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LuisPuma_134788's avatar
LuisPuma_134788
Icon for Altostratus rankAltostratus
Jul 04, 2014

HA Active/standby License re-activation and howto for upgrade from 11.2.1 to 11.5

Hello folks,

 

I will upgrade a BIG IP (ADC+GTM) HA pair from 11.2.1 to 11.5.1. tomorrow. It will be my first time :(. I have looked for any article regarding to such specific versions but I have not succeded. I just found upgrades from v10.x to v11. as specified in this link http://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/products/big-ip_ltm/manuals/product/bigip-upgrade-active-standby-11-5-0/1.htmlconceptid. Therefore, I am not sure about the main changes it will take to go from 11.2.1. to 11.5.

 

I am afraid of the following: - Some articles say that I need to perform a license re-activation. Such proccess is not specified in the AskF5 articles. So I do not know if re-activate the license before or after the upgrade. - I am also afraid of the proccess to upgrade the HA pair, what I have in mind is: 1)upgrade the standby to 11.5.1, 2)check if any configuration changes have happened, 3)execute a force failover command (I am not sure if HA failover will work with the active on 11.2.1 and standby on 11.5.1), 4)check the operation of the new active with the 11.5.1, 5)upgrade the new standby system, 6)execute a failover again to test HA failover, 7)make changes to test config sync.

 

I have an ADC(LTM+APM)+GTM combo. So I guess that the upgrading could be difficult to achieve.

 

Hope you could give me some recommendations. I will really appreciate that.

 

Thanks

 

Lewis

 

APM
application delivery
BIG-IP DNS
LTM
management
security

2 Replies

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  • The_Bhattman's avatar
    The_Bhattman
    Icon for Nimbostratus rankNimbostratus
    Jul 05, 2014

    Hi Lewis, The reason for the specific upgrade path in version 10.x and v11 is that there were fundamental changes to the partitions and other items. With the ugprade from 11.2.1 to 11.5.1 is pretty much standard upgrade practice you find release notes on 11.5.1. The release notes are very important and they usually tell you what steps to take or what to watch out for and a checklist.

     

    The approach you have already stated is something I use myself or my team

     

    1. Establish a baseline (Check your CPU, Memory, Throughput to make sure you have a known pattern)
    2. Upgrade Standby unit
    3. Fail over Primary Active unit to Secondary
    4. Have your application tested by clients or developers
    5. Upgrade the Primary (Standby) unit and then fail over
    6. Test failover in both directions

    It's important that you do not synchronize until both units are on the same code If you are not very confident then contact F5 support or your FSE and have them run through your upgrade guide. In some cases you could plan it so that a F5 support person works the upgrade with you.

     

    I hope this helps,

     

    -=Bhattman=-

     

  • nitass's avatar
    nitass
    Icon for Employee rankEmployee
    Jul 05, 2014

    So I do not know if re-activate the license before or after the upgrade.

     

    before.

     

    sol7727: License activation may be required prior to software upgrade for the BIG-IP or Enterprise Manager system

     

    http://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/solutions/public/7000/700/sol7727.html

     

    I am not sure if HA failover will work with the active on 11.2.1 and standby on 11.5.1

     

    i never tested but i think it may work.

     

    sol9057: Service port and protocol used for BIG-IP network failover

     

    http://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/solutions/public/9000/000/sol9057.html