Upgrading C9200 from 16.12.4 to 17.9.5

[Kina86]

Greetings everyone,

We have a bunch of C9200 that we have to update to 17.9.5 from 16.12.4. And I am worried about the text from the release note below :

Upgrading the software image from Cisco IOS XE Gibraltar 16.12.x to any of the later releases can result in a persistent database operation failure and after which the persistent database cannot be restored.

To avoid the persistent database operation failure, use the dir bootflash:.dbpersist command to list all DB persist files and then use delete bootflash:/.dbpersist/folder_name/file_name and bootflash:/.dbpersist/folder_name/file_name.meta commands to delete individual database and meta files from each persistent database folder.

from https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/lan/catalyst9200/software/release/17-9/release_notes/ol-17-9-9200/limitations_and_restrictions.html

I am not an expert in switches and I wanted to know what is dbpersist files, what are the risks and what I need to do, to avoid loosing any config nor data.

Thank you for your answers.

Best regards.

[Leo Laohoo]

Copy the config off the switch before undertaking the firmware upgrade.

[albertofdez]

Hi Kina86,

I have to do the same upgrade that you indicate from version 16.12.4 to 17.9.5, did you have any problem with this you indicate?

Thanks.

[Kina86]

Hello albertofdez,

We have test some upgrades scenarios before upgrading +100 C9200L.
We did not encounter any persistent database operation failure on our tests and upgrades.

We encountered some problems related to the internal storage space available in a stack but nothing related to the persistent database.
If you are in this scenario and in a stack I highly recommend that you check before commit that every switch in the stack have space available for the targeted upgrade (space required is on software.cisco.com)