Manual Chapter :
BIG-IP Software Upgrades
Applies To:
Show VersionsBIG-IQ Centralized Management
- 7.0.0
BIG-IP Software Upgrades
How do I manage software for BIG-IP devices?
A key feature of BIG-IQ is the ability to manage software images for multiple remote devices from one location. You can deploy software without having to log in to each individual BIG-IP device.
There are three steps to managing software images for devices:
- Download the software image from F5 Networks.
- Upload the software image to BIG-IQ.
- Install the software image on a device in the BIG-IP Device inventory in one of the following two ways:
- Managed Device Upgrade - use this process for installing a software image on managed BIG-IP devices running version 11.5.0 or later.
- Legacy Device Upgrade - use this process for installing a software image on BIG-IP devices running versions 10.2.4 to 11.4.1.
Before you can manage a legacy device running versions 10.2.0 - 11.4.1, you must upgrade the device to version 11.5.0 or later.
Downloading a software image from F5 Networks
Downloading a software image from F5 Networks is the first step to making it
available to install on a managed device.
- Log in to the F5 Downloads site,https://downloads.f5.com, and click theFind a Downloadbutton.
- Click the name of the product line.
- Click the version of the product you want to download.
- Read the End User License Agreement, and click theI Acceptbutton if you agree with the terms.
- Click the name of the file you want to download.
- Click the name of the closest geographical location to you.The screen refreshes to display the progress of your download.
After you download the software image, you can upload it to BIG-IQ.
Upload BIG-IP software
Before you can upload a software image to BIG-IQ, you must download it from the
https://downloads.f5.com
site.You upload a software image to make it available to deploy to managed BIG-IP devices.
To make sure the software image successfully uploads, don't log out of BIG-IQ or close the browser window until the software image name appears in the Software Image list.
- At the top of the screen, clickDevices.
- On the left, click.
- Click theUpload Imagebutton.
- Click theChoose Filebutton and go to the location to which you downloaded the image, and click theOpenbutton to upload it to BIG-IQ.
When BIG-IQ uploads the software, it verifies the image. This verification process can take several minutes. When BIG-IQ is finished uploading and verifying the image, the software image displays as
Verified
and is available for installation on a device.
Upgrade managed devices
Before you can install a software image onto a device, you must download it from the
F5 Downloads site,
https://downloads.f5.com
, and upload it to
the BIG-IQ system. To apply a hotfix, you must have the base
software image (as well as the hotfix) uploaded to, and verified by, BIG-IQ. You can deploy software
images only to BIG-IP devices running version 11.5.0 or later.
Refer to the
Upgrading a legacy device
section for specific
instructions about upgrading devices running version 10.2.0 - 11.4.1. BIG-IQ makes it easy for you to upgrade your devices. You can upgrade a single
device, or upgrade several at once. You also have the option to:
- Capture the state of certain objects before the upgrade so you can compare their state after the upgrade.
- Create backups before the software installs, or create backups after the upgrade.
- Copy the software images to devices, but wait to upgrade until later.
- Pause before rebooting devices.
- Install the software on devices in your DNS sync groups one-by-one so you can bring them all online at the same time.
Install a software image
during a maintenance window when you are not directing traffic to the target BIG-IP
device.
- At the top of the screen, clickDevices.
- On the left click.
- Click theManaged Device Installbutton towards the top of the screen.
- From theSoftware Imagelist, select the image you want to install.
- In theNamefield, type a name to identify this installation.
- For theOptionssetting, you can enable one or more of the following by selecting the check box next to it:If you select an option to pause at any point during before, during, or after the installation process, you'll need to click theContinuebutton to move on to the next step.
- Perform pre and post installation assessmentand select the managed objects you want to assess the state of, before and after upgrading, so you can investigate if any difference are found.
- Perform backupsand select theBackup Propertiesoptions for the backup.
- Pause after the software image is copied has been copied to devicesif you want to copy the image to this device, but wait until later to install it.
- Pause for reboot confirmationto pause before rebooting the devices after the software is installed.
- Install devices one by onefor DNS sync group upgrades.Because the upgrades occur sequentially when you choose this option, when the installation finishes for the last device, all of the devices in the sync group are at the same software version, and the sync group can be brought back online.
- Click theAdd/Remove Devicesbutton to select devices to install this software on.
- If you are upgrading devices that belong to a DNS sync group, decide how you are going to choose devices for upgrade:
- To use the sync group name, selectGroup/Cluster, and then selectDNS Sync Group.
- To use the host names for individual devices, selectDevice.
- From theAvailablelist, select the device(s) you want to upgrade, move it to theSelectedlist, and click theApplybutton.If you select a device that belongs to a DNS sync group, you must also select all of the other members of the group, to continue the upgrade.
- To set the location for where BIG-IQ installs this software image:
- Click theSet Default Volumebutton.
- SelectVolume Name.
- In theVolume Namefield, type the name of the volume on which you want to install this image.
- Click theApplybutton.
- Click theRunbutton towards the middle of the screen to put the image on the BIG-IP device(s) immediately.Alternatively, you can click theSave & Closebutton to save this job to deploy the software later.
- If you selected the option to back up the BIG-IP device(s) before installing the software, when BIG-IQ pauses, click theBack Up Devicesbutton.
- If you selected the option to run a pre-installation assessment, when BIG-IQ pauses:
- Click theRun Pre-assessmentbutton.
- Select the configurations that you want BIG-IQ to review before upgrading and click theOKbutton.
- When the assessment is complete, click theContinuebutton to start the installation.
- If you selected the option to back up the BIG-IP device(s) after installing the software, click theBack Up Devicesbutton.
- If you selected the option to pause before rebooting the BIG-IP device after the software is installed, click theContinuebutton to reboot.
- To run a post-installation assessment, click theRun Post-assessmentbutton.
- To compare the pre-upgrade assessment and the post-upgrade assessment, click theCompare Assessmentsbutton towards the bottom of the screen, and click theMark Finishedbutton when it's done.
Upgrade the BIG-IP framework
To properly communicate, BIG-IQ Centralized Management and managed
BIG-IP devices must be running
compatible
versions of the framework. If the frameworks are incompatible, BIG-IQ displays a
yellow triangle next to the device in the BIG-IP Device inventory.
When you upgrade a BIG-IP device running version 11.5.x to another 11.5.x version, or
to an 11.6.x version (for example, from version 11.5.3 to 11.5.4, or from version
11.5.3 to version 11.6.1), you must upgrade the REST framework so BIG-IQ can manage
the device.
When you upgrade BIG-IQ to the latest version, you must also
upgrade the REST framework for all BIG-IP devices (currently in the BIG-IP Device
inventory) running a version prior to 12.0.0.
- At the top of the screen, clickDevices.
- Select the check box next to a device, click theMorebutton, and selectUpgrade Framework.A popup screen opens.
- Into the fields, type the required credentials, and click theContinuebutton.AREST Framework upgrade in progressmessage displays.
After the framework is updated, you
can successfully manage this device.
Repeat these steps for each
device.
Upgrade a legacy device (version 10.2.0 -
11.4.1)
Before you can upgrade a device, you
must first download the software image from the F5 Downloads site,
https://downloads.f5.com
to the BIG-IQ
system. You need the root user name and password for the device to upgrade it.A BIG-IP device running versions 10.2.0 - 11.4.1 is considered
a
legacy device
. You must upgrade a legacy device to version 11.5.0 or
later before you can add it to the BIG-IP Device Inventory and start managing it
from BIG-IQ. If you were managing a device running versions 10.2.0 - 11.4.1 from a previous
version of BIG-IQ, and upgraded to version 5.0, the device displays as impaired with
a yellow triangle next to it in the BIG-IP Devices Inventory. To manage the legacy
device, you must upgrade it to version 11.5.0 or later.
- At the top of the screen, clickDevices.
- On the left, click.
- Click theLegacy Device Installbutton near the top of the screen.
- From theSoftware Image List, select the image you want to install on this legacy device.
- In theDevice IP Addressfield, type the IP address for the legacy device that you want to upgrade.
- In theAdmin User NameandAdmin Passwordfields, type the administrator's user name and password for this device.
- In theRoot User NameandRoot Passwordfields, type the user name and password for the root user for this device.
- Click theInstallbutton at the bottom of the screen to start the upgrade.
When the upgrade to version 11.5.0
or later is complete, you can discover the device from BIG-IQ.
Re-discover BIG-IP devices and re-import services
If you upgrade or make a change directly on a
managed BIG-IP device, you must re-discover and re-import services for that device so
BIG-IQ Centralized Management has the most current configuration for that device.
You cannot re-import SSLO configurations from
discovered BIG-IP devices.
- At the top of the screen, clickDevices.
- Select the check box next to the device you want to rediscover and reimport services for.
- Click theMorebutton and selectRe-discover and Re-import.
- In theNameandDescriptionfields, type a name and an optional description to identify this task.
- For theShared Object Conflict Resolution PolicyandVersion Object Conflict Resolution PolicyandDevice Object Conflict ResolutionPolicysettings, select an option:
- Use BIG-IQKeep the object in BIG-IQ system's working configuration. The next time BIG-IQ deploys a configuration to that BIG-IP device, it updates the object to match the one on BIG-IQ.
- Use BIG-IPif you want to override the configuration settings stored on BIG-IQ with the settings from the BIG-IP device if any differences for shared objects are found.
For theVersion Object Conflict Resolution Policy, you also have the option to selectCreate Version, if you want BIG-IQ to create a version-specific object if any differences for version-specific objects are found. If you select this option, BIG-IQ creates and stores a copy of the BIG-IP device's LTM monitor or profile object (s), specific to the software version running on that BIG-IP device and replaces that object for all the managed BIG-IP devices running that version, the next time it deploys a configuration. You can store multiple versions of LTM monitors or profiles. BIG-IQ deploys the appropriate stored version to your managed devices. BIG-IQ automatically resolves conflicts against the appropriate version the next time it imports services that contain LTM monitors or profiles. - If you want to save a snapshot of the BIG-IP device's configuration before importing their services, select theCreate a snapshot of the current configuration before importingcheck box.
- Click theCreatebutton at the bottom of the screen.
You can now manage these BIG-IP
devices.