Infoblox frequently releases updated NIOS software. Contact Infoblox Technical Support to learn which file name to use when downloading a new upgrade file, or watch your email for periodic notifications that a new software upgrade is available. To get the latest upgrade, your local network must be capable of downloading a file from the Internet.
After you download and store the new upgrade file on your local network, complete the following tasks to upgrade an Infoblox independent appliance or a Grid.
- Upload the new software to the Grid Master, as described in Uploading NIOS Software .
- Distribute the software upgrade files, as described in Distributing Software Upgrade Files .
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- Optionally, test the upgrade, as described in Testing Software Upgrades .
- Perform the software upgrade, as described in Performing Software Upgrades1.
Before upgrading, Infoblox recommends that all members in the Grid be connected to the network and operating normally. If one or more members are offline when you upgrade the Grid, they automatically receive the distributed software and upgrade when they join the Grid or come back online.
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Note: You cannot upgrade directly to NIOS 5.x from NIOS releases less than 4.2r4. Refer to the release notes for the appropriate upgrade and revert paths.
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Before you upgrade to a later NIOS release, use the show upgrade_compatible command to check if your Grid is compatible with the release. For information about using this command, refer to the Infoblox CLI Guide.
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Caution: Do not attempt to add or remove a member, or convert an HA pair to single members or vice versa during a distribution or upgrade.
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When you upgrade from NIOS 6.4.0 to a later release, you can start, stop, or restart DNS and DHCP services, or only the DHCP service on a member that has not been upgraded. When you start, stop, or restart other services, such as reporting or file distribution, the operation is put in queue for execution until after the targeted member has been upgraded.
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The appliance uploads the file and displays the status of the upload in the status bar. You can click the Stop icon in the status bar to stop the upload. Ensure that you do not navigate away from the Upgrade tab until after the upload is complete. Otherwise, the upload process stops.
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Note: When you upload the NIOS software upgrade to an HA Grid Master, only the active node receives the software. The passive node does not. Therefore, if the Grid Master fails over before a distribution starts, you must upload the software again. If you do not, the distribution fails because the new active node does not have the uploaded software.
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Distributing the software upgrade files involves unpacking the software files and loading the new software. When you perform a distribution, the NIOS appliance loads the new software code into an alternate disk partition, which overwrites any previously saved version of code that is already there. Therefore starting the distribution disables the appliance from reverting to a release prior to the current version.
The time this process takes depends on the number of appliances to which the software is distributed; the more appliances, the longer it takes. Therefore, you might want to schedule the Grid distribution during times when your network is less busy. You can distribute the software immediately or schedule the distribution of any software upgrade file, even if it is not Upgrade Lite compatible.
Distributing Software Immediately
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- From the Grid tab, select the Upgrade tab, and then click Distribute -> Distribute Now from the Toolbar.
- In the confirmation dialog box, click Yes to start the distribution.
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The distribution starts and if there is an active distribution scheduled, the appliance changes its status to inactive. The appliance distributes the upgrade files and displays the status of the distribution in the status bar. You can pause, resume, or stop the distribution by clicking the corresponding icon in the status bar. For information, see Managing Distributions .
Note that starting a manual distribution cancels a scheduled distribution.
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- From the Grid tab, select the Upgrade tab, and then click Distribute -> Schedule Distribution from the Toolbar.
- In the Schedule Distribution editor, complete the following:
- Activate Distribution Schedule: Select this to enable the distribution schedule. Clear this if you are creating a distribution schedule you plan to activate at a later date. You can configure and save information in this editor even when you deactivate a scheduled distribution.
- Grid Master Distribution Start Information: Enter a Grid Master distribution date, time, and time zone. The distribution date and time must be before those of the upgrade groups.
- Date: Enter a start date of the Grid Master distribution in YYYY-MM-DD (year-month-day) format. You can click the calendar icon to select a date from the calendar widget.
- Time: Enter a start time of the Grid Master distribution in hh:mm:ss AM/PM (hour:minute:second in AM or PM) format. You can also select a time from the drop-down list.
- Time Zone: Select a time zone that applies to the start time you enter. If this time zone is different from the Grid time zone, the appliance converts the time you enter here based on the Grid time zone, after you save this schedule. When you display this schedule again, it displays the converted time. Selecting the time zone here does not affect any time zone settings in the Grid. (For information about selecting the Grid and member time zones, see Managing Time Settings2.)
- Admin Local Time: Displays the Grid Master distribution start date and time in the time zone of the administrator, as explained in Creating Local Admins .
- In the upgrade group table, specify the following for each upgrade group by clicking the corresponding field in each row:
- Start Distribution: Specify when the distribution occurs. Select one of the following from the drop-down list:
- Date/Time: Select this to configure the distribution start date, time, and time zone.
- After <group> : Select After Grid Master to start the distribution immediately after the completion of the Grid Master distribution. Select an upgrade group that must complete its distribution before the group you are configuring. When you select this option, you cannot enter a date, time, and time zone.
Date, Time, and Time Zone are enabled only when you select Date/Time for Start Distribution. - Date: Enter a distribution start date in YYYY-MM-DD (year-month-day) format. You can click the calendar icon to select a date from the calendar widget.
- Time: Enter a distribution start time in hh:mm:ss AM/PM (hour:minute:second in AM or PM) format. You can select a time from the drop-down list.
- Time Zone: By default, the appliance displays the time zone of the first Grid member in the Upgrade Group. You can change this time zone if you want to enter the time using a different time zone. After you save the schedule though, the appliance converts the time you entered to the time zone of the upgrade group, if it is different. (For information about setting the Grid and member time zones, see Managing Time Settings
- Start Distribution: Specify when the distribution occurs. Select one of the following from the drop-down list:
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- .) To change the default time zone of the upgrade group, change the time zone of the first group member, as explained in Adding Upgrade Groups
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- Admin Local Time: Displays the start date and time in the time zone of the administrator, as explained in Creating Local Admins
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- Distribute to Members: Indicates whether the distribution within the group occurs simultaneously or sequentially. You cannot edit this field here. You define this when you create the upgrade group. To change this setting, see Modifying Upgrade Groups .
- Save the configuration and click Restart if it appears at the top of the screen.
Grid Manager confirms that the schedule is saved and indicates whether the distribution schedule is active. You can click the Refresh icon to refresh the information in this panel.
Note that the appliance does not save the schedule and displays an error message if the schedule contains the following:
- Circular dependencies between upgrade groups. For example, the distribution of Group A is scheduled after Group B, and the distribution of Group B Is scheduled after Group A.
- The distribution time is in the past.
Software Distribution Process
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When the distribution successfully completes, the appliance updates the distribution status and sets the schedule, if configured, to inactive. The new software is now staged on all member appliances and is ready for use. Grid Manager displays the software version in the Distribution field in the Grid Version Information section.
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After you start a distribution, you can pause, resume, or stop it. For information, see Pausing and Resuming Distributions and Stopping Distributions . Grid Manager displays the status of the overall distribution as well as the status of individual members. You can view this information in the Upgrade tab.
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- From the Grid Distribution Status bar, click the Pause icon.
- When the appliance displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes to pause the distribution.
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- distribution.
The Grid Distribution Status bar indicates the distribution is paused. For information about the distribution status of each member, see Monitoring Distribution and Upgrade Status .
To skip a member from a distribution:
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Members that have not completed or started distributions that were scheduled at an earlier time resume the distribution.
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Note that if an admin restarts the Grid services or reboots the Grid Master, or if an HA failover occurs on the Grid Master during the upgrade test, the appliance automatically stops the test. The appliance always resets the status of the Grid to "Distributed" when it stops the upgrade test.
If the appliance encounters an error during the test, it stops the test and displays a message in the Upgrade Status panel indicating that the upgrade test failed and the reason for the failure, such as a data translation error or data import error. You can review the syslog for specific error messages before downloading the Support Bundle and contacting Infoblox Technical Support.
After the test successfully finishes, the appliance displays a message confirming that the test upgrade is complete. You can then perform the actual upgrade as described in Performing Software Upgrades .
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Upgrading NIOS Software
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Performing a software upgrade involves rebooting the appliances and then running the new software. Essentially, each appliance switches between the two software partitions on its system, activating the staged software and saving the previously active software and database as backup.
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Note: Before you upgrade the software, Infoblox recommends that you back up the current configuration and database. For information, see Backing Up Files 9.
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Depending on your upgrade paths, you can upgrade to a new release immediately or you can schedule the upgrade. For information about how to upgrade immediately, see Upgrading the Grid Immediately . Before you schedule an upgrade, ensure that you understand the limitations, as described in Managing Upgrade Groups . For information about how to schedule an upgrade, see Scheduling Upgrades .
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Note: The Grid upgrades immediately and if there is an active upgrade schedule, it becomes inactive.
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- From the Grid tab, select the Upgrade tab, and then click Upgrade -> Schedule Upgrade from the Toolbar.
- In the Upgrade Schedule editor, complete the following:
- Activate Upgrade Schedule: Select this to enable the upgrade schedule. Clear it if you are creating an upgrade schedule that you plan to activate at a later date. You can configure and save information in this editor even when you deactivate a dis
tribution.Anchor bookmark1125 bookmark1125 - Grid Master Upgrade Start Information: Enter a Grid Master upgrade date, time, and time zone. The date and time must be before those of the upgrade groups.
- Date: Enter a start date of the Grid Master upgrade in YYYY-MM-DD (year-month-day) format. You can click the calendar icon to select a date from the calendar widget.
- Time: Enter a start time of the Grid Master upgrade in hh:mm:ss AM/PM (hour:minute:second in AM or PM) format. You can select a time from the drop-down list.
- Time Zone: Select a time zone that applies to the start time you enter. If this time zone is different from the Grid time zone, the appliance converts the time you enter here based on the Grid time zone, after you save this schedule. When you display this schedule again, it displays the converted time. Selecting the time zone here does not affect any time zone settings in the Grid. (For information about setting the Grid and member time zones, see Managing Time Settings 12.)
- Admin Local Time: Displays the Grid Master upgrade date and start time in the time zone of the administrator, as explained in Creating Local Admins .
- In the upgrade member table, specify the following by clicking the corresponding field in each row:
- Activate Upgrade Schedule: Select this to enable the upgrade schedule. Clear it if you are creating an upgrade schedule that you plan to activate at a later date. You can configure and save information in this editor even when you deactivate a dis
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- Group: The name of the upgrade group. You can assign a different upgrade group by selecting the group from the drop-down list.
- Group Members: When you expand an upgrade group, this field displays the group members.
- Warning: This field turns yellow when there is a conflict among the upgrade groups. Hover your mouse over the field and the tooltip displays the member that contains the conflict. It also displays recommended upgrade groups in the Group column so you can change the group assignment to resolve the conflict. The tooltip can display one of the following: GMC, DNS Primary, DHCP Logging Member, or DHCP Failover. For information about how to resolve a conflict, see Resolving Upgrade Warnings . Select an upgrade group from the drop-down list in the Group column to assign a different upgrade group. Click Validate and Refresh to validate the new group assignment.
- Start Upgrade: Specify when the upgrade occurs. Select one of the following from the drop-down list:
- Date/Time: Select this to configure the upgrade start date, time, and time zone.
- After <group> : Select After Grid Master to start the distribution immediately after the completion of the Grid Master distribution. Select an upgrade group that must complete its distribution before the group you are configuring. If you select this option, you cannot enter a date, time, and time zone.
Date, Time, and Time Zone are enabled only when you select Date/Time for Start Upgrade.
- Date: Enter an upgrade start date in YYYY-MM-DD (year-month-day) format. You can click the calendar icon to select a date from the calendar widget.
- Time: Enter an upgrade start time in hh:mm:ss AM/PM (hour:minute:second in AM or PM) format. You can select a time from the drop-down list.
- Time Zone: By default, the appliance displays the time zone of the first Grid member in the Upgrade Group. You can change this time zone, if you want to enter the time using a different time zone. After you save the schedule though, the appliance converts the time you entered to the time zone of the upgrade group, if it is different. (For information about setting the Grid and member time zones, see Managing Time Settings 12.) To change the default time zone of an upgrade group, change the first group member in the Upgrade Group list, as explained in Adding Upgrade Groups on page 544.
- Admin Local Time: Displays the data and time in the time zone of the administrator, as explained in
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- Creating Local Admins .
- Upgrade Members: Indicates whether the upgrade within the group occurs simultaneously or sequentially. You cannot edit this field here. You define this when you create the upgrade group. To change this setting, see Modifying Upgrade Groups
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- Save the configuration.
The appliance does not save the schedule and displays an error message if the schedule contains the following:
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The appliance also does not save the schedule and displays a warning when there is a group assignment conflict. For information about how to resolve these conflicts, see Resolving Upgrade Warnings .
Otherwise, the appliance confirms that the schedule is saved and indicates whether the upgrade schedule is active.
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- GMC: To resolve this warning, put all Grid Master candidates in the first upgrade group.
- DNS Primary: To resolve this warning, put all the members that are serving as DNS primaries in the first upgrade group.
- DHCP Logging Member: To resolve this warning, put the DHCP logging member in the first upgrade group.
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- DHCP Failover: To resolve this warning, place the peers of a DHCP failover association in separate upgrade groups. Ensure that you schedule upgrades of the failover peers close to each other to minimize configuration rules. NIOS does not allow DHCP configuration changes that affect the communication between the peers until both peers are upgraded.
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During an upgrade from NIOS 6.4.0 to a later release, you can revert a specific member that has already been upgraded and is within its revert time window. The revert single member feature is useful when you want to troubleshoot issues, such as service outages, on a specific member after it has been upgraded. You can revert a member only when the Grid upgrade is paused, and you cannot revert the Grid Master, reporting appliance, and an offline member. If the member you want to revert is in an upgrade group that has already completed the upgrade, you must move the member to another upgrade group that has not been upgraded.
Once a member is upgraded, the appliance starts counting down and displays the time that is left for you to revert this member. You can revert the member before the revert time window expires. The default time window to revert a member is 24 hours. You can view the time that is left to revert the member in the Member List view, as described in Grid and Member Status . You can also use the CLI commands set default_revert_window to configure the default revert time window for the Grid. For information about this command, refer to the Infoblox CLI Guide. Once a member exits the revert time window, you must revert the entire Grid in order to revert the member.
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Note: You may potentially lose some data when you revert a member. The appliance keeps information about DHCP leases and DNS records intact.
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To revert a specific Grid member during a scheduled Grid upgrade:
- From the Grid tab, select the Upgrade tab.
- Pause the upgrade.
- Click Toggle Member List View, and then select the member check box.
- From the Toolbar, click Revert -> Revert Single Member.
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Grid Manager displays a message indicating that the revert process disrupts Grid services. Read the message carefully, and then click Yes to confirm your decision to revert the member. Be aware that when you revert a member, some changes made since the member was last upgraded may get lost.
Upgrade Process
When an upgrade starts, Grid Manager checks if the nodes of an HA Grid Master have the same NIOS software version on their alternate partitions. If they do not have the same software version, the upgrade process stops. Grid Manager displays an error message and if it is a scheduled upgrade, Grid Manager deactivates the schedule as well. Otherwise, the upgrade process continues.
Note: During the upgrade, you can view the status of the Grid Master in the serial console.
During the upgrade, if a Grid member has not completed its distribution, it automatically resynchronizes with the Grid Master after the Grid Master upgrade is complete.
Due to the nature of the upgrade sequence, HA pairs fail over during the upgrade. Therefore, be aware that the active and passive nodes reverse roles. The order in which Grid members upgrade, including when HA pairs fail over, is shown in Figure 10.1 (for an HA Grid Master) and Figure 10.2 (for a single Grid Master).
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HA Grid Master
The passive node (Node 2) of the Grid Master upgrades.
Grid2 FailoverActivePassive3 1Node 1Node 24FailoverActivePassive5 3Node 1Node 23123The Grid Master fails over from Node 1 to Node 2. At this point, the active Grid Master (Node 2) is using the upgraded code. All other nodes, including the passive node (Node 1) and all Grid members, rejoin the newly updated active node (Node 2). Since the NIOS version on these nodes does not match that of the active Grid Master, the nodes are directed to upgrade.
HA Grid Member
Node 1 (now passive) of the Grid Master upgrades. The passive node (Node 2) of the HA member and the single Grid member upgrade.
54The HA Grid member fail overs from Node 1 to Node 2.
Single Grid Member
Node 1 (now passive) of the HA member upgrades.
Note: Grid members that do not have the correct NIOS version on their alternate partitions due to an incomplete distribution automatically resynchronize the NIOS version with the Grid Master, and then upgrade.
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Single Grid Master
Single Grid Master upgrades. All other members rejoin the newly updated Grid Master. Since the NIOS version on these nodes does not match that of the Grid Master, the nodes are directed to upgrade.
Grid
1FailoverActive3Passive4 2Node 1Node 2212Node 2 (passive) of the HA member and the single member upgrade.
HA Grid Member
3The HA member fails over from Node 1 to Node 2.
4Node 1 (now passive) of the HA member upgrades.
Single Grid Member
The Grid Manager session terminates when the HA Grid Master fails over from Node 1 to Node 2, or when the single Grid Master reboots and goes offline.
During a scheduled upgrade, the Grid members that have not upgraded yet can join the Grid and function normally until their scheduled upgrade time. When the upgrade finishes, the upgrade schedule is set to inactive.
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During an upgrade, Grid Manager displays a system message at the top of the screen indicating the Grid is being upgraded. After you start an upgrade, you can pause or resume it. For information, see Pausing and Resuming Upgrades and Monitoring Distribution and Upgrade Status .
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To pause an upgrade, from the Grid Upgrade Status bar, click the Pause icon. When you pause an upgrade, Grid Manager displays a system message at the top of the screen indicating the upgrade is paused, until you resume the upgrade. For information about the upgrade status of each member, see Monitoring Distribution and Upgrade Status bookmark1133.
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To resume an upgrade:
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Members that have not completed or started upgrades that were scheduled at an earlier time resume the upgrade.
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During a distribution or an upgrade, Grid Manager displays the status of the distribution or upgrade in the status bar. It also displays the process status for each member. You can view the status in either the Member List view or Group List view from the Grid tab -> Upgrade tab.
When you perform a distribution or an upgrade, the status bar displays the overall Grid distribution status with a progress bar that describes the process being performed. The status bar also displays the number of members that have completed the distribution or upgrade.
A difference between a distribution and an upgrade process is that during an upgrade, the Grid Manager session terminates when an HA Grid Master fails over from Node 1 to Node 2, or when a single Grid Master reboots and goes offline. You can log back in to the appliance after the upgrade.
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You can view the distribution or upgrade status of an upgrade group in the group list view. In this view, the distribution or upgrade status rolls up to the group level. You can expand an upgrade group to view the status of individual member. However, you cannot view detailed status of a selected member from this view.
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To view the process status of an upgrade group, from the Grid tab, select the Upgrade tab, and then click Toggle Group List View. Grid Manager displays the following information for each member in an upgrade group:
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When the selected member is an HA pair, Grid Manager displays the status information for both nodes. The panel remains open until you close it or select a different member.