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Checkpoint Security Gateway Offline CPUSE upgrade - R77.x to R80.x


Call me an old-fashioned Network
Engineer or call it my penchant for rendering my Network skills a geeky
touch, I prefer to perform my device upgrades the old fashioned way - via CLI -
as and when possible. My approach towards Checkpoint upgrade is no different!





Here we will perform the Checkpoint
Security Gateway upgrade from R77.30 to R80.10 via Offline CPUSE (Checkpoint
Upgrade Service Engine). The name should make it evident that we are not
expecting the Gateway to communicate with the Checkpoint Cloud automatically or
provide auto-recommendations for hotfixes or upgrades.





A word of caution before you begin
with the upgrade: Ensure that you have sufficient disk space. One way to ensure
that is:





1. From your expert mode (bash), type
"lvm_manager". Select option 1





2. You will see the disk allocation
to various partitions. Check for "lvm_log". The optimum value
for this should be 10 GB. A 7-8 GB space should suffice, but 5 GB will
definitely prove to be insufficient (I have personally run into disk space
issues at 5 GB)





3. In case you wish to resize the log
partition, select option 2, enter the target value and "Exit". The
device will prompt for a reboot. Proceed with it.





4. Ensure that your CPUSE build
is 802 or above.





5. Make sure to save your
configuration commencing the below steps, as you won't get a confirmation
prompt for reboot. The device simply will!!





My setup:





Security Gateway image: Check_Point_R77.30_Install_and_Upgrade_T5.Gaia.iso





CPUSE build: 14xx (comes
by default with the latest Check_Point_R77.30_Install_and_Upgrade_T5.Gaia.iso)





Target upgrade image: Check_Point_R80.10_T462_Fresh_Install_and_Upgrade_from_R7X.tgz (Please
note that this image is meant to be used only if you are upgrading from R7x..
It won't work in case you are opting for a fresh install)





Step 1:





Copy the Upgrade image: Check_Point_R80.10_T462_Fresh_Install_and_Upgrade_from_R7X.tgz to
/var/tmp (or any other temporary directory of low significance)





Step 2:





Import the image using : installer
import local
/var/tmp/Check_Point_R80.10_T462_Fresh_Install_and_Upgrade_from_R7X.tgz.





Once it has been imported successfully, you should get the "Result:" as below:









Step 3:





Confirm if you see the new image in the installer packages:









Step 4:





Now verify if the feasibility of the upgrade from the current software version to the target version (image)









Step 5:





Proceed with the installation as below:









After the reboot, you will get your magical R80.x login prompt.









Happy Upgrading..! :)


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