Nexus 9K image upgrade

[Cisco Freak]

Hello All,

I have a few queries related to doing an image upgrade in a Nexus 9K switch. The switch is currently running image 9.3(3) and it has vPC configuration. I need to upgrade the switch to 9.3(5). 

- I am going to use the command “show install all impact nxos nxos.9.3.5.bin” and "show incompatibility-all nxos bootflash:nxos.9.3.5.bin"  to validate the impact of installing this new image. Is there any other command available to make sure there is no impact from upgrading?

- I am going to use "install all nxos bootflash:nxos.9.3.5.bin" command in switch to install the new image. Do I have to manually change to boot statement manually? Current it has this line in the config "boot nxos bootflash:/nxos.9.3.3.bin"

- Once one switch in the vPC is upgraded, then one device will be running 9.3(5) and other will be 9.3(3) until I install new image in secondary switch too? Will this difference in image version cause any issues to vPC/or anything else?

- In the vPC which device should be upgrade and reloaded first? I am planning to upgrade 'operational secondary' device first. Does that make a difference?

CF 

[Sergiu.Daniluk]

Hi @Cisco Freak 

" Is there any other command available to make sure there is no impact from upgrading? "

No. The two commands you shared are the best ones.

"Do I have to manually change to boot statement manually? "

No need for manual changes. "install all nxos" command will change the boot source image.

"Will this difference in image version cause any issues to vPC/or anything else?"

Yes, the vPC peer switches can run different images during the upgrade window. As long as you do not have a very big gap (example one peer running 6.0.x and the other 9.x) between the two peers, you should be safe. Generally speaking, if you are in a situation where you need to perform an upgrade from an old version to a new one and you need to go through an intermediary version, you should perform the upgrade on both peers to the intermediary version, before jumping to the target version.

" In the vPC which device should be upgrade and reloaded first?"

There is no functional difference between starting with the primary switch or the secondary switch. However, if you do not have "vpc peer-switch" enabled, I would recommend starting with the peer which is not the root bridge, to avoid double root bridge re-convergence.

Stay safe,

Sergiu