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  2. Upgrading BIG-IQ from Version 6.0.0 and later
  3. Preparing to upgrade BIG-IQ
Manual Chapter : Preparing to upgrade BIG-IQ

Applies To:

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BIG-IQ Centralized Management

  • 8.0.0
Manual Chapter

Preparing to upgrade BIG-IQ

Pre-upgrade checklist

Before upgrading F5 BIG-IQ Centralized Management, complete the following.
  • Verify the compatibility software on the managed BIG-IP devices.
  • Verify licenses and services on upgraded devices.
  • Download the BIG-IQ software image.
  • Upload the BIG-IQ software image.
  • Confirm the required ports are configured correctly on BIG-IQ.
  • (For BIG-IQ device HA pairs only) Verify you have access to port TCP 5432.
  • Check the disk volume size on your current BIG-IQ installation.
  • Check the disk volume size required by the BIG-IQ upgrade.
  • Increase the size of the disk volume for the BIG-IQ installation slot (if required).
  • Check status of daemons running on BIG-IQ.
  • Decide which partition you want to install the new version of BIG-IQ on.
  • Download the BIG-IQ pre-upgrade check script.
  • Run the BIG-IQ pre-upgrade check tool.
  • (For BIG-IQ device HA pairs only) Remove the standby BIG-IQ system pairing.
    F5 does not currently support upgrading an existing BIG-IQ with a single NIC to version 8.0.0.

Verify the compatibility of software on managed BIG-IP devices

BIG-IQ supports management of BIG-IP devices running version 12.1 or later. For more details regarding supported versions refer to the AskF5 article
BIG-IQ Centralized Management compatibility matrix
K34133507 on
support.f5.com
.
If you plan to gather performance analytics data, managed BIG-IP devices must be running version 13.1.1 or later and must have AVR provisioned.

Verify all BIG-IQ licenses and services contracts

Reactivate all of the licenses on all of the BIG-IQ systems you plan to upgrade to make sure that the service contracts are up to date.
  1. At the top of the screen, click
    System
    .
  2. On the left, click
    Licensing
    .
  3. Click the
    Reactivate
     button.
  4. Click the
    Activate
     button.

Download the BIG-IQ software and MD5 file

Download the BIG-IQ software image to your local system, so you can easily access it to upload it to your BIG-IQ systems.
The BIG-IQ disk space compatibility check is not supported for BIG-IQ hotfix images. To avoid errors, download the standard BIG-IQ
.iso
 image.
  1. Log in to the F5 Downloads site,
    downloads.f5.com
    .
  2. Click the
    Find a Download
     button.
  3. Click the name of the BIG-IQ product line.
  4. Click the product name,
    Centralized Management
    .
  5. Click the version number you want to download.
  6. Read the End User Software License agreement and click the
    I Accept
     button if you agree with the terms.
  7. Click the
    BIG-IQ-<version number>
    .iso
     file name that you want to download.
  8. Click the name of the closest geographical location to you.
    The software image downloads to your local system.
  9. Navigate back to the download location by clicking
    Product Lines
     at the top of the screen.
  10. Download the following ISO files:
    • BIG-IQ-<version number> .iso
    • BIG-IQ-<version number> .iso.md
The software images are now available for you to upload to BIG-IQ to make them available for this upgrade.

Upload the BIG-IQ software images

Before you can upload a software image to BIG-IQ, you must have first downloaded it from the F5 Downloads site,
downloads.f5.com
.
Upload the BIG-IQ version software image to both the primary and standby BIG-IQ systems 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
    .
  4. Click
    Choose File
     button navigate to the downloaded image files, and click the
    Open
    .
  5. Click
    Upload
     button.
    The screen refreshes to display the progress of the upload.

Verify connectivity requirements

Depending on the version of BIG-IQ software you are upgrading from, the connectivity requirements for your system may be different in the version you are upgrading to. Refer to the AskF5 Knowledge Center article
K15612: Connectivity requirements for the BIG-IQ system on
support.f5.com
 to confirm that the ports you need are configured correctly.
If your system BIG-IQ devices are in an HA pair, verify that TCP port 5432 is accessible between your HA devices, if applicable to your configuration. This is important for pairing your devices in the post upgrade process.
Additional information about network connectivity requirements is available in the
Planning a Centralized Management & Visibility Deployment
on
support.f5.com
.

Check the disk volume size required by the BIG-IQ software upgrade

Before you check the required disk volume size:
  • Upload the BIG-IQ software to the BIG-IQ you are upgrading.
  • Confirm that the
    imageplan
    script is on the BIG-IQ you plan to upgrade.This script is located in the
    /usr/bin
     folder. Because this folder is already in your path definition, you can initiate this script directly.
The
var
 partition must be at least 2.5 times larger than it needed to be for earlier BIG-IQ version. When you upgrade BIG-IQ, you can use the size requirements from the software image you plan to install so you can be confident that your disk volume sizes are sufficient before you upgrade your BIG-IQ.
  1. From the command line, use SSH to log in (as
    root
    ) to the BIG-IQ you are going to upgrade.
  2. Copy the software image to the
    /shared/images
     folder on the BIG-IQ you plan to upgrade by typing the following command:
    # 
    cp <big-iq-software-image>.iso /shared/images/<big-iq-software-image>.iso
    BIG-IQ returns output reflecting the sizing requirements for this upgrade.
    If you are running the Web Application Security service, and are upgrading from BIG-IQ version 7.1, or earlier: Improvements to signature management requires additional disk storage per policy. Each Web Application Security policy managed by BIG-IQ requires an additional 20MB in
    /var
     file. To add storage, see
    Increase the size of a disk volume
    .
Now you know the size requirements for the image you plan to install.

Check the volume sizes on your current BIG-IQ installation

The slot you upgrade to must have volumes that are at least as big as those on the slot that your software is currently installed. This is especially significant if you decided to extend one of the volumes on your current installation. So if your
/var
 volume is extended to 30G, you must have at least that much space on the new slot before you install software. Otherwise, the install process can result in loss of data.
  1. Use SSH to log in (as
    root
    ) on the BIG-IQ you plan to upgrade.
  2. Use the
    tmsh
     command
    show sys software
     to check the volume sizes of the existing installation.
    
    [root@bigiq-test:Active:Standalone] config # 
    tmsh show sys software
    
 
----------------------------------------------------
Sys::Software Status
Volume  Product  Version     Build  Active    Status
----------------------------------------------------
HD1.1    BIG-IQ    7.1.0  0.0.1511     yes  complete
 
[root@bigiq-test:Active:Standalone] config # lvs --unit=k
  LV            VG        Attr      LSize        Pool Origin Data%  Move Log Cpy%Sync Convert
  dat.log.1     vg-db-sda -wi-ao---  7168000.00k
  dat.maint.1   vg-db-sda -wi-a----   307200.00k
  dat.share.1   vg-db-sda -wi-ao--- 10240000.00k
  dat.swapvol.1 vg-db-sda -wi-ao---  1048576.00k
  set.1._config vg-db-sda -wi-ao---   503808.00k
  set.1._usr    vg-db-sda -wi-ao---  3452928.00k
  set.1._var    vg-db-sda -wi-ao--- 31457280.00k
  set.1.root    vg-db-sda -wi-ao---   450560.00k
    The system response shows you the volume sizes of your current installation. The key volumes with their sizes are listed below:
    • /config
       (.5G)
    • /usr
      (3.5G)
    • /var
       (30G)
    • /root
       (.5G)

Check to see if you have an open slot to install the software on

To install new software, you need an open slot. You can use a
bash
 command to determine whether your BIG-IQ has any open slots.
  1. Use SSH to log in, as
    root
    , to the device you are upgrading.
  2. Use the
    lvs
     command to determine how many slots there are on your BIG-IQ.
    
# 
    lvs --unit=k
    
  LV            VG        Attr      LSize        Pool Origin Data%  Move Log Cpy%Sync Convert
  dat.log.1     vg-db-sda -wi-ao---  8388608.00k
  dat.maint.1   vg-db-sda -wi-a----   307200.00k
  dat.share.1   vg-db-sda -wi-ao--- 33554432.00k
  dat.swapvol.1 vg-db-sda -wi-ao---  1048576.00k
  set.1._config vg-db-sda -wi-a----   503808.00k
  set.1._usr    vg-db-sda -wi-a----  3452928.00k
  set.1._var    vg-db-sda -wi-a---- 10485760.00k
  set.1.root    vg-db-sda -wi-a----   450560.00k
  set.2._config vg-db-sda -wi-ao---  3481600.00k
  set.2._usr    vg-db-sda -wi-ao---  3584000.00k
  set.2._var    vg-db-sda -wi-ao--- 16003072.00k
  set.2.root    vg-db-sda -wi-ao---   512000.00k
  set.3._config vg-db-sda -wi-a----  3321856.00k
  set.3._usr    vg-db-sda -wi-a----  3452928.00k
  set.3._var    vg-db-sda -wi-a---- 10485760.00k
  set.3.root    vg-db-sda -wi-a----   450560.00k
    Each instance of
    set.n
     represents a slot on the VE. So in this example, the VE has three installation slots (set.1, set.2, and set.3).
If the BIG-IQ VE has only one slot, then you need to add a new slot when you install the upgrade.

Increase the size of a disk volume

Before you can increase the size of the disk volumes on your BIG-IQ VE:
  • You need the
    resizevol
     script on the BIG-IQ VE on which you want to increase the size of the disk volumes.
    • On a BIG-IQ system or DCD with version 6.0 or later installed, these scripts are available in the
      /usr/bin
       folder. Because this folder is already in your path definition, you can use these scripts directly.
    • To use these scripts with BIG-IQ systems or DCDs running version 8.0.0, you must first download them. For details on downloading this script, refer to
      Downloading disk size tools
       on
      support.f5.com
      .
  • You need to know the volume names that you want to extend and the size that you want to extend them to.
If you need to increase the volume size of a disk volume on your installation slot so that you can install without losing any data, you can use the
resizevol
 script.
  1. Use SSH to log in (as
    root
    ) to the device you plan to upgrade.
  2. Shut down BIG-IQ by typing:
    shutdown -h now
  3. Provision the disk space you need for the BIG-IQ VE system.
  4. Start up the BIG-IQ VE guest instance.
    For information about disk starting a guest instance, refer to the documentation from your hypervisor or cloud vendor.
  5. Use the
    resizevol
     script to increase the size of the volumes for the new installation slot to the required size.
    The volume sizes required depend on these two factors:
    • The volume sizes required by the software you want to install. For details, see
      Check the volume sizes required by the software you want to install
       on
      support.f5.com
      .
    • The volume sizes your current installation uses. For details, see
      Check the volume sizes on your current BIG-IQ installation
       on
      support.f5.com
      .
    Here is an example of the
    resizevol
     script being used to resize the
    /var
     volume to 30 Gb.
    
# 
    ./resizevol /var 30000000
    
Requested size 30000000k is less than current size 30003200.00k on /dev/vg-db-sda/set.1._var, skipping
Resizing logical volumes. OK (y/n)? y
Requested size 30000000k is less than current size 30003200.00k, skipping
e2fsck 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
Pass 2: Checking directory structure
Pass 3: Checking directory connectivity
Pass 4: Checking reference counts
Pass 5: Checking group summary information
set.2./var: 11/655360 files (0.0% non-contiguous), 79696/2621440 blocks
  Rounding size to boundary between physical extents: 28.61 GiB
  Extending logical volume set.2._var to 28.61 GiB
  Logical volume set.2._var successfully resized
resize2fs 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
Resizing the filesystem on /dev/vg-db-sda/set.2._var to 7500800 (4k) blocks.
The filesystem on /dev/vg-db-sda/set.2._var is now 7500800 blocks long.
# lvs --unit=k
  LV            VG        Attr      LSize        Pool Origin Data%  Move Log Cpy%Sync Convert
  dat.log.1     vg-db-sda -wi-ao---  7168000.00k
  dat.maint.1   vg-db-sda -wi-a----   307200.00k
  dat.share.1   vg-db-sda -wi-ao--- 10240000.00k
  dat.swapvol.1 vg-db-sda -wi-ao---  1048576.00k
  set.1._config vg-db-sda -wi-ao---   503808.00k
  set.1._usr    vg-db-sda -wi-ao---  3452928.00k
  set.1._var    vg-db-sda -wi-ao--- 30003200.00k
  set.1.root    vg-db-sda -wi-ao---   450560.00k
  set.2._config vg-db-sda -wi-a----  3321856.00k
  set.2._usr    vg-db-sda -wi-a----  3452928.00k
  set.2._var    vg-db-sda -wi-a---- 30003200.00k
  set.2.root    vg-db-sda -wi-a----   450560.00k
    The script extends the size of the volume you specify (
    /var
    in this example) to be the size you want (30Gb in this example).
  6. Save the configuration changes by typing:
    tmsh save /sys config
  7. Restart BIG-IQ by typing:
    reboot
  8. When the BIG-IQ restarts, use SSH to log in (as
    root
    ). Verify the directory was successfully extended to the size you specified by typing the tmsh command:
    tmsh show /sys disk directory
    For more information about extending the disk space on a BIG-IQ, refer to K30902515.
Now that the volumes are correctly sized, you can proceed with the installation.

Check the status of daemons running on BIG-IQ

Before you install or upgrade BIG-IQ , it's important to take inventory of the status of the running daemons. After you upgrade, you can verify the daemons' state, and make any necessary modifications. To view the daemons, type the following command in the BIG-IQ command line:
admin@(ip-10-1-1-4)(cfg-sync Standalone)(Active)(/Common)(tmos)# show /sys service
.
For further information about the daemons that run on BIG-IQ, refer to: https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K14736

Download the BIG-IQ pre-upgrade check tool and MD5 file

Download the pre-upgrade file (and its associated MD5 file) to verify that your system is prepared for upgrade.
  1. Download the BIG-IQ pre-upgrade tool to verify the following for BIG-IQ, before upgrading:
    • Disk assessment and partition size
    • Health checks
    • Licensing verification
    • CPU and memory assessment
    For additional detail about this tool, refer to the AskF5 article K15988343 on
    support.f5.com
    .
    The BIG-IQ disk space compatibility check is not supported for BIG-IQ hotfix images. To avoid errors, use this only for upgrading to a standard BIG-IQ
    .iso
     image.
  2. Log in to the F5 Downloads site,
    downloads.f5.com
    .
  3. Click the
    Find a Download
     button.
  4. Click the name of the BIG-IQ product line.
  5. Click the product name,
    Centralized Management
    .
  6. Read the End User Software License agreement and click the
    I Accept
     button to agree with the terms.
  7. Download the following following ISO files:
    • F5_Networks_BIG_IQ_PreUpgradeCheck_Tool--<version number>.tar
    • F5_Networks_BIG_IQ_PreUpgradeCheck_Tool-<version number>.tar.md5
    • F5_Networks_BIG_IQ_PreUpgradeCheck_Tool_README.txt
  8. Click the name of the closest geographical location to you.
    These files download to your local system.
These files are now available for you to upload to BIG-IQ.

Verify all staged configuration changes are deployed

Before upgrading BIG-IQ, verify that all configuration changes for your managed BIG-IP devices are deployed. To do this, create an evaluation for each service. For more information, refer to
Deploying Object Changes to Managed Devices
 in
Managing BIG-IP Devices from BIG-IQ
 on
support.askf5.com
.
You can now install the software for your BIG-IQ upgrade.
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