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ADC
14.1 - Current Release 13.1 13.0 12.1
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Upgrade a high availability pair

May 31, 2024
Contributed by: 
C C

One of the requirements of NetScaler in a high availability setup is to install the same NetScaler software version (Release) on both the primary and secondary nodes. Therefore, ensure that the software is upgraded on both nodes.

You can follow the same procedure as upgrading a standalone instance to upgrade both the nodes in a high availability pair, although other considerations apply to upgrading a high availability pair.

Before you start a NetScaler firmware upgrade on an HA pair, read the prerequisites mentioned in the Before you begin section. Also, you need to consider a few HA-specific points.

Points to note

IMPORTANT:

It’s important that both the upgrade changes and your customizations are applied to an upgraded NetScaler. Therefore, if you have customized configuration files in the /etc directory, see Upgrade considerations for customized configuration files before you proceed with the upgrade.

  • Upgrade the secondary node first and then the primary node. You can upgrade NetScaler using the CLI or GUI.

localized image

  • If both the nodes in a high availability (HA) setup are running different NetScaler software versions, the following functionalities are disabled:
    • HA config synchronization
    • HA command propagation
    • HA synchronization of state service information
    • Connection mirroring (connection failover) of sessions
    • HA synchronization of persistence sessions information

    Notes:

    The functionality behavior changes as follows when both the nodes are running different builds (for example 8.x and 4.x) of the same NetScaler software version (for example 14.1):

    • These functionalities are disabled if both the builds have different internal HA versions.

    • These functionalities work fine if both the builds have the same internal HA versions.

    Refer to the New internal HA version in NetScaler builds section to check if the internal HA version has changed in a NetScaler build.

  • Synchronization of the files in the All mode of the sync HA files command works successfully if the two nodes in an HA configuration are running different NetScaler software versions, or the two nodes are running different builds of the same version. For more information, see Synchronizing Configuration Files in High Availability Setup.

New internal HA version in NetScaler builds

The following table lists the NetScaler builds in which the internal HA version has changed:

Release 14.1 Release 13.1 Release 13.0 Release 12.1
Build 12.30 Build 50.23 Build 92.21 Build 65.35
Build 8.50 Build 49.15 Build 90.12 Build 62.27
Build 4.42 Build 48.47 Build 87.9 Build 61.19
  Build 45.64 Build 86.17 Build 60.19
  Build 37.38 Build 85.19 Build 59.16
  Build 33.54 Build 84.11 Build 58.15
  Build 30.52 Build 82.45 Build 57.18
  Build 27.59 Build 79.64 Build 56.22
  Build 24.38 Build 76.31 Build 55.24
  Build 21.50 Build 71.44 Build 50.31
  Build 17.42 Build 67.43 Build 49.37
  Build 12.51 Build 64.35  
  Build 9.60 Build 61.48  
  Build 4.44 Build 58.32  
    Build 52.24  
    Build 41.28  

Upgrade a high availability pair by using the CLI

The upgrade process includes the following steps:

  1. Upgrade software on the secondary node
  2. Upgrade software on the primary node

The following illustration shows the procedure to upgrade software on the node:

localized image

Upgrade software on the secondary node

  1. Upgrade the secondary node as described in Upgrade a NetScaler standalone appliance using the CLI.

  2. Log in to the NetScaler CLI using the nsroot credentials.

  3. Run the following command to display the state of NetScaler.

    show ha node
<!--NeedCopy-->

    The command output must show that the node is a secondary node and synchronization is disabled.

  4. Run the following command to perform a force failover and takeover as primary node:

    force failover
<!--NeedCopy-->

  5. Verify that the node is now a primary node.

    Here’s a sample configuration in the new primary node.

    login: nsroot
Password: nsroot
Last login: Monday Apr  17 08:37:26 2017 from 10.102.29.9
Done
show ha node
        2 nodes:
1)      Node ID:      0
        IP:        10.0.4.2
        Node State: UP
        Master State: Primary
        ...
        Sync State: AUTO DISABLED
        Propagation: AUTO DISABLED
        ...
Done
<!--NeedCopy-->

Upgrade software on the primary node

Note:

After completing the “Upgrade software on the secondary node” procedure, the original primary node is now a secondary node.

  1. Upgrade the secondary node as described in Upgrade a NetScaler standalone appliance using the CLI.

  2. Log in to the NetScaler CLI using the nsroot credentials.

  3. Run the following command to display the state of the NetScaler.

    show ha node
<!--NeedCopy-->

    The command output must show that the node is a secondary node and the status of the node as UP.

  4. Run the following command to perform a force failover to ensure that the node is a primary node:

    force failover
<!--NeedCopy-->

  5. Verify that the node is a primary node.

    Here’s an example configuration of the new primary node and the new secondary node.

    show ha node
    Node ID:      0
    IP:   10.0.4.11
    Node State: UP
    Master State: Primary
    ...
    ...
    INC State: DISABLED
    Sync State: ENABLED
    Propagation: ENABLED
    Enabled Interfaces : 1/1
    Disabled Interfaces : None
    HA MON ON Interfaces : 1/1
    ...
    ...
    Local node information
    Critical Interfaces: 1/1
Done

Show ha node
    Node ID:      0
    IP:   10.0.4.2
    Node State: UP
    Master State: Secondary
    ..
    ..
    INC State: DISABLED
    Sync State: SUCCESS
    Propagation: ENABLED
    Enabled Interfaces : 1/1
    Disabled Interfaces : None
    HA MON ON Interfaces : 1/1
    . .
    . .
    Local node information:
    Critical Interfaces: 1/1
Done
<!--NeedCopy-->

Upgrade a high availability pair by using the GUI

Follow these steps to upgrade a NetScaler pair in a high availability setup, by using the ADC GUI. Consider an example of a high availability setup of NetScaler instances NETSCALER-A (primary) and NETSCALER-B (secondary).

  1. Upgrade the secondary node. Log In to the secondary node GUI using administrator credentials, and upgrade the node as described in Upgrade a NetScaler standalone appliance by using the GUI.

  2. Force failover. Perform a force failover on the secondary node using the GUI as described in Forcing a node to fail over.

    After failover operation, the secondary node takes over as primary and the primary node becomes the new secondary node. After the failover operation in the example HA setup:

    • NETSCALER-B becomes the new primary
    • NETSCALER-A becomes the new secondary

  3. Upgrade the original primary node (new secondary node). Log in to the new secondary node GUI (NETSCALER-A) and upgrade the node as described in Upgrade a NetScaler standalone appliance by using the GUI.

  4. Force failover. Perform a force failover on the new secondary node (NETSCALER-A) using the GUI as described in Forcing a node to fail over.

    After this second failover operation, the state of both the nodes return to the same state as before starting the HA upgrade operation. After the failover operation in the example HA setup:

    • NETSCALER-A becomes primary
    • NETSCALER-B becomes secondary

  5. Verify the upgrade process. Log in to the GUI of both the nodes. Navigate to System > High Availability, on the details page, verify the HA state of both the nodes. Also, verify the upgraded version details displayed on the top pane of the GUI.

How to upgrade a high availability setup by using the GUI

Upgrade a high availability pair
May 31, 2024
Contributed by: 
C C
May 31, 2024
Contributed by: 
C C

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