System Administration - Software Install-Upgrade

In this section:

The Software Install/Upgrade window provides options to install or upgrade the SBC application.

The SBC supports the Upgrade Manager interface, which performs Live Software Upgrade (LSWU) on an HA pair without affecting SBC services. The Upgrade Manager interface upgrades the SBC application on both the active and standby SBCs of the HA pair.

The Upgrade Manager interface:

indicates the progress of current upgrade action, current upgrade state and the percentage of completion.
allows you to perform a pre-upgrade check at any time when SBC is functional. It also instructs you to proceed with the upgrade or not based on the logs collected during the pre-upgrade checks.
provides a clear indication of the step which failed during the upgrade process and leaves the SBC in a state where manual intervention is possible to complete the upgrade process.

It also provides REST interface to external authentic clients and EMS to perform and monitor LSWU.

The SBC application package files are available for download from the Ribbon Support Portal. For more information on how to download SBC application files, refer to Downloading Software from the Ribbon Support Portal.

Once the files are downloaded to the local drive, use the File Upload option to upload these files to SBC. Refer to System Administration - File Upload.

Note:

The SBC allows you to upload only three software packages at a time.

Once the files are uploaded, they are available on the Software Install/Upgrade window.

To View the SBC Application Package

On the SBC main screen, navigate to Administration > System Administration > Software Install/Upgrade. The Software Install/Upgrade window is displayed. The available packages are displayed in the Packages panel.

Packages Panel Before an Upgrade

Packages Panel After an Upgrade

The Packages panel provides the following information:

Most recent Live Software Upgrade:
- Upgrade From - SBC version from which the upgrade happened.
- Upgrade To - Current SBC version displayed by the application.
- Date - Date and timestamp of the upgrade process.
- Upgrade Status - Whether the upgrade was successful or failed.
SBC application packages available for installation or upgrade.

To Install an SBC Application Package

To Install an SBC application package:

In the Packages panel, select the package that you want to install.
Click Install Software to continue with the installation.
The SBC validates the selected package. If the package and the contents are valid, the SBC provides additional fields to populate.

Verifying Software Package
Choose the type of SBC installation that you want to perform. The options are:
- HA Pair
- Standalone
  
  Packages New Installation Options

For SBC Type, choose from the options listed:

SBC Type	Description
I-SBC	Specifies an Integrated Signaling and Media network element (I-SBC). This is applicable for an SBC hardware environment (SBC 5000 Series, SBC 7000 Series, and SBC 5400).
S-SBC	Specifies the SBC type as Signaling. The S-SBC (Signaling SBC) is applicable only in distributed SBC (D-SBC) environments.
M-SBC	Specifies SBC type as Media. The M-SBC (Media SBC) is applicable only in D-SBC environments.

For more information on the value of each field and information for the installation procedure, refer to Installing SBC Application.

Note

The SBC supports up to three NTP servers.

To Perform an Offline Upgrade of the SBC Application

Note:

This procedure is applicable only when you want to upgrade from the SBC 5.0.0 release to future releases.

To upgrade an SBC application package in offline mode:

In the Packages panel, select the package that you want to upgrade to.
Click Standalone Software Upgrade to continue with the upgrade. The SBC validates the selected package.
Once the package is verified, the SBC displays the upgrade option.

Standalone Software Upgrade Window
Click Start Upgrade to start the upgrade process. Refer to Upgrading SBC Application using EMA Platform Mode for more details.

To Perform a Live Software Upgrade of the SBC Application

An LSWU is performed on an HA pair.

Note:

LSWU using Upgrade Manager does not affect any ongoing SBC services.

Prior to performing an LSWU using the Upgrade Manager interface, ensure:

that the firmware versions on both active and standby SBCs are same. If the firmware versions are different, upgrade the firmware to the required version prior to performing an LSWU. For more information, refer to Upgrading Firmware.
to download the correct SBC software bundle. Refer to Downloading Software from the Ribbon Support Portal.
to upload the SBC application files to both active and standby SBCs using the System Administration - File Upload option.
to execute/start the LSWU process only on the currently active SBC.

To upgrade the SBC application package using LSWU:

In the Packages panel, select the package that you want to upgrade to.
Click Live Software Upgrade to continue with the upgrade. The SBC validates the selected package.
Once the package is verified, SBC displays the upgrade option.

Live Software Upgrade Window
(Optional) Click Perform Pre-Upgrade Checks.

Note:

The pre-upgrade checks can be performed anytime, including outside the maintenance window. These checks verify if the system is ready for an upgrade.

A Pre-Upgrade Checks Complete message is displayed once the verification is completed.

Performing Pre-Upgrade Checks
Once Pre-Upgrade checks are complete, click Start Upgrade to start the upgrade process.

Note:

The LSWU initially starts on the standby SBC.

The Software Upgrade panel displays the upgrade status.

LSWU Upgrade Status

Note:

The complete LSWU process takes approximately 45 to 60 minutes. Refer to Live Software Upgrade Using EMA for more details.
Once the upgrade is complete on the standby SBC, the process starts over for the active SBC. The active SBC reboots in the process. Log on in EMA platform mode to check the status.
When the LSWU process fully completes, a pop-up message "Live Upgrade Complete" is displayed, click OK.