Hi All,
In this blog, we shall discuss about how we can upgrade our controllers and edge routers part of the Viptela fabric.
First things first - Downloading the images for controllers and routers. You can download the images for controllers here.
You should see the .tar.gz file of 2 types i.e. 1 for vSmart | vBond and other one for vManage. Similarly you can download the upgrade file for routers as well. See below.
Once images are downloaded, Upgrading viptela fabric is done in 3 stages.
> Uploading images for controllers & edge routers on the vManage controller.
> Installing images on controllers & edges.
> Activating images on controllers & edges.
To upload images -
Goto Maintenance >> Software Repository >> Upload the required software’s for the controllers and WAN Edge Firmware.
Once All the software images are uploaded, Go to Maintenance >> Software Upgrade >> vManage and click on upgrade option.
Select the latest image which was uploaded and click on upgrade. This will not activate the image. We need to activate the image in order to compete the upgrade process. Activation of image needs a reboot of the controller. We shall do it at last.
Once image is installed for vManage, do similarly for vBond & vSmart
Goto Maintenance >> Software Upgrade >> Controller >> Select vBond(s) and click on upgrade option.
Select the appropriate image and click on upgrade. DO NOT SELECT the option of activate and reboot if prompted. We shall activate the image later.
Repeat the same process for vSmart(s).
Verify the available version for vManage/vBond and vSmart. It should show us the latest version which was uploaded.
Once all the images are uploaded successfully on the controllers, we can activate them.
Note – Activate of image will require a reboot of the controllers. However, this does not affect the data plane traffic on the edge routers and does not require any downtime ideally. Still recommend to have a maintenance period for it.
Next we need to activate the images. It is recommended to start with vManage.
Goto Maintenance >> Software Upgrade >> vManage >> Click on activate
Select appropriate version and click on activate. This will reboot the vManage. You can open the console of vManage and see it rebooting.
Similarly we can activate images for vBond and vSmart.
Goto Maintenance >> Software Upgrade >> Controllers >> Select vBond and click activate.
Follow the same process for vSmart. Verify the current version of the controller once done. It should be the latest one.
Upgrade iOS Firmware Image:
Go to Maintenance >> Software Upgrade >> Controller >> Select WAN Edge(s) and click on upgrade option.
Select one or more devices on which to upgrade the software image.
- Click the Upgrade button. The Software Upgrade dialog box opens.
- Select the software version to install on the device.
NOTE: As a pre-requisite the WAN Edge firmware must be uploaded in the Software Repository.
Make sure NOT to select the option of “activate and reboot”. Click on Upgrade.
Once the images for edge routers are installed, you can get a maintenance window from customer and plan to activate the image. This will require a reboot. Activating Image for cEdges requires a downtime. It ideally requires 15-30 minutes of time.If activation fails to finish, default timeout is 60 mins.
I hope you find this blog helpful. Cheers!!!!
Rajiv Yadav
