WLC 5520 Upgrade, with HA SSO, reset command

[Clem58]

Hello,

I've predownloaded successfully APs images on our 2xWLCs 5520 in HA SSO, and swap images.

I'm now at the WLCs reset step.

I've read different articles an one instructs to type this command :

reset system in 00:01:30 image no-swap reset-aps save-config

And another instructs to type this one:

reset system both in 00:03:00 image no-swap reset-aps save-config

I thought the both controllers should reboot as per the 1st command, no need to add "both" argument, what is the right command to type ? 

[Leo Laohoo]

First one is for stand-alone WLC. 

Second is for HA SSO.

[Clem58]

Thanks Leo, what is confusing me, is the one from Cisco that stated this :

Upgrading WLC in HA AP-SSO environment

The following is a list of some software upgrade scenarios:

. A software upgrade on the active controller ensures the upgrade of the standby-hot controller.

. Rebooting the active controller after a software upgrade also reboots the standby-hot controller.

. We recommend that both active and standby-hot controllers have the same software image in the backup before running theconfig boot backupcommand. If both active and standby-hot controllers have different software images in the backup, and if you run theconfig boot backupcommand in the active controller, both the controllers reboot with their respective backup images breaking the HA pair due to a software mismatch.

. A schedule reset applies to both the controllers in an HA environment. The peer controller reboots a minute before the scheduled time expires on the active controller.

[Leo Laohoo]

Exactly what firmware are you currently running and what version are you trying to reach?

[Clem58]

Current 8.2.130.0 to 8.2.170.0

I read as soon you use a scheduled reset, the both WLCs will reboot, no need to add "both"

[Scott Fella]

When you upgrade, the image is pushed and verified on each wlc. Your best bet is to have console access to both controllers. So to answer your question, the reboot is suppose to reload both controllers, primary then secondary. This is not 100%, so that is why I mentioned having console. You should be able to see when the controllers reboot and where they are at during the reboot. If you noticed that the primary is coming up online and the seconds doesn’t reboot, you will have the primary go into maintenance mode because the secondary which is active has a different firmware image. I have seen this and have had to issue the reload command manually from the console of the secondary unit.

[Clem58]

Hi Scott thanks, I can have both remote KVM consoles with CICM interfaces, so I will monitor the WLC during the reboot.

However can I issue schedule reset system without "both" argument ?

[Clem58]

So the upgrade is done and successfull.

It was not an easy one though.

The "reset system in 00:01:30 image no-swap reset-aps save-config" command asked me to add the argument self, both or peer:

(Cisco Controller) >reset system in 00:01:30 image no-swap reset-aps save-config

Incorrect input! Use 'reset system <self | both | peer>'

 So I used this command, and had a "Time period is too short" message:

(Cisco Controller) >reset system both in 00:01:30 image no-swap reset-aps save-config

Time period is too short.

So I typed : reset system both in 00:03:00 image no-swap reset-aps save-config

And this time it worked.

But after a while only the standby WLC started to reboot, the 1st one never rebooted.

I tried to do "reset system self" on the WLC and I had this message "AP Software being upgraded, please try again later."

(Cisco Controller) >reset system self

AP Software being upgraded, please try again later.

 So finally I entered this command with forced : "reset system self forced", and it worked

(Cisco Controller) >reset system self forced

Wireless LAN Controller and Access Points could have partially
downloaded images and might not come up after reboot.
Wireless LAN Controller config will not be saved.
Do you still want to force a reboot (y/N) y

After around 10min the primary WLC came back but the HA/SSO was in UNKNOWN state.

So I rebooted the standby WLC by its CLI with this command : reset system

After its reboot the HA/SSO pair came back to normal state.

I'm happy it's finally done, but it was stressful !

I don't understand this "AP Software being upgraded, please try again later." message, it's clearly this that has prevented the primary WLC to reboot the first time. I guess it's a bug maybe with 8.2.130.0 code.

FYI I instructed a "show ap image all" before the reboot and there weren't any AP in predownloading state :

(Cisco Controller) >show ap image all

Total number of APs.............................. 299
Number of APs
Initiated....................................... 0
Downloading..................................... 0
Predownloading.................................. 0
Completed predownloading........................ 251
Not Supported................................... 0
Failed to Predownload........................... 0

[saravlak]

Its expected the WLC won't allow reboot when there's active AP-image download session in place.

this cli output is one-way and its not quite clear pre download completed on all APs as the count didn't match, however, i think, there's other way/cli to check each APs primary and backup image to fully confirm per AP basis to obtain an clear idea.

[Scott Fella]

Glad you got it working.  That is why I alway use a console connection as you would not want both to end up in maintenance.  I usually have that command ready on my terminal to for reset.  Well next time it will be less stressful.

[Clem58]

Thanks Scott, yes next time is 8.5.171.0 with 3702 APs twice reboot

Anyway I've now the experience with this 1st upgrade !

BTW I think maybe to avoid the "AP Software being upgraded, please try again later." issue that prevented our primary WLC to reboot, we could issue this command before the reset both "config ap image predownload abort all" ?

Or is there another command to see the predownload status to catch any stuck ones ?

Anyway thanks for your help Leo and Scott.

[Scott Fella]

You can... you can also reload the controller manually also.  Its best to know your options... I always check also if the controller did actually upgrade from the console.  I can then figure out what will happen next.  There was a few times that the secondary or primary didn't upgrade and what I did was shut down the ports on the switch that the controller was connected to.  This way, the one controller comes up with no issues and you can remediate that other.