Manual Chapter : Preparing to Upgrade a BIG-IQ System with a Data Collection Device Cluster

Applies To:

  • BIG-IQ Centralized Management

    8.0.0

Updated Date: 07/07/2026

Preparing to Upgrade a BIG-IQ System with a Data Collection Device Cluster

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.

  • Verify DCD zones for managed devices.

    Note: For more information about how DCDs scale data see Configure Data Collection Devices in the Setting up and Configuring a BIG-IQ Centralized Management Solution guide found on support.f5.com.

  • 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.

    Important: F5 does not currently support upgrading an existing BIG-IQ with a single NIC to version 8.0.0.

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.

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 image to your local system, so you can easily access it to upload it to your BIG-IQ systems.

Important:

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.

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.

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.

Important: 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 Deploymenton support.f5.com.

Before you check the required disk volume size:

  • Upload the BIG-IQ software to the BIG-IQ you are upgrading.
  • Confirm that the imageplanscript 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.

    Important: 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.

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)

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.

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 (/varin 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

    Note: 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.

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 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.

    Important:

    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.

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 toDeploying 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.

Zoning allows you to put BIG-IP devices and DCDs in close proximity to each other while the BIG-IQ management console is in another location. The biggest reason for doing this is to avoid any issues relating to latency between the BIG-IP and DCDs. For more information about setting up zones see BIG-IQ Zone Management.

Check your current DCD zone configuration to ensure proper statistics collection for your managed devices. If your managed BIG-IP device is configured to a zone without a DCD it will be unable to collect statistics.

  1. Go to System > BIG-IQ DATA COLLECTION > BIG-IQ Data Collection Devices.

  2. Note the zone of each DCD in your configuration.

  3. To vew the zone configuration of your managed devices go to Devices > BIG-IP DEVICES.

  4. Click device name.

  5. From the menu to the left of the screen, click STATISTICS COLLECTION.

    If the Zone field lists anything other than Default, you have configured the selected device to a zone.

Ensure that your DCD configuration meets the requirements of your managed devices, so statistics are collected following the upgrade.

If the F5 BIG-IQ Centralized Management system is configured in an HA pair, you must remove the standby BIG-IQ system before you upgrade the active BIG-IQ.

  1. At the top of the screen, click System.

  2. On the left, click BIG-IQ HA.

  3. Click Remove Standby.

    A dialog box opens, prompting you to confirm that you want to remove the standby BIG-IQ from this group.

  4. Click Remove to confirm that you want to take the standby BIG-IQ from the group.

    The system logs you out of the BIG-IQ while it removes the standby BIG-IQ.

  5. Log back in to the active BIG-IQ.

    For a while, both the active and the standby BIG-IQ continue to display. After a few minutes, the screen updates to display a single standalone BIG-IQ.