topic Re: Upgrading my APs... in ExtremeWireless (WiNG)

Upgrading my APs...

rbarden — Wed, 14 Sep 2022 17:38:34 GMT

Hello,

I have an environment that has 5 AP-7532s, using one as a VC. I need to add 2 more APs to the environment, and I've gotten ahold of a couple AP505i.

I understand that one of the AP505i is going to have to take over the roll of VC, but I am unsure of exactly what will happen to the AP7532s when I do that. Will the AP7532s be automatically upgraded ? They are currently at version AP7532-5.8.2.0-030R, and my AP505i is at version AP5xx-7.7.1.2-007R. Or... do I have to upgrade the old AP7532s ahead of introducing the AP505s ?

Thanks & wish me good luck ! 😎

Re: Upgrading my APs...

Adam_Minowski — Wed, 14 Sep 2022 18:22:19 GMT

AP505i does not contain a code for AP7532, so therefore the easy way is to upgrade ALL of your AP7532 upfront.

The more geeky/automated approach is to add image 7.7.1.2 dedicated for 7532 to your AP505i flash. First create a backup config of your current VC and do "erase startup-config" and turn it off 🙂
Then go to CLI on your new VC on 505, and load image for AP7532 into AP505 flash
AP505# device-upgrade load-image ap7532 http://<host.address>/<7.7.1-image-for-ap7532.img>

Check if image has been loaded for AP7532 type:
#show device-upgrade versions

Then create auto-provisioning policy in order to push new firmware automatically to 7532.

auto-provisioning-policy APPOLICY
upgrade anyap precedence 10 any
adopt ap7532 precedence 50 profile default-ap7532 rf-domain MyRFDomain
adopt ap505 precedence 60 profile default-ap505 rf-domain MyRFDomain

Create profile for your VC:
profile ap505 VC-505
use auto-provisioning-policy APPOLICY
virtual controller

Go to "self"
AP505# self
use profile VC-505
use rf-domain MyRFDomain
commit write

Of course you need to have profiles and rf-domain created upfront as well. Your backup from old VC could come in handy here. I'll not go with full config to spare spamming, but I believe you go the point. I suggest also to have VC configured with static IP. It is technically possible to have floating VC IP address (for redundancy between two 505s), but try with basic config first.

Important remarks:
1. All APs have to be connected to same VLAN! You cannot use Layer3 adoption.
2. In my description I assumed that your second AP505 has the same image version as VC 505. If not, then you have to upgrade it upfront as well. The idea is exactly the same, but I don't know if you can load images for two types of APs into flash due to size. You can try, and if you succed, then second AP505 will be auto-upgraded with auto-provisioning-policy as well.

Good luck 🙂

Re: Upgrading my APs...

rbarden — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 13:14:36 GMT

Thank you so much for your reply...

I do have a few questions...

Do I have to get a support plan for my old AP7532s in order to get the updated firmware ?

Can I upgrade the existing AP7532s from version 5.8 straight to version 7.7.12 ? Or do they have to goto 5.9, then to version 7.7 ?

Since I only have 5 existing units, would it be quicker to just use the TFTP upgrade method for each, then have them adopted by the AP505i ? Or... would they be adopted with their existing 5.8 firmware without upgrading them ? I am just thinking that because I want to minimize the downtime of the entire system.

Thank you !

Re: Upgrading my APs...

Adam_Minowski — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 14:07:22 GMT

1. Yes. Access to software versions, for your speciffic APs, requires minimum TAC&OS service contract.

2. Always check https://documentation.extremenetworks.com. In the Release Notes for Wing 7.7.1.0 you can find on page 6 that upgrade is supported from version 5.5.3.1 (excluding 5.6).
https://documentation.extremenetworks.com/release_notes/WiNG/9037178-01_WiNG_v7_7_1_0_Release_Notes.pdf
Don't worry that it is for 7.7.7.0, and not 7.7.1.2 🙂 Last number is just minor version - when looking for release notes, always focus on major one.

3. I'd go with auto-provisioning-policy. Prepare your new VC upfront, having it disconnected from network. Then disable/disconnect old VC. Connect new VC. After everything works properly, revert old VC to factory default (either by factory reset, or erase startup-config) and connect it back. It will be automatically adopted to new VC.

Adam