Migrate APIC L2 to L4

[Whiteboard]

APIC Migration Plan: L2 to L4

We are planning to migrate our APIC from L2 to L4. Currently, the L2 APIC is running version 5.2, while the new L4 APIC is pre-installed with version 6.0.6. Our target version for both is 6.0.8.

Migration Steps:

• Upgrade L2 APIC:
• We will first upgrade the L2 APIC cluster (comprising 3 servers) to version 6.0.8.
• Replacement Process:
• After upgrading, we will proceed with replacing the L2 APIC with the L4 APIC.

Question:

Is it necessary to manually upgrade the L4 APIC to version 6.0.8, or will it automatically upgrade when connected to the network?

We would appreciate any documentation links or guidance on this process. Thank you!

[AshSe]

Hey @Whiteboard 

When migrating from an L2 APIC to an L4 APIC, and both are targeting the same version (6.0.8 in your case), it is important to understand how the upgrade and replacement process works. 

You will need to manually upgrade the L4 APIC to version 6.0.8 before replacing the L2 APIC. The upgrade will not happen automatically when the L4 APIC is connected to the network.

Let me share Step-by-Step Migration Plan:

1. Upgrade a Single L2 APIC from Version 5.2 to 6.0.8
2. Upgrade All L2 APICs to Version 6.0.8
3. Upgrade a Single L4 APIC to Version 6.0.8
4. Replace One L2 APIC with the Upgraded L4 APIC
5. Replace the Remaining L2 APICs with L4 APICs, one at a time, until all L2 APICs are replaced.

This process ensures a smooth migration while maintaining cluster health and stability.

Hope This Helps!!!

AshSe

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[Whiteboard]

I tried to search this from cisco documents and found some information as below which shows it should be OK for APIC replacement withe different version.

[Replacing APIC Servers with APIC Servers Running a Different Software Release

Beginning with Cisco APIC release 6.0(2), APIC servers being commissioned to the cluster can be running a different software release than the cluster. The replacement procedure described in the previous section is the same when the replacement APIC server is running a different software release. You must download the APIC ISO image for the currently installed release to the APIC cluster prior to executing the migration procedure.]

https://community.cisco.com/t5/application-centric-infrastructure/migrate-apic-l2-to-l4/m-p/5269346#M16838