Migrating from Cisco IOS XR 32-bit to 64-bit OS

This document provides the procedure to migrate from Cisco IOS XR 32-bit to 64-bit operating system (OS) on the ASR9000 series routers.

Why Migrate to IOS XR 64-Bit OS?

IOS XR 64-bit operating system (OS) is the next-generation IOS XR OS that runs on virtualized environment with underlying 64-bit Linux kernel. The Linux kernel distinctively separates the admin and the routing plane and their functions.

The key capabilities of IOS XR 64-bit OS include the following cloud-scale operational enhancements:

Figure 1. Cloud-scale Operational Enhancements

  • Industry trends—Significantly improved ability to track technology, performance, scale and security trends with 64-bit processors, operating systems and third party applications.

  • Software modularity—Redhat Packet Manager (RPM)-based software packaging and management with major features delivered as independent packages To explore easy routine upgrades and maintenance with modularized RPM packages, see the System Setup and Software Installation Guide for Cisco ASR 9000 Series Routers.

  • Telemetry—push toward smarter visibility of the network by streaming data to a configured receiver for analysis and troubleshooting purposes. To get started with streaming telemetry data using model-driven telemetry, see the Telemetry Configuration Guide for Cisco ASR 9000 Series Routers.

  • Application Hosting—leverage hosting of third-party applications in a container environment To take advantage of containers and host applications, see the Application Hosting Configuration Guide for Cisco ASR 9000 Series Routers.

  • Data Models—automate configurations that belong to multiple routers across the network. To automate configuration tasks across heterogeneous devices in a network, see the Programmability Configuration Guide for Cisco ASR 9000 Series Routers.

For more information, see the Cisco Software Innovations for Cloud-Scale Networking ebook.

Supported Hardware

The supported IOS XR 64-bit Product ID (PID) is listed in the table.

Type

Supported

Release

Fans PID

ASR-9904-FAN

-

ASR-9006-FAN-V2

-

ASR-9010-FAN-V2

-

ASR-9912-FAN

-

ASR-9922-FAN-V2

-

PEMS PID

PWR-2KW-DC-V2

-

PWR-3KW-AC-V2

-

PWR-6KW-AC-V3

-

PWR-4.4KW-DC-V3

-

Fabric PID

A99-SFC2

6.1.3

A99-SFC-S

6.2.1

A99-SFC-T

6.3.1

RP, RSP

A99-RP2-SE

A99-RP2-TR

6.1.3

A9K-RSP880-SE

A9K-RSP880-TR

6.1.3

A99-RSP-TR

A99-RSP-SE

6.2.1

A9K-RSP880-LT-TR

A9K-RSP880-LT-SE

6.4.1

Line card

A9K-4X100GE-SE

A9K-8X100GE-L-SE

A9K-4X100GE-TR

A9K-8X100GE-L-TR

A9K-8X100GE-LB-TR

A9K-8X100GE-LB-SE

A9K-8X100GE-SE

A99-8X100GE-SE

A99-8X100GE-CM

A90-8X100GE-CM

A99-8X100GE-TR

A9K-8X100GE-TR

6.1.3

A99-12x100GE

A99-12X100GE-CM

6.1.3

A9K-400GE-DWDM-TR

6.2.1

A9K-MOD400-TR

A9K-MOD400-SE

A9K-MOD400-CM

6.2.1

A9K-MOD200-TR

A9K-MOD200-SE

A9K-MOD200-CM

6.3.1

A9K-24X10GE-1G-TR

A9K-24X10GE-1G-SE

A9K-48X10GE-1G-TR

A9K-48X10GE-1G-SE

6.3.2

A9K-4X100GE

6.4.1

A9K-24X10GE-1G-CM

A9K-48X10GE-1G-CM

6.4.2

Software Requirement

A version of IOS XR release based on your requirement as outlined in the table in Supported Hardware topic must run on the system before migrating to IOS XR 64 bit.

  1. Upgrade the system to the minimum IOS XR release identified or higher.

  2. Migrate from IOS XR release to any IOS XR 64 bit release.

Prepare System for Migration

Prepare the system before migrating to IOS XR 64-bit to enable easy operation.

Before you begin

Before you proceed, ensure that you have completed these pre-requisites:

  • Connect port: connect console port to the terminal server. After migration, the console port will be connected the IOS XR 64-bit plane. If necessary, the AUX port can be used to connect to the management plane.

  • Backup data: back up data on the router, System Admin plane, and XR plane configurations to an external server. All data drives except for harddiskb:/ drive are formatted during migration. The harddiskb:/ drive, also known as eusb:/ drive is resized. All available data drives can be viewed using the show media command.

  • Configure processor: Configure RSP4/RP2 to reach the external server to download IOS XR 64-bit ISO image.

Procedure

Step 1

Upgrade the ASR 9000 router to a minimum version as listed in table Supported Hardware:

  1. For every available line card in the system, identify the list of 64-bit releases from the Supported Hardware table, and select the latest release.

    Example:

    In the following specification, the minimum required release is 6.3.2.

    RP/LC

    Release

    A99-RP2-SE

    6.1.3

    A9K-8X100GE-TR

    6.1.3

    A99-SFC2

    6.1.3

    A9K-400GE-DWDM-TR

    6.2.1

    A9K-24X10GE-1G-TR

    6.3.2

  2. Upgrade to IOS XR image as listed in table Supported Hardware. 

    RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ios# admin install add source <path-to-image>/asr9k-mini-px.pie-6.1.3 asr9k-fpd-px-6.1.3 activate prompt-level none synchronous

    For more information about upgrading the version, see Upgrading and Managing Software on Cisco ASR 9000 Series Router in the Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Router System Management Configuration Guide.

  3. Verify that the packages are active. 

    RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ios# show install active summary
Sun Oct 30 09:05:05.333 UTC
Default Profile:
  SDRs:
    Owner
  Active Packages:
    disk0:asr9k-mini-px-6.1.3
    disk0:asr9k-fpd-px-6.1.3

  4. Commit the upgrade. 

    RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ios# admin install commit

Step 2

Upgrade FPD on RSP4, RP2, LC, and FC2 with unified FPDs:

Important

 

FPD upgrade of new and supported hardware that will be used in IOS XR 64-bit after migration must be done in IOS XR. 

RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ios#admin upgrade hw-module fpd all location all

Note

 
During the upgrade of FPDs:

  • Do not reload the router or power cycle the router.

  • Do not do an online insertion and removal (OIR) of RP2, RSP4, LC, and FC2 cards.

  • Check the console logs or syslogs to monitor the progress of the FPD upgrade. If you observe a failure in the logs, stop the upgrade process and contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center.

Step 3

Setup a user with root-lr privileges only in the XR plane.

XR Plane:

username root
group root-lr
password <password>
!

Note

 

In IOS XR 64-bit, the root-system group exists only in the System Admin plane, and not in the XR plane. Instead, root-lr group with equal privileges must be setup in the XR plane.

Step 4

Run script resize_eusb to clean up harddisk:/, harddiskb:/, and back up System Admin and XR plane config to harddiskb:/.

Note

 

When searching for file in XR shell using ls –ltr in /pkg/bin for migrate_to_eXR or resize_eusb, use the complete file name. For example, ls –ltr pkg/bin/resize_eusb or ls –ltr pkg/bin/migrate_to_eXR. Wild card search is not supported in shell. 

RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:ios# run /pkg/bin/resize_eusb

Removing content of harddisk:/dumper 
Removing content of harddisk:/showtech 
Media cleanup operation completed. 
Checking harddisk: size. 
Sufficient disk space available in harddisk:/ to copy eXR image. 
Success: Pre-Migration Operation Completed. 
Removing content of harddiskb:/ 
Saving current configuration to /harddiskb:/cXR_xr_plane.cfg. It will be available in /eusbb/ after migration to IOS XR 64 bit. 
Saving current admin configuration to /harddiskb:/cXR_admin_plane.cfg. It will be available in /eusbb/ after migration to 
IOS XR 64 bit.
#exit

What to do next

Ensure all supported RSPs, RPs, FCs, and LCs are present so that the new OS takes effect on all of the cards post migration.

For the list of supported IOS XR 64-bit Product ID (PID), see Supported Hardware.

After the router is prepared for migration, run the migration script to migrate to IOS XR 64-bit OS.

Migrate to IOS XR 64-Bit OS

Migration to IOS XR 64 bit is performed using a script migrate_to_eXR available in /pkg/bin/. The migration script performs these tasks:

  • Copies GRUB files to /harddiskb:/efi/boot/

  • Sets the boot mode on active RSP/RP to boot from harddiskb:/

  • Sets the boot mode on standby RSP /RP to boot from active RSP/RP


Note

  • The IOS XR 32-bit to 64-bit conversion script does not support file names exceeding 48 characters.

  • The IOS XR 32-bit operating system has a maximum file size limit of 2 GB. Ensure that GISO does not exceed that limit.

  • When using the migration tar file, ensure that it is the only tar file on harddisk:/ drive.

Before you begin

  • Ensure that you have completed Prepare System for Migration.

  • Install the mandatory FPD PIE.

  • While migrating, you might face migration abortion due to idle timeout. To avoid this, execute the command line console exec-timeout 0 in config mode on the router: 

    Router# config
Router(config)# line console exec-timeout 0
Router(config)# commit
Router(config)# end

Note

From IOS XR release 6.1.3, the golden ISO (GISO) migration tar file must be built to migrate from IOS XR to IOS XR 64 bit. For more information about building the GISO migration tar file, see Customize Installation using GISO chapter in System Setup and Software Installation Guide for Cisco ASR 9000 Series Routers.

Migrate Using eUSB Boot

To migrate using the 64-bit image stored in eUSB:

Procedure

Step 1

Copy the IOS XR 64-bit tar image to harddisk:/ drive. The tar image must be copied only to harddisk:/ drive. This tar image can be mini or GISO tar file. The following example shows a mini tar file copied to harddisk:/ drive. The mini tar file is posted on CCO, and GISO tar file must be created based on required RPMS/SMU. 

Router# copy <image-location>/asr9k-mini-x64-migrate_to_eXR.tar6.1.3 harddisk:/asr9k-mini-x64-migrate_to_eXR.tar-6.1.3

Step 2

Run the migration script.

Note

 
Running the script with –r parameter will reload the router. Remove this parameter to reload manually. 
Router# run /pkg/bin/migrate_to_eXR -m eusb –r  
Executing the migration script on the standby node 0/RSP1/CPU0...
Assigning booting mode... 
Updated booting mode successfully 
Finished executing on the standby node. 
Found tar file asr9k-mini-x64-migrate_to_eXR.tar-6.1.3 in /harddisk:/. 
This tar file should contain the ASR9K IOS XR 64 Bit ISO and boot files. 
Extracting boot/ EFI/ from tar file... 
Tar: blocksize = 20 
x boot/certs/Root_Certificate_Store.bin, 1047 bytes, 3 tape blocks 
x boot/certs/CertFile, 795 bytes, 2 tape blocks 
x boot/certs/crl.der, 438 bytes, 1 tape blocks 
x boot/bzImage, 4475087 bytes, 8741 tape blocks 
x boot/initrd.img, 144796121 bytes, 282805 tape blocks 
x boot/signature.initrd.img, 256 bytes, 1 tape blocks
x EFI/boot/grub.efi, 914463 bytes, 1787 tape blocks 
x EFI/boot/grub.cfg, 530 bytes, 2 tape blocks 
Finished extracting tar file. 
Updated the image filename in /harddiskb:/EFI/boot/grub.cfg to asr9k-mini-x64migrate_to_eXR.tar-6.1.3
Assigning booting mode... 
Updated booting mode successfully 
Now reloading the system to migrate to ASR9K IOS XR 64 bit. 
Proceed with reload? [confirm]
RP/0/RP0/CPU0::This node received reload command. 
Reloading in 5 secs
  Reboot on ASR9912 RP2 (0x100326) in slot 0
By reload via REBOOT_CAUSE_RELOAD (4000001)
Current time: 2016-10-30 11:20:05.651, Up time: 4h 16m 3s
Release mastership on RP2
Normal reboot 

# exit
Migration script parameters:

Script parameter

Parameter description

-m

media

-r

reload router

Step 3

Reload the router, if not reloaded in previous step using -r parameter. 

 Reload router  (If not reloaded in previous step using -r

Preparing system for backup. This may take a few minutes especially for large configurations.         
          Status report: node0_RSP0_CPU0: START TO BACKUP 
          Status report: node0_RSP0_CPU0: BACKUP HAS COMPLETED SUCCESSFULLY
[Done] 
Proceed with reload? [confirm]

Migrate Using TFTPBOOT

To migrate using TFTPBOOT with management port connectivity:

Procedure

Run the migration script migrate_to_eXR available in /pkg/bin/.

Example:

Router# run /pkg/bin/migrate_to_eXR -s -p tftp -a 1.24.55.61 -n 
255.255.255.0 -g 1.24.0.1 –u <image-location>/asr9k-mini-x64.iso

For help about the migration script, execute the command run /pkg/bin/migrate_to_eXR –h.

Migration script parameters:

Script parameter

Parameter description

-a

IP_ADDRESS

-n

IP_SUBNET_MASK

-g

DEFAULT_GATEWAY

-u

SERVER_URL

-p

Protocol

-s

Static Settings

System will boot with IOS XR 64-bit followed by automatic reload, and will boot from disk. The standby RSP and RP, if present, will boot from active RSP and RP.

Note

 

Files related to 32-bit installation are deleted after the software is migrated to 64-bit OS.

What to do next

Set username and password when the system prompts on the XR console. The user is also created on System Admin plane.

Verify Migration

After running the migration script, verify that the system migrated to IOS XR 64 bit successfully.

Before you begin

Ensure that you have completed Prepare System for Migration and Migrate to IOS XR 64-Bit OS.

Procedure

Step 1

Run the show platform command to verify that RSP4, RP2, LC, and FC2 are in IOS XR RUN or OPERATIONAL state.

Example:

An example of show platform output from System Admin: 
sysadmin-vm:0_RP0# show platform 
Sun Oct 30 11:37:04.862 UTC
Location  Card Type               HW State      SW State      Config State  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0/0       A9K-8X100GE-L-SE        OPERATIONAL   OPERATIONAL   NSHUT         
0/1       A9K-8X100GE-L-SE        OPERATIONAL   OPERATIONAL   NSHUT         
0/2       A9K-8X100GE-L-SE        OPERATIONAL   OPERATIONAL   NSHUT         
0/3       A9K-8X100GE-L-SE        OPERATIONAL   OPERATIONAL   NSHUT         
0/4       A9K-8X100GE-L-SE        OPERATIONAL   OPERATIONAL   NSHUT         
0/5       A9K-8X100GE-L-SE        OPERATIONAL   OPERATIONAL   NSHUT         
0/6       A9K-8X100GE-L-SE        OPERATIONAL   OPERATIONAL   NSHUT         
0/7       A9K-8x100GE-L-SE        OPERATIONAL   OPERATIONAL   NSHUT         
0/8       A9K-8X100GE-L-SE        OPERATIONAL   OPERATIONAL   NSHUT         
0/9       A9K-8X100GE-L-SE        OPERATIONAL   OPERATIONAL   NSHUT         
0/RP0     A99-RP2-TR              OPERATIONAL   OPERATIONAL   NSHUT         
0/RP1     A99-RP2-TR              OPERATIONAL   OPERATIONAL   NSHUT         
0/FC0     A99-SFC2                OPERATIONAL   N/A           NSHUT         
0/FC1     A99-SFC2                OPERATIONAL   N/A           NSHUT         
0/FC2     A99-SFC2                OPERATIONAL   N/A           NSHUT         
0/FC3     A99-SFC2                OPERATIONAL   N/A           NSHUT         
0/FC4     A99-SFC2                OPERATIONAL   N/A           NSHUT         
0/FC6     A99-SFC2                OPERATIONAL   N/A           NSHUT         
0/FT0     ASR-9912-FAN            OPERATIONAL   N/A           NSHUT         
0/FT1     ASR-9912-FAN            OPERATIONAL   N/A           NSHUT         
0/PT0     A9K-AC-PEM-V2           OPERATIONAL   N/A           NSHUT         
0/PT1     A9K-AC-PEM-V2           OPERATIONAL   N/A           NSHUT         
0/PT2     A9K-AC-PEM-V2           OPERATIONAL   N/A           NSHUT

An IOS XR RUN or OPERATIONAL state indicates that the System Admin and XR planes are booted up. The system is ready for IOS XR 64-bit FPD upgrades and configuration. If an RSP4, RP2, FC2, or LC is not displayed, contact Cisco Technical assistance Center.

Step 2

Run the show hw-module fpd command from XR or System Admin mode to check if an FPD upgrade is required. If an upgrade is required, perform step 3, else go to step 4.

Example:

Router# show hw-module fpd 
Sun Oct 30 12:05:00.674 UTC
                                                               FPD Versions
                                                               =================
Location   Card type        HWver FPD device       ATR Status   Running Programd
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   Alpha-FPGA           NEED UPGD  0.10    0.10  
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   CBC                  CURRENT   34.38   34.38  
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   Cha-FPGA             CURRENT    0.04    0.04  
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   IPU-FPGA             NEED UPGD  0.40    0.40  
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   IPU-FSBL             CURRENT    1.80    1.80  
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   IPU-Linux            CURRENT    1.80    1.80  
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   Omega-FPGA           CURRENT    0.11    0.11  
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   Optimus-FPGA         NEED UPGD  0.08    0.08  
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   Rommon               CURRENT   10.48   10.48  

---------------------------------Truncated-------------------------------------

The FPD pie is bundled with the ISO image installed on the router.

A NEED UPGD status indicates that an FPD upgrade of the card is required.

Step 3

Run the upgrade hw-module location all fpd all command to upgrade the FPD from XR or System Admin plane.

Example:

Router# upgrade hw-module location all fpd all

Note

 
During the upgrade of FPDs:

  • Do not reload the router or power cycle the router.

  • Do not do an online insertion and removal (OIR) of RP2, RSP4, LC, and FC2 cards.

  • Check the console logs or syslogs to monitor the progress of the FPD upgrade. If you observe a failure in the logs, stop the upgrade process and contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center.

Step 4

Reload the router to upgrade with IOS XR 64-bit FPD.

Example:

sysadmin-vm:0_RSP0# hw-module location all reload
Sun Oct  30 13:05:56.202 UTC
Reload hardware module ? [no,yes]  yes

Step 5

Verify that the status of all FPDs is CURRENT.

Example:

Router# show hw-module fpd  
Sun Oct 30 13:48:42.178 UTC
                                                               FPD Versions
                                                               =================
Location   Card type        HWver FPD device       ATR Status   Running Programd
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   Alpha-FPGA           CURRENT    0.14    0.14  
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   CBC                  CURRENT   34.38   34.38  
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   Cha-FPGA             CURRENT    0.04    0.04  
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   IPU-FPGA             CURRENT    0.42    0.42  
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   IPU-FSBL             CURRENT    1.80    1.80  
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   IPU-Linux            CURRENT    1.80    1.80  
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   Omega-FPGA           CURRENT    0.11    0.11  
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   Optimus-FPGA         CURRENT    0.12    0.12  
0/RSP0    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   Rommon               CURRENT   10.48   10.48  
0/RSP1    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   Alpha-FPGA           CURRENT    0.14    0.14  
0/RSP1    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   CBC                  CURRENT   34.38   34.38  
0/RSP1    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   Cha-FPGA             CURRENT    0.04    0.04  
0/RSP1    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   IPU-FPGA             CURRENT    0.42    0.42  
0/RSP1    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   IPU-FSBL             CURRENT    1.80    1.80  
0/RSP1    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   IPU-Linux            CURRENT    1.80    1.80  
0/RSP1    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   Omega-FPGA           CURRENT    0.11    0.11  
0/RSP1    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   Optimus-FPGA         CURRENT    0.12    0.12  
0/RSP1    A9K-RSP880-SE     1.0   Rommon               CURRENT   10.48   10.48  
0/FT0     ASR-9904-FAN      1.0   CBC                  CURRENT   31.05   31.05  
0/0       A9K-8X100GE-L-SE  0.24  CBC                  CURRENT   38.23   38.23  
0/0       A9K-8X100GE-L-SE  0.24  Dalla                CURRENT    1.06    1.06  
0/0       A9K-8X100GE-L-SE  0.24  IPU-FPGA             CURRENT    1.76    1.76  
0/0       A9K-8X100GE-L-SE  0.24  IPU-FSBL             CURRENT    1.78    1.78  
0/0       A9K-8X100GE-L-SE  0.24  IPU-Linux            CURRENT    1.78    1.78  

-------------------------------------Truncated---------------------------------

Step 6

Install required RPMs if mini.iso is installed on the router. If full.iso is installed, only k9 sec package is required to be installed on the router.

Configure RSP4/RP2 to reach the external server to install the required RPMs.

In the following sample output, with mini.iso installed on the router, all the RPMs are installed.

Example:

Router# install add source <image-location>/asr9k-mcast-x64-2.0.0.0r613.x86_64.rpm asr9k-eigrp-x64-1.0.0.0-r613.x86_64.rpm  asr9k-mgbl-x642.0.0.0-r613.x86_64.rpm asr9k-isis-x64-1.0.0.0-r613.x86_64.rpm 
asr9k-mpls-tersvp-x64-1.0.0.0-r613.x86_64.rpm asr9k-k9sec-x64-1.1.0.0r613.x86_64.rpm 
asr9k-mpls-x64-2.0.0.0-r613.x86_64.rpm asr9k-li-x64-1.1.0.0r613.x86_64.rpm asr9k-optic-x64-1.0.0.0-r613.x86_64.rpm 
asr9k-m2m-x64-2.0.0.0r613.x86_64.rpm asr9k-ospf-x64-1.0.0.0-r613.x86_64.rpm

Step 7

Activate the RPMs.

Example:

Router# install activate id 1

or

Router# install activate <rpm 1> <rpm 2> <rpm 3> <rpm n>  
RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:Oct 30 14:44:03.316 : sdr_instmgr[1139]: %INSTALL-INSTMGR-6OPERATION_SUCCESS : 
Install operation 2 finished successfully

Step 8

Commit the operation.

Example:

Router# install commit 
Wed Oct 30 13:56:29.705 UTC 
Oct 30 14:46:30 Install operation 3 started by root:   install commit

Step 9

Verify that the RPMs are successfully installed.

Example:

Router# show install committed
Sun Oct 30 15:06:15.991 UTC
Node 0/RSP0/CPU0 [RP]
  Boot Partition: xr_lv0
  Committed Packages: 12
        asr9k-xr-6.1.1 version=6.1.3 [Boot image]
        asr9k-eigrp-x64-1.0.0.0-r613
        asr9k-isis-x64-1.0.0.0-r613
        asr9k-mcast-x64-2.0.0.0-r613
        asr9k-mgbl-x64-2.0.0.0-r613
        asr9k-mpls-te-rsvp-x64-1.0.0.0-r613
        asr9k-k9sec-x64-1.1.0.0-r613
        asr9k-li-x64-1.1.0.0-r613
        asr9k-m2m-x64-2.0.0.0-r613
        asr9k-mpls-x64-2.0.0.0-r613
        asr9k-optic-x64-1.0.0.0-r613
        asr9k-ospf-x64-1.0.0.0-r613
The router is migrated to IOS XR 64 bit successfully.