Upgrade from 11.6 to 12.1

OK thank you. And then from V12.1.3 can I upgrade to V13 if needed?

Hello Lucas,

Yes you can.

Check release notes:

https://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/products/big-ip_ltm/releasenotes/product/relnote-bigip-ve-13-1-0.html

For information:

Upgrading from earlier versions

Your upgrade process differs depending on the version of software you are currently running.

Upgrading from version 11.x or later

When you upgrade from version 11.x or later, you use the Software Management screens in the Configuration utility to complete these steps. To open the Software Management screens, in the navigation pane of the Configuration utility, expand System, and click Software Management. For information about using the Software Management screens, see the online help.

Upgrading from versions earlier than 11.x

You cannot roll forward a configuration directly to this version from BIG-IP version 10.x or earlier. You must be running version 11.x (or later) software. For details about upgrading from earlier versions, see the release notes for the associated release.

Upgrading to 4th element versions from versions earlier than 11.5.0

You cannot directly upgrade from pre-11.5.0 versions (e.g., v11.4.x, v11.2.x, etc.) to any 4th element version (e.g., v12.1.3.1, v13.1.0.1, etc.). Direct upgrade to 4th element versions is supported only from v11.5.0 and later. For pre-11.5.0 versions, you must first upgrade to v11.5.0 or later. The recommended upgrade path is from v11.4.1 to v12.1.3, and then to v12.1.3.1. For details about upgrading to those versions, see the release notes for the associated release.

Automatic firmware upgrades

If this version includes new firmware for your specific hardware platform, after you install and activate this version, the system might reboot additional times to perform all necessary firmware upgrades.

Go with the release note before moving v13.x, There are some limitations related to memory, CPU, etc. So, I wouldn't recommend you to directly hit v13.x. All the best!!!

Thanks for the comments. So my understanding is that I will be able to failover after the Standby unit is upgraded from 11.6 to 12.1? And then upgrade the new Standby.

When I update one of my F5s in the Cluster they dont config sync anymore, cause of the different Software versions, but you are still able to manually force the active F5 to standby without problem (i atleast never had a problem doing it). So the already updated F5 is going to be active and you are able to update the second one. After that, they config sync like they did before. Both statuses should be green after doing so.

I felt more secure to manually force the F5 going into standby mode instead of just updating it and letting it failover by itself.