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mtfeliciano's avatar
mtfeliciano
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Jun 24, 2026

UCS file migration on differing OS versions

We are currently upgrading the F5 load balancers of our customer, from iSeries, to rSeries.

 

old F5 load balancers:

  • model: BIG-IP i5600 (C119)
  • OS: 12.1.x (either 12.1.2 Hotfix HF2 2.0.276 or 12.1.4 Final 0.0.8)
  • GTM / DNS configurations: enabled

 

new F5 load balancers:

  • model: rSeries (2600 and 4800)
  • OS: 17.5.1.6
  • GTM / DNS configurations: no longer needed, as per our customer

 

 

questions:

 

1. Noting the OS versions of the old and new F5 load balancers...

Is this the ideal OS upgrade sequence? (based on F5 K13845)

 

BIG-IP 12.x > BIG-IP 14.x > BIG-IP 15.x or BIG-IP 16.x > BIG-IP 17.x

 

 

2. BIG-IP 14.x is no longer available in F5's Downloads website.

Are there any other methods for obtaining a copy of BIG-IP 14.x?

 

 

3. About UCS file migration, from old to new F5 load balancers:

Would there be any risks, configuration-wise, if we do the following steps?

- we take the UCS file from the old F5 load balancer, which is running on BIG-IP 12.x

- we import and load that UCS file onto the new lab F5 load balancer, which is running on BIG-IP 17.x

 

 

4. Since our customer advised that they will no longer need any GTM / DNS configurations on their new F5 load balancer:

Should we delete the bigip_gtm.conf file from the contents of the UCS file of the old F5 load balancer, before migrating to the new F5 load balancer?

GTM DNS
ucs

4 Replies

  • Daniel_Wolf's avatar
    Daniel_Wolf
    Icon for MVP rankMVP
    Jun 25, 2026

    Hi mtfeliciano​,

    1. The fact that your customer is still on 12.x should tell you, that they didn't care about their BIG-IP for more than 8 years. Ticking bomb...
      Your update sequence is correct.
    2. Try your luck opening a support case. I doubt a customer running on 12.x has an active support contract...
    3. Make sure you have the Masterkey: https://my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K000152853
      and that you prepare the UCS archive for migration from iSeries for rSeries: https://my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K000160543
    4. Remove the GTM config on the iSeries before the migration.

    Good luck

    • Daniel_Wolf's avatar
      Daniel_Wolf
      Icon for MVP rankMVP
      Jun 25, 2026

      And for 3.
      Don't take an UCS on 12 and restore it on 17. Just don't!

  • Paulius's avatar
    Paulius
    Icon for MVP rankMVP
    Jun 26, 2026

    You're better off migrating the configuration a bit manually using the scf file or grabbing the configuration via CLI. I would indeed remove the GTM configuration before migrating to the iSeries.

  • Mohamed_Ahmed_Kansoh's avatar
    Mohamed_Ahmed_Kansoh
    Icon for MVP rankMVP
    Jul 06, 2026

    Hello, 

    Since the new rSeries isn't in production yet, so you can try, so : 

    First: 
    in your Upgrade path, avoid upgrading to v16 it's not supported over F5OS platforms, so use V15 
    so it shoud be ( V12 --> V14 --> V15 --> V17.1.x ) 

    Second: 
    you need to request these series of Old versions from F5 Support, so contac t them if you have a valid Contract. 

    Third: If you couldn't get them you will do some work manually.... 
    - get bigip.conf file from the old devies, and ( bigip_base.conf  if you want to migrate with the same L2 configs like Vlans , Trunks , selfips ) 
    - open the new TMOS tenant that inside the rSeries and then merge configurations from terminal, use this article 

    https://my.f5.com/manage/s/article/K81271448#:~:text=save%20/sys%20config-,Merging%20a%20BIG%2DIP%20configuration%20from%20the%20terminal%20into%20the%20running%20configuration,-To%20load%20the


    - When you encounter errors duo to missing some dependances in some Configuration objecs like Virtual servers, go and add them manully via GUI, Like downloading ( SSL Certificates and Private Keys ) make sure to put them before anything on the new tenant. 


    - then start with mergind ( Nodes, Monitors, irules , Profiles , pools , VIPs .... )

    - Avoid restoring UCS file on V17 directly. 

    - As I see you don't need GTM configs anymore, so don't merge or add anything from bigip_gtm.conf 

    Good luck !