Firmware Management

Overview

CONTROL ACS provides comprehensive Firmware Management functionality to automate firmware updates across your device fleet. The system is configured through two main areas:

Device Profile / Types (Inventory > Profile / types)
Firmware Library (Firmware > Images)

This page explains how to configure and use these features to manage firmware versions automatically.

Device Profiles / Types

Navigate to Inventory > Profiles / types to configure firmware management settings for each device type.

Enabling Automatic Firmware Upgrades

Within any Device Profile / Type definition, you can activate automatic firmware upgrades by enabling the Automatic Firmware Upgrades checkbox:

How It Works

Once the Automatic Firmware Upgrades checkbox is enabled, CONTROL ACS will automatically manage firmware updates based on your configuration:

With Default Firmware Image specified:

CONTROL ACS checks if a device matches the criteria and selection parameters of the configured Default firmware image
If matched, the system initiates a firmware upgrade (or downgrade) automatically

Without Default Firmware Image:

CONTROL ACS searches the Firmware Library (Firmware > Images) for applicable firmware images
Advanced rules and policies configured in the library determine which firmware to apply

Firmware Library

The Firmware Library (Firmware > Images) allows you to manage firmware images with granular control over distribution and applicability.

Firmware Image Configuration

Each firmware image in the library can be configured with the following settings:

Image mnemonic — Friendly name and description for the image
Image location — Storage location options:
- ACS platform (suitable for smaller deployments)
- Local HTTP/FTP server (recommended for large-scale distributions)
Firmware applicability rules — Control when firmware applies based on:
- Device hardware version
- Current device firmware version
- Release date
- Additional criteria

Adding a Firmware Image

Click the Add Image button at the top right of the interface:

Configure the image settings on the Add Image page:

Firmware Image Parameters

Parameter	Description
Name	Mnemonic identifier for the firmware image
Version	Version number of the firmware image
Device Profile	Select the Device Profile this image applies to from the dropdown menu
Upgrade Profile	To be confirmed
File or URL	Upload the firmware file through the GUI or specify an HTTP/FTP URL where the image is located Note: Using a local Service Provider HTTP/FTP server is STRONGLY recommended for massive firmware updates
Release Date	Optional. If specified, automatic updates will only be applied after this date
Apply to Selector	Comparison method used when matching the device's software version against the 'Apply to' version Default: 'Equal to'
Apply to (version)	Target device software version for this firmware Leave blank to apply to devices with any version
Hardware Version	Target device hardware version for this firmware Leave blank to apply to devices with any hardware version

Version Comparison Algorithm

CONTROL ACS uses a direct character-by-character comparison algorithm to determine version precedence.

Comparison Examples

The algorithm evaluates versions as follows:

v1.0.1 is a lower version than v1.0.10
v1.0.1a is a lower version than v1.0.1b
v1.0.1a is a greater version than v1.0.1

Important Consideration

The algorithm treats v1.0.1a as a higher version than v1.0.1, which may not be the desired behavior in all scenarios.

Workaround: Add an underscore character to ensure correct version ordering:

v1.0.1_ is a lower version than v1.0.1a

This allows you to maintain the expected version hierarchy when alphabetic suffixes are used.

Firmware Selection Logic

To be confirmed

Upgrade Profiles

Navigate to Firmware > Profiles to manage upgrade profiles.

To be confirmed