugs, you can perform in-service upgrades and not take down the router (provided you have a dual-supervisor router), as well as add new services to the code. All the necessary PIE packages can be found in the main image, they are not available separately.
You can get the main image from CCO Support and Downloads. To navigate to the download, select:
Products -> Routers -> Service Provider Edge Routers -> ASR 9000 -> ASR 9006
Then select IOS XR Software for the main images or IOS XR Software Maintenance Upgrades (SMU) for patches for caveats fixes.

 
Once you select the IOS XR Software, the most recent version of code will be presented on the screen. Select the version that you need and proceed to download it. If you get an error that a contract is required, please open a Cisco TAC case requesting access, they will need the serial number of the chassis in order to prove support.

Once you have the image on your computer, we will now need to transfer it. Since the image is over 400 Megs as of 4.1.2, and 4.2.0 is over 700 Megs, TFTP is probably not going to cut it (most TFTP apps do not support files over 32 megs). What you might need to do is find an FTP server program to use – I recommend FileZilla – but that is ultimately up to you. Once you have your FTP server setup and ready to go, we now need to get the image copied. For this example, I am using a username of Cisco and a password of cisco
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01# copy ftp://1.1.1.2/ASR9K-iosxr-k9-4.1.2.tar compactflash:
Tue Apr 10 02:00:23.038 UTC
Source username: [anonymous]?cisco
Source password: cisco
Destination filename [/compactflash:/ASR9K-iosxr-k9-4.1.2.tar]? (just hit enter)
The file copy will now start and will take some time (you will see CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC) – these are large images, so patience is a virtue.
Once the file copy is complete, check the compact flash to make sure the images transferred successfully.
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01#dir compactflash:
Tue Apr 10 02:01:37.766 UTC
Directory of compactflash:
131104 -rw- 9216 Sun Jan 2 08:01:19 2000 Test
6 drwx 4096 Tue Jan 4 23:33:44 2000 LOST.DIR
131264 -rw- 453611520 Thu Apr 5 22:14:28 2012 ASR9K-iosxr-k9-4.1.2.tar
1022427136 bytes total (568795136 bytes free)
Now that we have the image, we need to extract the tar file. That is done from ADMIN mode. You enter admin mode by typing admin at the command promt.
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01#admin
Tue Apr 10 02:03:27.052 UTC
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:R2(admin)#
Once there, we can install the tar image using the install command:
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01(admin)#install add tar compactflash:ASR9K-iosxr-k9-4.1.2.tar
Once you enter that command, the system will start to process the file and show output:
Mon Apr 9 21:29:41.420 UTC
Install operation 1 ‘(admin) install add tar
/compactflash:ASR9K-iosxr-k9-4.1.2.tar’ started by user ‘admin’ via CLI at
21:29:41 UTC Mon Apr 09 2012.
Info: The following files were extracted from the tar file
Info: ‘/compactflash:ASR9K-iosxr-k9-4.1.2.tar’ and will be added to the
Info: entire router:
Info:
Info: asr9k-mcast-p.pie-4.1.2
Info: asr9k-mpls-p.pie-4.1.2
Info: asr9k-mini-p.pie-4.1.2
Info: asr9k-mini-p.vm-4.1.2 (skipped – not a pie)
Info: asr9k-doc-p.pie-4.1.2
Info: asr9k-video-p.pie-4.1.2
Info: asr9k-mgbl-p.pie-4.1.2
Info: asr9k-optic-p.pie-4.1.2
Info: asr9k-upgrade-p.pie-4.1.2
Info: asr9k-k9sec-p.pie-4.1.2
Info: README-ASR9K-k9-4.1.2.txt (skipped – not a pie)
Info:
The install operation will continue asynchronously.
This operation will happen in the background, you will be returned to the command prompt. Once the process is finished, the similar text will appear on the prompt:
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01(admin)#
Info: The following packages are now available to be activated:
Info:
Info: disk0:asr9k-mcast-p-4.1.2
Info: disk0:asr9k-mpls-p-4.1.2
Info: disk0:asr9k-mini-p-4.1.2
Info: disk0:asr9k-doc-p-4.1.2
Info: disk0:asr9k-video-p-4.1.2
Info: disk0:asr9k-mgbl-p-4.1.2
Info: disk0:asr9k-optic-4.1.2
Info: disk0:asr9k-upgrade-p-4.1.2
Info: disk0:asr9k-k9sec-p-4.1.2
Info:
Info: The packages can be activated across the entire router.
Info:
Install operation 1 completed successfully at 21:38:52 UTC Mon Apr 09 2012.
Now that we have the image there, we need to see what inactive PIEs we have to install and activate. The command here is show install inactive summary
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01(admin)#sh install inactive summary
Mon Apr 9 21:59:10.354 UTC
Default Profile:
SDRs:
Owner
Inactive Packages:
disk0:asr9k-upgrade-p-4.1.2
disk0:asr9k-optic-4.1.2
disk0:asr9k-doc-p-4.1.2
disk0:asr9k-k9sec-p-4.1.2
disk0:asr9k-video-p-4.1.2
disk0:asr9k-mpls-p-4.1.2
disk0:asr9k-mgbl-p-4.1.2
disk0:asr9k-mcast-p-4.1.2
Now we should be able to activate and install one of the PIE images, here we will activate the MPLS one.
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01(admin)#install activate disk0:asr9k-mpls-p-4.1.2
Mon Apr 9 21:59:43.108 UTC
Install operation 2 ‘(admin) install activate disk0:asr9k-mpls-p-4.1.2’ started
by user ‘admin’ via CLI at 21:59:43 UTC Mon Apr 09 2012.
Error: Cannot proceed with the operation because the upgrade package
Error: disk0:asr9k-upgrade-p-4.1.2 is present on boot disk.
Error: The disk0:asr9k-upgrade-p-4.1.2 package should only be used when
Error: upgrading from software versions prior to 4.0.0. Once the upgrade is
Error: complbe immediately doved. No
Error: further install operations will be allowed until this is completed.
Error:
Error: Remove the package disk0:asr9k-upgrade-p-4.1.2 from the entire router
Error: by executing the ‘install remove disk0:asr9k-upgrade-p-4.1.2’ command
Error: in admin mode.
Error: No further install operations will be allowed until this is
Error: completed.
Install operation 2 failed at 21:59:44 UTC Mon Apr 09 2012.
Ahh, we got an error! The error output tells us that we need to remove the upgrade package from the disk via the install remove command:
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01(admin)#install remove disk0:asr9k-upgrade-p-4.1.2
Mon Apr 9 22:00:13.538 UTC
Install operation 3 ‘(admin) install remove disk0:asr9k-upgrade-p-4.1.2’
started by user ‘admin’ via CLI at 22:00:13 UTC Mon Apr 09 2012.
Info: This operation will remove the following package:
Info: disk0:asr9k-upgrade-p-4.1.2
Now we need to confirm it by just hitting enter:
Proceed with removing these packages? [confirm] (just hit enter to confirm)
The install operation will continue asynchronoussly.
Now if we do a show install summary, it will tell us that we are in the process of doing something as it shows under the default profile:
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01(admin)#sh install summary
Mon Apr 9 22:00:22.060 UTC
Default Profile: Currently affected by install operation 3
SDRs:
Owner
Active Packages:
No packages.
Once completed, we will be notified on the cli
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01(admin)#
Install operation 3 completed successfully at 22:00:39 UTC Mon Apr 09 2012.
Now, we should be able to install the MPLS PIE
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01(admin)#install activate disk0:asr9k-mpls-p-4.1.2
Mon Apr 9 22:03:38.202 UTC
Install operation 4 ‘(admin) install activate disk0:asr9k-mpls-p-4.1.2’ started
by user ‘admin’ via CLI at 22:03:38 UTC Mon Apr 09 2012.
Info: Install Method: Parallel Process Restart
The install operation will continue asynchronously.
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ios(admin)#RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:Apr 9 22:04:32.428 : insthelper[65]: ISSU: Starting sysdb bulk start session
Info: The changes made to software configurations will not be persistent
Info: across system reloads. Use the command ‘(admin) install commit’ to
Info: make changes persistent.
Info: Please verify that the system is consistent following the software
Info: change using the following commands:
Info: show system verify
Info: install verify packages
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:Apr 9 22:04:45.933 : instdir[229]: %INSTALL-INSTMGR-4-ACTIVE_SOFTWARE_COMMITTED_INFO : The currently active software is not committed. If the system reboots then the committed software will be used. Use ‘install commit’ to commit the active software.
Install operation 4 completed successfully at 22:04:45 UTC Mon Apr 09 2012.
If you want to see the status of the install, you can use the show install request command and it will show you the percentage complete.
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01(admin)#sh install request
Sat May 12 00:43:54.386 UTC
Install operation 4 ‘(admin) install activate disk0:asr9k-mpls-p-4.1.2’ started
by user ‘admin’ via CLI at 22:04:45 UTC Mon Apr 09 2012.
The operation is 85% complete
The operation can still be aborted.
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01(admin)#
Once the installation is complete, we need to COMMIT the installation using the install commit command
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01(admin)#install commit
Mon Apr 9 22:07:17.014 UTC
Install operation 5 ‘(admin) install commit’ started by user ‘admin’ via CLI at
22:07:17 UTC Mon Apr 09 2012.
100% complete: The operation can no longer be aborted (ctrl-c for options)RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:Apr 9 22:07:20.238 : instdir[229]:
%INSTALL-INSTMGR-4-ACTIVE_SOFTWARE_COMMITTED_INFO : The currently active software is now the same as the committed software.
Install operation 5 completed successfully at 22:07:20 UTC Mon Apr 09 2012.
Now if we look at our show install active summary command, we now have the MPLS PIE
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01(admin)#sh install active summary
Tue Apr 10 02:12:38.009 UTC
Default Profile:
SDRs:
Owner
Active Packages:
disk0:asr9k-mini-p-4.1.2
disk0:asr9k-k9sec-p-4.1.2
disk0:asr9k-mpls-p-4.1.2
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01(admin)#
When it comes to patches, they are rather easy as well. They pretty much follow the same process as packages. Copy the file to flash, install the tar, then activate the patch.
For this example, we will copy the CSCtu30994 – rn_preorder_key_successor_int function is constantly looping per the readme file.
First up, lets copy it from the TFTP server to our CompactFlash card:
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01#copy tftp: compactflash:
Tue May 15 06:12:19.645 UTC
Address or name of remote host [192.168.1.1]? 192.168.1.1
Source filename [/tftp:]?asr9k-p-4.1.2.CSCtu30994.tar
Destination filename [/compactflash:/asr9k-p-4.1.2.CSCtu30994.tar]? (just hit enter for defaults)
Accessing tftp://10.100.100.17/asr9k-p-4.1.2.CSCtu30994.tar
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
911360 bytes copied in 6 sec ( 134936)bytes/sec
Once copied, lets switch to ADMIN mode.
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01#admin
Tue May 15 06:15:01.739 UTC
Now we can add the TAR files
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01(admin)#install add tar compactflash:asr9k-p-4.1.2.CSCtu30994.tar
Tue May 15 06:15:03.744 UTC
/compactflash:asr9k-p-4.1.2.CSCtu30994.tar’ started by user ‘admin’ via CLI at
06:15:04 UTC Tue May 15 2012.
Info: The following files were extracted from the tar file
Info: ‘/compactflash:asr9k-p-4.1.2.CSCtu30994.tar’ and will be added to the
Info: entire router:
Info:
Info: asr9k-p-4.1.2.CSCtu30994.pie
Info: asr9k-p-4.1.2.CSCtu30994.txt (skipped – not a pie)
Info:
The install operation will continue asynchronously.
And once the TAR has been added, the following message will appear:
Info: The following package is now available to be activated:
Info:
Info: disk0:asr9k-p-4.1.2.CSCtu30994-1.0.0
Info:
Info: The package can be activated across the entire router.
Info:
Install operation 27 completed successfully at 06:15:39 UTC Tue May 15 2012.
Now we can activate this patch:
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01(admin)#install activate disk0:asr9k-p-4.1.2.CSCtu30994-1.0.0
Tue May 15 06:15:45.276 UTC
Install operation 28 ‘(admin) install activate
disk0:asr9k-p-4.1.2.CSCtu30994-1.0.0’ started by user ‘admin’ via CLI at
06:15:45 UTC Tue May 15 2012.
Info: Install Method: Parallel Process Restart
The install operation will continue asynchronously.
Info: The changes made to software configurations will not be persistent
Info: across system reloads. Use the command ‘(admin) install commit’ to
Info: make changes persistent.
Info: Please verify that the system is consistent following the software
Info: change using the following commands:
Info: show system verify
Info: install verify packages
Once the install is done we need to commit it:
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01(admin)#install commit
Tue May 15 06:17:06.359 UTC
Install operation 29 ‘(admin) install commit’ started by user ‘admin’ via CLI
at 06:17:06 UTC Tue May 15 2012.
100% complete: The operation can no longer be aborted (ctrl-c for options)RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:May 15 06:17:09.967 : instdir[233]:
%INSTALL-INSTMGR-4-ACTIVE_SOFTWARE_COMMITTED_INFO : The currently active software is now the same as the committed software.
Install operation 29 completed successfully at 06:17:09 UTC Tue May 15 2012.
And like that we are patched.
Now, that was not one that required a reload, if you have one of them like CSCtw84381, here you will be prompted that you need to reload.
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ASR01(admin)#install activate disk0:asr9k-p-4.1.2.CSCtw84381-1.0.0
Tue May 15 06:30:37.867 UTC
Install operation 35 ‘(admin) install activate
disk0:asr9k-p-4.1.2.CSCtw84381-1.0.0’ started by user ‘admin’ via CLI at
06:30:38 UTC Tue May 15 2012.
Info: This operation will reload the following nodes in parallel:
Info: 0/RSP0/CPU0 (RP) (SDR: Owner)
Info: 0/0/CPU0 (LC) (SDR: Owner)
Info: 0/1/CPU0 (LC) (SDR: Owner)
See, it is asking you to proceed – hit enter for Y
Proceed with this install operation (y/n)? [y] (enter)
Info: Install Method: Parallel Reload
The install operation will continue asynchronously.
Once the install is complete, the router will reload and you will need to relogin. Do not forget to do INSTALL COMMIT!!!
Note from the Cisco website (Link Here)
Install operations are activated according to the method encoded in the package being activated. Generally, this method has the least impact for routing and forwarding purposes, but it may not
be the fastest method from start to finish and can require user interaction by default. To perform the installation procedure as quickly as possible, you can specify the parallel-reload
keyword. This action forces the installation to perform a parallel reload, so that all cards on the router reload simultaneously and then come up with the new software. This impacts routing
and forwarding, but it ensures that the installation is performed without other issues.