Wired Intelligent Edge

Hi,

What are the other ways to upgrade the CX switches apart from vsx update-software <tftp://REMOTE-IP> [vrf <VRF-NAME>] command? Is it a manual upgrade one switch at a time? If yes, would both CX switches form a Pair after finish the upgrade?

Thank you.

Hi! initially, before the introduction of the vsx update-software CLI command, to update the ArubaOS-CX versions running on VSX cluster's nodes the only way was to manually update each VSX node's operating system (the one with Secondary role first): wait the updated node to properly reboot, perform checks against the node itself and the VSX Cluster (and VSX LAGs) and, if all was OK, proceed with the remaining VSX node (the one with the Primary role). In any case - the old and always valid manual sequenced way or the new automated sequenced way - both nodes reboot.

The command you're referring to automates all those steps (with checks).

------------------------------
Davide Poletto
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Jul 02, 2021 02:35 AM
From: Chirag Patel
Subject: CX-8320 Upgrade

Hi,

What are the other ways to upgrade the CX switches apart from vsx update-software <tftp://REMOTE-IP> [vrf <VRF-NAME>] command? Is it a manual upgrade one switch at a time? If yes, would both CX switches form a Pair after finish the upgrade?

Thank you.

Thanks Davide. 

I can understand manual or automated methods, do the same job - upgrade the VSX!

Since the VSX topology uses the same software version, how they behave in the upgrade process? I mean if secondary goes down to complete the upgrade process, how primary thinks for secondary while it's rebooting? Is it out of sync or peer is dead etc...

I am sure there would be no issue with the traffic switching as they use a separate control plane, it just a matter of VSX pair come back properly after each reboot either manually or automated process.
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 02, 2021 03:56 AM
From: Davide Poletto
Subject: CX-8320 Upgrade

Hi! initially, before the introduction of the vsx update-software CLI command, to update the ArubaOS-CX versions running on VSX cluster's nodes the only way was to manually update each VSX node's operating system (the one with Secondary role first): wait the updated node to properly reboot, perform checks against the node itself and the VSX Cluster (and VSX LAGs) and, if all was OK, proceed with the remaining VSX node (the one with the Primary role). In any case - the old and always valid manual sequenced way or the new automated sequenced way - both nodes reboot.

The command you're referring to automates all those steps (with checks).

------------------------------
Davide Poletto

Original Message:
Sent: Jul 02, 2021 02:35 AM
From: Chirag Patel
Subject: CX-8320 Upgrade

Hi,

What are the other ways to upgrade the CX switches apart from vsx update-software <tftp://REMOTE-IP> [vrf <VRF-NAME>] command? Is it a manual upgrade one switch at a time? If yes, would both CX switches form a Pair after finish the upgrade?

Thank you.

When you manually upgrade a devices, Yes, it will look like it went down and then back up. And they will form a VSX again.

Cluster Upgrade however does a little bit more. It will also clear MC-LAGs from traffic before taking down a member, so that no traffic is lost. 

You can read about that here:
https://blogs.arubanetworks.com/solutions/switching-innovation-simplifying-live-upgrades/

------------------------------
AutoCreation
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Jul 02, 2021 06:17 AM
From: Chirag Patel
Subject: CX-8320 Upgrade

Thanks Davide. 

I can understand manual or automated methods, do the same job - upgrade the VSX!

Since the VSX topology uses the same software version, how they behave in the upgrade process? I mean if secondary goes down to complete the upgrade process, how primary thinks for secondary while it's rebooting? Is it out of sync or peer is dead etc...

I am sure there would be no issue with the traffic switching as they use a separate control plane, it just a matter of VSX pair come back properly after each reboot either manually or automated process.
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 02, 2021 03:56 AM
From: Davide Poletto
Subject: CX-8320 Upgrade

Hi! initially, before the introduction of the vsx update-software CLI command, to update the ArubaOS-CX versions running on VSX cluster's nodes the only way was to manually update each VSX node's operating system (the one with Secondary role first): wait the updated node to properly reboot, perform checks against the node itself and the VSX Cluster (and VSX LAGs) and, if all was OK, proceed with the remaining VSX node (the one with the Primary role). In any case - the old and always valid manual sequenced way or the new automated sequenced way - both nodes reboot.

The command you're referring to automates all those steps (with checks).

------------------------------
Davide Poletto

Original Message:
Sent: Jul 02, 2021 02:35 AM
From: Chirag Patel
Subject: CX-8320 Upgrade

Hi,

What are the other ways to upgrade the CX switches apart from vsx update-software <tftp://REMOTE-IP> [vrf <VRF-NAME>] command? Is it a manual upgrade one switch at a time? If yes, would both CX switches form a Pair after finish the upgrade?

Thank you.

@bkohnke - Thank you. The link you provided is helpful.​
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 02, 2021 07:59 AM
From: AutoCreation
Subject: CX-8320 Upgrade

When you manually upgrade a devices, Yes, it will look like it went down and then back up. And they will form a VSX again.

Cluster Upgrade however does a little bit more. It will also clear MC-LAGs from traffic before taking down a member, so that no traffic is lost. 

You can read about that here:
https://blogs.arubanetworks.com/solutions/switching-innovation-simplifying-live-upgrades/

------------------------------
AutoCreation

Original Message:
Sent: Jul 02, 2021 06:17 AM
From: Chirag Patel
Subject: CX-8320 Upgrade

Thanks Davide. 

I can understand manual or automated methods, do the same job - upgrade the VSX!

Since the VSX topology uses the same software version, how they behave in the upgrade process? I mean if secondary goes down to complete the upgrade process, how primary thinks for secondary while it's rebooting? Is it out of sync or peer is dead etc...

I am sure there would be no issue with the traffic switching as they use a separate control plane, it just a matter of VSX pair come back properly after each reboot either manually or automated process.
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 02, 2021 03:56 AM
From: Davide Poletto
Subject: CX-8320 Upgrade

Hi! initially, before the introduction of the vsx update-software CLI command, to update the ArubaOS-CX versions running on VSX cluster's nodes the only way was to manually update each VSX node's operating system (the one with Secondary role first): wait the updated node to properly reboot, perform checks against the node itself and the VSX Cluster (and VSX LAGs) and, if all was OK, proceed with the remaining VSX node (the one with the Primary role). In any case - the old and always valid manual sequenced way or the new automated sequenced way - both nodes reboot.

The command you're referring to automates all those steps (with checks).

------------------------------
Davide Poletto

Original Message:
Sent: Jul 02, 2021 02:35 AM
From: Chirag Patel
Subject: CX-8320 Upgrade

Hi,

What are the other ways to upgrade the CX switches apart from vsx update-software <tftp://REMOTE-IP> [vrf <VRF-NAME>] command? Is it a manual upgrade one switch at a time? If yes, would both CX switches form a Pair after finish the upgrade?

Thank you.

The vsx update-software command does the complete orchestration of the graceful-shutdown for all protocols (LACP + routing), which implies an impact of less than 10ms before the sequential reboot (which has no traffic impact after the graceful-shutdown).
It is strongly recommended to perform the upgrade through vsx update-software CLI or API (API method available since 10.7).

------------------------------
Vincent Giles
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Jul 04, 2021 08:32 PM
From: Chirag Patel
Subject: CX-8320 Upgrade

@bkohnke - Thank you. The link you provided is helpful.​
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 02, 2021 07:59 AM
From: AutoCreation
Subject: CX-8320 Upgrade

When you manually upgrade a devices, Yes, it will look like it went down and then back up. And they will form a VSX again.

Cluster Upgrade however does a little bit more. It will also clear MC-LAGs from traffic before taking down a member, so that no traffic is lost. 

You can read about that here:
https://blogs.arubanetworks.com/solutions/switching-innovation-simplifying-live-upgrades/

------------------------------
AutoCreation

Original Message:
Sent: Jul 02, 2021 06:17 AM
From: Chirag Patel
Subject: CX-8320 Upgrade

Thanks Davide. 

I can understand manual or automated methods, do the same job - upgrade the VSX!

Since the VSX topology uses the same software version, how they behave in the upgrade process? I mean if secondary goes down to complete the upgrade process, how primary thinks for secondary while it's rebooting? Is it out of sync or peer is dead etc...

I am sure there would be no issue with the traffic switching as they use a separate control plane, it just a matter of VSX pair come back properly after each reboot either manually or automated process.
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 02, 2021 03:56 AM
From: Davide Poletto
Subject: CX-8320 Upgrade

Hi! initially, before the introduction of the vsx update-software CLI command, to update the ArubaOS-CX versions running on VSX cluster's nodes the only way was to manually update each VSX node's operating system (the one with Secondary role first): wait the updated node to properly reboot, perform checks against the node itself and the VSX Cluster (and VSX LAGs) and, if all was OK, proceed with the remaining VSX node (the one with the Primary role). In any case - the old and always valid manual sequenced way or the new automated sequenced way - both nodes reboot.

The command you're referring to automates all those steps (with checks).

------------------------------
Davide Poletto

Original Message:
Sent: Jul 02, 2021 02:35 AM
From: Chirag Patel
Subject: CX-8320 Upgrade

Hi,

What are the other ways to upgrade the CX switches apart from vsx update-software <tftp://REMOTE-IP> [vrf <VRF-NAME>] command? Is it a manual upgrade one switch at a time? If yes, would both CX switches form a Pair after finish the upgrade?

Thank you.