Manual Chapter : Upgrading BIG-IQ Overview

Applies To:

  • BIG-IQ Centralized Management

    7.0.0

Updated Date: 07/07/2026

Upgrading BIG-IQ Overview

This process describes the steps to upgrade BIG-IQ Centralized Management from versions 5.2 through 6.1 without a data collection device (DCD) cluster.

If your BIG-IQ configuration includes a DCD, refer to Supported Upgrade Processes to BIG-IQ Version 7.0.0.

This example represents a BIG-IQ in a high availability configuration. During the upgrade, the BIG-IQ suspends BIG-IP device management. This can result in a downtime of services. The amount of downtime depends on the size of your system’s setup. BIG-IQ services resume when the active BIG-IQ is upgraded and restarted.

Before upgrading F5 BIG-IQ Centralized Management, complete these tasks.

Tasks

Additional information

Download the BIG-IQ software image and Pre-upgrade Check tool from the F5 Downloads site.

downloads.f5.com

Run the pre-upgrade check script on the primary BIG-IQ by typing the following command: preUpgradeCheck.

This script verifies the following for BIG-IQ:- Disk assessment and partition size.

  • Health checks

  • Licensing verification.

  • CPU and memory assessment.

Deploy any staged configuration changes to your managed BIG-IP devices.

When addressing configuration conflicts for each BIG-IP device, F5 recommends you use BIG-IP to override the configuration settings stored on BIG-IQ.

Decide which disk volume you want to install the BIG-IQ software on. You must have at least two volumes to upgrade BIG-IQ.

If you don’t have two volumes and 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.

If you are currently using a self-IP address for device discovery, make a note of that IP address.

You’ll need to enter that IP address when you perform setup after you upgrade and reboot the BIG-IQ system.

Upgrade all managed BIG-IP devices to version 12.1 or later.

For you to manage BIG-IP devices from BIG-IQ Centralized Management, the BIG-IP devices must be running version 12.1 or later.

Before you install or upgrade BIG-IQ Centralized Management, it’s important to take inventory of the status of the running daemons. Then after you upgrade, you can verify that they’re in the same state, and make any necessary modifications. To view the daemons, type the following command: admin@(ip-10-1-1-4)(cfg-sync Standalone)(Active)(/Common)(tmos)# show /sys service.

Daemon Example of status
admd down, Not provisioned
alertd run (pid 6579) 22 hours
apmd down, Not provisioned
asm down, Not provisioned
autodosd down, Not provisioned
avrd down, Not provisioned
bigd run (pid 5338) 22 hours
bigiqsnmpd run (pid 5035) 22 hours
captured down, Not provisioned
cbrd run (pid 6117) 22 hours
chmand run (pid 5678) 22 hours
clusterd down, Not required
cman cluster is running
corosync (pid 22585) is running 22 hours
csyncd run (pid 5038) 22 hours
datasyncd down, Not provisioned
dnscached down, Not provisioned
dosl7d down, Not provisioned
dosl7d_attack_monitor down, Not provisioned
dwbld down, Not provisioned
elasticsearch run (pid 5041) 22 hours
errdefsd run (pid 6112) 22 hours
eventd run (pid 5043) 22 hours
evrouted run (pid 6583) 22 hours
f5_update_checker down, No action required
fpuserd down, Not provisioned
fslogd down, Not provisioned
grafana run (pid 6107) 22 hours
gtmd down, Not provisioned
guiserver run (pid 6105) 22 hours
gunicorn run (pid 6587) 22 hours
hwpd down 22 hours, normally up
icontrolportald run (pid 5337) 22 hours
iprepd run (pid 6113) 22 hours
istatsd run (pid 6109) 22 hours
lacpd down, not required
lind run (pid 6116) 22 hours
mcpd run (pid 6110) 22 hours
merged run (pid 6938) 22 hours
mgmt_acld down, Not provisioned
monpd run (pid 6578) 22 hours
named run (pid 4855) 22 hours
nokiasnmpd down, Not enabled
ntlmconnpool run (pid 6111) 22 hours
pabnagd down, Not logging node
pacemakerd (pid 23004) is running 22 hours
pccd down, Not provisioned
pgadmind run (pid 7310) 22 hours
pkcs11d down, Not required
restjavad run (pid 4853) 22 hours
rethinkdb run (pid 15058) 21 hours, 1 start
scriptd run (pid 5344) 22 hours
sdmd down, sdmd is not provisioned
searchd run (pid 5343) 22 hours
sflow_agent run (pid 6937) 22 hours
shmmapd down, Not provisioned
snmpd run (pid 5674) 22 hours
sod run (pid 4810) 22 hours
statsd run (pid 5336) 22 hours
syscalld run (pid 6939) 22 hours
tamd run (pid 5679) 22 hours
tmipsecd run (pid 5341) 22 hours
tmm run (pid 6581) 22 hours
tmrouted run (pid 6581) 22 hours
tokumond run (pid 7311) 22 hours
tokumx run (pid 6580) 22 hours
webd run (pid 6941) 22 hours
wr_urldbd down, Not provisioned
zrd down, Not provisioned
zxfrd run (pid 5034) 22 hours

Important: The upgrade process can take up to several hours depending on how many BIG-IP devices you are managing.

To upgrade F5 BIG-IQ Centralized Management, perform these procedures. Upgrading BIG-IQ to the most recent version requires that you update its configuration to incorporate new features that have been introduced. It’s a good idea to set aside at least several hours to complete this process.

Note: It is important that you follow these tasks in the order stated.

Upgrading BIG-IQ systems in a high availability configuration

  • Remove standby BIG-IQ from active BIG-IQ.
  • Upgrade the primary BIG-IQ.
  • Upload the BIG-IQ software image to the standby BIG-IQ and upgrade it.

Complete the post-upgrade process

  • Add the secondary BIG-IQ to the active BIG-IQ to re-establish the HA configuration.
  • Upgrade the BIG-IP framework on your managed devices.
  • Rediscover your BIG-IP devices, and re-import their services.
  • If you have a VMware service scaling group configured, you’ll need to re-install the vCenter host root certificate on BIG-IQ.