Manual Chapter : Upgrading BIG-IQ 5.2.0, 5.3.0, 5.4.0, 6.0.0, or 6.0.1 to 6.1.0

Applies To:

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BIG-IQ Centralized Management

  • 6.1.0
Manual Chapter

Upgrading BIG-IQ 5.2.0, 5.3.0, 5.4.0, 6.0.0, or 6.0.1 to
6.1.0

Upgrade the primary BIG-IQ to the latest version

Before upgrading the primary BIG-IQ:
  • You must download the most recent BIG-IQ
    .iso
    image from the F5 downloads site.
  • There must be two volumes on the BIG-IQ.
    • If you are upgrading from versions 5.2 or 5.3, refer to: K17406:
      Using the tmsh utility to create a new software volume for installing a new image or hotfix on the BIG-IQ system
      at:
      https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K17406.
    • If you are upgrading from version 5.4 or later, you can add the second volume as part of the upgrade.
These procedures require that the BIG-IQ system is temporarily unavailable, and unable to manage BIG-IP devices until the upgrade is complete. BIG-IP devices can continue to manage traffic during this time. This process can take up to an hour.
You upgrade BIG-IQ to take advantage of the newest functionality and features.
  1. At the top of the screen, click
    System
    .
  2. On the left, click
    Software Management
    .
    • If you are upgrading from BIG-IQ version 5.4.0 or 6.0.0:
      1. Click
        INSTALLATIONS
        , and then click
        Upgrade
        .
      2. For
        Software Image
        , select the image to install.
    • If you are upgrading from BIG-IQ version 5.2.0 or 5.3.0, click
      Available Images
      , select the image, and click the
      Install
      button.
  3. From the
    Target Volume
    list, select the volume you want to install the image on.
    If the Target Volume list is empty, the machine you are upgrading does not have a second volume available for you to install the upgrade. You must create one to proceed.
    • If you selected a target volume, complete the remaining steps to finish the upgrade.
    • If you do not have a second volume, use the following procedure to install the upgrade for this machine:
      • Use SSH to log in to the machine you want to upgrade. You must log in as
        root
        to perform this procedure.
      • Navigate to the folder where you install software using the command:
        cd /shared/images
      • Install the upgrade to a new volume using one of the following commands:
        • If you are upgrading a virtual machine:
          tmsh install sys software image <full name of the iso file> volume hd1.2 create-volume reboot
        • If you are upgrading a BIG-IQ 7000 series platform:
          tmsh install sys software image <full name of the iso file> volume md1.2 create-volume reboot
      • While the system installs the upgrade to the new volume, you can check on the status of the upgrade using the command:
        tmsh show sys software status
        .
      • When the upgrade finishes installing, the machine reboots. Proceed to the next to the last (login) step in this task.
  4. To prompt BIG-IQ to reboot into the new software installation volume, select the
    Reboot into Target Volume
    check box.
  5. Select the
    Back up the BIG-IQ system before upgrade
    check box.
  6. Click the
    Install
    button at the bottom of the screen.
    The software installation begins. Depending on your configuration and the number of devices you are managing, this could take up to an hour. During this time, it is important that you not interrupt the installation process by restarting services or the server.
  7. Wait while BIG-IQ loads the new software and reboots.
    Depending on your configuration and the number of devices you are managing, this could take up to an hour. During this time, it is important that you not interrupt the installation process by restarting services or the server.
  8. If needed, extend the
    /var
    partition.
    The default size of the
    /var
    file system in a newly installed or upgraded node is 30 GB. This amount of available storage might not be enough to store your data. If you previously extended your disk space, you'll need to do it again after you upgrade. For information about how to do that, refer to: K16103: Extending disk space on BIG-IQ Virtual Edition And remember, upgrading a node requires at least two volumes, so be sure you can extend the
    /var
    file system on both volumes to the same size, or upgrades might fail.
Even though you can log in to this BIG-IQ system after the software is installed, the system continues some database re-indexing processes in the background. For larger configurations, that can take up to an hour. If you perform any searches on objects before it's done re-indexing, BIG-IQ might not return the expected results. During this time, you can continue with the rest of the upgrade process.
You can now upgrade the peer BIG-IQ system.

Upload the latest version of the software image to the secondary BIG-IQ

Before you can upload the software image to the secondary BIG-IQ system, you must have first downloaded it from the F5 Downloads site. After you upgrade the primary BIG-IQ system, you can upgrade the secondary BIG-IQ system.
You upload the BIG-IQ version software image to the secondary BIG-IQ system to make it available for this upgrade.
  1. At the top of the screen, click
    System
    .
  2. On the left, click
    SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT
    IMAGES
    .
  3. Click the
    Upload Image
    button.
  4. Click the
    Choose File
    button and go to the location to which you downloaded the image, and click the
    Open
    button to upload it to BIG-IQ.
  5. Click the
    Upload
    button.
    The screen refreshes to display the progress of the upload.
When the image is done uploading, it shows in the list of available images.

Upgrade secondary BIG-IQ to the latest version

Before you can upgrade the secondary BIG-IQ:
  • You must download the most recent BIG-IQ
    .iso
    image from the F5 downloads site.
  • There must be two volumes on the BIG-IQ.
    • If you are upgrading from versions 5.2 or 5.3, refer to: K17406:
      Using the tmsh utility to create a new software volume for installing a new image or hotfix on the BIG-IQ system
      at:
      https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K17406.
    • If you are upgrading from version 5.4 or later, you can add the second volume as part of the upgrade.
You install the latest version of the BIG-IQ software on the peer BIG-IQ system so it will be running the same version as the primary BIG-IQ system you are upgrading. After you upgrade the secondary BIG-IQ, you can re-establish their connection and synchronize their configuration for high availability.
Use the following command only in very specific circumstances, such as this one, since it clears the majority of a BIG-IQ system's configuration. Before you run the command, be sure you are on the secondary BIG-IQ system. This command removes all stored data. If you run this command from the primary BIG-IQ system, you'll permanently lose all of your saved data.
  1. Log in as
    root
    to the system you are going to establish as the secondary BIG-IQ system's command line and type the following command:
    /usr/bin/clear-rest-storage
    .
    While this step is not required, it clears the database storage on the system so the upgrade goes more quickly. After you upgrade both peer systems and re-establish the HA pair, the peer BIG-IQ synchronizes its database with this BIG-IQ system, and repopulates the database.
  2. Log in to the system you are going to establish as the secondary BIG-IQ system's user interface.
  3. At the top of the screen, click
    System
    .
  4. On the left, click
    Software Management
    .
    • If you're upgrading from BIG-IQ version 5.4.0 or 6.0.0, click
      INSTALLATION
      button, and then click the
      Upgrade
      button.
    • If you're upgrading from BIG-IQ version 5.2.0 or 5.3.0, click
      Available Images
      , select the image, and click the
      Install
      button.
  5. Select the
    Back up the BIG-IQ system before upgrade
    check box.
  6. From the
    Target Volume
    list, select the volume you want to install the image on.
    If the Target Volume list is empty, the machine you are upgrading does not have a second volume available for you to install the upgrade. You must create one to proceed.
    • If you selected a target volume, complete the remaining steps to finish the upgrade.
    • If you do not have a second volume, use the following procedure to install the upgrade for this machine:
      • Use SSH to log in to the machine you want to upgrade. You must log in as
        root
        to perform this procedure.
      • Navigate to the folder where you install software using the command:
        cd /shared/images
      • Install the upgrade to a new volume using one of the following commands:
        • If you are upgrading a virtual machine:
          tmsh install sys software image <full name of the iso file> volume hd1.2 create-volume reboot
        • If you are upgrading a BIG-IQ 7000 series platform:
          tmsh install sys software image <full name of the iso file> volume md1.2 create-volume reboot
      • While the system installs the upgrade to the new volume, you can check on the status of the upgrade using the command:
        tmsh show sys software status
        .
      • When the upgrade finishes installing, the machine reboots. Proceed to the next to the last (login) step in this task.
  7. To prompt BIG-IQ to reboot into the new software installation volume, select the
    Reboot into Target Volume
    check box.
  8. Click the
    Install
    button.
  9. Click the
    Continue
    button.
  10. Wait while BIG-IQ loads the new software and reboots.
    Depending on your configuration and the number of devices you are managing, this could take up to an hour. During this time, it is important that you not interrupt the installation process by restarting services or the server.
  11. Log in to the BIG-IQ that will be the secondary BIG-IQ system to confirm that the upgrade succeeded and complete the setup wizard.
    To complete the setup task, you must supply a master key pass phrase that all devices in the DCD cluster must share. Make note of the phrase you use. Each logging node, as well as the primary and secondary BIG-IQ systems must use this phrase before they can join the cluster.
  12. If needed, extend the
    /var
    partition.
    The default size of the
    /var
    file system in a newly installed or upgraded node is 30 GB. This amount of available storage might not be enough to store your data. If you previously extended your disk space, you'll need to do it again after you upgrade. For information about how to do that, refer to: K16103: Extending disk space on BIG-IQ Virtual Edition And remember, upgrading a node requires at least two volumes, so be sure you can extend the
    /var
    file system on both volumes to the same size, or upgrades might fail.