An optical module includes a central processing unit and at least one functional unit supporting upgrade. The central processing unit receives an upgrade file, where the upgrade file includes at least one executable file and version information of the upgrade file, and the version information of the upgrade file is determined based on version information of the at least one executable file in the upgrade file. The central processing unit parses the upgrade file and determines a to-be-upgraded target unit in the optical module. When the target unit includes the central processing unit, the central processing unit runs an executable file that is in the at least one executable file and that corresponds to the central processing unit.