[j-nsp] about 10.4R3 on EX

[Stefan Fouant]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: juniper-nsp-bounces at puck.nether.net [mailto:juniper-nsp-
> bounces at puck.nether.net] On Behalf Of Richard A Steenbergen
> Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 7:16 PM
> To: juniper-nsp at puck.nether.net
> Subject: Re: [j-nsp] about 10.4R3 on EX
> 
> On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 03:46:36PM -0500, Richard A Steenbergen wrote:
> > The process of upgrading to a resilient dual-root partitions release
> > takes longer due to the additional step of upgrading the loader
> software
> > and a longer reboot time while the disk is reformattedto four
> partitions
> > during the reboot of the switch that completes the Junos OS upgrade.
> The
> > reformat increases the reboot time for EX2200, EX3200, EX4200, and
> > EX4500 switches by 5 to 10 minutes. For EX8200 switches, the reboot
> time
> > increases by 10 to 25 minutes per Routing Engine, and additional
> reboots
> > are required.
> 
> Also, in reading the upgrade process for the new boot loader, it says:
> 
> For an EX8200 switch with redundant Routing Engines, you must upgrade
> the loader software on both Routing Engines. You can upgrade the loader
> software on a Routing Engine only when it is master. Make sure that
> graceful Routing Engine switchover (GRES) and nonstop active routing
> (NSR) are disabled before you begin the upgrade.
> 
> The requirement that you can only upgrade it when the RE is the master
> is a pretty serious issue. This means you can't just pre-stage the
> upgrade on the backup RE and then switch over to it in a single move,
> you've got to take down the entire device for the duration of multiple
> reloads (4 apparently, 2 per RE * 2 REs) to complete the upgrade. Is
> there some other interpretation of this that I'm missing? From my quick
> lab testing it looks like you can at least get the jinstall and 25
> minute reformatting out of the way beforehand, but you've still got to
> be master to upgrade the actual loader.

...and ISSU flies right out the window... :(

Presumably this is only a one time thing right?  Subsequent upgrades
shouldn't require reformatting since the dual-root partitions will already
be in existence... at least until they decide to go with NANDFS or quad-root
partitions eh'? ;>

Stefan Fouant, CISSP, JNCIEx2
www.shortestpathfirst.net
GPG Key ID: 0xB4C956EC