Forum Discussion
ChadT_93719
Nimbostratus
NimbostratusLTM SW downgrade from 11.1.0 to 9.3.1?
We need to downgrade a lab LTM for some testing to 9.3.1. I have not obtained any accurate or useful information from my F5 case yet (Case C1060625).
From TM Shell, can I execute/run the following command to accomplish the downgrade:
install sys software image local-install-9.3.1.37.1.im
When trying to launch the .im executable from CLI (not in TMSH), I get the following message:
[root@toc-lab1-2-6800:Standby] tmp im local-install-9.3.1.37.1.im
Logical volume disk management detected.
Non LVM-aware media detected.
---- ERROR: installation cannot proceed. ----
This system is using logical volumes for disk management,
but the media you are using (/shared/tmp/local-install-9.3.1.37.1.im) does not contain an LVM-aware product.
If you need to install non LVM-aware products, please refer to SOL9745.
This system will first need to be reformatted into a partitioned layout.
Note that the 'image2disk' utility cannot be used to install releases
earlier than 10.0.0 or 9.6.1.
I'll be referencing this solution article, but it doesn't state anything about v11, so thought I'd post to see if anyone has had any experience with this.
Thank you in advance,
Chad
hooleylistCirrostratus
Hi Chad,
The quickest option would be to reinstall 9.3.1 from scratch. There isn't a supported or simple way to backport your 10.x or 11.x config for use in 9.x though.
Aaron
ChadT_93719Thank you Aaron. Is there a doc out there to "bare-metal" install to 9.3.1?
BTW, I got the following error message when trying image2disk for 10.2.0:
[F5 Prompt] images image2disk --format=partitions BIGIP-10.2.0.1707.0.iso
info: Repository tm_install version/release is 2.6.2/40.0
info: System tm_install version/release is 2.7.2/17.0
info: Platform id is D63a
info: Fixing product 10.2.0 media error; moving 'array' attribute from style to media
info: Selected product requires a minimum of 1024 MiB of ram.
info: Product version (10.2.0) is not >= configuration version (11.1.0); configuration is not compatible.
Terminal error: configuration roll-forward desired but not compatible.- ChadT_93719BTW, I don't want to re-use my configuration. I only want to load SW version 9.3.1, without a base config.
Nathan_Houck_65I havent reverted back to 9.3.1 from 11, but I have reverted from 10.2.x to 9.4.7 a bunch of times.
The easiest way to do this is to create a bootable USB drive and boot the bigip from it to do a clean install of 9.3.1. All data will be deleted on HD so be careful. I am not aware of any way to "revert" the configuration from version 11 to 9. Which means you might have to build your config from scratch or hacking the conf files.
Here are some links that might be helpful.
https://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/solutions/public/9000/600/sol9661.html
https://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/products/big-ip_ltm/releasenotes/umdinstall_9_4_3.htmlYou can't run 9.3.x on the 64 bit platforms (1600 and newer) and you can't run 11.1.0 on the 32 bit platforms (1500, 3400) so unless you have a 6400, 6800, or 8400 this is a non-starter.
If you have the right platform, this will probably work. You need a USB CD-ROM that the BIG-IP will boot from, iso images for 10.0.0 and 9.3.1, a serial cable, a console emulator and a scp client. A thumb drive isn't going to work.
1. Backup the important parts of the config. Even if you haven't actually done any configuration yet, you will still need to get the base registration key off the box so that you can license the box once you are done. This file is /config/RegKey.license. Get it off the box using scp:
`scp root@192.168.1.245:/config/RegKey.license ./`
2. Using a USB CD-ROM boot from a 10.0.0 release iso. This is the simplest way around a problem that 10.1.0 boot loaders have with RAID arrays and you need a 10.x to get the option of partitions or volumes in diskinit. Once the system is up, connect to the serial console, log-in, and use the diskinit command to remove the LVM and RAID array (since the older version of diskinit doesn’t support RAID, you can’t use the –noarray option, and it won’t build an array even on platforms that support it):
`diskinit --style partitions`
When this step is done, you will have a very expensive paperweight, as the hard drives of the BIG-IP will be blank.
3. Using a USB CDROM, boot from the 9.3.x iso, select the "Install" option from the on-screen menu, and install 9.3.x in HD1.1. The install will run and when it is finished it will tell you to disconnect the USB device and hit enter to reboot the box.
4. If required, install Hotfix roll-ups. Use scp to put them in /shared and im to install:
From a host with the software: `scp Hotfix-BIGIP-version-HFx.im root@192.168.1.245:/shared`
On the BIG-IP: ` im Hotfix-BIGIP-version-HFx.im `
This will install and prompt you to reboot. Use `full_box_reboot` to reboot.
5. License the box as normal, using the registration key you took off the box in step 1.
6. The downgrade is complete – you now have a brand new box that has only v9 code on it.
To go back, upgrade to 9.4.1, then to 9.4.8, then to 10.0.0, then to 11.1.0. Or wipe the drives again with the 10.0.0 disk and install 11.1.0 from the iso.
- nitass
Employee
[F5 Prompt] images image2disk --format=partitions BIGIP-10.2.0.1707.0.iso have you tried --nosaveconfig option?
image2disk --format=partitions --nosaveconfig BIGIP-10.2.0.1707.0.iso
then you could be able to run im to install 9.3.1 on another slot.
anyway, install from scratch is also fine. 
Craig_12932Can you use a recovery USB to go to version 9 code?
