ABOUT DEVCENTRAL

DevCentral News Technical Forum Technical Articles Technical CrowdSRC Community Guidelines DevCentral EULA Get a Developer Lab License Become a DevCentral MVP

RESOURCES

Product Documentation White Papers Glossary Customer Stories Webinars Free Online Courses F5 Certification LearnF5 Training

SUPPORT

Manage Subscriptions Professional Services Professional Services Create a Service Request Software Downloads Support Portal

PARTNERS

Find a Reseller Partner Technology Alliances Become an F5 Partner Login to Partner Central

---

©2024 F5, Inc. All rights reserved.

The BIG-IP has the ability to partition off different \"slots\" for multiple software installs. This allows for installing a second version of the software on the system without overwriting the existing configuration to allow for an easy rollback in the case you prefer to roll back to your previous version. The System.SoftwareManagement interface contains the methods to manage the software on the system and hidden in there are the methods for getting and setting the current \"boot locations\". This article will illustrate the use of those methods.

 Usage

The following code samples will build a PowerShell command line application allowing control over system boot locations.  This program takes as input the bigip, username, and password as well as a subcommand and optional parameters.  Usage is displayed with the Write-Usage function.

\nparam (\n  $g_bigip = $null,\n  $g_uid = $null,\n  $g_pwd = $null,\n  $g_cmd = $null,\n  $g_arg = $null\n);\n\nSet-PSDebug -strict;\n\nfunction Write-Usage()\n{\n  Write-Host \"Usage: BootImage.ps1 host uid pwd [options]\";\n  Write-Host \"      options\";\n  Write-Host \"      -------\";\n  Write-Host \"      get          - Get the name of the active boot location\";\n  Write-Host \"      set location - Set the active boot location\";\n  Write-Host \"      getinfo      - Get the contents of the active boot location\";\n  exit;\n}

Initialization

As is with all of my iControl PowerShell scripts, validation is made as to whether the iControlSnapin is loaded into the current powershell context.  The Initialize-F5.iControl cmdlet is then called to setup the connection to the BIG-IP for subsequent calls.

The main application logic checks for the passed in command and then passes control to either the Get-BootLocation, Set-BootLocation, or Get-BootImageInfo local functions which I will talk about below.

\nfunction Do-Initialize()\n{\n  if ( (Get-PSSnapin | Where-Object { $_.Name -eq \"iControlSnapIn\"}) -eq $null )\n  {\n    Add-PSSnapIn iControlSnapIn\n  }\n  $success = Initialize-F5.iControl -HostName $g_bigip -Username $g_uid -Password $g_pwd;\n  \n  return $success;\n}\n\nif ( ($g_bigip -eq $null) -or ($g_uid -eq $null) -or ($g_pwd -eq $null) -or ($g_cmd -eq $null) )\n{\n  Write-Usage;\n}\n\nif ( Do-Initialize )\n{\n  switch ($g_cmd.ToLower())\n  {\n    \"getinfo\" {\n      Get-BootImageInfo;\n    }\n    \"get\" {\n      Get-BootLocation;\n    }\n    \"set\" {\n      if ( $g_arg -eq $null )\n      {\n        Write-Usage;\n      }\n      else\n      {\n        Set-BootLocation $g_arg;\n      }\n    }\n    default {\n      Write-Usage;\n    }\n  }\n}\nelse\n{\n  Write-Error \"ERROR: iControl subsystem not initialized\"\n}

Querying the boot location

The Get-BootLocation local function is just a wrapper for the iControl get_boot_location method.  This method takes as input no parameters and returns the current user friendly name for the current boot location.  This value is displayed to the console.

\nfunction Get-BootLocation()\n{\n  $location = (Get-F5.iControl).SystemSoftwareManagement.get_boot_location();\n  Write-Host \"Boot Location: $location\";\n}

Setting the boot location

The Set-BootLocation function passes calls the iControl set_boot_location iControl method with the passed in boot location user friend name.  It then sets the boot location with this value so next time a system reboot occurs, it will load in this location.

\nfunction Set-BootLocation()\n{\n  param($location);\n  (Get-F5.iControl).SystemSoftwareManagement.set_boot_location($location);\n  Get-BootLocation;\n}

Querying all boot image information

There is no iControl method to return just the possible boot locations but we do expose a method that returns all of the boot image information.  Contained in here is the boot locations (or slots) along with a bunch of other fun stuff.  The Get-BootImageInfo function will call this get_boot_image_information() iControl method.  The returned value is the raw configuration file base64 encoded in a byte array.  We take this array and then ASCII encode it with the System.Text.ASCIIEncoding's GetString() method.  This decoded string is then passed to the Parse-BootLocationData function for further processing.

\nfunction Get-BootImageInfo()\n{\n  $rawdata = (Get-F5.iControl).SystemSoftwareManagement.get_boot_image_information($false);\n  Write-Host \"Boot Information\";\n  $ASCII = New-Object -TypeName System.Text.ASCIIEncoding\n  $formatted = $ASCII.GetString($rawdata)\n  \n  Parse-BootLocationData $formatted;\n}

The Parse-BootLocationData function takes the decoded data and then reads it line by line with a System.IO.StringReader object.  The format of the file is a bunch of name=value pairs grouped into sections delimited with a header line starting and ending with a slash.  This function loops line after line looking for a start of a section.  It then passes the StringReader to the Parse-BootLocationSection function to extract the name=value pairs for that section.

\nfunction Parse-BootLocationData()\n{\n  param($data);\n  $sr = New-Object System.IO.StringReader($data);\n  $line = $sr.ReadLine();\n  while($null -ne $line)\n  {\n    if ( $line.StartsWith(\"/\") )\n    {\n      # Beginning of section\n      Parse-BootLocationSection $line $sr;\n    }\n    else\n    {\n      Write-Host $line;\n    }\n    $line = $sr.ReadLine();\n  }\n}

The Parse-BootLocationSection function extracts data from the section header and displays the component to the console.  Sections include Network, Disk, Slot, Hardware, Installation, and License information.  Each subsequent line is extracted until a end of section is reached.  Each of the name=value pairs are split apart and put into a hash that is finally displayed to the console in a nice tabular fashion.

\nfunction Parse-BootLocationSection()\n{\n  param($header, $sr);\n  \n  $headertxt = $header.Replace(\"/\", '').Trim();\n  $tokens = $headertxt.Split( (, ' '));\n  $comp = $tokens[0];\n  $desc = $headertxt.Replace(\"$comp \", \"\");\n  \n  $hash = @{};\n  \n  Write-Host \"===========================================================\"\n  Write-Host \"Component: $comp\"\n  Write-Host \"     Desc: $desc\";\n  Write-Host \"===========================================================\"\n  $line = $sr.ReadLine();\n  while ($null -ne $line)\n  {\n    if ( $line.Trim().Length -eq 0 )\n    {\n      #end of section\n      break;\n    }\n    $tokens = $line.Trim().Split( (, '='));\n    $hash.Add($tokens[0], $tokens[1]);\n    $line = $sr.ReadLine();\n  }\n  $hash.GetEnumerator() | Sort-Object -Property Name | Format-Table -autosize;\n}

 Usage

The following commands will get and set the current boot location from HD1.1 to HD1.2 and back. 

\nPS C:\\> .\\bootimage.ps1 bigip_address username password get\nBoot Location: HD1.1\nPS C:\\> .\\bootimage.ps1 bigip_address username password set HD1.2\nBoot Location: HD1.2\nPS C:\\> .\\bootimage.ps1 bigip_address username password set HD1.1\nBoot Location: HD1.1

 And this example will query the entire boot information, parse the contents and return the results to the console.  There is a lot of information in here with dependencies back and forth but what you'll be looking for is the \"visible_name\" attribute under the Slots.  This will be the value you can pass into the get and set subcommands.  I'm sure more interesting things can be gleaming from this information but I'll leave that for another tech tip.

\nPS C:\\> .\\bootimage.ps1 bigip_address username password getinfo\nBoot Information\n===========================================================\nComponent: Network\n     Desc: audit_network\n===========================================================\nName        Value\n----        -----\naddress     172.27.230.170\ngateway     172.27.230.254\nhostname    theboss.dev.net\ninterface   eth0\nnameservers 172.27.1.1,172.27.2.1\nnetmask     255.255.255.0\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Network\n     Desc: audit_network_persist\n===========================================================\nName        Value\n----        -----\naddress     172.27.230.170\ngateway     172.27.230.254\ninterface   eth0\nnameservers 172.27.1.1,172.27.2.1\nnetmask     255.255.255.0\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Disk\n     Desc: iDisk_0 audit_disks[0]\n===========================================================\nName            Value\n----            -----\nboot_part_index 2\nboot_size_kb    5040\nboot_stat       0\ncapacity_mb     509\ni1_size_kib     504000\nname            hda\nserial_num      095VT194S0454DC08070\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Disk\n     Desc: iDisk_1 audit_disks[1]\n===========================================================\nName            Value\n----            -----\nboot_part_index 2\nboot_size_kb    803250\nboot_stat       0\ncapacity_mb     80418\ni1_size_kib     31760505\ni2_size_kib     31760505\nname            hdc\nserial_num      PFD202S2UT1RBJ\nshare_size_kb   16081065\nshare_stat      0\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Slot\n     Desc: iSlot_hda.1 audit_slots[0]\n===========================================================\nName             Value\n----             -----\nboot_mem         1024M\nboot_quiet       false\ndisk_description SILICONSYSTEMS\ndisk_index       0\ndisk_part        2\nintegrity_status 0\nis_CF            true\nslot_key         hda.1\nvisible_name     CF1.1\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Slot\n     Desc: iSlot_hdc.1 audit_slots[1]\n===========================================================\nName             Value\n----             -----\nboot_mem         1152M\nboot_quiet       true\ndisk_description HDS728080PLAT20\ndisk_index       1\ndisk_part        2\nintegrity_status 0\nis_active        true\nslot_key         hdc.1\nvisible_name     HD1.1\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Slot\n     Desc: iSlot_hdc.2 audit_slots[2]\n===========================================================\nName             Value\n----             -----\nboot_mem         1152M\nboot_quiet       true\ndisk_description HDS728080PLAT20\ndisk_index       1\ndisk_part        3\nintegrity_status 0\nslot_key         hdc.2\nvisible_name     HD1.2\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Hardware\n     Desc: audit_hardware\n===========================================================\nName                 Value\n----                 -----\nboot_slot_key        hdc.1\nbootdisk_id          hda\nnics                 3\nplatform_family      BUFFALO_JUMP\nplatform_id          D63\nram_mb               2010\nserial_console_speed 19200\nsharedisk_id         hdc\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Installation\n     Desc: iInstallation_0 audit_installations[0]\n===========================================================\nName        Value\n----        -----\nbuild       119.0\nproduct     BIG-IP\nslot_key    hda.1\nUTC_delta   -0800\nUTC_hwclock true\nversion     9.2.0\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Configuration\n     Desc: iConfiguration_0 audit_configurations[0]\n===========================================================\nName     Value\n----     -----\nfilename /mnt/tmp/install/slot/hdc.1/var/auto-ucs/config.ucs\nmod_date 2008-12-10\nmod_time 08:37:31.000000000\nmod_tz   -0800\nslot_key hdc.1\nversion  9.4.5\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: License\n     Desc: iLicense_0 audit_licenses[0]\n===========================================================\nName               Value\n----               -----\nLicensed_Date      20070206\nregkey             J9742-63173-86271-91277-3682254\nService_Check_Date 20081120\nslot_key           hdc.1\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Installation\n     Desc: iInstallation_1 audit_installations[1]\n===========================================================\nName        Value\n----        -----\nbuild       1049.10\nproduct     BIG-IP\nslot_key    hdc.1\nUTC_delta   -0800\nUTC_hwclock true\nversion     9.4.5\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Configuration\n     Desc: iConfiguration_1 audit_configurations[1]\n===========================================================\nName     Value\n----     -----\nfilename /mnt/tmp/install/slot/hdc.2/config.ucs\nmod_date 2008-10-09\nmod_time 09:30:29.000000000\nmod_tz   -0700\nslot_key hdc.2\nversion  9.4.2\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: License\n     Desc: iLicense_1 audit_licenses[1]\n===========================================================\nName               Value\n----               -----\nLicensed_Date      20070206\nregkey             J9742-63173-86271-91277-3682254\nService_Check_Date 20080716\nslot_key           hdc.2\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Installation\n     Desc: iInstallation_2 audit_installations[2]\n===========================================================\nName        Value\n----        -----\nbuild       228.13\nproduct     BIG-IP\nslot_key    hdc.2\nUTC_delta   -0800\nUTC_hwclock true\nversion     9.4.2

 Conclusion

The boot location methods in the System.SoftwareManagement interface can give you access to remotely configure which boot slots your system will load into.  You can use the System.Services.reboot_system to switch the system back and forth between running software versions programmatically.

The BIG-IP has the ability to partition off different \"slots\" for multiple software installs. This allows for installing a second version of the software on the system without overwriting the existing configuration to allow for an easy rollback in the case you prefer to roll back to your previous version. The System.SoftwareManagement interface contains the methods to manage the software on the system and hidden in there are the methods for getting and setting the current \"boot locations\". This article will illustrate the use of those methods.

 Usage

The following code samples will build a PowerShell command line application allowing control over system boot locations.  This program takes as input the bigip, username, and password as well as a subcommand and optional parameters.  Usage is displayed with the Write-Usage function.

\nparam (\n  $g_bigip = $null,\n  $g_uid = $null,\n  $g_pwd = $null,\n  $g_cmd = $null,\n  $g_arg = $null\n);\n\nSet-PSDebug -strict;\n\nfunction Write-Usage()\n{\n  Write-Host \"Usage: BootImage.ps1 host uid pwd [options]\";\n  Write-Host \"      options\";\n  Write-Host \"      -------\";\n  Write-Host \"      get          - Get the name of the active boot location\";\n  Write-Host \"      set location - Set the active boot location\";\n  Write-Host \"      getinfo      - Get the contents of the active boot location\";\n  exit;\n}

Initialization

As is with all of my iControl PowerShell scripts, validation is made as to whether the iControlSnapin is loaded into the current powershell context.  The Initialize-F5.iControl cmdlet is then called to setup the connection to the BIG-IP for subsequent calls.

The main application logic checks for the passed in command and then passes control to either the Get-BootLocation, Set-BootLocation, or Get-BootImageInfo local functions which I will talk about below.

\nfunction Do-Initialize()\n{\n  if ( (Get-PSSnapin | Where-Object { $_.Name -eq \"iControlSnapIn\"}) -eq $null )\n  {\n    Add-PSSnapIn iControlSnapIn\n  }\n  $success = Initialize-F5.iControl -HostName $g_bigip -Username $g_uid -Password $g_pwd;\n  \n  return $success;\n}\n\nif ( ($g_bigip -eq $null) -or ($g_uid -eq $null) -or ($g_pwd -eq $null) -or ($g_cmd -eq $null) )\n{\n  Write-Usage;\n}\n\nif ( Do-Initialize )\n{\n  switch ($g_cmd.ToLower())\n  {\n    \"getinfo\" {\n      Get-BootImageInfo;\n    }\n    \"get\" {\n      Get-BootLocation;\n    }\n    \"set\" {\n      if ( $g_arg -eq $null )\n      {\n        Write-Usage;\n      }\n      else\n      {\n        Set-BootLocation $g_arg;\n      }\n    }\n    default {\n      Write-Usage;\n    }\n  }\n}\nelse\n{\n  Write-Error \"ERROR: iControl subsystem not initialized\"\n}

Querying the boot location

The Get-BootLocation local function is just a wrapper for the iControl get_boot_location method.  This method takes as input no parameters and returns the current user friendly name for the current boot location.  This value is displayed to the console.

\nfunction Get-BootLocation()\n{\n  $location = (Get-F5.iControl).SystemSoftwareManagement.get_boot_location();\n  Write-Host \"Boot Location: $location\";\n}

Setting the boot location

The Set-BootLocation function passes calls the iControl set_boot_location iControl method with the passed in boot location user friend name.  It then sets the boot location with this value so next time a system reboot occurs, it will load in this location.

\nfunction Set-BootLocation()\n{\n  param($location);\n  (Get-F5.iControl).SystemSoftwareManagement.set_boot_location($location);\n  Get-BootLocation;\n}

Querying all boot image information

There is no iControl method to return just the possible boot locations but we do expose a method that returns all of the boot image information.  Contained in here is the boot locations (or slots) along with a bunch of other fun stuff.  The Get-BootImageInfo function will call this get_boot_image_information() iControl method.  The returned value is the raw configuration file base64 encoded in a byte array.  We take this array and then ASCII encode it with the System.Text.ASCIIEncoding's GetString() method.  This decoded string is then passed to the Parse-BootLocationData function for further processing.

\nfunction Get-BootImageInfo()\n{\n  $rawdata = (Get-F5.iControl).SystemSoftwareManagement.get_boot_image_information($false);\n  Write-Host \"Boot Information\";\n  $ASCII = New-Object -TypeName System.Text.ASCIIEncoding\n  $formatted = $ASCII.GetString($rawdata)\n  \n  Parse-BootLocationData $formatted;\n}

The Parse-BootLocationData function takes the decoded data and then reads it line by line with a System.IO.StringReader object.  The format of the file is a bunch of name=value pairs grouped into sections delimited with a header line starting and ending with a slash.  This function loops line after line looking for a start of a section.  It then passes the StringReader to the Parse-BootLocationSection function to extract the name=value pairs for that section.

\nfunction Parse-BootLocationData()\n{\n  param($data);\n  $sr = New-Object System.IO.StringReader($data);\n  $line = $sr.ReadLine();\n  while($null -ne $line)\n  {\n    if ( $line.StartsWith(\"/\") )\n    {\n      # Beginning of section\n      Parse-BootLocationSection $line $sr;\n    }\n    else\n    {\n      Write-Host $line;\n    }\n    $line = $sr.ReadLine();\n  }\n}

The Parse-BootLocationSection function extracts data from the section header and displays the component to the console.  Sections include Network, Disk, Slot, Hardware, Installation, and License information.  Each subsequent line is extracted until a end of section is reached.  Each of the name=value pairs are split apart and put into a hash that is finally displayed to the console in a nice tabular fashion.

\nfunction Parse-BootLocationSection()\n{\n  param($header, $sr);\n  \n  $headertxt = $header.Replace(\"/\", '').Trim();\n  $tokens = $headertxt.Split( (, ' '));\n  $comp = $tokens[0];\n  $desc = $headertxt.Replace(\"$comp \", \"\");\n  \n  $hash = @{};\n  \n  Write-Host \"===========================================================\"\n  Write-Host \"Component: $comp\"\n  Write-Host \"     Desc: $desc\";\n  Write-Host \"===========================================================\"\n  $line = $sr.ReadLine();\n  while ($null -ne $line)\n  {\n    if ( $line.Trim().Length -eq 0 )\n    {\n      #end of section\n      break;\n    }\n    $tokens = $line.Trim().Split( (, '='));\n    $hash.Add($tokens[0], $tokens[1]);\n    $line = $sr.ReadLine();\n  }\n  $hash.GetEnumerator() | Sort-Object -Property Name | Format-Table -autosize;\n}

 Usage

The following commands will get and set the current boot location from HD1.1 to HD1.2 and back. 

\nPS C:\\> .\\bootimage.ps1 bigip_address username password get\nBoot Location: HD1.1\nPS C:\\> .\\bootimage.ps1 bigip_address username password set HD1.2\nBoot Location: HD1.2\nPS C:\\> .\\bootimage.ps1 bigip_address username password set HD1.1\nBoot Location: HD1.1

 And this example will query the entire boot information, parse the contents and return the results to the console.  There is a lot of information in here with dependencies back and forth but what you'll be looking for is the \"visible_name\" attribute under the Slots.  This will be the value you can pass into the get and set subcommands.  I'm sure more interesting things can be gleaming from this information but I'll leave that for another tech tip.

\nPS C:\\> .\\bootimage.ps1 bigip_address username password getinfo\nBoot Information\n===========================================================\nComponent: Network\n     Desc: audit_network\n===========================================================\nName        Value\n----        -----\naddress     172.27.230.170\ngateway     172.27.230.254\nhostname    theboss.dev.net\ninterface   eth0\nnameservers 172.27.1.1,172.27.2.1\nnetmask     255.255.255.0\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Network\n     Desc: audit_network_persist\n===========================================================\nName        Value\n----        -----\naddress     172.27.230.170\ngateway     172.27.230.254\ninterface   eth0\nnameservers 172.27.1.1,172.27.2.1\nnetmask     255.255.255.0\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Disk\n     Desc: iDisk_0 audit_disks[0]\n===========================================================\nName            Value\n----            -----\nboot_part_index 2\nboot_size_kb    5040\nboot_stat       0\ncapacity_mb     509\ni1_size_kib     504000\nname            hda\nserial_num      095VT194S0454DC08070\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Disk\n     Desc: iDisk_1 audit_disks[1]\n===========================================================\nName            Value\n----            -----\nboot_part_index 2\nboot_size_kb    803250\nboot_stat       0\ncapacity_mb     80418\ni1_size_kib     31760505\ni2_size_kib     31760505\nname            hdc\nserial_num      PFD202S2UT1RBJ\nshare_size_kb   16081065\nshare_stat      0\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Slot\n     Desc: iSlot_hda.1 audit_slots[0]\n===========================================================\nName             Value\n----             -----\nboot_mem         1024M\nboot_quiet       false\ndisk_description SILICONSYSTEMS\ndisk_index       0\ndisk_part        2\nintegrity_status 0\nis_CF            true\nslot_key         hda.1\nvisible_name     CF1.1\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Slot\n     Desc: iSlot_hdc.1 audit_slots[1]\n===========================================================\nName             Value\n----             -----\nboot_mem         1152M\nboot_quiet       true\ndisk_description HDS728080PLAT20\ndisk_index       1\ndisk_part        2\nintegrity_status 0\nis_active        true\nslot_key         hdc.1\nvisible_name     HD1.1\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Slot\n     Desc: iSlot_hdc.2 audit_slots[2]\n===========================================================\nName             Value\n----             -----\nboot_mem         1152M\nboot_quiet       true\ndisk_description HDS728080PLAT20\ndisk_index       1\ndisk_part        3\nintegrity_status 0\nslot_key         hdc.2\nvisible_name     HD1.2\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Hardware\n     Desc: audit_hardware\n===========================================================\nName                 Value\n----                 -----\nboot_slot_key        hdc.1\nbootdisk_id          hda\nnics                 3\nplatform_family      BUFFALO_JUMP\nplatform_id          D63\nram_mb               2010\nserial_console_speed 19200\nsharedisk_id         hdc\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Installation\n     Desc: iInstallation_0 audit_installations[0]\n===========================================================\nName        Value\n----        -----\nbuild       119.0\nproduct     BIG-IP\nslot_key    hda.1\nUTC_delta   -0800\nUTC_hwclock true\nversion     9.2.0\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Configuration\n     Desc: iConfiguration_0 audit_configurations[0]\n===========================================================\nName     Value\n----     -----\nfilename /mnt/tmp/install/slot/hdc.1/var/auto-ucs/config.ucs\nmod_date 2008-12-10\nmod_time 08:37:31.000000000\nmod_tz   -0800\nslot_key hdc.1\nversion  9.4.5\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: License\n     Desc: iLicense_0 audit_licenses[0]\n===========================================================\nName               Value\n----               -----\nLicensed_Date      20070206\nregkey             J9742-63173-86271-91277-3682254\nService_Check_Date 20081120\nslot_key           hdc.1\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Installation\n     Desc: iInstallation_1 audit_installations[1]\n===========================================================\nName        Value\n----        -----\nbuild       1049.10\nproduct     BIG-IP\nslot_key    hdc.1\nUTC_delta   -0800\nUTC_hwclock true\nversion     9.4.5\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Configuration\n     Desc: iConfiguration_1 audit_configurations[1]\n===========================================================\nName     Value\n----     -----\nfilename /mnt/tmp/install/slot/hdc.2/config.ucs\nmod_date 2008-10-09\nmod_time 09:30:29.000000000\nmod_tz   -0700\nslot_key hdc.2\nversion  9.4.2\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: License\n     Desc: iLicense_1 audit_licenses[1]\n===========================================================\nName               Value\n----               -----\nLicensed_Date      20070206\nregkey             J9742-63173-86271-91277-3682254\nService_Check_Date 20080716\nslot_key           hdc.2\n\n===========================================================\nComponent: Installation\n     Desc: iInstallation_2 audit_installations[2]\n===========================================================\nName        Value\n----        -----\nbuild       228.13\nproduct     BIG-IP\nslot_key    hdc.2\nUTC_delta   -0800\nUTC_hwclock true\nversion     9.4.2

 Conclusion

The boot location methods in the System.SoftwareManagement interface can give you access to remotely configure which boot slots your system will load into.  You can use the System.Services.reboot_system to switch the system back and forth between running software versions programmatically.