ACME Net-Net 3820: How To Upgrade The Firmware To The Latest Version

Yesterday, I got to work on getting six ACME Net-Net 3820s ready for an upcoming deployment.  Since Im still trying to learn the ACMEs, I started off getting the firmware up to date.  Thanks to a great conversation with Mark with ACME/Oracle yesterday, I learned a few things about ACME firmware along with a few other things he shed some light on.  It was a really good conversation, and I highly respect his technical ability.  Check out his blog at http://www.markholloway.com/blog/ .
Now, here is how I upgraded the firmware on the six 3820 devices. I went from 6.4.0 to 6.4.0m2.

First, I found out what the default management IP address is.  I consoled in and went in config mode and ran the "bootparam" command.
ACMESYSTEM# config t
ACMESYSTEM(configure)# bootparam

'.' = clear field;  '-' = go to previous field;  q = quit

boot device             : eth0
processor number        : 0
host name               : host
file name               : /code/images/nnECX640.tar /code/images/nnECX640m2.tar
inet on ethernet (e)    : 10.10.10.48:ffff0000
inet on backplane (b)   :
host inet (h)           :
gateway inet (g)        : 10.10.10.1
user (u)                : vxftp
ftp password (pw) (blank = use rsh)     : vxftp
flags (f)               :
target name (tn)        : ACMESYSTEM
startup script (s)      :
other (o)               :

NOTE: These changed parameters will not go into effect until reboot.  Also, be aware that some boot parameters may also be changed through PHY and Network Interface Configurations.

ACMESYSTEM(configure)# exit

In my DOS prompt on my laptop, I FTP'ed into the ACME 3820 box.
C:\ftproot>ftp 10.10.10.48
Connected to 10.10.10.48.
220 ACMESYSTEM FTP server (VxWorks 6.4) ready.
User (10.10.10.48:(none)): user
331 Password required for user.
Password: acme
230 User user logged in.
ftp> cd code
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> cd images
250 CWD command successful.
ftp> ls
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for 'file list'.
nnECX640.tar
nnCX_diags122.tar
226 Transfer complete.
ftp: 33 bytes received in 0.00Seconds 16.50Kbytes/sec.
ftp> bi
200 Type set to I.
ftp> put nnECX640m2.tar
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for '/code/images/nnECX640m2.tar'.
226 Transfer complete.
ftp: 31150080 bytes sent in 7.79Seconds 4001.29Kbytes/sec.
ftp> ls
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for 'file list'.
nnECX640.tar
nnCX_diags122.tar
nnECX640m2.tar
226 Transfer complete.
ftp: 49 bytes received in 0.00Seconds 49.00Kbytes/sec.
ftp>

Back to my console access, I first verified the version of code with the "show version" command.  I then changed the boot image the ACME 3820 will boot to.
ACMESYSTEM# show version
ACME Net-Net 3820 Firmware ECX6.4.0 GA (Build 224)
Build Date=04/24/13
ACMESYSTEM#
ACMESYSTEM# config t
ACMESYSTEM(configure)# bootparam

'.' = clear field;  '-' = go to previous field;  q = quit

boot device             : eth0
processor number        : 0
host name               : host
file name               : /code/images/nnECX640.tar /code/images/nnECX640m2.tar
inet on ethernet (e)    : 10.10.10.48:ffff0000
inet on backplane (b)   :
host inet (h)           :
gateway inet (g)        : 10.10.10.1
user (u)                : vxftp
ftp password (pw) (blank = use rsh)     : vxftp
flags (f)               :
target name (tn)        : ACMESYSTEM
startup script (s)      :
other (o)               :

NOTE: These changed parameters will not go into effect until reboot.  Also, be aware that some boot parameters may also be changed through PHY and Network Interface Configurations.

ACMESYSTEM(configure)# exit
ACMESYSTEM# reboot

--------------------------------------------------------
WARNING: you are about to reboot this SD!
--------------------------------------------------------

Reboot this SD [y/n]?: y
(REBOOT)

I rebooted the ACME and verified the new image is being used.
Password:
ACMESYSTEM> en
Password:
ACMESYSTEM#
ACMESYSTEM#
ACMESYSTEM# show version
ACME Net-Net 3820 Firmware ECX6.4.0 MR-2 GA (Build 322)
Build Date=10/24/13
ACMESYSTEM#


**Added 12/13/2013
Additional note.  Make sure you plug your network cable in port "Mgmt 0" for network connectivity when doing this.  That is where the IP address is at this point.