Upgrade the software on NCS 1014

Configure and install a new Cisco IOS XR software version on the NCS 1014 platform.

Upgrade the Cisco IOS XR operating system to keep features current and maintain platform reliability.

NCS 1014 includes Cisco IOS XR by default, but software upgrades are available to add features or address issues. Upgrades are performed using an ISO image in XR mode. The NCS 1014 and related platforms use the same packaging image. For example, ISO images are named ncs1010-x64-[sw-rel-ver].iso.

Note

Upgrading from R7.11.1 to either R24.2.1 or R24.3.1 will raise the DISASTER_RECOVERY_UNAVAILABLE_ALARM. Postupgrade, this alarm clears automatically. For more information on the alarm, see Troubleshooting Guide for Cisco NCS 1014.

Before you begin

Configure the management interface on NCS 1014.
Copy the ISO image you want to install to the NCS 1014 hard disk or a network server accessible from NCS 1014.

Procedure

	1.	Install the new ISO image: To install from the hard disk, run install replace /harddisk:/iso-image-name To install from a network server (FTP, HTTP, HTTPS), run install package replace <ftp or http or https protocol>/package_path/ filename1 filename2 ... Note The install package replace command upgrades the ISO image but doesn’t reload the RP automatically. But the install replace command upgrades the ISO image and reloads the RP. Installs the new ISO image from the harddisk or from the network server. The install operation takes 20–40 minutes to complete. Example: RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#install replace /harddisk:/ncs1010-x64-7.11.1.iso Wed Nov 15 09:44:44.491 UTC Once the packaging dependencies have been determined, the install operation may have to reload the system. If you want to control the timing of system reload, you must not continue, but use the 'install package replace' command instead, followed by 'install apply'. Continue? [yes/no]:[yes] Install replace operation 1.1 has started Install operation will continue in the background ...................... ...................... ios con0/RP0/CPU0 is now available Note Boot time FPD upgrade happens before XR boot. All the FPDs belonging to the RP location are upgraded during the boot time FPD upgrade. Note Automatic Field Programmable Device(FPD) upgrade is enabled by default.. When the automatic FPD upgrade is enabled, the install operation also upgrades the FPDs (except the Golden FPDs and Power modules) that need to be upgraded.
	2.	Check install status during the operation using the command show install request. Example: RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#show install request Wed Nov 15 10:00:35.713 UTC User request: install replace /harddisk://1010-x64-release.iso Operation ID: 1.1 State:In progress since 2023-11-15 09:50:23 UTC Current activity: Package add or other package operation Next activity: Apply Time started: 2023-11-15 09:55:24 UTC Timeout in: 84m 43s Locations responded: 0/1 Location Packaging operation stage Notification Phase Clients responded ----------------- ------------------------- ------------------ ----------------- 0/RP0/CPU0 Package operations None in progress N/A When the install operation completes successfully, the device automatically reloads. Note In case of the install package replace command, you’ll be prompted to enter the next command (install apply reload command).
	3.	Commit the installed ISO image. Example: `RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#install commit Wed Nov 15 10:38:00.592 UTC Install commit operation 1 has started Install operation will continue in the background` Note It is the mandatory to commit the install successfully to upgrade the software, missing this step followed by any controller reload/restart/power cycle will result in rollback to previously installed committed software/RPM package version. The DISASTER_RECOVERY_UNAVAILABLE_ALARM clears upon completion of the upgrade from R7.11.1 to R24.2.1 or R24.3.1.
	4.	Verify the committed package information using the command show install committed . Example: RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#show install committed Wed Nov 15 10:41:20.454 UTC Software Hash: ec69dcceb81c0da69b297aa7de1d00f56b8aef52403c5e0ffe6e5db098bd83b8 Package Version -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- xr-aaa 7.11.1.48Iv1.0.0-1 xr-acl 7.11.1.48Iv1.0.0-1 xr-apphosting 7.11.1.48Iv1.0.0-1 xr-appmgr 7.11.1.48Iv1.0.0-1 xr-bcdl 7.11.1.48Iv1.0.0-1 xr-bfd 7.11.1.48Iv1.0.0-1 xr-bgp 7.11.1.48Iv1.0.0-1 xr-bgputil 7.11.1.48Iv1.0.0-1 xr-bng-stubs 7.11.1.48Iv1.0.0-1 xr-bundles 7.11.1.48Iv1.0.0-1

: The NCS 1014 platform runs the updated Cisco IOS XR software. The device reloads as needed, relevant alarms (such as DISASTER_RECOVERY_UNAVAILABLE_ALARM) clear, and required FPDs upgrade automatically.

Software upgrade and downgrade matrix

This table lists the upgrade and downgrade paths supported for Cisco NCS 1014.


Upgrade Path			Downgrade Path
Source Release	Destination Release	Bridge SMU	Source Release	Destination Release	Bridge SMU
R7.11.1 R24.1.1 R24.2.11 R24.3.1 R24.4.1 R25.1.1	R25.2.1	No	R25.2.1	R25.1.1 R24.4.1 R24.3.1 R24.2.11 R24.1.1 R7.11.1	No

Note

Downgrading the software from version 24.4.1 to a lower version with loopback enabled is not supported and will affect traffic if attempted.

Before upgrading to R24.4.1 or a later version, you must manually configure the wavelength or frequency to ensure a non-traffic-impacting software upgrade.

Supported software upgrade and downgrade versions

The Cisco chassis is preinstalled with IOS XR software. You can upgrade the software to access new features and fixes or downgrade if needed. To ensure compatibility and a successful upgrade or downgrade, it is important to choose versions aligned with Cisco-certified paths.

This reference provides answers to common questions:

What upgrade or downgrade releases are supported for the current software version?
Can the chassis be upgraded from Release X to Release Y?
Are there any bridging Software Maintenance Updates (SMUs) required before upgrading?

To determine if the current release supports an upgrade to a target release, run the validation task at the start of your upgrade or downgrade using the install replace command. If validation fails, the upgrade is blocked and the system notifies you of the reason. You may use the force keyword with the command to bypass automatic validation. In this case, the system shows warning messages if the upgrade fails but does not block it.

The feature provides the following reference information to help understand the prerequisites or limitations for software upgrades or downgrades:

Required bridging SMU RPMs
Blocking SMU RPMs
Unsupported hardware
Caveats or restrictions

To view support information, use these show commands:

Command	Description
show install upgrade-matrix running	Displays all supported software upgrades from the current version according to the support data installed on the running system
show install upgrade-matrix iso path-to-ISO	Displays details about the software upgrade from the current version to the version of the target ISO according to the support data in both the running system and the ISO image
show install upgrade-matrix iso path-to-ISO all	Displays all supported software upgrades from any version according to the support data in the target ISO image
show install upgrade-matrix iso path-to-ISO from-running	Displays details about the software upgrade from the current version to the version of ISO according to the support matrices in both the running system and the target ISO image

This example shows all supported releases for upgrade from the current version 24.1.1 on the chassis:

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#show install upgrade-matrix running
Fri Mar 15 12:53:23.715 IST
Matrix: XR version: 24.1.1, File version: 1.0, Version: N/A

The upgrade matrix indicates that the following system upgrades are supported from the current XR version:

From       To         Restrictions
---------- ---------- ------------
24.1.1     7.11.1     -           

Add the from and to versions to the end of the CLI command, for data on versions with additional restrictions

For example, to display restrictions for the 24.1.1->7.11.1 upgrade, use
        'show install upgrade-matrix running 24.1.1 7.11.1'

Installation health checks (pre and post-upgrade)

Pre and post-upgrade installation health checks ensure system readiness and integrity. The existing client-server framework notifies subscribed clients to perform precheck functionality. The system health check infrastructure is plugged into the install precheck and postcheck phases during system upgrades, including other existing install checks.

Upgrade precheck:

If single command upgrade is triggered either with a force option or is configured to skip checks, then health check is bypassed and a syslog entry added.
When single command upgrade is triggered, install infra performs install specific prechecks. If the install prechecks pass, the system health check infra plug-in is invoked to check the overall system health.
The health check infrastructure returns the health status during the installation.
Single command upgrade continues on if the prechecks completes with no errors.
If any errors are detected, then single command upgrade continues or terminates depending on the option that is selected for abort-on-precheck-failure.
Single command upgrade postchecks before autocommit triggers based on the user selected level information.

Upgrade post check:

Post checks are bypassed if force or config option is selected for single command upgrade.
If install specific postchecks are completed sucessfully, then the system health check infra plug-in is invoked. If no errors are reported then the autocommit triggers.
If any errors are detected, the abort-on option that is saved before the upgrade reload is used to either abort the single command upgrade or continue. This depends on the severity of the errors that are detected during post check.
Summary of the pre and posthealth check is appended to the single command upgrade operation log.

Installation Profile Creation

Installation Profile is created to choose and alternate installation behavior. One default profile is created involving pre and postchecks. You can edit the install behavior to choose cases like terminate installation if precheck fails or revert after post installation check. You can also choose to continue installation despite failure in pre checks.

You can configure “enable or disable” options to run pre or post installation checks or “abort-on-failure” for pre checks, or "warn-on-failure" and “restore-to-v1” on post checks. To configure the Install profile, use the following commands:

config

install profile profile_name pre-checkmetric-name [enable | disable] [abort-on-failure | continue-on-failure | revert-on-failure]

end

This is a sample to display metric settings in the install profile.

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#show install profile default 
Fri Mar 15 11:29:35.381 IST
Profile Name : default
State : Enabled

Prechecks : Enabled
        communication-timeout   : Enabled       [ warn-on-failure ]
        config-inconsistency    : Enabled       [ error-on-failure ]
        process-resource        : Enabled       [ warn-on-failure ]
        process-status          : Enabled       [ warn-on-failure ]
        system-clock            : Enabled       [ warn-on-failure ]
        hw-monitoring           : Enabled       [ warn-on-failure ]
        lc-monitoring           : Enabled       [ warn-on-failure ]
        pci-monitoring          : Enabled       [ warn-on-failure ]
        wd-monitoring           : Enabled       [ warn-on-failure ]
        disk-space              : Enabled       [ error-on-failure ]
        upgrade_matrix          : Enabled       [ error-on-failure ]
        core-cleanup            : Disabled      [ NA ]
        file-cleanup            : Disabled      [ NA ]

Postchecks : Enabled
        communication-timeout   : Enabled       [ error-on-failure ]
        config-inconsistency    : Enabled       [ error-on-failure ]
        process-resource        : Enabled       [ error-on-failure ]
        process-status          : Enabled       [ error-on-failure ]
        system-clock            : Enabled       [ error-on-failure ]
        hw-monitoring           : Enabled       [ error-on-failure ]
        lc-monitoring           : Enabled       [ error-on-failure ]
        pci-monitoring          : Enabled       [ error-on-failure ]
        wd-monitoring           : Enabled       [ error-on-failure ]

Use this configuration to report health check:

config

grpc local-connection

Netconf-yang agent

commit

The following is a sample to display health check states:

RP/0/RP0/CPU0:ios#show healthcheck internal states
Fri Mar 15 12:55:54.739 IST

 Internal Structure INFO 

 Current state: Disabled 

 Reason: Success 

 Netconf Config State: Enabled 

 Grpc Config State: Disabled 

 Nosi state: Not ready 

 Appmgr conn state: Invalid 

 Nosi lib state: Not ready 

 Nosi client: Valid client

Before you begin

Procedure

Example:

Example:

Example:

Example:

Software upgrade and downgrade matrix

Supported software upgrade and downgrade versions

Installation health checks (pre and post-upgrade)

Installation Profile Creation