Using image2disk to upgrade 9.4.7 to 10.2

I need to upgrade a pair of 1600s running 9.4.7 in active/stand by mode and have a couple of questions. I chose 10.2 as the latest good release, am happy to use 10.1 if there is good reason to.

To install 10.2 I have the line:

image2disk --instslot=HD1.2 --format=partitions BIGIP-10.2.0.1707.0.iso

1. Am I right in assuming I need to use the 'partitions' option instead of 'volumes' because I need to increase my partition size for 10.2?

2. Are there any other commands I need to run with image2disk? Unfortunately I'm still in the planning stage so have not been through change control to install image2disk and therefore am unable to view the man pages.

3. Would someone be kind enough to paste the man pages here?

Thanks very much.

config

design

19 Replies

hoolio
Cirrostratus
Jul 06, 2010
If you want to keep 9.x and install 10.2, you'd need to reformat the filesystem for the larger partitions. In the process, you'll lose the 9.x slot. So make sure to back up the 9.x config to a UCS and then install 9.x after the 10.2 upgrade is complete. This is a painful set of steps for customers who are upgrading to 10.x for the first time and want to keep the original 9.x installation available for a quick regression.

If you don't want to keep a 9.x slot, it would make sense to move to volumes. In that case, you'd set --format to volumes.

You can extract the image2disk script from the BIG-IP ISO by running 'im '.

You can check the 10.2 release notes for details on installing the upgrade.

Also, I'd be slightly leery of running 10.2.0 without a hotfix on a significant production system. We're still recommending 10.1.0HF1 to enterprise level customers until at least 10.2.0HF1 is released by F5.

image2disk
Usage: /usr/sbin/image2disk [options] REPOSITORY Install a product to a specified image location.

The REPOSITORY may be a product distribution file (an iso image), an HTTP URL, or the absolute path to a local directory. If a URL or directory is specified, it must correspond to the root directory of a mounted CD/DVD, or loopback-mounted image file.

Options: --instslot=LOCATION: Install to specified location (eg: HD1.1) --pkgset=NAME: Install specified package set (eg: LTM.ROS) --format=STYLE: Reformat disks in specified style before installation STYLE may be either volumes or partitions --noarray: when formatting, don't create a disk array even if the system supports it. --force: Proceed with requested action even though it might conflict with Software Volume Management --autocreate: Allow creation of location if it doesn't exist. --hotfix: Image file is a hotfix. --nosaveconfig: Do not save and restore config --nomoveconfig: Save/restore in same location; the installation location --nvlicenseok: Allow installation to proceed even if license is not valid --reboot: Reboot after installation --setdefault: Set switchboot to newly installed image location --verbose: Increase verbose level (cumulative) --tee=FILENAME: Save all output to named file.

Aaron
Hamish
Cirrocumulus
Jul 06, 2010
Hmm... I'd hesitate to ever argue against hoolio... But FWIW I DIDN'T have to reformat my 6400's when I updated from 9.4.8 to 10.1.0... That may be because the 1600 and 6400's have different partition sizes (Sorry, I don't have access to those units any more to take a closer look).

H
hoolio
Cirrostratus
Jul 06, 2010
I haven't seen any issues upgrading several different platforms on partitions from 9.x to 10.1.x while keeping the existing 9.x slot. But we've tested several times on a 6400 from 9.3 and 9.4.8 to 10.2.0 without finding a way to preserve the 9.x slot. I believe F5 Support confirmed in a case a colleague opened that there was no way to preserve the 9.x slot. You'd need to reinstall 9.x on partitions after upgrading to 10.2.0. Assuming we didn't miss anything, I am quite surprised that F5 would foist this kind of process on customers.

Aaron
ringoseagull_77
Nimbostratus
Jul 07, 2010
Thanks very much for your assistance. Fortunately I am not required to retain a 9.4.7 build, so should be able to avoid partitioning.

If I have this understood correctly I'll format the disk with image2disk, attempting to install 10.1 using LVM on slot HD1.1, then apply the hotfix on HD1.2, perform the bootswitch and then failover to repeat on the second F5.

Thanks for the man page too.
hoolio
Cirrostratus
Jul 07, 2010
If you don't need to keep a 9.x slot, then you should use volumes (hotfix and upgrade installations are much easier to perform on volumes than partitions). You can upgrade the single 9.x slot to 10.x using volume formatting. The disk will be reformatted in the upgrade process.

I think you'll need to install a second 10.x slot in order to upgrade or patch the first slot. The second installation can be done via the GUI's software management section. You can then boot to the second slot and install the hotfix on the first slot via the GUI.

Aaron
ringoseagull_77
Nimbostratus
Jul 09, 2010
OK, thanks Aaron, that makes sense for the first upgrade from 9.4.7 to 10.1.

Can I use image2disk to create the second slot?

Looking at my GUI, there is no "Software Management" section within the "System" section. Is this not available for 9.4.7?

If not can I also use image2disk for this?

Thanks
ringoseagull_77
Nimbostratus
Jul 09, 2010
OK, after some more reading I see that the Software management system is in 10.1, so once I've installed 10.1 and rebooted it will be there for the hotfix step.

Am I right in thinking that the upgrade from 9.4 to 10 will not require a switchboot, just a reboot, because there is only one slot configured and the 9.4 amd 10.1 install will be in HD1.1?
ringoseagull_77
Nimbostratus
Jul 09, 2010
My command line plan from 9.4.7 to 10.1.to hotfix 1 should now be:

im BIGIP-10.1.0.3341.0.iso

image2disk --instslot=HD1.1 --format=volumes BIGIP-10.1.0.3341.0.iso

reboot

bigpipe software image /root/BIGIP-10.1.0-3372.0-HF1.iso add

Check ISO integrity:

md5sum Hotfix-BIGIP-10.1.0-3372.0-HF1.iso

cat Hotfix-BIGIP-10.1.0-3372.0-HF1.iso.md5

bigpipe software desired HD1.2 product BIG-IP version 10.1.0 build 33720.0

switchboot –b HD1.2

Does that look OK?
hoolio
Cirrostratus
Jul 09, 2010
That looks about right. Also 10.1.0HF2 was just released. You could install this at the same time.

Also, be aware that the ISO md5 checksum can change during the reformatting of the disk. See SOL11657 for details:

SOL11657: The size and md5 value of a BIG-IP ISO image may change after performing an installation

https://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/solutions/public/11000/600/sol11657.html

Aaron
ringoseagull_77
Nimbostratus
Jul 21, 2010
BTW there's no need to install HF1 and then HF2 is there? I was under the impression HF2 contained everything in HF1, so HF2 would suffice on its own.