Solved: Re-imaging two ACS Servers (Primary & Secondary) from v5.3 to v5.5?

Ceremony Bald · ‎06-09-2014

Hi, Is it possible to successfully re-image two ACS Servers to v5.5 from v5.3 but also successfully restoring backups, licensing and local certificates from v5.3. The current Log Collector is set to the Primary. I've read alot of documentation which only mentions the upgrade paths.

Would you advise performing a re-image or using the upgrade method?

The Upgrade method mentions that I should switch my current Primary to Secondary, re-point the log server to the old primary etc, etc... Seems alot of work when a re-image might be easier?

If you could advise on the best possible route, it would be most appreciated... Many Thanks....

edwardcollins7 · ‎06-11-2014

The procedure you mentioned id perfect.

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Regards,

Ed

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abwahid · ‎06-13-2014

Hi Simon,

Yes you are right you do this by the way which you have mention OR

you can do by making the secondary node as log collector and then deregister secondary with primary and upgrade the primary 1st and after up gradation complete make the primary as log collector, then upgrade secondary and then register it with primary.

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edwardcollins7 · ‎06-10-2014

Re-image is possible and it will work as per your idea.

upgrade is a better path.

Simple technique, break the deployment by making the primary the log collector and de register.

Then, upgrade them both.

Now register them and change log collector back.

Rate if Useful :)

Sharing knowledge makes you Immortal.

Regards,

Ed

Ceremony Bald · ‎06-10-2014

Hi Ed,

Thanks very much for your comments...

My Primary is currently the Log Collector anyway, if I upgrade them both at the same time then this would cause downtime for TACACS authentication.

Would you advise breaking the pair, leaving the Primary (Log Collector) active, upgrading the Secondary to become the new Primary after the upgrade, restore the Log Collector to the new Primary. Then upgrading the (old Primary/new secondary) and re-registering them both?

Further input would be appreciated - many thanks...

edwardcollins7 · ‎06-11-2014

The procedure you mentioned id perfect.

Rate if Useful :)

Sharing knowledge makes you Immortal.

Regards,

Ed

Ceremony Bald · ‎06-13-2014

Thanks Ed, for your comments, I may go with the upgrade process after all as I'm not sure after reading some Cisco notes that the backup config from v5.3 would be compatible with v5.5. If I've understood correctly, Cisco state that you have to upgrade to v5.4 for the backup to work successfully. I assume then if you save a new copy of the backup file in v5.4, then v5.5 should have no problems. Cheers...

abwahid · ‎06-13-2014

Hi Simon,

Yes you are right you do this by the way which you have mention OR

you can do by making the secondary node as log collector and then deregister secondary with primary and upgrade the primary 1st and after up gradation complete make the primary as log collector, then upgrade secondary and then register it with primary.

Ceremony Bald · ‎06-13-2014

Thanks abwahid for your comments.

I get the impression either way would work then. As I mentioned to Ed in the previous post, my concern with re-imaging (which may save a little time) is the compatibility issues when restoring the backup. I'm currently running v5.3, if I was to restore the backup to v5.5, then I may run into problems. This is why I'm thinking of upgrading to v5.4 first, if you have any input towards this then it would be appreciated... Cheers...