Gracefully Upgrade IMG software in SS7 Network. (10.5.2)

Overview:

Feature 1404 "Graceful Upgrade IMG software in SS7 Network" adds to the IMG the ability to easily upgrade the IMG System Software in a Network that consists of an SS7 Primary Node, SS7 Secondary Node, and SS7 Remote Nodes. Previously, upgrading system software would require bringing all the nodes down at once, upgrading software, reconfiguration, and then start processing calls again. Feature 1404 adds the ability to upgrade the software in each individual IMG in a step by step process which will limit the number of calls lost during this process. Feature 1404 supports upgrading the IMG for up to two CI (Controlled Introduction) releases back. For example, anyone running software 10.5.0 or 10.5.1 can take advantage of this feature when upgrading to 10.5.2 software. The procedure below explains the steps required to accomplish the upgrade with a minimal amount of downtime.

Important Note: If upgrading from 10.5.0 the graceful upgrade procedure requires both servers to be reset at the same time. For more information, see the heading 'Step 4 - SS7 Primary/Secondary Node Software Upgrade' steps 6 and 7 below.

 

Related Topics:

Graceful Upgrade Manager

 

SS7 Network Diagram:

 

dg_img_ss7_soft_upgrade_f1404.png

 

 

Procedure:

Step 1 - Obtain software from Excel Support Site (ExcelBBS):

  1. Before starting the upgrade process, set all tags on IMG. To do this, hit the "Query All Tags" button on any object pane in ClientView. This will display a dialog box with the state of each tag as well as set each tag. Select OK to close the dialog box.

  2. The updated software files will need to be obtained from the support website. Refer to instructions below.

Obtain system software from BBS (Bulletin Board System) server
  • Go to http://www.dialogic.com/support. Click on the Manuals and Downloads tab.
  • Click on the Download Product Software link.
  • Select IMG - Integrated Media Gateway from drop down menu. On the page that appears, click on Support Page (login required) link.
  • For login information refer to the welcome letter e-mailed after purchase of product or contact Dialogic Sales and Support for information on getting a logon username and password.
  • Download the latest IMG system software and GCEMS software file. Below displays an example of the files needed.

GCEMS = IMG_10.5.x_<build#>.bin

ClientView = IMGUserInterface_10.5.x_<build#>.bin

System Software File - img1010_ver105x<build#>_id0101.bin  -or-  img1004_ver105x<build#>_id0101.bin

 

Step 2 - Transfer files:

  1. Transfer the GCEMS and IMGUserInterface files to the /home/excelsw/ftpBuilds directory on the Linux GCEMS server. Transfer all files as binary files.
  2. Once transferred, change the permissions to both these files using the commands displayed below.

[root@jsmith excelsw] # chmod +x IMG_10.5.1.xxx.bin

[root@jsmith excelsw] # chmod +x IMGUserInterface_10.5.1.xxx.bin

 

Step 3 - Install GCEMS software:

  1. In ClientView go to File > Save Configuration File. This will save the latest configuration file that will be used to re-configure the IMG. Once saved shut down the ClientView application by selecting File > Exit.

  2. Shut down GCEMS application by double clicking on the desktop icon StopGCEMS.

      sc_stopgcems_icon.png
     

  3. Once these two applications have been closed then the newest versions of these applications can be loaded. Go to ftpBuilds folder and install the latest versions of IMG and IMGUserInterface which were just transferred. For information on installing these two files refer to the Installing GCEMS Software link.

IMPORTANT NOTE!!! - When loading the newest version of IMG software (IMG_10.5.x.xxx.bin) the installation script will ask the following:

sc_gracefulupgrade_config_backup.png

 

!!! Select 2- No as shown in the screen capture above. By doing this, GCEMS will not create a config_backup_<Timestamp> file. See screen capture above.

 

Step 4 - Transfer IMG System Software

Once the ClientView and GCEMS software have been installed, the system software file can now be transferred and installed. Depending on your existing system will determine where to transfer the System Software file too. If using the GCEMS server as an FTP Server, transfer the System Software File to the /home/excelsw/ftpBuilds directory. If loading software from the SD Card, transfer the file to the SD Card. In both instances, transfer the files using the binary format.

 

Note: If loading the System Software to the IMG 1010 using just the SD Card, the time it takes to load the file into the IMG is much longer than if loading through an FTP Server. The additional time for loading can cause an error messages like the following to occur:

 

SS7 Server(s) never came up. Click Cancel to investigate in Main Window.

 

To avoid seeing these error messages during the upgrade process, the NODE_RESET_WAIT_TIMER environment variable needs to either be added or modified. Follow the steps below to modify.

  1. Become a root or superuser.

[root@jsmith excelsw] # su

Password: excel2

  1. Go to the /opt/dialogic/IMG/GateControlEMS directory.

  2. Using a Text Editor, add the following line to the Defaults file.

NODE_RESET_WAIT_TIMER:300

  1. Once this variable is added to the Defaults file, restart the GCEMS server for the environment variable to take affect.

  2. At this point, the IMG will now wait 300 seconds or 5 minutes before the nodes report the LinkUp state. The Default is 120 seconds and this timer value in this instance is too short when loading the System Software File from the SD Card.

 

Step 5 - Update links to load IMG system software and restart GCEMS:

If loading the system software file using FTP functionality on the GCEMS server, modify the links located in the /home/excelsw/ftpBuilds folder so that FTP will load the newest software once the upgrade process is started. This can be done using lnimg (link img) script or manually using the ln -sf command which are explained in the link above. For information on changing the links refer to the IMG 1010-Configure GCEMS and Start Linux Services link.

If however the System Software File is being loaded using the SD Card, the bootup.cfg file on the SD Card must be modified. Refer to the IMG 1010 - Downloading System Software from SD Card.

Once the links have been updated, the GCEMS and ClientView applications can be restarted. Follow instructions below.

  1. If required, transfer any new licensing files to the /opt/dialogic/common/license folder.

  2. Restart GCEMS and ClientView. When restarting GCEMS select "No" when asked "Would you like to begin a new Configuration?"

  3. Allow ClientView to configure itself with latest file saved earlier.

 

Step 6 - SS7 Primary/Secondary Node Software Upgrade:

Once all the initial setup has been accomplished, the upgrade process can begin. A ClientView Graceful Upgrade Manager was created to facilitate the remaining steps of the Upgrade Procedure and to display node information relevant to the Upgrade process, in one location. The Graceful Upgrade Manager pane displays the states of the SS7 servers while the Graceful Upgrade Manager table, located at bottom of the pane, displays all nodes in the Logical IMG and their relevant information. See Graceful Upgrade Manager screen capture below.

 

Note: The procedure below will be changing the state of redundancy. The IMG will be referred to as Primary/Secondary and will also be referred as Active/Standby. The Primary/Secondary naming convention will not change. The primary node will always be the primary node and Secondary Node will always be the secondary node. The state of each will change. Initially the Primary node is also the active node and the secondary node is also the standby. The Active Standby states will change as redundancy is swapped.

  1. Right Click on the Logical IMG object and select New Graceful Upgrade Manager.

    sc_tree_gracefulupgrade.png
     

  2. The Graceful Upgrade Manager will get created with information about the current SS7 Network. For more information on this pane, see the Graceful Upgrade Manager Pane link.

    sc_gracefulupgrade_manager_initial.png
     

  3. Disable any backup nodes that would be part of an N+1 Setup.

Optional:

Before starting the upgrade process, note that there is an optional step that can be performed that will allow you to gracefully take the standby Out of Service gracefully ensuring there are no more calls being processed before proceeding. To accomplish this, Right Click on the node in the Graceful Upgrade Manager table and select Graceful Out Of Service.” See the following link for more information on the Graceful Shutdown of IMG Feature.

  1. To begin the upgrade process the "Upgrade SS7 Nodes" button will need to be pressed. This will bring up a dialog box that will allow you to reset the SS7 Standby Node.

  2. Once you are ready to start the procedure, hit the "Upgrade SS7 Nodes" Button in the Graceful Upgrade Manager Pane. The following dialog box will appear. Read the dialog and verify you have accomplished everything in the dialog box.

    sc_graceful_upgrade_progressstat1.png
     

  3. Once satisfied everything in dialog box list has been accomplished, hit the "Reset Standby" button.

Note: If upgrading from software 10.5.0 the Reset Standby and Switch Over buttons will be replaced with a Reset SS7 Server(s) button. Use this button to upgrade both SS7 servers at the same time and ignore Step 7 and 8 below.

  1. The SS7 Secondary/Standby Node will reset and load the newest build. Information on the reset will be added to the Graceful Upgrade Dialog Box. Allow the Secondary/Standby node to come back into service and then re-configure. The Dialog box will look like below when the configuration of Secondary/Standby is complete. Also note that the Graceful Upgrade Manager Pane will display the upgraded software build loaded in the SS7 Secondary/Standby Node in the "Software Revision" Column

    sc_graceful_upgrade_progressstat2.png

Important Information:

At this point in the process the following is true:

  1. To finish the process of upgrading the software on the SS7 Primary/Active Node, hit the "Switch Over" button on the Graceful Upgrade Dialog Box. Once this is done the Primary/Active SS7 Node will reset and load the newest revision build. Once this happens, the following is true:

 

Note: During the brief time that the SS7 Primary/Active node is being reset and the Secondary/Standby node goes active, all calls will be lost. Immediately, the SS7 Secondary/Standby node becomes Secondary/Active and all calls will resume. This lapse in service shall not last longer than 2 minutes in an ideally configured 32 node system. Times are less for systems with less than 32 nodes.

  1. At this point the Secondary/Active and Primary/Standby nodes have had there software up-graded and will be processing calls. Select OK to close the Graceful Upgrade dialog box. Note that the Graceful Upgrade Manager now reflects the current configuration. See screen capture below displaying the Primary/Standby and Secondary/Active nodes after software upgrade.

    sc_gracefuluprademanager_postupgrade.png
     

Step 7 - Remote Node Software Upgrade:

Now each individual node running remote CIC's can be upgraded one at a time. From the Object Table under the Graceful Upgrade Manager Pane select one of the remote nodes to upgrade software on. Again, there are two ways of accomplishing this, The first way would be to take the Remote Node Out of Service Gracefully then reset the node. The second way is to just reset the node. The procedure below will follow the first choice and take the spans and channels Out Of Service Gracefully first.

 

  1. In the Object Table under the Graceful Upgrade Manager pane, select a remote node. Right Click and select "Graceful Out of Service" as shown below. See Graceful Shutdown of IMG link above for more information.

    sc_gracefulmanager_remotenodeoos.png
     

  2. Allow the node to finish processing calls and go Out Of Service.

  3. Once Out Of Service, select the remote node from the Object Table as shown above and select "Reset Node". The node will now reset and load latest revision software loaded earlier and ClientView will re-configure remote node and start to process calls again.

  4. Continue upgrading remote nodes until all remote nodes have been upgraded.

 

Step 8 - Nodes outside of Logical Node Group Upgrade:

  1. Once finished upgrading the software on all nodes within the Logical Node Group, you can now upgrade the nodes outside the Logical Node Group. These nodes will not be part of the Object table and would have to be upgraded using the "Clear Software" command. See the Clear Software link for information on accomplishing this

 

Additional Information: