Upgrading BIG-IQ with a Data Collection Device from Version 8.0.x with Minimal Downtime
Manual Chapter :
Upgrading BIG-IQ with a Data Collection Device from Version 8.0.x with Minimal Downtime
Applies To:
Show Versions
BIG-IQ Centralized Management
8.1.0
Upgrading BIG-IQ with a Data Collection Device from Version 8.0.x with Minimal Downtime
What is a minimal
downtime upgrade?
The minimal downtime upgrade process (also referred to as
rolling upgrade
) significantly reduces the amount of time your
system is offline while you are upgrading to the latest version. The degree to which your BIG-IQ
system and DCD cluster can maintain complete online function during upgrade depends on which
BIG-IP services you manage, and what kind of data you collect.
Operators using the BIG-IQ
system to review alerts and events might notice slightly slower performance during the upgrade.
Data might take a bit longer to refresh, and searches might take a little more time to run.
You should not lose any
ASM events or FPS alerts during the upgrade.
You should maintain almost
all of your AFM events during the upgrade.
Statistics data is not
collected during the upgrade.
There is a brief downtime
(approximately 5 seconds) when the primary BIG-IQ system is upgraded.
There is another short
downtime (less than a minute) when the secondary BIG-IQ is paired with the primary BIG-IQ.
Upgrading BIG-IQ version 8.0.x with a data collection device
cluster to version
8.1.0
with minimal
downtime
What BIG-IQ setup does this upgrade process support?
The following upgrade process to BIG-IQ Centralized management
version
8.1.0
is for system
setups that currently have version 8.0.x installed, and include a data collection
device cluster with at least three devices. If your system is not currently running
version 8.0 and does not include a data collection device cluster with three or
more devices, refer to
Upgrading BIG-IQ versions 6.0.0 and later with a Data Collection Device Cluster
.
What happens during a BIG-IQ upgrade to version
8.1.0
?
This figure represents BIG-IQ in a
high-availability (HA) configuration with a data collection device (DCD) cluster. The
DCD cluster continues to collect data until you start the upgrade process. Data
collection for all BIG-IP devices continues as one DCD at a time is upgraded and
restarted. For this example, there are three data collection devices: one has already
completed the BIG-IQ DCD upgrade to the latest version, one is undergoing an upgrade, and one is collecting data but
still using the pre-upgrade version.
This
upgrade procedure with minimal downtime supports BIG-IQ configuration that include a
minimum of three data collection devices. However, if the BIG-IQ system you are
upgrading includes multiple zones, then in addition to the three DCD minimum, there
must also be at least two DCDs in each zone before you can perform a rolling upgrade
procedure
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.
Upgrading an existing BIG-IQ with a single NIC to version 8.1.0 is not currently supported.
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
To ensure that your upgrade goes smoothly, F5 recommends that you perform a few system checks. Perform this test at least a day or so before you upgrade in case you discover any issues that take longer than expected to resolve. Going through this list ahead of time gives you a chance to resolve any issues before the clock is ticking on your upgrade window.
Verify that you have completed the pre-upgrade tasks. These are detailed in the article
Tasks to complete before you start
the upgrade process
on
support.f5.com
.)
Verify that the software version of the BIG-IP devices managed by the BIG-IQ you are updating are at or beyond the minimum supported version. (For details on how to do this, refer to the AskF5 article K34133507 on
support.f5.com
.)
Depending on the version of BIG-IQ software you are upgrading from, the connectivity requirements for your BIG-IQ system may be different in the version you are upgrading to. Refer to K15612 on
support.f5.com
to confirm that the ports you need are configured correctly.
If you plan to gather performance Analytics data for the BIG-IP devices managed by the BIG-IQ you are updating confirm that the managed devices are at or beyond version 13.1.1, and provisioned with the AVR service.
Check that you have sufficient disk space for the upgrade. To calculate the disk space you need, make sure you include the space your current installation consumes and the extra amount needed for the upgrade.
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 can succeed.
The
var
partition needs to be at least 2.5 times larger than it needed to be for earlier BIG-IQ versions.
(For details on how to check the size of the
var
partition on your system, refer to
Check the
volume sizes on your current BIG-IQ installation
and
Check the volume sizes required by the software you want to
install
in
F5 BIG-IQ Centralized Management Disk
Space Management
on
support.f5.com
. For details on how to extend a disk volume, refer to
Resizing VE Disk Volume Workflows
in
F5 BIG-IQ Centralized Management Disk Space Management
on
support.f5.com
).
Verify that your BIG-IQ VE has sufficient memory and CPUs for the configuration that you plan to deploy. (For details on how to do this, refer to
Determine the resources required for deployment
in
Planning and Implementing a BIG-IQ Centralized Management
Deployment
on
support.f5.com
).
Examine the health of the devices you plan to upgrade. Make sure to inspect the BIG-IQ primary and secondary devices as well as each DCD in the cluster. (For details on how to do this, refer to
Check the health of
devices in a DCD cluster
in
Planning and
Implementing a BIG-IQ Centralized Management Deployment
on
support.f5.com
).
Re-activate the licenses on the devices you plan to upgrade to make sure that the service contract date is up to date. Make sure to do this for the BIG-IQ primary and secondary devices, as well as each DCD in the cluster. (For details on how to do this, refer to the F5 Knowledge Center article
K15365
on
support.f5.com
).
Confirm the zone configuration of the DCDs that you plan to upgrade and for the devices managed by the BIG-IQ systems you plan to upgrade. If a device is configured to be in a zone that does not have DCDs in it, statistics for that device will not be collected after the upgrade.
If the BIG-IQ system you are
upgrading includes multiple zones, then in addition to the three DCD minimum, there must
also be at least two DCDs in each zone before you can perform a rolling upgrade
procedure.
To view the zone configuration for a DCD, navigate to
System
BIG-IQ DATA COLLECTION
BIG-IQ Data Collection Devices
and note the zone.
To view the zone configuration for a BIG-IQ system, navigate to
Devices
, click the name of the device, then click
STATISTICS COLLECTION
and note the zone.
Check pre-upgrade AS3 version
If the version of AS3 software that is running on the BIG-IQ you are
upgrading is newer than the AS3 software version that installs with the upgrade, then
you need to note that AS3 version before you upgrade, so you can restore it as part of
the post upgrade process.
Steps for determining the pre-upgrade AS3 version are available in
the F5 knowledge base article K54909607. Please refer to this article if you are
upgrading a BIG-IQ for which a newer version of AS3 software has been installed.
Summary of tasks to upgrade a BIG-IQ system with data collection
devices with minimal downtime
The upgrade process can take up to several
hours depending on how many BIG-IP devices you are managing.
The rolling
upgrade process consists of the following phases, where each phase includes a series of
tasks.
Preparing for an upgrade:
Download the BIG-IQ software image from the F5 Downloads
site.
Upload the BIG-IQ software image to BIG-IQ.
Confirm alerts and events can be sent to an alternative
device in the data collection device cluster.
Upgrade the BIG-IQ systems and data collection devices to the latest version:
Upgrade the primary BIG-IQ and the data collection devices
to the latest version.
Upload the software image to the secondary BIG-IQ
system.
Manually upgrade the secondary BIG-IQ system.
Complete post-upgrade process
Add the secondary BIG-IQ system back to the primary BIG-IQ
system.
Re-discover devices and re-import services.
If you plan to deploy applications to a VMware cloud
environment, install the vCenter host root certificate on BIG-IQ.
