Downgrade a VM-Series Firewall to a Previous Release

1. Save a backup of the current configuration file.

   Although the firewall automatically creates a backup of the configuration, it is a best practice to create a backup before you upgrade and store it externally.

   1. Export named configuration snapshot (DeviceSetupOperations).
   2. Select the XML file that contains your running configuration (for example, running-config.xml) and click OK to export the configuration file.
   3. Save the exported file to a location external to the firewall. You can use this backup to restore the configuration if you have problems with the downgrade.
2. Install the previous feature release image.

   Autosave versions are created when you upgrade to a new release.

   1. Check Now (DeviceSoftware) for available images.

      (PAN-OS 11.1.3 and later releases) By default, the preferred releases and the corresponding base releases are displayed. To view the preferred releases only, disable (clear) the Base Releases checkbox. Similarly, to view the base releases only, disable (clear) the Preferred Releases checkbox.
   2. Locate the image to which you want to downgrade. If the image is not already downloaded, then Download it.
   3. After the download completes, Install the image.
   4. Select a Config File for Downgrading, which the firewall will load after you reboot the device. In most cases, you should select the configuration that was saved automatically when you upgraded from the release to which you are now downgrading. For example, if you are running PAN-OS 9.1 and are downgrading to PAN-OS 9.0.3, select autosave-9.0.3.
   5. After the installation completes successfully, reboot using one of the following methods:

      • If you are prompted to reboot, click Yes.
      • If you are not prompted to reboot, go to Device Operations (DeviceSetupOperations) and Reboot Device.