smp_86112
May 16, 2011Cirrostratus
Maintaining OS Customizations After Software Upgrade
My LTM/GTM systems are running 10.2.0 on volume partitions, and there are a number of standard customizations we make to our F5 units during our build process. One simple example is that we create a directory named /usr/local/scripts, upload a couple files there, and add references to /etc/crontab. Another example is uploading a customized authorized_keys2 file to /root/.ssh to facilitate some management automation.
I haven't actually had to perform an upgrade yet, so I'm not completely sure how this process is supposed to work. But my understanding is that we install the new software to a non-active volume, and then boot to that new volume.
I'm wondering if any of my customizations will need to be performed after booting to the new volume? And if so, will they need to be performed every time software is installed to another volume, or only the first time? I have been looking for documentation that describes what is and is not retained during an upgrade, but haven't had much luck.
I'm also wondering about hotfixes - are hotfixes installed on the active volume? Or are those also installed to a separate volume?
Can someone flush this out a bit for me?