[cisco-voip] Upgrade Methods

[Ed Leatherman]

1) All in one shot. I try to stage/install all the upgrades ahead of
time the night before so the next morning during the "official"
maintenance window I just have to spend time rebooting and testing.
This is particularly helpful if I find myself needing to upgrade some
other application (coughUCCX) at the same time as CM.

2) This would not work in my environment as there are too many changes
that happen day-to-day. A configuration freeze of more than a day is
not possible.

3) Test plan for me covers all major dial plan features - 911, local,
long distance, International, plus any trunks or special ties to other
systems. Also, conf bridges, MOH. Unity, UCCX, paging, call recording
apps, CDR delivery. I try a few of these features between CM nodes
also (call a phone that's registered to another node etc). Impossible
to test every detail but I try to at least hit things that would
uncover the broadest number of potential issues. I still need to add
something about ITL for my 8.6 upgrade just haven't figure out what
yet. YMMV

I would suggest familiarizing some with the db replication between CM
nodes - I've found they don't always want to fully sync up after
upgrade/reboot and its good to have an idea of what the CLI commands
do around in case you have a problem. TAC is really good at fixing
those issues but it's nice if you can resolve the easy problems
yourself.

Also goes w/o saying but make sure you have any of your license file
that you need in advance.

On Fri, Mar 2, 2012 at 7:22 PM, Frank Arrasmith
<frank.arrasmith at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey all,
>   I have a quick question about best practices/tips during system upgrade,
> particularly on the Linux appliance models.  My previous experience with
> upgrades has been primarily in a  lab, which have always gone fine, However,
> in my new enterprise, we have an 8 server cluster(pub,5 subs, 2 tftp)
> running 7.1.5, with critical uptime requirements.  Other than recommended
> procedures from the Cisco Upgrade guides, what other practices or additional
> procedures do you employ to ensure a smooth upgrade, and/or to speed the
> process along?
>
> 1. Do you upgrade all in one shot, long maintenance window?  Install, Reboot
> , Test?
> 2. Do you do spread out the install over a few days?  Install over a few
> maintenance windows utilizing inactive partitions, then schedule restart and
> testing for another maintenance window?  how long of a time period is it
> acceptable to spread out?
> 3. Other then basic call testing, and ensuring that appropriate services are
> started/running( we distribute service between the subs), what other checks
> do you include?
>
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Frank Arrasmith
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Ed Leatherman