VMwareNSXCloud: Step-by-Step-NSX-T 3.1 upgrade

In my previous post Step-by-Step-NSX-T 3.1 design and Install-P5 we have have completed deployment of NSX-T with BGP routing.

Once NSX-T becomes operational, upgrading the product and keeping it at the latest is something we all have to do.

Hence in this post we will be covering NSX-T upgrade procedure.

First thing is to download the binaries for the upgrade from VMware customer connect portal.

We are currently running version 3.1 and we will be upgrading it to version 3.2. So lets start.

Verifying existing NSX-T version.

Downloading NSX-T upgrade binaries.

Now filter the list with networking and security.

Now click on view download components.

Now navigate to Downloads.

Scroll down to NSX Upgrades and download the upgrade bundle.

Now accept the VMware Terms and download will start.

Preparing for the upgrade.

To start with, first thing is to identify the node on which upgrade coordinator is running.

To do that login to NSX manager on a SSH session. In case its not running first troubleshoot that.

Once the node is identified, login to that node and navigate to System, and then Upgrade on the left hand menu.

Now you will notice on the right hand screen it shows the upgrade order. Click on UPGRADE NSX.

Once you click upgrade nsx you get two options to upload upgrade bundle, you can either choose to provide a remote location or upload it locally. Wait for upload to finish.

Once uploads finishes, it will verify the upload and compatibility matrix of the upgrade bundle.

Once upload is verified we can begin the upgrade process. Click on Upgrade.

Upgrading upgrade coordinator.

Once you start you will get a scree with EULA, accept it and continue.

It will again ask for the permission to start upgrade, click yes, continue button.

Now it will start extracting upgrade bundle.

Once extraction is complete and upgrade coordinator is upgraded you can start with the upgrade.

Upgrading Edge nodes.

Click on next and move to edges upgrade screen. It will ask you to run pre-checks make sure you run them and if any issue is identified fix it before starting upgrade.

Wait for pre-checks to finish.

Once pre-checks are finished, resolve any reported issue and move to the next screen for upgrading Edge nodes.

Now select the edge cluster and choose the upgrade option, parallel or serial. your choice will depend on how many edge clusters you have in your environment. Finally press start.

Once you start the upgrade you can monitor its progress.

Keep in mind that there is a known issue of 1GB huge pages with certain CPU families, vSphere and NSX-T version 3.2. Hence if your edge node upgrade fails then its worth looking at this KB 87244.

Upgrading Host Transport nodes.

Once Edge are upgraded you can click next and move to Hosts upgrade screen.

Now we can start the host upgrade, you can choose here as well if you wish to upgrade multiple groups in parallel or in serial order.

Once you start upgrade wait for upgrade to finish, it will automatically pause if any host fails. Based on the option we have selected. You can do clusters in parallel, however with the cluster upgrade will always be serial.

Once host upgrade is finished, its time we move to NSX-T managers upgrade, so lets move next.

Upgrading NSX-T managers.

Lets complete our upgrade, by starting NSX-T managers upgrade.

Once you hit start you will be presented with below shown screen, it will be informing you about what is going to happen while we upgrade.

Now sit back and relax, wait for the upgrade to finish.

Once dry run is complete, you will be informed about NSX manager upgrade status. After this you can mo0nitor upgrade from NSX-CLI, using command ‘get upgrade progress-status’.