Upgrade CWM Solutions

This chapter lists the configuration tasks required to migrate CWM Solutions to the latest version.

CWM Solutions upgrade workflow

This section describes the steps to migrate data from CWM Solutions version 2.0 to version 2.1.

  1. Before you migrate

  2. Back up the CWM Solutions data

  3. Upgrade NSO

  4. Restore the CWM Solutions data backup

  5. Post-migration checks

Before you migrate

  • Confirm that all applications and pods are in a healthy, non-degraded, and fully functional state.

  • Ensure that all NSO providers are reachable and healthy.

  • Verify that every device has an administrative state of UP and an NSO state of synced.

Back up the CWM Solutions data

Before moving to the new version, you must create a secure backup of your current data.


Note

This procedure applies only if you are already using CWM Solutions version 2.0 on Crosswork platform version 7.1.

Procedure

Step 1

Configure destination for backup:

  1. Go to Administration > Backup and Restore.

  2. Click Destination and provide relevant details in the Add Destination drawer window.

    • Host name (FQDN) or IP address

    • Access port

    • Username and password

    • Server path or location

    Click Save to confirm your changes.

Step 2

Create a data backup file:

  1. Go to Administration > Backup and Restore.

  2. Click Actions > Data Backup.

  3. In the Data Backup dialog box, Provide a relevant name in the Job Name field.

  4. Check the Backup NSO checkbox .

  5. Verify that the destination information matches the details entered in the previous step.

  6. Click Verify backup readiness to confirm sufficient resources for the backup. If successful, click OK to acknowledge the warning about the operation's duration.

  7. Click Backup to execute the backup.

    The system creates a backup job set and adds it to the job list. The Job details panel reports the status of each backup step.

    Note

     

    Applications will enter maintenance mode and be inaccessible for approximately five minutes during the backup process.

Step 3

Verify backup completion:

  1. Monitor the backup progress in the Job details panel.

  2. Select the job entry and confirm that the status is Completed successfully and all sub-tasks are finished.

  3. Once the backup is confirmed, shut down the Crosswork platform 7.1 instance.

Upgrade NSO

This section provides a detailed procedure for upgrading Cisco NSO from version 6.4.1.1 to 6.4.8.1. This upgrade is a critical component of the migration from CWM Solutions 2.0 to version 2.1.0.

The upgrade process involves moving the NSO and the associated packages to newer versions to support migration of CWM Solutions. This procedure ensures that the NSO instance, core packages, function packs, and Network Element Drivers (NEDs) are correctly aligned with the new system requirements.

  1. NSO upgrade prerequisites

  2. Install new NSO version and update configuration

  3. Manage CWM Solution packages

  4. NSO startup and validation

  5. Verification and device migration

NSO upgrade prerequisites

  • Ensure that the NSO instance and its packages are fully operational and in a healthy condition on Crosswork Manager before starting.

  • Perform a full backup of NSO. For detailed instructions, see the NSO documentation. Store the backup tar file outside of /var/opt/ncs to prevent data loss.

  • Ensure you have downloaded the required NSO 6.4.8.1 installer and CWM Solutions 2.1.0 packages from the Cisco software portal.

Install new NSO version and update configuration

Follow these steps to stop the current NSO instance and install the new version in system install mode.

Procedure

Step 1

Run the following command to stop the NSO service: 

$ sudo systemctl stop ncs

Step 2

Run the installer with the system install flag to install the new NSO version:

$ sudo sh nso-6.4.8.1.linux.x86_64.installer.bin --system-install

Step 3

Switch to the NSO directory and update the "current" symbolic link to point to the new version:

$ sudo -s
# cd /opt/ncs
# rm -f current
# ln -s ncs-6.4.8.1 current
# exit

Step 4

Update ncs.conf.

  1. Back up the current /etc/ncs/ncs.conf.

  2. Locate the new template at /opt/ncs/ncs-6.4.8.1/etc/ncs/ncs.conf.install.

  3. Modify the template to include custom configurations from your original ncs.conf.

    Important

     

    Ensure you carry over all <encrypted-strings> values to maintain device connectivity.

Step 5

Replace /etc/ncs/ncs.conf with the modified version.

Manage CWM Solution packages

Follow this procedure to uninstall old package links and install the CWM Solution 2.1.0 core and supporting packages.

Procedure

Step 1

Remove old symbolic links by deleting the links for the 6.4.1.1 packages in the runtime directory.

Caution

 

Do not remove existing NED packages at this stage.

$ sudo rm /var/opt/ncs/packages/ncs-6.4.1.1-cisco-ztp-2.0.0.tar.gz
$ sudo rm /var/opt/ncs/packages/ncs-6.4.1.1-dlm-svc-7.1.0-74.tar.gz
$ sudo rm /var/opt/ncs/packages/ncs-6.4.1.1-fleet-upgrade-2.0.0.tar.gz
$ sudo rm /var/opt/ncs/packages/ncs-6.4.1.1-goldenconfig-2.0.0.tar.gz
$ sudo rm /var/opt/ncs/packages/ncs-6.4.1.1-inventory-2.0.0.tar.gz
$ sudo rm /var/opt/ncs/packages/ncs-6.4.1.1-inventory-junos-2.0.0.tar.gz
$ sudo rm /var/opt/ncs/packages/ncs-6.4.1-resource-manager-4.2.9.tar.gz

Step 2

Install CWM Solutions 2.1.0 core packages.

  1. Unpack the CWM Solutions 2.1.0 tarball.

  2. Copy the packages to /opt/ncs/packages/.

  3. Create symbolic links to /var/opt/ncs/packages/.

    For example, to link the Zero Touch Provisioning package:

    $ sudo cp ncs-6.4.8.1-cisco-ztp-2.1.0.tar.gz /opt/ncs/packages
$ sudo ln -s /opt/ncs/packages/ncs-6.4.8.1-cisco-ztp-2.1.0.tar.gz /var/opt/ncs/packages

  4. Repeat these steps for the Fleet Upgrade, Golden Config, Inventory, and Resource Manager packages.

Step 3

Install DLM function pack and NEDs.

  1. Install the DLM CFP package (ncs-6.4.7-dlm-svc-7.2.0-85.tar.gz).

  2. Install the required NEDs (for example, Cisco IOS-XR 7.70, IOS-XE 6.107, and Juniper JunOS 4.18.26).

Step 4

Install the Backup Restore scripts.

Copy these scripts from the CWM Solutions 2.1.0 package to the NSO scripts folder to support Crosswork Infrastructure functions:

$ sudo cp ncs_backup.sh /var/opt/ncs/scripts/
$ sudo cp ncs_migrate.sh /var/opt/ncs/scripts/
$ sudo cp ncs_restore.sh /var/opt/ncs/scripts/

NSO startup and validation

Perform a controlled restart of NSO to force package reloading and ignore initial validation errors during the transition.

Procedure

Step 1

Modify the ncs.service file by adding the --ignore-initial-validation flag to the ExecStart line in /etc/systemd/system/ncs.service: 

ExecStart=/bin/sh -ac '. ${NCSDIR}/ncsrc; exec ${NCSDIR}/bin/ncs --cd ${NCS_RUN_DIR} --heart --ignore-initial-validation -c ${NCS_CONFIG_DIR}/ncs.conf'

Reload systemd: $ sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Step 2

Force a package reload by editing /etc/ncs/ncs.systemd.conf and setting NCS_RELOAD_PACKAGES=force. Then, restart NSO: 

$ sudo systemctl restart ncs

Step 3

Once NSO is running, revert NCS_RELOAD_PACKAGES to false in ncs.systemd.conf and remove the --ignore-initial-validation flag from ncs.service. Reload systemd again.

Verification and device migration

Verify the upgrade and migrate devices to the new NED versions.

Procedure

Step 1

Verify the NSO version.

Run the following command and confirm the output:

$ ncs --version
# Expected Output: 6.4.8.1

Step 2

Check package status.

Log in to the NSO CLI and verify that all packages show UP in the operational status: 

user@ncs> show packages package oper-status up

Step 3

Migrate devices to the new NED versions (NED_ID). Always perform a dry-run first to check for schema changes: 

user@ncs% request devices device <DEVICE_NAME> migrate new-ned-id <NEW_NED_ID> dry-run verbose
user@ncs% request devices device <DEVICE_NAME> migrate new-ned-id <NEW_NED_ID> no-networking

Step 4

Perform a sync-from to pull new capabilities and verify backpointers: 

user@ncs% request devices device <DEVICE_NAME> sync-from
user@ncs% show devices device <DEVICE_NAME> config | display service-meta-data

Step 5

(Optional) After successful migration, remove the old NED packages and their symbolic links from /opt/ncs/packages/ and /var/opt/ncs/packages/.

Restore the CWM Solutions data backup

After deploying Crosswork platform infrastructure version 7.2, follow these steps to restore the CWM Solutions data backup.

Procedure

Step 1

Verify instance readiness:

  1. Go to Administration > Crosswork Manager > Crosswork health.

  2. Confirm all applications and microservices/pods are in healthy status.

  3. Ensure the NSO provider is reachable.

Step 2

Configure destination for restore:

  1. Go to Administration > Backup and Restore.

  2. Click Destination and provide information on the host or server where the Crosswork platform 7.1 backup is stored (use the same details as in Back up the CWM Solutions data.

Step 3

Restore the data backup file:

  1. Go to Administration > Backup and Restore.

  2. Select Actions > Data migration and enter the name of the backup file created in Back up the CWM Solutions data.

  3. Click Start migration. The system creates a migration job set and adds it to the job list. The Job details panel reports the status of each migration step.

Step 4

Verify migration completion:

  1. Monitor the job progress in the Job details panel.

  2. Select the job entry and confirm that the status is Completed successfully and all sub-tasks are finished.

Post-migration checks

Perform these checks to ensure data integrity and functionality in CWM Solutions version 2.1.

Table 1. Post-migration checks

Feature

Navigation path

Verification criteria

Workers

Administration > Workflow Administration > Workers

Confirm that all workers display

  • Admin state as UP

  • Operational Status as running

Adapters

Administration > Workflow Administration > Adapters

Ensure both old and new adapters are present; verify the current version is Set as default, and In Use is set to True.

NSO providers

Administration > Manage Provider Access

Verify that the provider is present and in Reachable status.

CWM Solutions resources

Administration > Workflow Administration > Resources

Confirm that resources are present and accessible.

Network devices

Device Management > Network Devices

Ensure all previously onboarded devices show

  • Admin state as UP

  • NSO state as Synced

MOP list

CWM Solutions > MOPs

Confirm that previously created MOPs are imported and accessible.

Image policy

CWM Solutions > Fleet Upgrade > Software conformance > Image policies

Verify that existing image policies are present.

Conformance reports

CWM Solutions > Fleet Upgrade > Software conformance > Conformance reports

Confirm that previous reports are carried over and can be re-run.

Image repository

CWM Solutions > Fleet Upgrade > Image repository > Local repository

Validate that uploaded image artifacts are intact.

Fleet upgrade

CWM Solutions > Fleet Upgrade

Select images and initiate a "New Software Update" job to test operational soundness.