Upgrade and downgrade

Each NetScaler BLX release offers new and updated features with increased functionality. We recommend you to upgrade BLX to the latest release to avail of the new features and bug fixes. A comprehensive list of enhancements, known issues, and bug fixes is included in the release notes accompanying every release announcement.

Before you begin

• You must evaluate your organization’s support agreement. Document the support agreement and contact details for support from NetScaler technical support or the NetScaler authorized partner.
• It is also important to understand the licensing framework and the types of licenses that can be used before upgrading. For more information, see BLX licensing.
• You must check the New and deprecated commands, parameters, and SNMP OIDs topics.
• Back up the configuration files of BLX. For information on how to backup and restore, see How to backup and restore your NetScaler to recover lost configuration.

  Note:

  For the more details on the list of files that are backed up, see the List of backed up files.

• Upgrading or downgrading BLX is the same as Installation of BLX. The package manager of the Linux host manages the upgrade or downgrade operation based on the build numbers.

• If necessary, you can try upgrading or downgrading a BLX in a test environment.

Upgrade NetScaler BLX

1. Download the BLX release package that you want to upgrade to. For more information, see Download the BLX package on the Linux host.

2. Install the downloaded package using the Linux host CLI. For more information, see Install BLX on a Debian-based Linux host or Install BLX on an RPM-based Linux host.

   Note:

   If you have configured the BLX managed host, do the following steps before installing the downloaded package:

   • Log in to the host IP address.
   • Stop BLX using the systemctl stop blx command.
   • Reconnect to host IP address.

Downgrade NetScaler BLX

1. Download the BLX release package that you want to downgrade to. For more information, see Download the BLX package on the Linux host.

2. Install the downloaded package using the Linux host CLI. For more information, see Install BLX on a Debian-based Linux host or Install BLX on an RPM-based Linux host.

   Note:

   • If you have configured the BLX managed host, do the following steps before installing the downloaded package:

     • Log in to the host IP address.
     • Stop BLX using the systemctl stop blx command.
     • Reconnect to host IP address.

3. For BLX managed host configured using the auto-configuration feature, when you downgrade BLX from version 13.1 build 45.64 or later to version 13.1 build 42.47 or earlier, do the following steps:
   1. Open the blx.conf file in the directory /etc/blx/.
   2. Uncomment the interfaces parameter and specify the interfaces that you want to dedicate to BLX in the blx.conf file.
   3. Uncomment the ip-address parameter and specify the NSIP address for BLX.
   4. Uncomment the default parameter and specify the default route for BLX.
   5. Save the blx.conf file.
   6. Restart BLX using the systemctl restart blx command.

Verify entity status on NetScaler BLX after the upgrade or downgrade

After BLX is upgraded or downgraded, verify the following:

• Virtual servers are in UP state
• Monitors are in UP state
• All certificates are present on BLX
• All the licenses are present on BLX