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Upgrading to W-ClearPass 6.5| Tech Note | 1

W-ClearPass Policy Manager Tech Note

Upgrading to W-ClearPass 6.5

Overview

This Tech Note provides instructions on how to upgrade to W-ClearPass Policy Manager 6.5 from versions

6.2.6 and later.

Be sure to review the "Upgrade and Update Information" section of the Release Notes for this release before

proceeding further.

This Tech Note describes the tasks you need to complete before you upgrade to W-ClearPass 6.5, detailed

instructions for performing a cluster upgrade, and the tasks you might need to complete after a successful

upgrade procedure. It also describes the steps to recover from a failed upgrade.

In addition, this document provides information on how to perform an offline upgrade.

l Before You Upgrade W-ClearPass Policy Manager

l Upgrading via the Software Updates Portal

l Performing a Cluster Upgrade

l After a Successful Upgrade

l Recovering from a Failed Upgrade

l Appendix A: Performing an Offline Upgrade

Before You Upgrade W-ClearPass Policy Manager

Before you begin to upgrade to W-ClearPass 6.5, note the following recommendations:

1. From the W-ClearPass Policy Manager user interface, back up the configuration data from the publisher

node's Server Configuration page.

2. Be sure to schedule down time for the W-ClearPass upgrade procedure, as the upgrade process can take

from one to two hours per node, based on the number of Access Tracker and Accounting records that exist

on the server.

Mobile Device Management (MDM) integration with W-ClearPass can significantly increase upgrades by

several hours if the number of audit records in your network is in the hundreds of thousands.

3. On the publisher node, verify from the Server Configuration page that all nodes are replicating successfully.

To access the Server Configuration page, navigate to Administration > Server Manager > Server

Configuration.

Summary of content (11 pages)

PAGE 1
W-ClearPass Policy Manager Tech Note Upgrading to W-ClearPass 6.5 Overview This Tech Note provides instructions on how to upgrade to W-ClearPass Policy Manager 6.5 from versions 6.2.6 and later. Be sure to review the "Upgrade and Update Information" section of the Release Notes for this release before proceeding further. This Tech Note describes the tasks you need to complete before you upgrade to W-ClearPass 6.
PAGE 2
Figure 1 Policy Manager Server Configuration Page 4. Any log settings that were modified prior to the upgrade are not retained and are reset to the default. After the upgrade completes successfully, the administrator should reconfigure any custom log settings. Virtual Machine Upgrade Considerations The considerations for upgrading a virtual machine (VM) vary according to the version of Policy Manager you are upgrading from: l When upgrading from version 6.2.
PAGE 3
Upgrading via the Software Updates Portal This section describes how to upgrade to W-ClearPass 6.5 using the W-ClearPass Policy Manager Software Updates Portal. For alternate upgrade methods for nodes that are not connected to the Internet, see "Appendix A: Performing an Offline Upgrade" on page 10. To upgrade to W-ClearPass 6.5 from versions 6.2.6 and above: 1. Open W-ClearPass Policy Manager. 2. Navigate to Administration > Agents and Software Updates > Software Updates.
PAGE 4
Performing a Cluster Upgrade This section describes how to upgrade a W-ClearPass Cluster to W-ClearPass 6.5. A W-ClearPass cluster comprises one publisher node and one or more W-ClearPass servers acting as subscribers. In a W-ClearPass cluster, configuration changes can be performed on the W-ClearPass publisher; they are then replicated to the subscribers. You cannot make configuration changes on subscriber nodes. Each node in a W-ClearPass cluster operates as a fully functional W-ClearPass server.
PAGE 5
Summary of Cluster Upgrade Tasks This section summarizes the high-level tasks you must complete for a successful cluster upgrade. Each of these tasks is discussed in detail in the following sections: 1. "Preparing for the Upgrade" on page 5 2. "Clearing the Standby Publisher Configuration" on page 5 3. "Upgrading the Publisher Node" on page 6 4. "Upgrading the Subscriber Nodes" on page 7 5.
PAGE 6
Upgrading the Publisher Node You must upgrade the publisher node in the W-ClearPass cluster first, before any of the subscriber nodes are upgraded. To upgrade the publisher node: 1. Initiate an upgrade from the Software Updates Portal or from the CLI interface. 2. After the upgrade completes, click Reboot in the Software Updates Portal. a. Alternately, if you performed the upgrade from the CLI, run the system restart command to reboot the appliance.
PAGE 7
Upgrading the Subscriber Nodes After the publisher has upgraded completely and is fully operational, begin upgrading subscriber nodes, one node at a time. When the subscriber node upgrade is completed, the cluster relationship is re-established automatically, and the subscriber node rejoins the cluster. 1. Initiate the upgrade for the first subscriber node from the Software Updates Portal or from the CLI interface.
PAGE 8
After a Successful Upgrade This section describes the tasks that you might need to perform in order to restore configuration elements that were not migrated during the successful upgrade to W-Policy Manager 6.5.
PAGE 9
The Insight databases are automatically restored as part of the upgrade process. The Session Log Database contains the following components: l Access Tracker and Accounting records l Event Viewer l W-ClearPass Guest Application Log Do not restore the Session Log Database on the Publisher node while any node in the cluster is still undergoing the upgrade process. Depending on the size of your Session Log Database, the restoration process could take several hours.
PAGE 10
system boot-image -l The screen shown in Figure 5 appears: Figure 5 System Command Boot-Image Screen 4. To select the previous version to boot up on restart, run the command: system boot-image -a For example: system boot-image -a 6.2.0.54353 5. Then restart the system by issuing the following command: system restart The system boots into the earlier version of W-ClearPass. 6. Take care to revert the publisher node before you revert any Subscriber nodes that might have been upgraded. 7.
PAGE 11
3. In the Firmware & Patch Updates section of the Software Updates Portal, click the Import Updates button. The Import from File dialog opens. Figure 6 Import from File Dialog 4. Browse to the location of the upgrade file on your system. 5. Click Import. The selected upgrade file is uploaded to W-ClearPass. Once the upload completes, the upgrade image will be listed in the Firmware & Patch Updates section. 6. In the Firmware & Patch Updates section of the Software Updates Portal, click Install.