Before upgrading F5^® BIG-IQ^® Centralized Management, perform the following tasks.

Gather the following information:

If you're currently running a version of BIG-IQ prior to version 5.0, you must first upgrade to version 5.0 before you can upgrade to version 5.3. For more information, refer to the guide titled, F5 BIG-IQ Centralized Management: Upgrading BIG-IQ to Version 5.0.

If you're upgrading BIG-IQ Data Collection Device clusters, refer to the guide titled, F5 BIG-IQ Centralized Management: Upgrading Data Collection Device clusters to version 5.3.

To upgrade F5^® BIG-IQ^® Centralized Management from BIG-IQ version 5.x to 5.3, perform these procedures. Upgrading BIG-IQ to the most recent version requires that you update its configuration to incorporate new features introduced. It's a good idea to set aside at least a few hours to complete this process.

1. Complete all of the prerequisites outlined in the topic titled, What you need to do before you upgrade BIG-IQ from version 5.x to 5.3.
2. Download the BIG-IQ version 5.3 iso file from the F5 Downloads site to your desktop.
3. Upload the software image to, and install the new software on your primary BIG-IQ.
4. If you're upgrading an HA pair:
   • Remove the peer BIG-IQ from the primary BIG-IQ.
   • Upload the software image to, and install the new software on the peer BIG-IQ.
   • Re-establish the HA configuration.
5. Upgrade the BIG-IP^® framework on your managed devices.
6. Rediscover devices, and re-import LTM^®, ASM^®, AFM^®, and DNS^® services. You must also remove, and recreate or reimport any existing access groups for devices running APM services.
   Note: You have the option to use a script from the command line to re-discover and re-import services (in bulk) for devices running LTM, ASM, AFM, and DNS, or individually through the BIG-IQ user interface. For devices running the APM^® service, you must remove and recreate access groups for devices running the APM service. For more information, refer to, Use a script to remove and recreate access groups in bulk for devices running APM services,Remove and recreate access groups (with SWG data) from the user interface for devices running APM services or Reimport access groups (without SWG data) from the user interface for devices running APM services.

1. Log in to the F5 Downloads site, downloads.f5.com.
2. Click the Find a Download button.
3. Click the name of the product line.
4. Click the product name, Centralized Management.
5. Click V5.3.0.
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 5.3 .iso file name.
8. Click the name of the closest geographical location to you.
   The software image downloads to your local system.

1. At the top of the screen, click System.
2. On the left, click THIS DEVICE > SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT > Available Images .
3. Click the Upload Image button.
4. Click the Choose File button and go to the location to which you downloaded the image, and click the Open button to upload it to BIG-IQ.
5. Click the Upload button.
   The screen refreshes to display the progress of the upload.

1. Log in to the primary BIG-IQ with your admin user name and password.
2. At the top of the screen, click System.
3. On the left, click BIG-IQ HA.
4. Click Remove Secondary.
   A dialog box opens, prompting you to confirm that you want to remove the HA secondary device from this group.
5. Click Remove to confirm you want to take the HA secondary device out of the group.
   The system logs you out of the BIG-IQ while it removes the secondary device.
6. Log back in to the primary BIG-IQ with your admin user name and password.
   For a while, both the primary and the secondary BIG-IQ devices continue to display. After a few minutes, the screen updates to display a single standalone device.

1. Log in to the BIG-IQ system with your admin user name and password.
2. At the top of the screen, click System.
3. On the left, expand THIS DEVICE > Software Management , then click Available Images.
   The Available Images screen lists the software image files that are available for install on this BIG-IQ.
4. Select the check box for the image you want to install and click Install.
5. From the Target Volume list, select the volume you want to install the image on.
6. To prompt BIG-IQ to reboot into the new software installation volume, select the Reboot into Target Volume check box.
7. Click the Install button.
8. Click the Continue button.
9. Wait while BIG-IQ loads the new software and reboots.
   Depending on your configuration and the number of devices you are managing, this could take up to an hour. During this time, it is important that you not interrupt the installation process by restarting services or the server.
10. If needed, extend the /var partition.
    The default size of the /var file system in a newly installed node is 10 GB. This volume size might be insufficient to store your data. You can see how to extend this file system to a larger size in knowledge article K16103. refer to: K16103: Extending disk space on BIG-IQ Virtual Edition at support.f5.com/csp/article/K16103. Because upgrading a node requires at least two volumes, you must ensure that both volumes can have their /var file system extended to the same size, or upgrades might fail.

1. Log on to the system you are going to establish as the secondary BIG-IQ system's command line as root and type the following command: /usr/bin/clear-rest-storage.
   While this step is not required, it clears the database storage on the system so the upgrade goes more quickly. After you upgrade both peer systems and re-establish the HA pair, the peer BIG-IQ will synchronize its database with this BIG-IQ system and repopulate the database.
2. Log on to the system you are going to establish as the secondary BIG-IQ system's user interface.
3. If you ran the clear-rest-storage command, complete the setup wizard. Otherwise, continue to step 4.
4. At the top of the screen, click System.
5. On the left, expand THIS DEVICE > Software Management , then click Available Images.
   The Available Images screen lists the software image files that are available for install on this BIG-IQ.
6. Select the check box for the image you want to install and click Install.
7. From the Target Volume list, select the volume you want to install the image on.
8. To prompt BIG-IQ to reboot into the new software installation volume, select the Reboot into Target volume check box.
9. Click the Install button.
   A confirmation dialog box appears.
10. Click the Continue button.
11. Wait while BIG-IQ loads the new software and reboots.
    Depending on your configuration and the number of devices you are managing, this could take up to an hour. During this time, it is important that you not interrupt the installation process by restarting services or the server.
12. Log in to the BIG-IQ that will be the secondary BIG-IQ system to confirm that the upgrade succeeded and complete the setup wizard.
    To complete the setup task, you must supply a master key pass phrase that all devices in the logging node cluster must share. Make note of the phrase you use. Each logging node, as well as the primary and secondary BIG-IQ systems must use this phrase before they can join the cluster.
13. Complete the setup wizard.

1. Log in to primary BIG-IQ system with your administrator user name and password.
2. At the top of the screen, click System.
3. On the left, click BIG-IQ HA.
4. Click the Add Secondary button.
5. In the IP Address field, type the discovery address you specified on the BIG-IQ system during setup.
   This is the same IP address the peers in a high availability confirmation use to communicate.
6. In the User name and Password fields, type the administrative user name and password for the system.
7. In the Root Password field, type the root password for the system.
8. Click the Add button to add this device to this high availability configuration.

1. At the top of the screen, click Devices.
2. Select all of the BIG-IP devices selecting the check box next to Status.
3. Click More , and then select Update Stats Agent.
   The Statistics Collection Agent Upgrade screen opens.
4. For Modules/Services, select the check box next to the services you collected statistics for in BIG-IQ version 5.2.
5. For Frequency select how often you want to collect statistics for these services.
6. Click the Continue button.
7. Wait while the stats collection agent for each BIG-IP device is upgraded.
   Depending on the number of devices in your cluster, this could take several minutes to complete.
   When the agent is upgraded on each BIG-IP, the status icon turns to green.

1. At the top of the screen, click Devices.
2. Select the check box next to a device, click the More button, and select Upgrade Framework.
   A popup screen opens.
3. Into the fields, type the required credentials, and click the Continue button.
   A REST Framework upgrade in progress message displays.

1. Log in to the downloads.f5.com site, click the Find a Download button, and click BIG-IQ Centralized Management.
2. Click the v5.3.0 link.
3. Review the End User Software License agreement and click the I Accept button to accept the terms.
   The Select a Download screen opens.
4. Click the bulkDiscovery.zip file name, and unzip it on your local system.
5. Log in to the BIG-IQ system as the root user and upload the script.
6. Enable executable permissions, by typing: chmod +x ./bulkDiscovery.pl
   Note: To access help for this script, type ./bulkDiscovery.pl -h
7. Export the IP addresses for the BIG-IP devices in your network to a CSV file, by typing: ./bulkDiscovery.pl -c masterDeviceList.csv -m -o
8. Re-discover your BIG-IP devices and re-import their services, by using the associated command:
   Note: This command prompts BIG-IQ to import all the configurations from the specified BIG-IP devices. It's important that you've already deployed any configuration changes you have staged for these devices, because they'll be overwritten on BIG-IQ after you run this script. If you'd rather re-discover devices and re-import services individually so you can address any potential configuration conflicts for each device, you can do that from the BIG-IQ system's user interface instead of using this script. For more information, refer to, Re-discover devices and re-import services from the user interface.
   • For LTM, type ./bulkDiscovery.pl -c myDeviceList.csv -l -m
     Note: You must re-discover devices running the LTM service before re-discovering devices running any other service.
   • For ASM, type ./bulkDiscovery.pl -c myDeviceList.csv -l -s -m
   • For AFM, type ./bulkDiscovery.pl -c myDeviceList.csv -l -f -m
   • For DNS, type ./bulkDiscovery.pl -c myDeviceList.csv -l -d -m

1. At the top of the screen, click Devices.
2. Click the name of the device you want to rediscover and reimport services for.
3. On the left, click Services.
4. Important: To avoid any unnecessary conflicts between services, re-discover and re-import the LTM service first, before any other services.
   Click the Re-discover button next to a service.
   When BIG-IQ rediscovers the service, a yellow triangle next to the Re-import button displays to indicate you need to re-import the service.
5. Click the Re-Import button.
6. If there are conflicts, select one of the following options for each object that is different, and then click the Continue button:
   • Use BIG-IQ to use the configuration settings stored on BIG-IQ.
   • Use BIG-IP to override the configuration setting stored on BIG-IQ with the settings from the BIG-IP device.

1. Log in to the BIG-IQ system as admin.
2. At the top of the screen, select Configuration, then expand ACCESS and click Access Groups .
3. In a separate file (such as a Notepad or Excel file), make a note of:
   • Each access group and the IP addresses of the devices contained within each.
   • The source device, from which you want to copy the configuration to all devices in the access group.
     Note: You'll deploy the configuration from this source device to all of the devices in the access group.
4. Select the check box next to each access group and click the Remove button.
5. Log in to the downloads.f5.com site, click the Find a Download button, and click BIG-IQ Centralized Management.
6. Click the v5.3.0 link.
7. Review the End User Software License agreement and click the I Accept button to accept the terms.
   The Select a Download screen opens.
8. Click the bulkDiscovery.zip file name, and unzip it on your local system.
9. Log in to the BIG-IQ system as the root user and upload the script.
10. Enable executable permissions, by typing: chmod +x ./bulkDiscovery.pl
    Note: To access help for this script, type ./bulkDiscovery.pl -h
11. Export the IP addresses for the BIG-IP devices in your network to a CSV file, by typing: ./bulkDiscovery.pl -c masterDeviceList.csv -m -o
12. For each access group:
    1. Create a device list, by typing cp masterDeviceList.csv <access_group_name>_devices.csv
    2. Edit the file as follows:
       • Remove any devices that don't belong to the access groups by comparing it to the list you made in step 3.
       • Place the source BIG-IP device you identified in step 3, at the top of the <access_group_name>_devices.csv file.
       • Verify the credentials for each device (the script uses ADMIN/APWD by default).
    3. Save your changes to the file.
    4. Impot devices in the access group by, typing: ./bulkDiscovery.pl -c <access_group_name>_devices.csv -g <access_group_name> -l -p -o -v
13. Log in to the BIG-IQ system as admin.
14. At the top of the screen, select Configuration, then expand ACCESS and click Access Groups .
15. Review the access groups to verify all the groups properly imported.

1. At the top of the screen, select Configuration, then expand ACCESS and click Access Groups .
2. Click the name of the access group.
3. From the Device list, select from which to reimport the shared access policy configuration and click the Reimport button.
   This device will share the access policy configuration with all other devices in this access group.
4. Select Shared Access Group and Device Specific configuration and click the Reimport button at the bottom of the screen.
5. If the differences window displays for the LTM service, select USE_BIGIP and click the Resolve button.
6. If the differences window displays for the APM service, click the Accept button.
7. For the remainder of the devices in this access group:
   1. Select the check box next to the device, and click the Reimport button.
   2. Select Device specific configuration and click the Reimport button at the bottom of the screen.
   3. If the differences window displays for the LTM service, select USE_BIGIP and click the Resolve button.
   4. If the differences window displays for the APM service, click the Accept button.
8. Repeat steps 2-7 for the rest of the access groups.

1. At the top of the screen, select Configuration, then expand ACCESS and click Access Groups .
2. In a separate file (such as a Notepad or Excel file), make a note of:
   • Each access group and the IP addresses of the devices contained within each.
   • The source device, from which you want to copy the configuration to all devices in the access group.
     Note: You'll deploy the configuration from this source device to all of the devices in the access group.
3. Select the check box next to each access group and click the Remove button.
4. Click the Create button.
5. Type a name for this access group in the Name field.
6. From the Device list, select from which to reimport the shared access policy configuration and click the Reimport button.
   This device will share the access policy configuration with all other devices in this access group.
7. Click the Create button at the bottom of the screen.
8. If the differences window displays for the LTM service, select USE_BIGIP and click the Resolve button.
9. Click the name of the access group you added.
10. Click the Add Device button.
11. From the Device list, select a device to add to this access group.
12. Click the Add button at the bottom of the screen.
13. If the differences window displays for the LTM service, select USE_BIGIP and click the Resolve button.
14. If the differences window displays for the APM service, click the Accept button.
15. Repeat these steps 10-14 for each device in each access group before creating the next access group.