JunOS software is the heart and soul of JunOS based Juniper devices. JunOS is an operating system based on Free BSD Unix operating system. It is a very powerful and flexible operating system. Command line interface and web based interface are available to manage JunOS based Juniper devices. Juniper releases updates of JunOS operating system almost every month. In order to download the JunOS image you have to create account on Juniper’s official page. There are different JunOS releases for different Juniper products. There are different series of Juniper products, like EX Series, J Series, SRX Series, T Series and so on. Regular updates of JunOS operating system is very important for better functioning of the device. In each releases, new features are added, bugs are fixed and unnecessary function are removed. Before downloading and installing the latest stable version of JunOS, it’s always better to know the JUNOS software naming convention.
JunOS Software Naming Convention
The naming convention of JunOS software is, [package|major_version|stage|released_version|type].
- Package – This shows the package type. For example, jbundle, jroute, jpfe, jdocs, jcrypto, etc.
- Major Version – This shows the major version of the software release. For example, 11.4, etc.
- Stage – This is a single capital letter that represents the type of the software. There can be 4 different stage. They are:-
R – This means the software is released publicly and is ready for use in production.
A – This means the software is Alpha state.
B – This means the software is in Beta state.
I – This means the software can be used internal or is test version. - Released Version – This shows that the major version software has multiple releases.
- Type – This can be domestic or export. Domestic type contains jcrypto software component which allows for encryption functionalities(e.g. VPN can be configured) within the device. Export type doesn’t contain jcrypto software component and encryption functionalities can’t be used (no VPN configuration allowed).
You can check the existing JunOS release by issuing show version command.
As shown above, the software release version is 11.4R5.5. Here, 11.4 is the package main version. R is called publicly released software. 5.5 is is the release version of this software.
The downloaded JunOS image may have naming like, jinstall-ex-2200-11.4R8.5-domestic-signed.tg. Here, 11.4 is the main version of the package. Stage is R,which means the release is available for public use. Similarly, 8.5 is the release of main version (11.4). Type is domesticwhich means it contains jcrypto component.
Note: – Every time you download JunOS software, always download the release version recommended by Juniper. The recommended version is the one that is more stable and is less prone to errors.
