Table Of Contents
Understanding In-Service Software Upgrades
Information About ISSU
Virtualization Support
Licensing Requirements
Guidelines and Limitations
How ISSU Works
Configuring ISSU
Additional References
Related Documents
Standards
MIBs
RFCs
Technical Assistance
Understanding In-Service Software Upgrades
This chapter describes in-service software upgrades (ISSU).
This chapter includes the following sections:
•
Information About ISSU
•Licensing Requirements
•Guidelines and Limitations
•How ISSU Works
•Configuring ISSU
•Additional References
Information About ISSU
In a Nexus 7000 series chassis with dual supervisors, you can use the in-service software upgrade (ISSU) feature to upgrade the system software while the system continues to forward traffic. ISSU uses the existing features of nonstop forwarding (NSF) with stateful switchover (SSO) to perform the software upgrade with no system downtime.
An ISSU is initiated through the command-line interface (CLI) by an administrator. When initiated, an ISSU updates (as needed) the following components on the system:
•Supervisor BIOS, kickstart image, system image
•Module BIOS and image
•Connectivity Management Processor (CMP) BIOS and image
In a redundant system with two supervisors, one of the supervisors is active while the other operates in standby mode. During ISSU, new software is loaded onto the standby supervisor while the active supervisor continues to operate using the old software. As part of the upgrade, a switchover occurs between the active and standby supervisors, and the standby supervisor becomes active and begins running the new software. After the switchover, the new software is loaded onto the the (formerly active) standby supervisor.
Virtualization Support
An ISSU-based upgrade is a system-wide upgrade that applies the same image and versions across the entire system, including all configured virtual device contexts (VDCs). VDCs are primarily a control-plane and user-interface virtualization and cannot run independent image versions per virtualized resource.
Note See the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Virtual Device Context Configuration Guide, Release 4.0 for complete information on VDCs.
Licensing Requirements
The following table shows the licensing requirements for system-level high availability features:
Product
|
License Requirement
|
NX-OS
|
The ISSU feature requires no license. Any feature not included in a license package is bundled with the Cisco NX-OS system images and is provided at no extra charge to you.
|
VDC
|
VDC requires an Advanced Services license.
|
For a complete explanation of the NX-OS licensing scheme and how to obtain and apply licenses, see the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Licensing Guide, Release 4.0.
|
Guidelines and Limitations
ISSU has the following limitations and restrictions:
•Do not change any configuration settings or network connections during the upgrade. Any changes in the network settings may cause a disruptive upgrade.
•In some cases, the software upgrades may be disruptive. These exception scenarios can occur under the following conditions:
–A single supervisor system with kickstart or system image changes.
–A dual supervisor system with incompatible system software images.
How ISSU Works
On a Nexus 7000 series with two supervisors, the ISSU process follows these steps:
1. Begins when the administrator enters the install all command
2. Verifies the location and integrity of the new software image files
3. Verifies the operational status and the current software versions of both supervisors and all switching modules to ensure that the system is capable of an ISSU
4. Loads the new software image to the standby supervisor and brings it up to the HA ready state
5. Forces a supervisor switchover
6. Loads the new software image to the (formerly active) standby supervisor and brings it up to the HA ready state
7. Performs a nondisruptive upgrade of each switching module, one at a time
8. Upgrades the Connectivity Management Processor (CMP)
During the upgrade process, the system presents detailed status information on the console, requesting administrator confirmation at key steps.
Configuring ISSU
See the "Software Images" chapter of the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Fundamentals Configuration Guide, Release 4.0 for ISSU configuration details.
Additional References
For additional information related to implementing ISSU, see the following sections:
•Related Documents
•Standards
•MIBs
•RFCs
•Technical Assistance
Related Documents
Related Topic
|
Document Title
|
ISSU configuration
|
"Software Images" chapter of the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Fundamentals Configuration Guide, Release 4.0
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Virtual device context (VDC)
|
Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Virtual Device Context Configuration Guide, Release 4.0
|
Licensing
|
Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Licensing Guide, Release 4.0
|
Standards
Standards
|
Title
|
No new or modified standards are supported by this feature, and support for existing standards has not been modified by this feature.
|
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MIBs
MIBs
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MIBs Link
|
•CISCO-SYSTEM-EXT-MIB: ciscoHaGroup, cseSwCoresTable, cseHaRestartNotify, cseShutDownNotify, cseFailSwCoreNotify, cseFailSwCoreNotifyExtended
•CISCO-PROCESS-MIB
•CISCO-RF-MIB
|
To locate and download MIBs, go to the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/netmgmt/cmtk/mibs.shtml
|
RFCs
RFCs
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Title
|
No RFCs are supported by this feature
|
—
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Technical Assistance
Description
|
Link
|
Technical Assistance Center (TAC) home page, containing 30,000 pages of searchable technical content, including links to products, technologies, solutions, technical tips, and tools. Registered Cisco.com users can log in from this page to access even more content.
|
http://www.cisco.com/public/support/tac/home.shtml
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