Mellanox NIC firmware upgrade on NetScaler MPX

Last published : Oct 01, 2026
Note
Firmware upgrade on Mellanox NICs is supported on NetScaler software version 13.0 build 90.x and later.
You must run the upgrade script from the console. Otherwise, you get the following message:
The NIC firmware upgrade process will disable all NIC ports during the upgrade.

All active SSH sessions will be terminated, including this one.

This NIC upgrade must be run while logged in from the serial console
Please restart the upgrade from the serial console.
To upgrade the firmware, run the following commands:
shell
cd /netscaler
sh upgrade_mellanox_nics.sh <firmware_version>
Supported versions of Mellanox firmware on different 50 G and 100 G NICs are:
  • 12.20.1010
  • 12.21.2010
  • 12.28.2006
  • 20.27.2008
  • 20.31.1014
  • 20.32.1010
  • 22.32.2004
  • 22.34.4000
  • 22.35.1012
Example:
sh upgrade_mellanox_nic.sh 22.35.1012
To force an upgrade, type:
sh upgrade_mellanox_nic.sh 22.35.1012 -f

Prerequisites

  1. Before upgrading the NIC firmware, you must upgrade the build on NetScaler MPX to a software version that supports the new firmware. The following NetScaler versions support Mellanox firmware upgrade:
    • 13.0 build 90.x and later
    • 13.1 all builds
    • 14.1 all builds
    Important:
    Do not downgrade the software version to a build earlier than these builds.
  2. The following script must be present in the /netscaler directory: upgrade_mellanox_nic.sh If the script is not present, the installed NetScaler software image does not support the firmware upgrade.
  3. The following scripts must be present in the /var/tmp/Mellanox/scripts directory:
  • mellanox_fw_update_pwr_cycle_mgr
  • mellanox_fw_update_subr
  • mellanox_fw_update_state_machine
  • mellanox_nic_info
If these scripts are not present, at the command prompt, run installns to install these files. The files are included with all NetScaler software that supports this firmware upgrade.

Supported platforms

Note: The Mellanox firmware upgrade script is not supported on NetScaler SDX.
The following platforms contain Mellanox NICs:
  • MPX 9100
  • MPX 15000-50G
  • MPX 15000-50G FIPS certified appliance
  • MPX 16000
  • MPX 26000
  • MPX 26000-50S
  • MPX 26000-100G
  • MPX 26000T-100G

Upgrade the firmware

Important:
The upgrade script takes the appliance off the network. The time taken to complete the offline NIC firmware upgrade varies by platform. For example, on an MPX 26000 platform with 8 Mellanox NICs, the upgrade can take up to an hour.
This upgrade is performed only on Mellanox 50 G and 100 G NICs.
You can check the current firmware version by running the following command at the shell prompt.
> shell
root@ns# cd /var/nslog/
root@ns# vi dmesg.boot
Look for an entry similar to the following
…

mce0: INFO: firmware version: 12.28.2006

…

Post upgrade

After upgrade_mellanox_nic.sh has run, it deletes the /nsconfig/.developer and /nsconfig/rc.local files and exits. By deleting the /nsconfig/.developer file, NetScaler comes up on reboot.
After reboot, NetScaler is up and the firmware upgrade process is complete.
After firmware upgrade, the log file mellanoxFw.log in the /var/log directory, contains a detailed record of the firmware upgrade activities. Among other information, it records the duration of the firmware update process.
Run the mellanox_nic_info script to print an informational summary about the Mellanox NICs in the host NetScaler. The information is recorded in the log file.
To run the script, at the command prompt, type:
> shell
>root@ns# cd /var/tmp/Mellanox/scripts
>root@ns# sh mellanox_nic_info
>>> ==================================================================
>>> Invoking mellanox_nic_info informational script Mon Apr  1 09:57:48 UTC 2024
>>> NetScaler has at least one Mellanox NIC
mce#  NS if#      FW ver     PCI DBSF        PSID            Name        Type
----- ------    ---------- ------------  ------------- ----------------- ----
mce0 (100/2)    20.32.1010 pci0:138:0:0  MT_0000000224 MCX653106A-ECA_Ax CX_6