Upgrading or Downgrading with APIC Releases Prior to 4.x Using the GUI


Note

Ensure that you check and follow these guidelines:

Downloading APIC and Switch Images on APICs

This procedure is to download firmware images of APICs and ACI switches into APIC’s firmware repository from an external file server or from your local machine.

Procedure

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose ADMIN > Firmware, and in the Navigation pane, click Controller Firmware.

In the Work pane, the Cisco APICs display the current firmware that is loaded on each controller. Also displayed is a status about when the firmware was last upgraded or downgraded.

Step 2

In the Navigation pane, click Download Tasks.

Step 3

In the Work pane, choose General > Actions, and click Create Outside Firmware source.

Step 4

In the Create Outside Firmware Source dialog box, perform the following actions:

  1. In the Source Name field, enter a name for the Cisco APIC image file, for example apic_image.

  2. In the Protocol field, click the HTTP radio button.

    Note

     
    If you want to download the software image from an http source or a Secure Copy Protocol (SCP) source, click the appropriate radio button and use the format <SCP server>:/<path>. An example URL is 10.67.82.87:/home/<username>/ACI/aci-apic-dk9.1.0.2j.iso.

  3. In the Url field, enter the URL from where the image must be downloaded. Click Submit.

Wait for the Cisco APIC firmware images to download.

Step 5

In the Navigation pane, click Download Tasks. In the Work pane, click Operational to view the download status of the images.

After the download reaches 100% in the Navigation pane, click Firmware Repository.
In the Work pane, the downloaded version numbers and image sizes are displayed.

Upgrading or Downgrading the Cisco APIC from Releases Prior to Release 4.x


Note

If you are upgrading to the release 4.0 or later, make sure to delete all existing switch firmware and maintenance group prior to performing Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) upgrades.

See Pre-Upgrade/Downgrade Checklists for details.

Use these GUI-based procedures to upgrade or downgrade the software on the Cisco APICs in your fabric.

If you are not able to upgrade or downgrade the software on the Cisco APICs in your fabric using these GUI-based upgrade procedures for some reason (such as if you received a Cisco APIC through a new order or Product Returns & Replacements (RMA), and the version is old and not able to join the fabric to perform an upgrade using the GUI), you can perform a clean installation of the software on the Cisco APICs through the CIMC instead to upgrade or downgrade your Cisco APIC software. See Installing Cisco APIC Software Using Virtual Media for those procedures.

If you are downgrading the software on the Cisco APICs, the process is identical to the process for upgrading the software, except that the target release that you choose will be earlier than the currently installed release. The text for dialogs, fields, buttons, and other controls in the Cisco APIC GUI specify “upgrade” even though you are downgrading the software.

Before you begin

Ensure that you check and follow these guidelines:

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click Controller Firmware. In the Work pane, choose Actions > Upgrade Controller Firmware Policy. In the Upgrade Controller Firmware Policy dialog box, perform the following actions:

  1. In the Target Firmware Version field, from the drop-down list, choose the image version to which you want to upgrade or downgrade.

  2. In the Apply Policy field, click the radio button for Apply now. Click Submit.

The Status dialog box displays the Changes Saved Successfully message, and the upgrade or downgrade process begins. The Cisco APICs are upgraded or downgraded serially so that the controller cluster is available during the upgrade or downgrade.

Step 2

Verify the status of the upgrade or downgrade in the Work pane by clicking Controller Firmware in the Navigation pane.

The controllers upgrade or downgrade in random order. After a controller image is upgraded or downgraded, it drops from the cluster and it reboots with the newer version while the other Cisco APICs in the cluster are still operational. After the controller reboots, it joins the cluster again. Then the cluster converges, and the next controller image starts to upgrade or downgrade. If the cluster does not immediately converge and is not fully fit, the upgrade or downgrade will wait until the cluster converges and is fully fit. During this period, a Waiting for Cluster Convergence message is displayed in the Status column for each Cisco APIC as it upgrades or downgrades.

When the Cisco APIC that the browser is connected to is upgraded or downgraded and it reboots, the browser displays an error message.

Step 3

In the browser URL field, enter the URL for the Cisco APIC that has already been upgraded or downgraded, and sign in to the Cisco APIC as prompted.

Upgrading or Downgrading the Leaf and Spine Switches Through APIC Running Prior to Release 4.x


Note

This is a switch upgrade or downgrade procedure using the APIC GUI that is running on release prior to release 4.x. If your APICs are already upgraded to the version 4.x or later, the GUI procedure is different even if switches are still running versions prior to release 14.x. In such a case, check the corresponding section, such as:

If you are downgrading the software on the Cisco APICs, the process is identical to the process for upgrading the software, except that the target release that you choose will be earlier than the currently installed release. The text for dialogs, fields, buttons, and other controls in the Cisco APIC GUI specify “upgrade” even though you are downgrading the software.

Before you begin

Ensure that you check and follow these guidelines:

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, right-click Fabric Node Firmware and click Firmware Upgrade Wizard.

In the Work pane, the Create Firmware Group dialog box appears.

Step 2

In the Create Firmware Group dialog box, perform the following actions:

  1. Under Nodes, click the Select All tab to choose all the nodes in the fabric in the Selected column. Click Next.

  2. Under Firmware Group, in the Group Name field, enter a group name.

  3. In the Ignore Compatibility Check field, leave the setting in the default off (unchecked) setting, unless you are specifically told to disable the compatibility check feature.

    Note

     

    If you choose to disable the compatibility check feature by entering a check mark in the box next to the Ignore Compatibility Check field, you run the risk of making an unsupported upgrade or downgrade to your system, which could result in your system going to an unavailable state.

  4. In the Target Firmware Version field, from the drop-down list, choose the desired image version to which you want to upgrade or downgrade the switches. Click Next.

  5. Under Maintenance Group, create two maintenance groups for all the switches. For example, create one group with the even-numbered devices and the other group with the odd-numbered devices.

    Note

     

    While a single maintenance group will upgrade all leaf and spine switches at the same time, Cisco recommends that you divide your leaf and spine switches into multiple (two or more) maintenance groups to prevent the entire fabric from going down during a software upgrade or downgrade. Dividing up the leaf and spine switches into two or more maintenance groups, composed of roughly equivalent groups of leaf and spine switches, allows continued operation of the fabric during software upgrades by upgrading half (or less) of the fabric nodes at one time.

  6. Click the Create Maintenance Group tab.

  7. In the Create Maintenance Group dialog box, in the Group Name field, enter a name for the group.

  8. In the Run Mode field, choose the Pause only Upon Upgrade Failure radio button which is the default mode.

  9. Check the Graceful Maintenance check box if you want to isolate the node from the fabric prior to the reboot that occurs during the upgrade or downgrade operation so that traffic is pro-actively diverted to other available switches.

  10. Click Submit.

  11. Click Finish.

In the Work pane, all the switches are displayed with the name of the firmware group and the maintenance group under which they are scheduled for upgrade or downgrade.

Step 3

In the Navigation pane, expand Fabric Node Firmware > Firmware Groups, and click the name of the firmware group that you created.

The Work pane displays details about the firmware policy that was created earlier.

Step 4

In the Navigation pane, expand Fabric Node Firmware > Maintenance Groups, and click the maintenance group that you created.

The Work pane displays details about the maintenance policy.

Step 5

Right-click the maintenance group you created and click Upgrade Now.

Step 6

In the Upgrade Now dialog box, for Do you want to upgrade the maintenance group policy now?, click Yes. Click OK.

Note

 

In the Work pane, the Status displays that all the switches in the group are being upgraded or downgraded simultaneously. The default concurrency in a group is set at 20. Therefore, up to 20 switches at a time will get upgraded or downgraded, and then the next set of 20 switches are upgraded or downgraded. If there are any virtual port channel (vPC) configurations in the fabric, the upgrade or downgrade process will upgrade or downgrade only one switch at a time out of the two switches in a vPC domain regardless of the concurrency setting. In case of any failures, the scheduler pauses and manual intervention is required by the Cisco APIC administrator. Each switch generally takes about 10 minutes for the upgrade or downgrade. The switches will reboot when they upgrade or downgrade, connectivity drops, and the controllers in the cluster will not communicate for some time with the switches in the group. After the switches rejoin the fabric after rebooting, you will see all the switches from the controller node.

Step 7

In the Navigation pane, click Fabric Node Firmware.

In the Work pane, view all the switches listed. In the Current Firmware column view the upgrade image details listed against each switch. Verify that the switches in the fabric are upgraded or downgraded to the new image.

Upgrading or Downgrading the Catalog Through APIC Running Prior to Release 4.x

The catalog is used by the upgrade compatibility check that can be turned on and off through Ignore Compatibility Check. The catalog image is embedded in an APIC image and is upgraded or downgraded when a Cisco APIC image is upgraded or downgraded. However, if for some reason the catalog image was not upgraded or downgraded along with the APIC image, there is an option to manually upgrade or downgraded the catalog. This procedure is rarely used and not available in the APIC GUI with later releases.

If you are downgrading the software on the Cisco APICs, the process is identical to the process for upgrading the software, except that the target release that you choose will be earlier than the currently installed release. The text for dialogs, fields, buttons, and other controls in the Cisco APIC GUI specify “upgrade” even though you are downgrading the software.

Procedure

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose ADMIN > Firmware. In the Navigation pane, click Catalog Firmware.

Step 2

In the Work pane, choose Actions > Change Catalog Firmware Policy.

Step 3

In the Change Catalog Firmware Policy dialog box, perform the following actions:

  1. In the Catalog Version field, choose the desired catalog firmware version.

  2. In the Apply Policy field, click the Apply now radio button to upgrade or downgrade the firmware immediately. Click Submit.

  3. In the Work pane, wait until the image displays that the Target Firmware version field matches the image version in the Current Firmware Version field.

    The Catalog version is now upgraded or downgraded.