Forum Discussion
clhamon
Nimbostratus
Nimbostratus5050 to r5600 Hardware Refresh - Code Gap
Hi. I'm in a unique situation where I have some old equipment that I need to replace, and it has to be a complete replacement because of the way that it was initially setup (complicated irules and just bad design). The reason for needing an refresh is that the CPU on the old equipment is getting maxed out when we reach high levels of traffic.
From what I see, the 5050 is compatible with 15.0.0 - 15.1.2 code, and the r5600 is compatible with 15.1.5 - 15.1.7 code. Does code gap that mean that we couldn't do a replacement with a UCS backup or anything like that? From what I've read, I'm not very confident that we can do that.
Hello,
Based on the below article from F5, it is mentioned that "F5 recommends that you run the same version of the BIG-IP software on the target BIG-IP system that you used on the system you backed up. However, you can restore a UCS archive from a system with earlier software on a system running later software"
There is a section in the article for "Restore UCS archives on BIG-IP systems running later software versions" which is exactly your case, you check this section step by step to avoid running into any issues.
Reference: https://support.f5.com/csp/article/K13132#later
Also, please keep in mind this "The UCS archive is intended to back up and restore the configuration of a specific platform. When you install a UCS archive on a dissimilar platform, you must use either the no-platform-check or platform-migrate options."
Read the above article very well, and good luck with the migraiton.
BR,
Mohamed Salah
clhamonThanks for all of the replies. I can see why they developed Journeys. That might save us a lot of grief.
I'll pass that info on, and I'll see where it gets us. The arrival of the F5s got pushed back to mid December, so if might be a rush to get them in. They would have to be installed before January or we'll have to wait a few months.
- Nikoolayy1
MVP
For replacement with the new rSeries or Velos there is a special tool called journeys and F5 and I recommend using this option. For me this is better than the UCS option as it should even cover the code difference or the fact that on rSeries the config is done on a virtual tenant (like the f5 vcm quest) and not directly on the hardware.
https://www.f5.com/es_es/company/blog/migrating-your-big-ip-fleet-amid-supply-chain-challenges
https://github.com/f5devcentral/f5-journeys
- Nikoolayy1
If you managed to get the needed answers, please flag the question as answered.
