F5 i-series Guests to r-series tenants migration

Question

Hi All,&nbsp;I have two i-series 11900 with 4 guests on each as: 1 LTM, 1 GTM, 1 WAF, and 1 APM.There is HA between the guests.&nbsp;I am working on a migration plan to r-series 10900 and have two options:&nbsp;Option 1:HA method: Here, I will replace the i-series device that has the standby guests with the r-series device.Then will establish the HA between the active i-series and the r-series and sync the configuration.&nbsp;Then will make the r-series active as active.Then will replace the newly bocming standby i-series device with the second r-series and establish the HA with the first r-series.&nbsp;this is a lengthy way but has a positive side of fast rollback in case I faced any issue, and there will be no changes on the management IPs.&nbsp;Option 2:UCS method: in this method I will create a replica of the existing guests on the r-series tenants using the UCS files from the iseries guests. This setup will be isolated from the production network.&nbsp;During the maintenance window, I will disconnect the cables from i-sereis and connect it to the r-series boxes.&nbsp;This way I need to use different management IPs while building the replica setup. and during the migration will change the management IPs and use the onse were on the i-series.&nbsp;&nbsp;Note that, existing devices are connected to cisco ACI.&nbsp;&nbsp;Let me here your thoughts and suggestions.&nbsp;&nbsp;

injeyan_kostas · Answer

Hi Khaled_HA​&nbsp;I am always in favor of Option 1 . Have performed quite a few migrations such way and never had issues.If you go with option 2 though, dont forger to perform a failover when switched to rseries in order to send GARP or manually clear your arp tables.

injeyan_kostas · Answer

There are two approaches on option 1 too.A) you configure an rseries node with same ips as iseries standby, mgmt can be different, and during a mw you switch off standby iseries and connect it's cables to rseries. Add it to the cluster, sync and failover. You can have cables pre installed and switch ports off on switch.B) you configure rseries with new slef IPs, add it to the cluster, sync and keep it offline. During mw re enable and do a failover. In this case you need to add new ips to your fw rules. But this is even more flexible option and of course you can have everything pre installedI am going with option b whenever new self ips is not a problem

khaled_ha · Answer

Thanks Injeyan_Kostas​ for your reply,&nbsp;how did you manage the connectivity? did you have r-series already connected before the migration, or on site technician was diconnecting cables from i-series to r-series?&nbsp;

shyy · Answer

Definitely option 1 is your best method.Did something similar but as said here if you can put new self IP's that will be a lot easier.If you are in a production enviorment and configuring the same self ip's just remember to shut the ports towards the new machine before actually connecting it to the enviorment so it wont cause any issues until you are ready to add the new one.

torijori_yamamada · Answer

HelloI've used these two methods couple of times. Sometimes one of the methods has no alternatives due to some limitations but i can confirm both methods work well. The second method needs more practice because of r-series appliances have different network infrastructures than i-series. For this particular reason you need to spend more time to prepare ucs before restore on the r-series.&nbsp;

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