Manual Chapter : Installation for systems running F5OS software
back-action Installation Guide: Optics Packages for Optical Transceiver Modules

Updated Date: 05/29/2026

Installation for systems running F5OS software

New optical transceiver modules that are released after an F5OS software release might be unrecognized or improperly tuned. At the current time, F5OS systems (including VELOS) require a full platform software upgrade to gain compatibility with new optical transceiver modules.

For information about software installation, see Software Installation and Upgrade guide for your system at support.f5.com/csp/knowledge-center/software/F5OS.

  • Your VELOS and rSeries systems must be using an F5-branded optical transceiver module currently supported by the hardware product. For information about the F5-branded optical transceiver module supported by the hardware product, refer to the topic Transceiver Modules in the F5 Platforms: Accessories guide. Alternatively, you can refer to the Readme file, when you download the optics-mgr-package file from MyF5 Downloads page.

    Important: Using this package with a third-party transceiver module installed in your system is not supported and may invalidate your warranty. For more information, refer to K8153: F5 support of third-party hardware components.

  • Your VELOS and rSeries systems must be running F5OS-C v1.6.0 or later and F5OS-A v1.4.0 or later respectively.

  • You have access to MyF5 Downloads page to download the optics-mgr-package file.

  • To import or upload the optics-mgr-package file to the VELOS or rSeries system and install it, you must have the admin user access to the F5OS-C/A webUI/CLI/API management interface.

    Note: For the VELOS system, the admin user is the chassis admin user, not the partition admin user.

  • To remove the optics-mgr-package from the VELOS system, you must have the chassis root user access to the F5OS-C CLI to uninstall and remove the optics-mgr-package from the system.

You can download the optics-mgr-package package from F5 to install updates to F5-branded transceiver modules.

  1. On your management workstation, log in to MyF5 Downloads.

    For information about downloading software from MyF5 Downloads page, refer to K000090258: Download F5 products from MyF5.

  2. Read the End User License Agreement and Program Terms and select the check box.

    You must accept the license agreement and program terms before you can proceed.

  3. Click Next.

  4. Under Select a product family, select F5OS for Group.

  5. Under Tell us more about your product, for Product Line, select Components.

  6. For Product Version, select optics-mgr.

  7. Under Select a product container, select the software that you want to download.

  8. Under Select a download file, select the file with the format optics-mgr-package-<*version*>.R5R10.img.

  9. For Download locations, select a download location.

  10. Click Download.

  11. Download the corresponding checksum file and README file.

    The corresponding checksum file has the same name, except that .md5 is the file extension. After the download completes, verify the integrity of the file by checking the MD5 checksum. For information about verifying MD5 checksum on the downloaded file, refer to K8337: Verifying the MD5 checksum for the downloaded F5 software file.

After you download the latest version of the f5optics package, you import the IMG file to your system and then install the package.

You can import or upload the downloaded optics-mgr-package file from your remote HTTPS server to the rSeries system

You can import the downloaded optics-mgr-package file from the webUI.

  1. Log in to the webUI using an account with admin access.

  2. Click SYSTEM SETTINGS > File Utilities.

  3. Under the File Transfer Operations section, select images/import/services/ for the Base Directory setting.

  4. To import an image:

    1. Click Import.

      A popup opens.

    2. For URL, enter the URL of the remote image server.

      F5 recommends that the remote host be an HTTPS server with PUT/POST enabled and have a valid CA-signed certificate. You can opt to select the Ignore Certificate Warnings check box if you want to skip the certificate check.

    3. For Username, type the user name for an account on the remote image server, if required.

    4. For Password, type the password for the account, if required.

    5. Select Ignore Certificate Warnings to skip the certificate check.

    6. Click Import Image.

    Note: Depending on the image file size and network availability, the import might take a few minutes. When the import is successful, the software image is listed in the webUI.

You can import the downloaded optics-mgr-package file from the CLI.

  1. Connect using SSH to the chassis partition management IP address.

  2. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the chassis partition 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. Import the image to system.

    file import remote-url <*URL*> local-file images/import/services/ insecure username <*admin username*> password

    This example imports the file:

    file import remote-url https://example.myfileserver.com/files/optics-mgr-package-3.11.24.R5R10.img local-file images/import/services/ insecure username admin password

    Note: Before importing the file, you will be prompted to enter your account password.

  5. Commit the configuration changes.

    commit

  6. Monitor the status of the import.

    file transfer-status

  7. When the file import is completed, you can list the file.

    file list path images/import/services/<*uploaded filename*>

    An example similar to this dispalys:

    file list path images/import/services/optics-mgr-package-3.11.24.R5R10.img
entries {
    name optics-mgr-package-3.11.24.R5R10.img
    date Tue Apr  2 02:37:22 UTC 2024
    size 732.50KB
}

You can upload the optics-mgr-package file from your local system to the images/import/services/ directory on the rSeries system from the webUI.

You can also upload the optics-mgr-package file to the images/import/services/ directory on the rSeries system using the REST API. For more information, refer K000139146: Upload a file to the VELOS or rSeries system using REST API.

  1. Log in to the webUI using an account with admin access.

  2. Click SYSTEM SETTINGS > File Utilities.

  3. Under the File Transfer Operations section, select images/import/services/ for the Base Directory setting.

  4. Select Upload.

  5. Locate the downloaded optics-mgr-package file on your local workstation and select Open.  When the file is uploaded successfully to the rSeries system, you can view the uploaded file listed in the images/import/services/ directory.

Before you can install a new version of the f5opticspackage, you must use SCP to copy the f5optics IM file to the /var/export/chassis/import/services directory on your F5 rSeries system.

You can install updates to F5-branded transceiver modules from the CLI.

Important: When you run an optics package installation process, traffic on the system being updated is disrupted. During the installation process, you are prompted to confirm that you are aware of this action before the installation can proceed.

  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. Verify the version compatibility of the f5optics package on the system.

    system packages package <*package-name*> check-version version <*version*>

    This example checks the version compatibility of the package:

    appliance-1(config)# system packages package optics-mgr-independent-pkg 
  check-version version 4.0.0.2022_08_02_16_17_05.s3a9dffb4      
response Compatibility verification succeeded.

  5. Install a new version of the f5optics package.

    system packages package <*package-name*> set-version version <*version*> proceed { no | yes }

    This example sets a new version of a package:

    appliance-1(config)# system packages package optics-mgr-independent-pkg 
  set-version version 4.0.0.2022_08_02_16_17_05.s3a9dffb4 proceed
Possible completions:
  no  yes

  6. Commit the configuration changes.

    commit

You can remove the optics-mgr-package that is in used on the rSeries system.

Important: When you run an optics package installation process, traffic on the system being updated is disrupted. During the installation process, you are prompted to confirm that you are aware of this action before the installation can proceed.

  1. Connect using SSH to the system controller floating management IP address.

  2. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system controller 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. Remove the optics-mgr-package.

    system packages package <*package-name*> remove version <*version*>

    This example sets a new version of a package:

    syscon-1-active(config)# system packages package optics-mgr-pkg 
  set-version version 3.11.24 proceed
Possible completions:
no  yes

  5. Commit the configuration changes.

    commit

  6. Return to user (operational) mode.

    end

  7. You can verify that optics-mgr-package completely removed from the system.

    show system packages

You can download the optics-mgr-package package from F5 to install updates to F5-branded transceiver modules.

  1. On your management workstation, log in to MyF5 Downloads.

    For information about downloading software from MyF5 Downloads page, refer to K000090258: Download F5 products from MyF5.

  2. Read the End User License Agreement and Program Terms and select the check box.

    You must accept the license agreement and program terms before you can proceed.

  3. Click Next.

  4. Under Select a product family, select F5OS for Group.

  5. Under Tell us more about your product, for Product Line, select Components.

  6. For Product Version, select optics-mgr.

  7. Under Select a product container, select the software that you want to download.

  8. Under Select a download file, select the file with the format optics-mgr-package-<*version*>.controlller.img.

  9. For Download locations, select a download location.

  10. Click Download.

  11. Download the corresponding checksum file and README file.

    The corresponding checksum file has the same name, except that .md5 is the file extension. After the download completes, verify the integrity of the file by checking the MD5 checksum. For information about verifying MD5 checksum on the downloaded file, refer to K8337: Verifying the MD5 checksum for the downloaded F5 software file

After you download the latest version of the optics-mgr-package package, you import the IMG file to your system and then install the package.

You can import or upload the downloaded optics-mgr-package file from your remote HTTPS server to the VELOS system.

You can import the downloaded optics-mgr-package file from the webUI.

  1. Log in to the chassis partition webUI using an account with admin access.

  2. Click SYSTEM SETTINGS > File Utilities.

  3. Under the File Transfer Operations section, select images/import/services/ for the Base Directory setting.

  4. To import an image:

    1. Click Import.

      A popup opens.

    2. For URL, enter the URL of the remote image server.

      F5 recommends that the remote host be an HTTPS server with PUT/POST enabled and have a valid CA-signed certificate. You can opt to select the Ignore Certificate Warnings check box if you want to skip the certificate check.

    3. For Username, type the user name for an account on the remote image server, if required.

    4. For Password, type the password for the account, if required.

    5. Select Ignore Certificate Warnings to skip the certificate check.

    6. Click Import Image.

    Note: Depending on the image file size and network availability, the import might take a few minutes. When the import is successful, the software image is listed in the webUI.

You can import the downloaded optics-mgr-package file from the CLI.

  1. Connect using SSH to the chassis partition management IP address.

  2. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the chassis partition 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. Import the image to system.

    file import remote-url <*URL*> local-file images/import/services/ insecure username <*admin username*> password

    This example imports the file:

    file import remote-url https://example.myfileserver.com/files/optics-mgr-package-3.11.33.controller.img local-file images/import/services/ insecure username admin password

    Note: Before importing the file, you will be prompted to enter your account password.

  5. Commit the configuration changes.

    commit

  6. Monitor the status of the import.

    file transfer-status

  7. When the file import is completed, you can list the file.

    file list path images/import/services/<*uploaded filename*>

    An example similar to this dispalys:

    file list path images/import/services/optics-mgr-package-3.11.33.controller.img
{
    name optics-mgr-package-3.11.33.controller.img
    date Tue Apr  2 02:25:04 UTC 2024
    size 733KB
}

You can upload the optics-mgr-package file from your local system to the images/import/services/ directory on the VELOS system from the webUI.

You can also upload the optics-mgr-package file to the images/import/services/ directory on the VELOS system using the REST API. For more information, refer K000139146: Upload a file to the VELOS or rSeries system using REST API.

    1. Log in to the webUI using an account with admin access.

  2. ClickSYSTEM SETTINGS > File Utilities.

  3. Under the File Transfer Operations section, select images/import/services/ for the Base Directory setting.

  4. Select Upload.

  5. Locate the downloaded optics-mgr-package file on your local workstation and select Open.  When the file is uploaded successfully to the VELOS chassis, you can view the uploaded file listed in the images/import/services/ directory.

Before you can install a new version of the f5opticspackage, you must use SCP to copy the f5optics IM file to the /var/export/chassis/import/services directory on your VELOS system.

You can install the optics-mgr-package on the VELOS system from the CLI.

Important: When you run an optics package installation process, traffic on the system being updated is disrupted. During the installation process, you are prompted to confirm that you are aware of this action before the installation can proceed.

  1. Connect using SSH to the system controller floating management IP address.

  2. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system controller using an account with admin access.

    When you log in to the system, you are in user (operational) mode.

  3. Verify the version of optics-mgr-package on the system.

    show system packages

    This example checks the version of the package:

    syscon-1-active# show system packages
                             PACKAGE    INSTALL                                         IN     
PACKAGE NAME        NUMBER  INSTALLED  STATUS   VERSION  STATUS  DATE        SIZE      USE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
optics-mgr-package  1       3.11.30    success  3.11.30  ready   2023-10-20  732.50KB  true
                                                3.11.33  ready   2023-12-28  732.50KB  false
                    2       3.11.30    success  3.11.30  ready   2023-10-20  732.50KB  true
                                                3.11.33  ready   2023-12-28  732.50KB  false

  4. Change to config mode.

    config

    The CLI prompt changes to include (config).

  5. Install a new version of optics-mgr-package.

    system packages package <*package-name*> set-version version <*version*> proceed { no | yes

    This example sets a new version of a package:

    syscon-1-active(config)# system packages package optics-mgr-pkg 
  set-version version 3.11.33 proceed
Possible completions:
no  yes

  6. Commit the configuration changes.

    commit

  7. Return to user (operational) mode.

    end

You can remove the optics-mgr-package that is in used on the VELOS system.

Important: When you run an optics package removal process, traffic on the system being updated is disrupted. During the removal process, you are prompted to confirm that you are aware of this action before the removal can proceed.

Note: Before you remove the optics-mgr-package, refer to the topic System Controller Management about for active-standby controller configuration.

  1. Connect using SSH to the active system controller management IP address.

  2. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system controller using an account with root access.

  3. On the active system controler:

    echo "switch controller_rpms optics-mgr-package none" | nc -U /var/sw-mgmt.unix

  4. You can now log in to the standby system controller.

    ssh controller-<ID>

    Example: If you initially logged into controller-2, then you can now log in to controller-1.

    ssh controller-1

  5. On the standby system controler:

    echo "switch controller_rpms optics-mgr-package none" | nc -U /var/sw-mgmt.unix

  6. Exit the current mode

    exit

  7. Connect using SSH to the system controller floating management IP address.

  8. Log in to the command line interface (CLI) of the system controller using an account with admin access.

    When you log in to the system, you are in user (operational) mode.

  9. Change to config mode.

    config

    The CLI prompt changes to include (config).

  10. Remove a current version of optics-mgr-package from the system controller.

    system packages package <*package-name*> remove version <*version*>

    This example removes current package:

    syscon-1-active(config)# system packages package optics-mgr-pkg
 remove version 3.11.33

  11. Commit the configuration changes.

    commit

  12. Return to user (operational) mode.

    end

  13. You can verify that optics-mgr-package completely removed from the system.

    show system packages