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Manual Chapter : Upgrading a Data Collection Device Cluster

Applies To:

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BIG-IQ Centralized Management

  • 7.1.0
Manual Chapter

Upgrading a Data Collection Device Cluster

What happens during a BIG-IQ and data collection device cluster upgrade?

The upgrade process can take up to several hours depending on how many BIG-IP devices you are managing.
From the primary BIG-IQ, the automatic upgrade process performs the following sequence of tasks:
  1. Breaks the high availability relationship with the secondary BIG-IQ (if present).
  2. Upgrades the devices in the data collection device (DCD) cluster. The process starts by checking the statistics retention policy for the cluster and checking that the DCD cluster is healthy. Then, for each device in the DCD cluster:
    • Confirms disk space is sufficient for the upgrade.
    • Stops snapshot creation.
    • Deactivates data collection services for the DCD.
    • Upgrades the DCD to the latest version.
      If the
      /var
       partition for any of the devices in your cluster was extended before you upgraded, you must extend the
      /var
       partition for that device before the upgrade will proceed. For details on extending a disk volume, refer to
      Resizing VE Disk Volume Workflows
       in the
      F5 BIG-IQ Centralized Management Disk Space Management
       guide on
      support.f5.com
      .
    • Confirms that the DCD is back in service.
    • Reactivates data collection services.
  3. After the data collection devices have all been upgraded, the process automatically upgrades the primary BIG-IQ.

Upgrade the active BIG-IQ and Data Collection Device Cluster

Before upgrading the primary BIG-IQ system and data collection device (DCD) cluster, you must have completed the upgrade preparation.
You upgrade BIG-IQ and the devices in your DCD cluster to the latest version from the primary BIG-IQ system.
  1. Log in to the primary BIG-IQ system.
  2. At the top of the screen, click
    System
    .
  3. On the left, click
    SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT
    Installations
     button. 
  4. On the left, click
    Upgrade
    .
    A popup screen notifies you that you are about to upgrade this BIG-IQ system and all of the devices in the associated DCD cluster. Click
    Continue
     to proceed.
  5. For the Upgrade Process, make sure
    Regular Upgrade
     is selected.
  6. From the
    Software Image
     list, select the image you want to install.
  7. Decide which cluster members you want to back up as part of this upgrade.
    • To back up the BIG-IQ device, select
      Back up the BIG-IQ system before upgrade
      .
    • To back up the DCD devices in your cluster, select
      Back up the Data Collection Device cluster before upgrade
      .
  8. To create a snapshot of the data stored by your DCD, select
    Snapshot the Data Collection Device cluster before upgrade
    .
    To create a snapshot successfully, the system needs a remote storage location. If you have not previously configured this location, refer to
    Define external storage snapshots location
     in the
    Planning and Implementing an F5 BIG-IQ Centralized Management Deployment
     guide on
    support.askf5.com
    .
  9. Under Devices, for each listed BIG-IP device and DCD, specify the
    Target Volume
     list, select the volume you want to install the image on for each device in the cluster.
    You can either choose an existing (inactive) volume, or create a new volume. 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.
    • To install to an existing volume, select
      Target Volume
      , then click
      Select
      , and select the volume for the upgrade.
    • To install to a new volume, select
      New Volume
      , and type the new volume name.
  10. Click the
    Install
     button.
    A confirmation dialog box opens. Wait while the DCD cluster upgrade process completes. Depending on your configuration and the number of devices you are managing, this could take up to 30 minutes per device. During this time, it is important that you not interrupt the installation process by restarting services or the server. When the BIG-IQ upgrades, it becomes briefly inaccessible. When you can log in to the BIG-IQ again, the process is complete.
  11. Confirm that the upgrade completed successfully.
    1. At the top of the screen, click
      System
      .
    2. On the left click
      SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT
      Installations
      .
    3. Under Last Upgrade, click the name of the just completed upgrade to open the properties screen.
    4. On the properties screen for the upgrade, under General Properties, note the
      Status
      . If there is a green icon and the words
      Successfully completed the upgrade
       appear, then the upgrade is complete and successful.
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. The time required re-indexing varies, depending on the size of your system configuration. 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.
During the period of re-indexing, do not restart the BIG-IQ system until you confirm a successful upgrade.

Upload the BIG-IQ software image to the standby BIG-IQ

Before you can upload the software image to the standby BIG-IQ, you must have first downloaded it from the F5 Downloads site.
You upload the BIG-IQ version software image to the standby 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.

Upgrade the standby BIG-IQ

Before you can upgrade the standby BIG-IQ system, you must have uploaded the software to it.
The active BIG-IQ is upgraded automatically, directly after the devices in the DCD cluster are finished upgrading, but you have to manually upgrade the standby BIG-IQ system.
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 standby BIG-IQ system. This command removes all stored data. If you run this command from the active BIG-IQ system, you'll permanently lose all of your saved data.
  1. Log in to the standby BIG-IQ system's command line as
    root
     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 will synchronize its database with this BIG-IQ system and repopulate the database.
  2. Log in to the system that you are going to establish as the standby BIG-IQ system's user interface.
  3. At the top of the screen, click
    Devices
    .
  4. On the left click
    SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT
    Software Installations
    .
  5. Click the
    Upgrade
     button.
  6. For the Software Image, select the image you want to install.
  7. From the
    Target Volume
     list, select the volume you want to install the image on.
    You can either choose an existing (inactive) volume, or create a new volume. 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.
    • To install to an existing volume, select
      Target Volume
       and select the volume for the upgrade.
    • To install to a new volume, select
      New Volume
      , and type the new volume name.
  8. To back up the BIG-IQ device, select
    Backup the BIG-IQ System before upgrade
    .
  9. Click the
    Install
     button at the bottom of the screen.
Wait while the BIG-IQ standby device upgrade process completes. During this time, it is important that you not interrupt the installation process by restarting services or the server. When the BIG-IQ upgrades, it becomes inaccessible briefly. When you can log in to the BIG-IQ again, the process is complete.
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