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Upgrade

Upgrades from Beta-1 onwards

Starting with Beta-1 release and onwards, the upgrade process is more streamlined and fully automated. The control node is upgraded in place and the agents/switches is upgraded using the control node.

In order to apply the upgrade, use the following instructions:

  1. Generate the current configuration of your fabric:
    1. On a control node: kubectl hhfab config export > fab.yaml
  2. On the node with the new version of hhfab:
    1. hhfab init -c fab.yaml -f, using the fab.yaml from the previous step
    2. run hhfab build --mode=manual to generate fully self-contained (airgap) upgrade package; for a control node named control-1, it will be result/control--control-1--install.tgz
  3. upload it to the control node (e.g. using scp)
  4. unpack and run hhfab-recipe upgrade from the resulting directory
tar xzf control--control-1--install.tgz
cd control--control-1--install
sudo ./hhfab-recipe upgrade

The upgrade will do all necessary steps to upgrade the control node and the agents/switches. The upgrade process will prompt the user to reboot, as part of upgrading Flatcar on the control node. To validate that the version has been deployed, run kubectl -n fab get fab/default -o=jsonpath='{.status.versions.fabricator.controller}' and compare to the fabricator version in the release notes.

Upgrade process is idempotent and can be run multiple times without any issues.

Check the release notes for your version to see if a SONiC Upgrade is available.

Upgrade from Alpha-7 to Beta-1

Control Node

Ensure the hardware that is to be used for the control node meets the system requirements. The upgrade process is destructive of the host, so ensure all data needed is removed from the selected server before the upgrade is started.

Management Network

Beta-1 uses the RJ-45 management ports of the switches instead of front panel ports. A simple management network will need to be in place and cabled before the install of Beta-1. The control node will run a DHCP server on this network and must be the sole DHCP server. Do not co-mingle other services or equipment on this network, it is for the exclusive use of the control node and switches.

Install Switch Vendor ONIE

Beta-1 uses the switch vendor ONIE for installation of the NOS. The latest vendor provided version of ONIE is recommended to be installed. Hedgehog ONIE must not be used.

Changes to the Wiring Diagram

  • All API versions changed from v1alpha2 to v1beta1
  • Server[control=true] object type was removed and replaced with ControlNode object in the fabricator.githedgehog.com/v1beta1 API (.spec.control field removed), Server object only describes workload server now
  • All initial configuration is mainly still available using the hhfab init flags but now configurable in the fab.yaml file it creates and available in the runtime in the Fabricator object in the fabricator.githedgehog.com/v1beta1 API
  • Connection[type=management] object removed, relevant information is now present on the ControlNode object in the form of the management interface and its config, switches are always connected using management port
  • .spec.location remove from Switch object
  • .spec.boot added to Switch object with mac and serial fields, at least one of them is required to identify switch for installation

Install The Control Node

Follow the instructions for installing the Beta-1 Fabric on a control node.

Install SONiC using ONIE

As the switches boot up, select the ONIE option from the grub screen. From there select the ONIE: Install OS option. In the grub boot menu the asterisk (*) character functions as an indicator of the option that would be executed if the enter key was pressed. For example to enter the ONIE menu it would appear as *ONIE on the screen. The install option will cause the switch to begin searching for installation media, this media is supplied by the control node.

Upgrade SONiC

Occasionally some fabric upgrades will include upgrades to the SONiC Network Operating System. Upgrading SONiC will cause the switch to not pass traffic during the upgrade process. For that reason, SONiC is not upgraded automatically and the user is encouraged to schedule a maintenance window for the upgrade.

To upgrade a switch on an existing deployment use the command kubectl fabric switch reinstall --name switch-name. The switch will be gracefully shutdown, and reboot into the ONIE boot environment for reinstallation. After the switch boots the hedgehog agent will automatically restore the configuration and traffic will resume without user intervention.