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Manual Chapter : Prerequisites

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Manual Chapter

Prerequisites

Before you upgrade or install

Before you install or upgrade the
F5OS
 software on your system:
  • Ensure that you complete or verify the listed prerequisites for installation/upgrade tasks.
  • Verify that your network settings are configured.
  • Back up your system and tenant configurations.
  • Export your backups to a safe, off-unit location.
  • Upload system image files to the system before the scheduled maintenance window to minimize the time needed to upgrade.
  • Upload tenant image files to all tenants before the scheduled maintenance window to minimize the time needed to upgrade.
  • Check the health and availability of virtual servers and pool members to determine their status before the upgrade.
  • See the "Migrate system configuration from one system to another from the CLI" section of the
    F5 rSeries Systems: Administration and Configuration
     guide in the techdocs.f5.com.

Prerequisites for software installation/upgrade

This lists a high-level overview of tasks that you should complete before you install or upgrade the
F5OS
 software on your
rSeries
 system.
Task
Action
Configure the front-panel management port on the system.
For more information, see the platform guide for your
rSeries
 platform at techdocs.f5.com.
Connect the system to a serial console server.
Use these default serial port settings:
  • Baud rate: 19200
  • Data bits: 8
  • Stop bits: 1
  • Parity: None
  • Flow control: None
Configure basic management settings.
For more information, see the
Network settings reference
 section.
Verify that an rsync server is reachable from the system for import of installation images onto the system.
For more information, see the rsync documentation (rsync.samba.org).
Update/reactivate your system license, if needed, to ensure that you have a valid service check date.
Get a USB flash drive (minimum 8GB); only needed if using the USB method for performing a clean installation.
Verify that the drive is fully seated and flush in the USB port.
For security purposes, the USB port on the system is disabled by default. You can use Always-On Management (AOM) to enable the front panel USB port. For more information about AOM, see the platform guide for your
rSeries
 platform at techdocs.f5.com.
Verify that an external PXE server is reachable from the system; this is only needed if you are using the PXE server method for performing a clean installation.
The external PXE server must provide TFTP, DHCP, and HTTP services. The PXE server must be on the same network segment as the F5 rSeries system's management port.

Network settings reference

Before you perform a software installation/upgrade, verify that you have configured network settings by logging in to the system from a management console using an admin account and running these commands on the CLI. When you log in to the system, you are in user mode. Before you can complete configuration tasks, you must first change to config mode by typing
config
. You can type a question mark (
?
) or press the Tab key to see possible command completions in the CLI.
Be sure to commit all changes.
Task
Configuration example
Verify configuration
Enable DHCP
If you do not enable DHCP, you must manually configure the system IP address, prefix, gateway, and DNS.
system mgmt-ip config dhcp-enabled true
show running-config system mgmt-ip config dhcp-enabled
Configure a static IPv4 management address
system mgmt-ip config ipv4 system address 192.0.2.10
show running-config system mgmt-ip
Configure a prefix length for a static IPv4 management address
system mgmt-ip config ipv4 prefix-length 24
Configure a gateway for a static IPv4 address
system mgmt-ip config ipv4 gateway 192.0.2.254
Configure a static IPv6 management address
system mgmt-ip config ipv6 system address 2001:db8:ffff:100::1
show running-config system mgmt-ip
Configure a prefix length for a static IPv6 management address
system mgmt-ip config ipv6 prefix-length 64
Configure a gateway for a static IPv6 address
system mgmt-ip config ipv6 gateway 2001:db8:ffff:100::fffe
Configure an IPv4 DNS server
system dns servers server 192.0.2.1
show running-config system dns
Configure an NTP server
system ntp servers server pool.ntp.org config address pool.ntp.org
show running-config system ntp

rSeries
 system backups

Creating a backup of your
rSeries
 system is highly recommended, as it helps ensure that your active configuration files are retained, and you can restore from a known, stable environment if your upgrade is unsuccessful.

Back up and export system configuration

Before you perform an upgrade, it is a good idea to save and export a backup of the system configuration from the CLI.
  1. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system using an account with admin access.
    When you log in to the system, you are in user (operational) mode.
  2. Change to config mode.
    config
    The CLI prompt changes to include
    (config)
    .
  3. Create a backup of the system configuration.
    system database config-backup name <
    filename
    >
    In this example, you create a backup file of the system configuration named
    system-backup1.xml
    :
    system database config-backup name system-backup1.xml
    System configuration backup files are located in
    configs
    .
  4. Verify that the backup file was created successfully.
    file list path configs/
  5. Export the configuration backup file to a safe location, such as an HTTPS server.
    file export local-file configs/<
    filename
    > protocol [ https | scp | sftp ] remote-file /tmp/<
    filename
    >.xml remote-host <
    ip-address
    > username <
    username
    >
    In this example, you connect as the root user to IP address
    192.0.2.75
     and export a backup file named
    system-backup1.xml
     using the SCP protocol to the
    /tmp
     directory:
    file export local-file configs/system-backup1.xml protocol scp remote-file /tmp/system-backup1.xml remote-host 192.0.2.75 username root
    The system requests the password for the remote root account. 
    Value for 'password' (<string>): *******
result File transfer is initiated.(configs/system-backup1.xml)
  6. Check the status of the file transfer.
    file transfer-status
    When the file transfer completes, the
    Status
     displays
    Complete
    .
You now have a backup of the system configuration that you can restore on the system if needed.

Tenant configuration backups

Before you perform an upgrade, it is a good idea to save and export a backup of the tenant configuration using that tenant's backup mechanism.
Tenant
Summary
Additional References
BIG-IP
For
BIG-IP
 tenants:
Create a backup for each running tenant:
tmsh save sys ucs <
filename
>
Move these backup files to a safe location off of the tenant:
  • /config/bigip.conf
  • /config/bigip_base.conf
  • /config/bigip_user.conf
     (optional)
If you perform a clean installation, the tenant will be formatted.
Consider naming the files to associate them with the appropriate tenants.

License the system automatically from the CLI

For automatic
rSeries
 system licensing, the system needs to be able to connect to the F5 licensing server either through the Internet or another means of networking. You need to have the Base Registration Key (five sets of characters separated by hyphens) provided by F5, and any add-on keys (two sets of 7 characters separated by a hyphen) that you have purchased. The Base Registration Key with associated add-on keys are pre-installed on a new
rSeries
 system.
You can activate the
rSeries
 system license automatically from the CLI.
  1. Connect using SSH to the management IP address.
  2. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system using an account with admin access.
    When you log in to the system, you are in user (operational) mode.
  3. Change to config mode.
    config
    The CLI prompt changes to include
    (config)
    .
  4. Apply a license to the system.
    system licensing install registration-key <
    key
    >
    The registration key is optional. If it is not included, the system uses the one that is already pre-installed. If no registration key is found, you receive an error.
    This example applies a specified base registration license to the system: 
    appliance-1(config)# system licensing install registration-key
  I1234-12345-12345-12345-1234567
result License installed successfully.
  5. Apply any add-on keys.
    system licensing install add-on-keys <
    add-on-keys
    >
    This example enables the additional features associated with the three specified add-on keys, along with the entitlements of the base registration key: 
    appliance-1(config)# system licensing install add-on-keys 
  [1234567-1234567 2345678-2345678 3456789-3456789]
result License installed successfully.
The system is licensed. The license and any add-on keys apply to the system and all installed BIG-IP tenants.
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