Proper upgrade path for 56128P

[jber]

Hi,

This being my first post - bear with me...

I need to do an ISSU upgrade of two Nexus 56128P switches to 7.3(0)N1(1) for the GEM to support 16Gbps FC transceivers. I just need to have input on the upgrade path as I want to avoid possible issues.

Current version: 7.1(4)N1(1)
Target version: 7.3(0)N1(1)

According to the release notes for 7.3 I need 7.2(1) for the ISSU to be non-disruptive, so far so good. My question is that in the release notes for 7.2(1) it lists 7.1(1)N1(1)-7.1(3)N1(2) as current releases, not my 7.1(4). Is that just due to my release (4) being created after the release notes itself or am I missing something? Can I see somewhere that 7.2(1) is a viable ISSU from 7.1(4) on my way to 7.3?

Feel free to ask qestions if I am unclear :)

Kind regards,

Jonas

Edit: Added link for the release notes
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus5600/sw/upgrade/721_N1_1/n5600_upgrade_downgrade_721.html#pgfId-640981

[jber]

I just figured that we cannot utilize the ISSU process as we're running L3 functionality. Do you have any input on how upgrading - distruptive - will affect traffic if I'm running two of them in a vPC pair? The configuration should allow for one to go off-grid, but then, I might miss something :)

[Rick1776 · Accepted solution]

You are correct in your assumptions upgrading one switch at a time if all your devices are dual homed you should have little to no downtime. Also ISSU in the field almost never works and I usually upgrade on device at a time in the end.

[markscimeca]

Did you ever get an answer regarding the path from 7.1(4) to 7.2(1)? I have the same scenario trying to get from 7.1.4 to 7.3.0.

[Sergiu.Daniluk]

Hi,

Upgrade can be done directly:

Table 3 Supported Upgrade and Downgrade Paths for Cisco NX-OS Release 7.3(1)N1(1)

Current Cisco NX-OS Release	Upgrade to NX-OS Release 7.3(1)N1(1)	Downgrade from NX-OS Release 7.3(1)N1(1)
7.3(0)N1(1) 7.2(1)N1(1)1 7.1(4)N1(1)	Nondisruptive upgrade (ISSU)	Disruptive downgrade2

NOTE:

1.Possibility of disruptive upgrade if FC or FCoE is enabled and upgrade is from Cisco NX-OS release 7.2(1)N1(1) or earlier. See CSCuq94445 for more details.

Reference: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus5600/sw/upgrade/731_N1_1/n5600_upgrade_downgrade_731_n1_1.html 

Make sure you always read the upgrade guides and release notes of the target release before performing any upgrades:

Upgrade guides: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/nexus-5000-series-switches/products-installation-guides-list.html 

Release notes: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/nexus-5000-series-switches/products-release-notes-list.html 

Regards,

Sergiu