Device Firmware Migration Overview

Perform the new and automated device firmware migration from Control Hub, so that you can migrate your enterprise devices to cloud. You can migrate the required Enterprise Firmware phones to Multiplatform Phone (MPP) Firmware from Control Hub. MPP phones are powered by Webex Calling solutions.

MPP firmware can run on certain models of the Cisco IP Phone 6800, 7800, and 8800 series. However, only the Cisco IP Phone 7800 and 8800 series have the capability to run either MPP firmware or Enterprise firmware. If you have the appropriate license, you can migrate between the MPP or Enterprise firmware on the Cisco IP Phone 7800 and 8800 series.


7800 firmware migration requires that the 7800 model is the correct hardware version.

This feature helps to migrate the registration of a phone from one of the following devices to Webex Calling:

  • Unified CM with on-premises calling

  • Unified CM with hosted calling using Hosted Collaboration Solution.

  • Cloud calling via Spark Calling

Use the migration wizard on Control Hub to prepare your devices for migration. The migration wizard automates the device license generation and checks the device eligibility before you start the migration. This tool helps you to migrate your devices and assign it to the existing Webex users or workspaces.


All phones that are migrated to MPP firmware using this tool must use Webex Calling.

Prerequisites

Before you perform the device firmware migration, make sure that you meet the following requirements:

Task Flow

Use the migration wizard on Control Hub to prepare the devices for migration. Using the wizard you can perform tasks, such as create a migration task, add devices, generate device licenses, check the device eligibility, and so on.

Before you begin: - Identify devices in Unified CM that you wish to migrate and gather information about the devices.

The migration wizard helps you to perform the following tasks and to start the migration.

Add device default task

Add device default task is a pre-populated list of all the Cisco enterprise phones.

Before you begin

To add phones to the device default task, from the customer view in https://admin.webex.com, go to Management > Devices, and then click Add Device.

1

On the Firmware migration from Enterprise to MPP page, Click Add device default task to migrate the pre-populated list of all the Cisco enterprise phones that are added to Webex.

The devices with no errors and ready to migrate are populated in the Ready for Migration tab. Any devices with errors are listed under Error tab.

2

Click Ready for Migration tab to migrate the devices.

3

From the Actions drop-down list, choose Complete Migration.

4

Select the devices you choose to migrate from the list of populated devices.
5

Click Complete Migration to create the migration task.

Create a new migration task window appears.

6

Enter a task name.
7

Click Continue.

The task appears on the Firmware Migration task list page with the status changed to Ready for Migration.

Create a New Task

Start a new task to migrate your enterprise phones to webex users or workspaces.

1

On the Firmware migration from Enterprise to MPP page, Click Start a new task to start a new migration task.


 
At any given time, only one task is with the In Progress status is allowed. If you start a new task with its status In Progress and Prepare For Migration, a new task can be created but the button is disabled until the In Progress task completes.
2

Enter the task name in the Task name field.


 

Enter a unique task name for each migration task. You can use a combination of the device name or creation date for the migration task name. For example, 8800-01-01-21. Having a unique name for a task helps you to quickly identify and track the status and progress of your migration tasks.

Do not use a space in the migration task name. Replace the space with an underscore.

3

Select a migration option from the drop-down list.

  • Generate device license and add device

  • Generate device license only
4

Click Next.

The Add devices page appears.

Add Enterprise Devices

You can add multiple devices to a location. To add devices, enter the required device details into a comma separated values (CSV) file and upload it. When you upload the file, the data is provided to Control Hub and it generates the device information and verifies the device eligibility for migration. If you've entered incorrect device details or want to modify the details, you can download the CSV file, update it, and then reupload the file.

1

From the Add devices page, go to the Download template files section to download the following files:

  • Export user attributes—You can get a list of all the users in your organization and their associated attributes so you don't have to manually look up each user.

  • Download CSV template—You can use the default template and enter information such as username, type, MAC address, and device model.

2

If you already have a CSV file and don't require a template, then enter the details in the CSV file. Here is an example of the CSV file.


 
The below table describes the CSV file parameters for Generate device license and add device. For Generate device license only, the CSV file contains only two parameters - Model and MAC address.

The following table contains the parameters in the CSV file and the description.

Table 1. CSV File Parameters

Parameters

Description

Type

Enter one of the following values:

  • USER

  • WORKSPACE

An existing user and workspace that belongs to the organization. However, a user must exist in the organization.

You can create a workspace if it is not available. However, provisioning of the workspace depends on the attributes that you enter.

Username

Enter one of the following values:

  • Email ID of the user—If you’ve chosen USER as the Type.

  • Workspace—If you’ve chosen WORKSPACE as the Type. Specify the name of the workspace. Example:- Meeting Room, Conference Room etc.

Phone Number

If you've chosen the Type as:

  • USER—The Phone Number must be blank. Do not enter any value.

  • WORKSPACE—The Phone Number is mandatory. It must be an integer value which is a valid E164 number.

Extension

If you've chosen the type as:

  • USER—The extension must be blank. Do not enter any value.

  • WORKSPACE—The extension is available and is valid for the specified location.

The extension is a valid E164 number based on the region.

Device Type

Enter IP as the valid value for Device Type.

Model

Enter the model of the device. This is a mandatory field.


 
The device model must be supported by migration.

MAC Address

Enter a 12-digit unique identifier. This is a mandatory field.

You can also enter the MAC address as a 6x2-pair hexadecimal digits separated by a colon.


 

Activation code onboarding is not supported when migrating the Enterprise phone firmware to MPP.

Location

Enter the name of the location.

It is mandatory to specify a location name that exists in the organization else an error is displayed. The location is identified based on the name and not by UUID or site ID.

3

Choose one of the following options to upload the file to the Upload section.


 
Make sure that the devices that are already configured in Webex Calling are not added to the CSV file that you plan to upload. This results in the device not being added to the CSV file.

  • Drag and drop the updated CSV file.

  • Browse to the location of the CSV file, select the file, and then click Open.

The Upload status section displays the following details:

  • Added—Total number of devices added to the migration task.

    Errors—Total number of errors. You can either choose to resolve the error or proceed without resolving the errors. To resolve the errors, export the errors to the CSV file, resolve them, reupload the CSV file, and then continue.


     
    If you proceed without resolving the errors, the devices with errors is not included in the migration task.

  • Total uploaded—Total number of devices that you've uploaded.


     

    If you use the same task for subsequent CSV uploads, the device count is appended to the device total.

4

Click Next.

The Check device migration eligibility page appears.

Verify Device Eligibility for Migration

You can migrate only those devices with an eligible and unknown status. However, devices with unknown eligibility may not be successful during migration. You can migrate devices individually or in bulk.

All ineligible devices are not migrated.

Use the Search field to search for any attributes, such as name, type, location, directory number, Webex extension, device model, MAC address, eligibility, and so on. The search is case insensitive and supports partial match search. You can also click the All (Eligibility) drop-down list to filter the list of eligible, ineligible, and unknown devices.

The following table lists the total number of devices and their eligibility status:

Table 2. Device Eligibility Status

Devices

Description

Total devices

The total number of devices added to the migration task.


 

The maximum number of devices supported for a migration task is 1000.

Eligible devices

The total number of devices that are suitable for migration.

The eligibility status of the device appears in green.

Ineligible devices

The total number of devices that aren't suitable for migration. There is not enough information to decide if these devices can migrate.

The eligibility status of the device appears in red.

Devices with Unknown Eligibility

The total number of devices with inadequate information therefore cannot decide on migrating the devices.

For example, the device details are not available. These devices may or may not be successful during migration. For procedure to check the migration eligibility for these devices, see the Overview section in the Convert between Enterprise Firmware and Multiplatform Firmware for Cisco IP Phone 7800 and 8800 Series Guide.

The eligibility status of the device appears in yellow.

1

From the Verify device migration eligibility page, click the All (Eligibility) drop-down list, check the eligible and unknown devices check boxes to filter the devices, and then click Prepare for migration.


 
You can also click Download to download and view the list of all device details.
2

Click Prepare for migration to prepare migration of all the verified devices.

The Prepare for migration confirmation screen appears.

3

Choose one of the following options:

  • Click OK to generate device licenses for Webex Calling devices.

  • Enable the Include unknown migration eligibility toggle to generate device licenses for devices with unknown eligibility.

The Firmware device migration page appears with the following tasks and status:
Table 3. Task Status

Task Status

Description

Action

Ready for Migration

The Prepare for migration task is complete. If there are any errors, you can view them, and if required, take necessary actions.

Click the Ready for Migration task status to view the following tabs:

  • Error—The list of errors, if any, are displayed here. You can resolve the errors or contact TAC for assistance.

  • Successful—The list of successful devices that are ready for migration.

Ready with Errors

The Prepare for migration task is complete and there are errors. You can continue to migrate.

The list of devices that are successful and some devices with errors. You can continue migration with the devices that are successful.

In Progress

The task is in progress.

You cannot perform any tasks while the Prepare for migration task is in progress.

Review errors

The task indicates that all devices have errors.

 —

Draft

The task is in draft status and has not yet started.

 —

Add and assign phones to a user

With Control Hub, you can assign devices to users for personal usage and then register those devices to the cloud.

The devices listed here support Webex Calling. While all these devices can be registered using a MAC address, only the following subset can be registered using an activation code:

  • Cisco IP Phone 6800 Series Multiplatform Phones (Audio phones—6821, 6841, 6851, 6861, 6871)

  • Cisco IP Phone 7800 Series Multiplatform Phones (Audio phones—7811, 7821, 7841, 7861)

  • Cisco IP Phone 8800 Series Multiplatform Phones (Audio phones—8811, 8841, 8851, 8861)

  • Cisco IP Phone 8800 Series Multiplatform Phones (Video phones—8845, 8865)

  • Cisco IP Conference Phone 7832 and 8832

  • Cisco Video Phone 8875

Regarding DECT devices, only DECT base devices (not DECT handsets) are available for assignment in Control Hub. After you assign a base unit to a user, you must then manually pair a DECT handset to that base unit. For more information, see Connect the Handset to the Base Station.

1

From the customer view in https://admin.webex.com, go to Devices and then click Add Device.


 
You can also add a phone to a user in the user's profile. See how in Manage a device for a user section.
2

Choose Existing User, enter the phone's owner, either part of the username or the user's real name, choose the user from the results, and then click Next.

3

Choose the device from the drop-down list, and then click Next.

4

Choose one of the following options and then click Save:

  • By Activation Code—Choose this option if you want to generate an activation code that you can share with the device owner. The 16-digit activation code must be manually entered onto the device itself.

     

    Multiplatform phones must have a firmware load of 11.2.3MSR1 or later to display the activation code screen. If phone firmware needs to be updated, point users to https://upgrade.cisco.com/MPP_upgrade.html.

  • By MAC Address—Choose this option if you know the MAC address of the device. A phone's MAC address must be a unique entry. If you enter a MAC address for a phone that's already registered or you make a mistake when you enter the number, an error message appears.

 

Limitations may apply when using third-party devices.

If you chose to generate an activation code for the device but you haven't yet used that code, the status of that device reads as Activating in the assigned user's Devices section and the main Devices list in Control Hub. Keep in mind that it may take up to 10 minutes for device status to be updated in Control Hub.

Start the Migration

The task describes how to migrate phones.

1

On the Firmware Migration screen, Click the Complete Migration button against the device you wish to migrate.

The Complete Migration button is enabled only when the task status is Ready for Migration.


 
Ensure your devices are added to the Webex Calling organization if the task type is migration license only.
2

Select the devices you want to complete the migration for.
3

Click Complete Migration to start migration of the selected devices.

The Create a new migration task window appears.
4

Enter a task name to keep track of the selected device migration.
5

Click Continue to complete the migration.

The task name appears in the list of firmware migration with a Ready for Migration status and Complete Migration button is enabled.
6

Click Complete Migration against the task name from the firmware migration list for which migration must be completed.

Complete Migration

The task describes how to complete migration of phones.

Click Complete Migration against the task name from the firmware migration list for which migration must be completed.

The task describes how to automatically migrate phones.

Before you begin

Connect all phones to server with a wired connection.

If you cannot connect your wireless device to a wired device, reconfigure the Wi-Fi information to your device after the phone is migrated to MPP Firmware.

Auto migration is disabled if Cloud Connected UC is not onboarded.

1

Click the Auto Complete Card to migrate phones automatically.

2

Select the TFTP Server Type.

3

Select a Unified CM TFTP Load Server where a device can be found.

4

Click Migrate Phones to start migrating phones automatically.


 
Phones are migrated in batches of 200 devices.
Auto complete migrating devices window apprears.
5

Click Continue to continue migration.

The task appears on the Firmware Migrations window with the status changed to Auto-Migration complete.

The task describes how to manually migrate phones.

1

Click the Manually Complete Card to migrate phones manually.

2

Click Download Export to download the bat files.

  1. Ensure all Phone Load versions are 14.1 or higher.

    For more details, see Firmware Updates in the Unified CM Administration Guide.

  2. Connect wireless phones to a wired connection.

  3. Log into Cisco Unified Communications Manager and then select upload files. See Upload Files in Unified CM for details.

  4. Verify the migration completion status using the Control Hub. From the customer view in Webex Control Hub, go to Devices and view the list of devices. You can find the newly migrated phones in the list. For more information, see the https://help.webex.com/en-us/v6qj8s/Look-Up-Device-Information article for details.

  5. Click Download files to download the csv files.


     

    On applying the new firmware for the wireless phones, the phone loses its wireless network settings. We recommend following these steps for the wireless phones:

    1. Connect the phone to the network via Ethernet.

    2. Complete the migration for the phone.

    3. Reconnect the phone to the network via Wi-Fi.

    If the phone is stuck with the message "Configuration check in progress." Power cycle the phone.


 

If you cannot connect your wireless device to a wired device, reconfigure the Wi-Fi information to your device after the phone is migrated to MPP Firmware.

Migration Errors

This section explores the task scenarios while migrating devices to webex calling.

On the Firmware migration from Enterprise to MPP page, click on the task name to view the migration task status.

The Migration Tasks window appears. The devices are classified under Error, Ready for Migration, In Progress and complete tabs based on the device status.

A list of devices with an error status is displayed here. You can resolve the errors or contact TAC for assistance.

1

On the Migration Tasks page, click on the Error tab.

2

Click Migrate errors to resolve the erroneous devices.

3

Select the devices you wish to resolve the errors for.
4

Click Move to move devices to Ready for Migration.

The devices are moved to Ready for Migration tab.

5

Click Actions to perform any of the following actions:

  1. Complete Migration

  2. Download Status Report

  3. Refresh device Status

  4. Pause Migration

  5. Resume Migration

  6. Cancel Migration

What to do next

If the errors are not resolved, contact TAC for assistance.

A list of devices ready for migration is displayed here.

1

On the Migration Tasks page, click on the Ready for Migration tab.

2

Click Actions to perform any of the following actions:

  1. Complete Migration

  2. Download Status Report

  3. Refresh device Status

  4. Pause Migration

  5. Resume Migration

  6. Cancel Migration

A list of devices whose migration status is in progress is displayed here.

1

On the Migration Tasks page, click on the In Progress tab.

2

Click Actions to perform any of the following actions:

  1. Complete Migration

  2. Download Status Report

  3. Refresh device Status

  4. Pause Migration

  5. Resume Migration

  6. Cancel Migration

A list of devices whose migration activity is completed is displayed here.

1

On the Migration Tasks page, click on the Complete tab.

The list of devices whose migration is complete are displayed under this tab.
2

Click Actions to perform any of the following actions:

  1. Complete Migration

  2. Download Status Report

  3. Refresh device Status

  4. Pause Migration

  5. Resume Migration

  6. Cancel Migration

Upload Files

This section describes the procedure to:

  • upload files to Cisco Unified CM

  • upload phones using custom files

Perform the following procedure to upload the file to Cisco Unified Communications Manager.

The upload file name must always use alphanumeric (a-z, A-Z, or 0-9) characters. Special characters include hyphens (-), dot (.), and underscore (_). Also, the file name should not begin with a dot nor contain multiple dots.

The downloaded files contain the list of devices that were sucessfully provisioned on Control Hub and are ready to migrate. The admin can use the file to select the devices for migration firmware. Use these steps to select the devices from the download file and perform the migration:

1

Log in to Cisco Unified Communications Manager.

2

From Cisco Unified CM Administration, choose Bulk Administration > Upload/Download Files.

3

Click Add New.

The File Upload Configuration window appears.
4

In the File text box, enter the full path of the file that you want to upload, or click Browse and locate the file.

5

From the Select the Target drop-down list, choose the target as Phone.

6

From the Transaction Type drop-down list, choose the transaction type as Update Phone - Custom File.

7

Check the Overwrite File if it Exists check box, if you want to overwrite an existing file with the same name.

8

Click Save.

The upload status appears.
9

Repeat steps 4 to 8 for all the generated files.

1

Log in to Cisco Unified Communications Manager.

2

From Cisco Unified CM Administration, go to Bulk Administration > Upload/Download Files.

3

Click Add New.

The File Upload Configuration window appears.
4

In the File text box, enter the full path of the file to upload from the downloaded manifest file or click Browse and locate the file.

5

From the Select the Target drop-down list, choose the target as Phone.

6

From the Transaction Type drop-down list, choose the transaction type as Update Phone - Custom File.

7

Check the Overwrite File if it Exists check box, if you want to overwrite an existing file with the same name.

8

Click Save.

The upload status appears.
9

Repeat steps 4 to 8 for all the generated files.
Perform the following task to upload the phones using a custom file.

Prerequisite

Make sure that you have the list of devices that you plan to update and also a text file with the options such as Device name, Directory name, and Description.

1

From Cisco Unified CM Administration, choose Bulk Administration > Phones > Update Phones > Custom File.

The Update Phones Custom Configuration page appears.
2

From the Update Bulk Phone Template where drop-down list, choose Device Name.

3

Click Find. The phones that are listed in the files, if available, appear on this page.

4

Click Next.

5

Check the required parameters check boxes and update the details such as description, phone load name, load server, and so on, in the respective fields. There are 2 groups in the text files that you download from Control Hub, which are:

  1. Group 1 where the text files have a list of mixed-model phones (such as 7821, 7841, 7861). For this group, use the COP file without any load server configuration.

  2. Group 2 where each text file has one model of phones. Use the Cisco upgrader server, if you do not want to install the COP files.

    Set the Load server to cloudupgrader.webex.com and select the Phone Load based on the phone model as shown:

Device Type

Phone Load

7832

sip7832.11-3-6MPP0001-272

Other 78xx

sip78xx.11-3-6MPP0001-272

8832

sip8832.11-3-6MPP0001-272

8845/8865

sip8845_65.11-3-6MPP0001-272

Other 88xx

sip88xx.11-3-6MPP0001-272

To download the migration firmware COP files, use software.cisco.com.

6

From the Job Information section, choose one of the following options:

  • Run Immediately—Click this button to start the job immediately.

  • Run Later—Click this button to schedule the job sometime later.

7

Click Submit.

8

Repeat steps 1 to 7 for all the generated files.
9

To view the status of the submitted job, go to Cisco Unified CM Administration, choose Bulk Administration > Job Scheduler.

10

Select your job to view the job status.

Supported Phone Models

The following table lists the supported phone models that can be converted from Enterprise to Multiplatform firmware.

Table 4. Supported Phone Models for Enterprise to Multiplatform firmware

7800 Series (*limitations apply)

8800 audio series

8800 video series

CP-7811-K9=

CP-8811-K9=

CP-8845-K9=

CP-7821-K9= (V03 to V24)

CP-8841-K9=

CP-8865-K9=

CP-7841-K9=*(V04 or later)

CP-8851-K9=

—

CP-7861-K9=*(V03 or later)

CP-8861-K9=

—

CP-7832-K9=

CP-8832-K9=*(V07 or earlier)

—

All versions of 8800 series audio phones that are listed above can convert to MPP firmware but V15 and later hardware versions require minimum 11.3.3 MPP firmware that is once converted and cannot downgrade to earlier MPP firmware versions. The following 8800 devices are not eligible to migrate to MPP: 8821, 8851NR, 8865NR, and 8831. 8832NR can be migrated to MPP but some features may not be supported.