Infoblox frequently releases updated 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 a Master Grid.

Upload the new software to the Multi-Grid Master, as described in 19268561.
Distribute the software upgrade files, as described in 19268561
Optionally, test the upgrade, as described in 19268561
Perform the software upgrade, as described in 19268561.

Before upgrading, Infoblox recommends that all Master Grid members in the Master Grid be connected to the network and operating normally. If one or more members are offline when you upgrade the Master Grid, they automatically receive the distributed software and upgrade when they join the Master Grid or come back online.
Before you upgrade to a later release, use the show upgrade_compatible command to check if your Master Grid is compatible with the release. For information about using this command, refer to the Infoblox CLI Guide.

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.

Lite Upgrades

Whenever possible, the appliance uses the lite upgrade mode to speed up the upgrade process. A lite upgrade occurs when there are incremental changes to the software that do not require any change to the database. The appliance can perform a lite upgrade only if the format of the database between the existing version and the upgrade version is the same.
In general, when you upgrade from a patch release to another patch release, you are performing a lite upgrade. You can schedule a lite upgrade, but you cannot test a lite upgrade. The appliance disables the testing function for lite upgrades.

Uploading Software

After you download the software upgrade to your management station, upload it to the Multi-Grid Master, as follows:

From the Master Grid tab, select the Upgrade tab, and then click Upload in the panel or from the Toolbar.
Navigate to the directory where you have stored the software upgrade, and then click Open or Upload.

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.

Note: When you upload the software upgrade to an HA Multi-Grid Master, only the active node receives the software. The passive node does not. Therefore, if the Multi-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.

Distributing Software Upgrade Files

Distributing the software upgrade files involves unpacking the software files and loading the new software. When you perform a distribution, the 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 Master 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

The Multi-Grid Master distributes the software upgrade to each member in the Master Grid, including itself. As an alternative to scheduling the Master Grid distribution (see 19268561), you can distribute the software upgrade throughout the Master Grid immediately, as follows:

From the Master 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.

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 19268561
Note that starting a manual distribution cancels a scheduled distribution.

Scheduling Distributions

When you schedule a distribution, you schedule the distribution of the Multi-Grid Master as well as the upgrade groups, including the Default group. The Multi-Grid Master distribution must always occur before the distribution of the upgrade groups.
To schedule a software distribution:

From the Master 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 it 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 Multi-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 Multi-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 Multi-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 Master Grid time zone, the appliance converts the time you enter here based on the Master 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 Master Grid. (For information about selecting the Master Grid and member time zones, see /wiki/spaces/mgmadminguide/pages/911183465.)
- Admin Local Time: Displays the Multi-Grid Master distribution start date and time in the time zone of the administrator, as explained in /wiki/spaces/mgmadminguide/pages/911181006.
- 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 Multi-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 Master 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 Master Grid and member time zones, see /wiki/spaces/mgmadminguide/pages/911183465.) To change the default time zone of the upgrade group, change the time zone of the first group member, as explained in /wiki/spaces/mgmadminguide/pages/911185268.
  - Admin Local Time: Displays the start date and time in the time zone of the administrator, as explained in /wiki/spaces/mgmadminguide/pages/911181006.
  - 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 /wiki/spaces/mgmadminguide/pages/911185281.
Save the configuration.

Multi-Grid Manager confirms that the schedule is saved and indicates whether the distribution schedule is active.
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

The following series of events occur after a Master Grid distribution starts:

The appliance checks if a software upgrade was uploaded.
- If the upgrade files are not uploaded, the distribution stops. The appliance displays an error message and if the distribution is scheduled, the appliance deactivates the distribution schedule.
- If the upgrade files are uploaded, the distribution proceeds.
A single Multi-Grid Master uploads the file to a backup partition and unpacks the contents, which overwrites any existing backup software that might have been there. For an HA Multi-Grid Master, it is the active node that uploads the file to a backup partition and unpacks the contents.
- The Multi-Grid Master (or active node of the HA Multi-Grid Master) sends a command to all nodes that are online to copy their database and software to a backup software partition.
- For an HA Multi-Grid Master, the active node sends the command to the passive node as well.
- The nodes perform resynchronization on their backup partition, retrieving only the changed files from the Multi-Grid Master.
- After the active node of an HA member receives the software, it then distributes it to the passive node.

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. Multi-Grid Manager displays the software version in the Distribution field in the Grid Version Information section.

Managing Distributions

After you start a distribution, you can pause, resume, or stop it. For information, see 19268561 19268561 and 19268561. Multi-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.

Pausing and Resuming Distributions

The following are some operational guidelines for performing a distribution:

You cannot create new upgrade groups, add members to a group, or remove members from a group after a distribution starts.
You can skip a member that is currently offline from a distribution. When both nodes of an HA pair are online, the skip member function is not available.

To pause a distribution:

From the Grid Distribution Status bar, click the Pause icon.
When the appliance displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes to pause the distribution.

The Grid Distribution Status bar indicates the distribution is paused. For information about the distribution status of each member, see 19268561.
To skip a member from a distribution:

From the Master Grid tab, click the Upgrade tab, and then click Toggle Member List View.
Select a member checkbox, and then click Skip Member from the Toolbar. Multi-Grid Manager automatically skips the distribution of software to the members that are offline.

To resume a distribution:

From the Grid Distribution Status bar, click the Resume icon.
When the appliance displays a dialog box confirming that you want to resume the distribution, click Yes to continue.

Members that have not completed or started distributions that were scheduled at an earlier time resume the distribution.

Stopping Distributions

You can stop a distribution immediately, for example, if there are offline members and you do not want to wait for them to come back online, or if you realize that you have uploaded the wrong software version. When you stop a distribution, you can do the following:

If the Multi-Grid Master has completed its distribution, you can upgrade the Master Grid immediately. This forces members that do not have a complete distribution to synchronize their releases with the Multi-Grid Master.
If the Multi-Grid Master does not have a valid distribution, you can restart the distribution.
Upload another software upgrade.

Ending a distribution does not affect the upgrade schedule, if configured. The Master Grid upgrade starts as scheduled, as long as the Multi-Grid Master completes its distribution.
To stop a distribution:

From the Grid Distribution Status bar, click the Stop icon.
When the appliance displays a dialog box confirming that you want to stop the distribution, click Yes to continue.

Testing Software Upgrade s

After you successfully distribute a software upgrade to the Multi-Grid Master, you can test an upgrade on the
Multi-Grid Master before actually implementing it. This allows you to resolve potential data migration issues before the actual upgrade. The length of time the upgrade test takes depends on the amount of data and the difference between the current version and the software upgrade. The test does not affect services and you can perform other administrative tasks during the upgrade test.
To start an upgrade test:

From the Master Grid tab, select the Upgrade tab, and then click Test Upgrade from the Toolbar. Test upgrade is enabled only for a major upgrade (not an Upgrade Lite compatible upgrade).

After you start an upgrade test, you can view its status in the status bar. You can also stop it at anytime. To stop an upgrade test:

From the Grid Upgrade Test Status bar, click the Stop icon.

Note that if an admin restarts or reboots the Multi-Grid Master, or if an HA failover occurs on the Multi-Grid Master during the upgrade test, the appliance automatically stops the test. The appliance always resets the status of the Master 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 19268561.

Performing Software Upgrades

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.

Note: Before you upgrade the software, Infoblox recommends that you back up the current configuration and database. For information, see /wiki/spaces/mgmadminguide/pages/911185537

When upgrading to software releases that are Upgrade Lite compatible, you can schedule the Master Grid upgrade as described in 19268561.

Upgrading Immediately

You cannot schedule upgrades to releases that are not Upgrade Lite compatible. The Master Grid members must upgrade at the same time when upgrading to these releases. For Upgrade Lite compatible releases, you can schedule the upgrade as described in 19268561, or upgrade the Master Grid at the same time.
To upgrade a Master Grid immediately:

From the Master Grid tab, select the Upgrade tab, and then click Upgrade -> Upgrade Now from the Toolbar. The Master Grid upgrades immediately and if there is an active upgrade schedule, it becomes inactive.

Scheduling Upgrades

When you schedule the upgrade of a Master Grid to an Upgrade Lite compatible release, you schedule the upgrade for the Multi-Grid Master and the upgrade groups, including the Default group. The Multi-Grid Master must always upgrade before the upgrade groups. To schedule an upgrade:

From the Master 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 distribution.
- Grid Master Upgrade Start Information: Enter a Multi-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 Multi-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 Multi-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 Master Grid time zone, the appliance converts the time you enter here based on the Master 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 Master Grid. (For information about setting the Master Grid and member time zones, see /wiki/spaces/mgmadminguide/pages/911183465.)
  - Admin Local Time: Displays the Multi-Grid Master upgrade date and start time in the time zone of the administrator, as explained in /wiki/spaces/mgmadminguide/pages/911181006.
- In the upgrade group table, specify the following for each upgrade group by clicking the corresponding field in each row:
  - 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 Multi-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 Master 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 Master Grid and member time zones, see /wiki/spaces/mgmadminguide/pages/911183465.) To change the default time zone of an upgrade group, change the first group member in the Upgrade Group list, as explained in /wiki/spaces/mgmadminguide/pages/911185268 /wiki/spaces/mgmadminguide/pages/911185268
  - Admin Local Time: Displays the data and time in the time zone of the administrator, as explained in /wiki/spaces/mgmadminguide/pages/911181006.
  - Distribute to 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 /wiki/spaces/mgmadminguide/pages/911185281.
Save the configuration.

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 upgrade of Group A is scheduled after Group B, and the upgrade of Group B is scheduled after Group A.
The upgrade time is in the past.

Otherwise, the appliance confirms that the schedule is saved and indicates whether the upgrade schedule is active.

Upgrading Groups Immediately

After you schedule an upgrade with multiple upgrade groups, you can choose to immediately upgrade an upgrade group that has not been upgraded yet. This function is available only for scheduled upgrades.
To upgrade an upgrade group now:

From the Master Grid tab, select the Upgrade tab, and then click Toggle Group List View.
In the Group List view, click the Upgrade Group Now icon in the upgrade group row. Multi-Grid Manager immediately upgrades the selected group.

Upgrade Process

When an upgrade starts, Multi-Grid Manager checks if the nodes of an HA Multi-Grid Master have the same software version on their alternate partitions. If they do not have the same software version, the upgrade process stops.
Multi-Grid Manager displays an error message and if it is a scheduled upgrade, Multi-Grid Manager deactivates the schedule as well. Otherwise, the upgrade process continues. During the upgrade, if a Master Grid member has not completed its distribution, it automatically resynchronizes with the Multi-Grid Master after the Multi-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 Master Grid members upgrade, including when HA pairs fail over, is shown in 19268561 (for an HA Multi-Grid Master) and 19268561 (for a single Multi-Grid Master).

Figure 9.1 Upgrade Sequence for an HA Multi-Grid-Master and Members

Note: Master Grid members that do not have the correct version on their alternate partitions due to an incomplete distribution automatically resynchronize the version with the Multi-Grid Master, and then upgrade.

Figure 9.2 Upgrade Sequence for a Single Multi-Grid-Master and Members

The Multi-Grid Manager session terminates when the HA Multi-Grid Master fails over from Node 1 to Node 2, or when the single Multi-Grid Master reboots and goes offline.
During a scheduled upgrade, the Master Grid members that have not upgraded yet can join the Master Grid and function normally until their scheduled upgrade time. When the upgrade finishes, the upgrade schedule is set to inactive.

Monitoring Distribution and Upgrade Status

During a distribution or an upgrade, Multi-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 Master Grid tab -> Upgrade tab.
When you perform a distribution or an upgrade, the status bar displays the overall Master 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 Multi-Grid Manager session terminates when an HA Multi-Grid Master fails over from Node 1 to Node 2, or when a single Multi-Grid Master reboots and goes offline. You can log back in to the appliance after the upgrade.

Master Grid and Member Stat us

You can view the distribution and upgrade process status at the Master Grid and member level. To view the process status, from the Master Grid tab, select the Upgrade tab, and then click Toggle Member List View.
The status bar displays the status of the overall Master Grid process. It contains a progress bar that indicates the percentage of completion. It also shows the number of members that have completed the process.
Multi-Grid Manager displays the following information for each member:

Member: The name of the Master Grid member.
Group: The upgrade group to which the member belongs.
HA: Indicates whether the member is an HA pair or not.
Status: The current distribution or upgrade status. This can be Running (green) or Offline (red).
IP Address: The IP address of the member.
Running Version: The software version that is currently running on the member.
Alternate Version: Displays the software version to which the appliance can revert.
Distribution/Upgrade Status: The current distribution or upgrade status. When the distribution or upgrade is in progress, Multi-Grid Manager displays a progress bar in this field to indicate the percentage of completion.
Hotfix: The name of the hotfix that was last run on the member.
Timestamp: The date, time, and time zone of the status displayed.
Site: The location to which the member belongs. This is one of the predefined extensible attributes.

The appliance automatically refreshes the information in this panel.

Upgrade Group Status

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.
To view the process status of an upgrade group, from the Master Grid tab, select the Upgrade tab, and then click Toggle Group List View. Multi-Grid Manager displays the following information for each member in an upgrade group:

Group: The upgrade group to which the member belongs.
Member: The name of the Master Grid member.
Status: The current member status. This can be Running (green) or Offline (red).
IP Address: The IP address of the member appliance.
Running Version: The software version that is currently running on the member.
Distribution Status: The current distribution status. For an upgrade group, Multi-Grid Manager displays a progress bar to indicate the overall percentage of completion. For a member, Multi-Grid Manager displays the state of the distribution process.
Timestamp: The date, time, and time zone of the status displayed.

Detailed Status

You can view detailed process information of a member during a distribution or an upgrade. To view detailed process information:

From the Master Grid tab, select the Upgrade tab, and then click Toggle Member List View.
Select a member and then click the Detailed Status icon.

Multi-Grid Manager displays a panel that shows the required steps during a distribution or an upgrade. It also displays a color indicator, next to each step, to indicate the current status of each step. The color indicator can be one of the following:

Grey: The process has not started yet.
Green: The process is complete.
Blue: The distribution or upgrade that is in progress.
Red: There is an error; Multi-Grid Manager displays a description of the problem.
Yellow: A warning message.

When the selected Master Grid member is an HA pair, Multi-Grid Manager displays the status information for both nodes. The panel remains open until you close it or select a different member.

MGM Admin Guide

Upgrading Software