08-01-2022 07:01 AM
So, I'm pretty green. 5 or 6 years in and learning on the job please bare with me.
tldr: is there a way to upgrade wlc software without all APs going down.
I'm looking to upgrade ios/software on my wlc. I have 2 in ha. And 3 sites, each with 2.
Each site has the same ssid with different vlans.
When I upgrade the software I have to go through change control and request downtime to wireless devices for the entire sight. It's a hard ask. 80% of the site is 24/7 and more and more devices and wireless.
The only way I can think of to avoid mass downtime, is to install 2 new wlcs upgrade them, and move the aps one at a time. I'm hoping for a less costly way
08-01-2022 07:43 AM
08-02-2022 06:13 AM
As long as you pre-download the software to the APs the down-time is minimised but that depends on specific AP model as some of them don't have enough space for 2 images on flash and some (like 3700) do the double download (see previous posts where @Leo Laohoo explains the process for avoiding that by downloading the image manually).
ANY network needs some regular change windows agreed for possible downtime - that is unavoidable to keep things up to date and properly maintained. As Scott says you could minimise downtime with N+1 WLCs. Upgrading to 9800 with advanced license allows ISSU and upgrading APs a certain % at a time but if the site only has 2 APs then that still means 1 AP at a time so you will lose 50% of coverage. Note there are lots of caveats to using ISSU.
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