Cisco Prime upgrade

[ali007]

Hi,

we would like to upgrade our Cisco prime from 3.4 to 3.9 and the documentation is quite vague on the process. can someone help me with the path please and things to consider?

kind regards,

Ali

[Scott Fella · Accepted solution]

My suggestion if you can, is to stand up a new VM and start fresh.  Upgrades don't go as expected all the time and you also end up bringing bad data to the new version.  You can export all the license, devices and maps from the old and then import those back to the new.

NOTE FROM THE GUIDE: Cisco Prime Infrastructure 3.9 Installation and Migration Guide for Microsoft HyperV - Cisco

If your existing Prime Infrastructure is 3.7.x or 3.8.x, and your upgrade path contains 3.4.x or earlier versions, then you cannot in-line upgrade that server to Prime Infrastructure 3.9 due to security vulnerabilities in the underlying Red Hat 6 installation. You will need to take a backup of the Prime Infrastructure 3.7.x or 3.8.x server, deploy a fresh Prime Infrastructure 3.9 server, and restore that backup into the Prime Infrastructure 3.9 server.

[ali007]

Hi Scott,

thanks for your swift response. I read that statement from Cisco on one of the release notes but its confusing i.e. if your existing prime infra is on 3.7 or 3.8 then why would you have 3.4.x in the path? doesnt make sense.

p.s. did you upgrade on recently? if so, any chance you can share your steps with me?

Regards,

[Scott Fella]

If your Prime was ever on 3.4 or earlier versions, then you can't upgrade to 3.9.  That is what the document is stating.  I have a lab and yes I spin up new VM's all the time to test and bring up new versions.  Every time I need to upgrade, I have started from scratch and never ever do an inline upgrade unless its in my lab.

[ali007]

thanks Scott - appreciate your help.

just last one, I am quite new to Prime so to confirm I can use 3.4  backups on 3.9? and the backups I need are only the application backups and not the appliance ones. is there anything I need to consider?

[Scott Fella]

You will not use the backup to restore on the new Prime.  You can export the license, devices and maps and install them on a few install of Prime 3.9.  Does that make sense?

[Scott Fella]

Here are some links that you can reference:

Exporting your license from your existing Prime Infrastructure

Upgrade Prime Infrastructure - Cisco Community

Export & Import devices

Cisco Prime Infrastructure 3.6 User Guide - Add and Organize Devices [Cisco Prime Infrastructure] - Cisco

Export & Import maps

Cisco Prime Infrastructure 3.4 User Guide - Use Wireless Site Maps [Cisco Prime Infrastructure] - Cisco

When you do this, make sure you import all the devices first and wait until they all show up under inventory.  Then import your floor maps.

[ali007]

right ok. so I will have to put the rest of config manually.

[Scott Fella]

Yes you will have to do that, but it doesn't take long.  I usually also ssh to the old, issue a show run and copy the repositories if you have and and then on the new, issues a config t and paste the repos.  Make sure you add your mail servers also and and custom alerts.  It is best to just do it this way.

Keep this in mind, if you have resources to spin up new 3.9 VM, just take your time and build one from scratch.  Import what you want and clean out any old stuff.  This way, when things look good, you can back that up if you want and restore that to a new Prime 3.9.  I do this all the time, but I have resources that I can spin up whatever I want.