Release Notes : WANJet version 4.2.1

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WANJet

  • 4.2.1
Release Notes
Software Release Date: 07/23/2006
Updated Date: 04/18/2019

Summary:

This release note documents the version 4.2.1 feature release of the WANJet appliance. For existing customers, you can apply the software upgrade to 3.1.1 and later. For information about installing the software upgrade, please refer to Upgrading the software. For additional information about installing the software, please refer to the WANJet User Guide.

Note: F5 offers both feature releases and maintenance releases. For more information on our release policies, see Description of the F5 Networks software version number format.

Contents:


Supported platforms

This release supports the following platforms:

  • WANJet 200
  • WANJet 400

To verify your hardware platform type, click the About link from any screen in the WANJet appliance's Web UI.

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Backing up your current configuration

To back up your current configuration before installing the software upgrade, complete the following steps.

  1. Log on to the WANJet Web UI, by typing the following address into a browser's Address line.

    https://<WANJet IP address>:10000

  2. In the navigation pane, expand System and click Backup & Restore.
    The WANJet Configuration Backup screen opens.

  3. Click the word, here.
    The browser opens a File Download window for you to save the backup file to your local computer. This default backup file name is Settings-<ServerName>.NTCL.

  4. Save the backup file to your local hard disk.

  5. Rename the backup file to identify the specific WANJet appliance that you are backing up and the current date.
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Upgrading the software

To upgrade the WANJet appliance to version 4.2.1, complete these tasks:

  • Upgrade the WANJet appliance
  • Activate the license (only required if not previously activated)
  • Save the WANJet appliance chassis serial number (if not previously saved)

Important: For the WANJet appliance to function properly, TCP ports 3703, 3702, 3701, 10000, and 10001 must all be open on a firewall. Any firewalls separating the WANJet appliances must have these ports open. For specific information about configuring ports, refer to the WANJet User Guide.

Important: Version 4.0 introduced a new licensing procedure. If upgrading from version 3.1.x, you must first obtain a Base Registration Key. Do not proceed with the upgrade until you have the Base Registration Key. If you did not receive an email with a Base Registration Key, contact F5 Networks Technical Support (and be sure to have the WANJet appliance serial number) before attempting to install the software upgrade.


To upgrade the WANJet appliance

  1. Log in to the WANJet Web UI, by typing the following address into a browser's Address line.

    https://<WANJet IP address>:10000

  2. Verify that a disk image of the new version of the WANJet software is accessible from the local computer on which you are viewing the WANJet Web UI (on CD-ROM, for example).

  3. In the navigation pane, expand System and click Upgrade & Boot Menu.
    The WANJet Boot Menu screen opens.

  4. Click the Upgrade button.
    A confirmation message displays.

  5. Click the OK button to continue.

  6. Click the Browse button and locate the upgrade file on your computer.

  7. Upload the upgrade file to the WANJet appliance.

  8. Click Upgrade WANJet.
    The WANJet appliance restarts automatically when the upgrade process is complete.

Performing a remote upgrade from version 3.1.1 or 3.1.2

You can perform a remote upgrade to version 4.2.1 from version 3.1.1 or later. If you are upgrading remotely from version 3.1.1 or 3.1.2, you must also complete the following tasks.

  • Switch the operational mode of all WANJet appliances to Inactive.

  • Upgrade all of the WANJet appliances.

  • One at a time, change the operational mode of each WANJet appliance to Active.


To activate the license

Note: You need to perform this procedure only if you have not previously activated the WANJet appliance license.

  1. In a web browser, access the Web UI using HTTPS and port 10000.
    For example, if the IP address of the appliance is 192.168.168.102, type https://192.168.168.102:10000 in the web browser.
    The welcome screen opens.

  2. Type the user name and password.
    The default user name is admin and the default password is admin.

  3. Click the Log On button.
    The WANJet Status screen opens.

  4. Click the Not Entered link, next to License.
    The WANJet License Details screen displays.

  5. Into the Base Registration Key box, type or paste your Base Registration key. For new installations, you should see your Base Registration key (filled in at the factory).

  6. Next to Activation Method, make sure that Automatic (the default) is selected.

  7. Click Next.
    The EULA (End User License Agreement) screen opens.

  8. Read the EULA, and then click Accept if you agree to the conditions.
    When license activation is complete, the WANJet License Details screen opens and shows the current license date.

    Note: If automatic license activation does not work, you can use manual activation instead. On the WANJet License Details screen, next to Activation Method, select Manual and follow the directions on the screen.


  9. In the navigation pane, expand Reports and click Status.
    The license should now display as OK.


To save the WANJet appliance chassis serial number

Note: You need to perform this procedure only if you have not previously saved the chassis serial number in the About box.

  1. At the top right of the Web UI, click the About link.
    The About box opens.

  2. In the Chassis serial number box, type the serial number as it appears on the F5 serial number sticker, located on the front of the WANJet appliance (on older units, the serial number is on the back).

  3. Click the Save button.

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Fixes in this release

This release includes the following fixes.

VLAN configuration on a local Series 200 WANJet appliance (CR61557)
When using the VLAN Settings link to add a VLAN to a local WANJet appliance, you can now reach the IP address configured in the WANJet appliance virtual IP through the VLAN interface.

iControl Server (Lighttpd) Error Log (CR65567)
Previously, the WANJet appliance saved the Lighttpd error log in flash memory, using a large amount of disk space. This error log is no longer saved on the WANJet appliance.

Simultaneous bidirectional file transfer (CR66075)
When simultaneously transferring large files in both directions (both to and from the server) on links with low BDP (bandwidth delay product), the transfers could fail. We have resolved this issue and bidirectional file transfers now complete correctly.

Roadmin administrator account (CR66390)
The roadmin administrator account now allows the administrator to view information on secondary and pop-up screens. The roadmin account was previously restricted from viewing secondary screens such as the QoS policy screen.

Timeout to nonexistent server (CR66434)
We have disabled exponential back-off of TCP timeouts, which could cause long timeouts for clients connecting to a server that was unavailable. Timeouts are now shorter if connecting to a server that is not available.

Loading applications from network drives (CR67073)
Users had a problem loading applications, such as PeopleSoft, from network drives when the WANJet appliance was active. We have resolved this issue, and applications now load correctly in this circumstance.

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Known issues

The following items are known issues in the current release.

Passthrough sessions (CR60178)
After a high volume of traffic passes through the WANJet appliance, the dashboard may temporarily display more passthrough sessions than are actually occurring.

Real Time Traffic report (CR61437)
The amount of network traffic shown in the Real Time Traffic report appears to repeatedly spike to twice the actual amount, in 30-second intervals.

SSL encryption implementation (CR64020)
SSL encryption is currently implemented only for optimized TCP traffic. In future releases, we plan to support TCP and UDP protocols for SSL encryption.

VLAN traffic and LAN router value configuration (CR64021)
If you want to process VLAN traffic, do not configure a LAN router value in the Local WANJet link of the Web UI.

GRE packets captured by tcpdump (CR64731)
When the tcpdump diagnostic tool captures Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) packets on the WANJet appliance, it does not decode the packets correctly.

Application QoS bandwidth (CR64742)
For an Application QoS Policy, setting the Link Bandwidth to 128 Kb/s or less may reduce FTP download speed.

TDR-2 efficiency impacted by slow servers (CR65171)
TDR-2 efficiency is degraded when transmitting data from low-performance servers.

WANJet 200 crossover cable (CR65989)
The WANJet 200 previously included an orange CAT6 crossover cable to connect the WANJet 200 to the WAN. We have replaced the orange crossover cable with a new yellow crossover cable that is RoHS compliant. The WANJet 200 Quick Start Card still refers to the cable as an orange cable.

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