CUCM, IMP and CUC upgrade from version 9.1.1 (on VMWare) to version 10.5 (on VMWare)

[adrianic2003]

Hello,

I have to perform a Refresh Upgrade to 10.5 for a client who has the following UC apps on a virtual environment:

CUCM version 9.1.1

IM and Presence version 9.1.1

CUC (Unity Connection)  version 9.1.1

A. I see on the CUC Upgrade document below:

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/10x/upgrade/guide/10xcucrugx.pdf

P.39 --> Change Guest Operating System after CUC Upgrade to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (64-bit). But nothing about the Network Adapter.

B. I see on the CUCM 10.0 Upgrade Guide:

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/upgrade/10_0_1/CUCM_BK_U4214F9D_00_upgrade-guide-cucm-100.pdf

Page. 44:

Step 3: Change the configuration of the VM as needed (Guest OS, ...) Step 4: Modify the Network Adapter to use VMXNET 3 Adapter type as steps before the CUCM upgrade.

My questions would be:

1. Do I need to change the Network Adapter for CUC as well? If yes, should this be done before upgrade or after?

2. What would be the implication of not changing the Network Adapter from "Flexible" to VMXNET3?

[Jaime Valencia]

I just checked the 10.0 CUC I have, and it still uses flexible, create a blank VM for 10.5 and look at what the OVA looks like.

If you don't change it, we won't support your CUCM, that's the new NIC recommended for ESXi, you can find info about it on vmware site.

[adrianic2003]

Hi Jaime,

And thank you for your quick reply.

I have just deployed the following OVA templates:

CUCM 10.5 (cucm_10.5_vmv8_v1.8.ova)

IMP 10.5 (cucm_im_p_10.5_vmv8_v1.0.ova)

CUC 10.5 (CUC_10.5_vmv8_v1.5.ova)

and I see the Network Adapter as per below:

CUCM: VMXNET3

CUC: VMXNET3

IMP: Flexible

Looks like CUC 10.5 is using the same Network Adapter as CUCM 10.5 (VMXNET3). Should I change it then before the upgrade for CUC as well?

[panjwani80]

has anyone figure this out? I am upgrading CUC cluster from 8.5 virtual to 10.5 virtual on the same UCS server so it is going to be in-place upgrade.

I am bit lost about the network adapter modification from flexible to VMXNET3. Do we need to perform this change on the existing 8.5 OVA before or after the upgrade? I have looked at the current vmx file and it doesn't even have "ethernet0.virtualDev" field which needs modification as per steps defined in 10.5 OVA readme file.

Obviously, the long procedure is to upgrade to 10.5, backup, fresh OVA install with 10.5 and then restore.

I am hoping that I can get away by making changes to existing OVA instead of performing backup/restore.

Please let me know.

Thanks

[timhughsmith]

We used the powercli option, that seemed simplest option.

We did it after upgrade.

Its all well and good for Cisco to say not supported, but they need to get their docco in order, so we are aware of what we need to do. I logged a tac case for it to get clarification and they were very cloudy about it. I asked for them to update upgrade guide and releasw notes. I hope it is reflected now.

Cheers

[panjwani80]

thanks for your prompt response. I agree CUC upgrade guide is missing this information.

My customer is running ESXi 5 hypervisor edition which doesn't support power CLI.

did you get "partition unaligned" message after the upgrade?

[timhughsmith]

Yeah I thought that might be the case.

I would confirm the steps with TAC or even in this case possibly VMWare depending on your support.

I don't think we did get partition unaligned error on this case. This will depend on the OVA you built it on originally when you virtualised.

Building on the new OVA will fix this, so if you do get this error, at least you know you can fix the two problems in one move.

I don't find the backup restore a big problem, the only issue is the time it takes, and the gap in between, and what happens to your voicemail during this period.

The other option, is to use the cluster re-negotiation, i.e. you can fresh build CUC sub and replicate from pub to sub, and you can also do it back the other way. It's all in the upgrade guide. Seems to be the preferred method for server replacement instead of backup / restore for CUC.

Cheers,

Tim

[dsobrinho]

Hey Jaime,

Do you have any step by step  guide to do this changes in a BE6K. I have the environment with BE6K and (App: CUCM 9.1, CUC 9.1 and IM&P 9.1) so all this servers have the ova template with Guest Op System  version Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (32 bit) so with the file <ciscocm.version3-keys.cop.sgn> I can upgrade to version 10.5(2), this upgrade file change the Guest Op. System to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (64 bit), however It does not change the network adapter to vmxnet 3.

Best regards,

Daniel 

[Jaime Valencia]

Any changes to the VM have to be manually done, no COP file will do this for you. The cop you mention 

The README for the CUCM 10.x OVA has the instructions for the vNIC change.

[csrlima]

Hi Jaime , i upgrade last friday from 8.6 to 10.5.2 (so its in prodution now a cluster with pub and sub and one CUC )  but i missed that NIC adapter change to VMXNET3 , and i still have flexible adapter. It seems  all working well , but i'm afraid that could happen any problem in the future , so  i will first try change nic in my LAB ( using instrutions in README file of 10.x OVA).  Do anyone have bad experiences without this change? What do you suggestion for this?

Best Regards.

[Yort Mantup]

Hi csrlime,

Not sure about future issues by remaining on the flexible adapter but best practice suggests going with what the OVA requires.  I performed a refresh upgrade from 8.5 to 10.5 in a virtualized environment.  For CUCM and CUC I changed the Network Adapter before beginning the upgrade.  The steps I took to make the network adapter change were:

1.  Download a copy of the vmx file from the server(s) you are upgrading to your local machine.

2.  Create a back up of that file incase you need to restore it in the future.  From cmd prompt in the same folder as the download .vmx.  copy "<virtual_machine_name>.vmx"

then run the following from you cmd prompt

copy "virtual_machine_namet.vmx" temp_file.vmx

findstr /V /R "^ethernet0.virutalDev.*" temp_file.vmx > "virtual_machine_name.vmx"

echo ethernet0.virtualDev = "vmxnet3" >> "virtual_machine_name.vmx"

Upload the edited vmx file to your the datastore which will replace the current.   Then remove the vm from inventory and then add it back.  Check your setting and the network adapter should be changed to vmxnet3 now. 

Steps are from the Read Me file as an option to change it.  I don't why you can't make this change during a maint window.

[csrlima]

Hi troyputnam , thanks .

[Deepak Mehta]

Hi ,

I have general question, quite similar to what you mentioned above for guest OS change ,so wondering if you ran into this before – Do you know when we do the upgrade from ESXi 5.0 to ESXi 6.0, does it change RHEL OS version on VM’s? 

version Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (32 bit) changes to the Guest Op. System to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 (64 bit),

In what scenerios does it happen.thanks

[Jaime Valencia]

No, ESXi version and host OS are completely independent, upgrading one does not affect the other.

Speaking about CUCM and other Linux appliances, the answer is pretty simply, it happens when the BU chooses to upgrade the RHEL version the products use, if such change is required, the upgrade documentation and/or RNs will mention it.

[Deepak Mehta]

Great , that answers it.+5

So just to be more precise......

If i do an upgrade from 9.1.1 to 10.5(2) using a COP file and if cisco has changed the linux version on the later , then i  will see a version change on 10.5(2). correct?