NetScaler MPX/SDX upgrade Procedures

Upgrade a Citrix NetScaler standalone appliance by using the GUI

Follow these steps to upgrade a standalone Citrix NetScaler to release 12.0 by using the GUI.

1. In a web browser, type the IP address of the Citrix NetScaler, for example http://10.102.29.50.
2. In User Name and Password, type the administrator credentials (nsroot/nsroot) and then click Log On.
3. From the GUI, click System Upgrade.

4. From the Choose File drop-down menu choose the appropriate option: Local or Appliance. If you want to use the Appliance option, the firmware needs to be uploaded to the Citrix NetScaler first. You can use any file tranfer method such as WinSCP to upload the Citrix NetScaler firmware to the appliance.

5. Select the correct file and click Upgrade.

6. Follow the instructions to upgrade the software.

7. When prompted, select Reboot.

After the upgrade, close all browser instances and clear your computer’s cache before accessing the appliance.

Upgrade a Citrix NetScaler standalone appliance by using the CLI

1. se an SSH client, such as PuTTy, to open an SSH connection to the appliance.
2. Log on to the appliance by using the administrator credentials. Save the running configuration. At the prompt, type:save config
3. Create a copy of the ns.conf file. At the shell prompt, type:
   1. cd /nsconfig
   2. cp ns.conf ns.conf.NS<currentreleasenumber><currentbuildnumber>

   You should backup the configuration file to another computer.

4. (Optional) If you have modified some of the following files in the /etc directory, and copied them to /nsconfig to maintain persistency, any updates that are pushed to the /etc directory during the upgrade might be lost:
   • ttys
   • resolv.conf
   • sshd_config
   • host.conf
   • newsyslog.conf
   • host.conf
   • httpd.conf
   • rc.conf
   • syslog.conf
   • crontab
   • monitrc

   To avoid losing these updates, create a /var/nsconfig_backup directory, and move the customized files to this directory. That is, move any files that you modified in /etc directory and copied to /nsconfig by running the following command:

   cp /nsconfig/<filename> /var/nsconfig_backup

   Example:

   cp /nsconfig/syslog.conf /var/nsconfig_backup

5. Create a location for the installation package. At the shell prompt type:

• cd /var/nsinstall
• mkdir <releasenumber>nsinstall
• cd <releasenumber>nsinstall
• mkdir build_<targetbuildnumber>
• cd build_<targetbuildnumber>

6. Copy the already downloaded Citrix NetScaler firmware to the directory that you created for it in step 5, by using any file transferring method such as WinSCP. See the Before You Begin section for more information about downloading the Citrix NetScaler firmware.

7. Extract the contents of the installation package. Example:

tar –xvzf build-12.0-32.2_nc_32.tgz

8. Run the installns script to install the new version of the system software. The script updates the /etc directory. Example: ./installns

9. When prompted, restart the Citrix NetScaler.

login: nsroot
Password: nsroot
Last login: Mon Apr 17 15:05:05 2018 from 10.252.243.134
Done
> save config
> shell
Last login: Mon Apr 17 15:05:05 2018 from 10.252.243.134
root@NSnnn# cd /var/nsinstall
root@NSnnn# cd 12.0nsinstall
root@NSnnn# mkdir build_41.16
root@NSnnn# cd build_41.16
root@NSnnn# ftp <FTP server IP address>
ftp> mget build-12.0-41.16_nc.tgz
ftp> bye
root@NSnnn# tar xzvf build-12.0-41.16_nc.tgz
root@NSnnn# ./installns
installns version (12.0-41.16) kernel (ns-12.0-41.16_nc.gz)
Copying ns-12.0-41.16_nc.gz to /flash/ns-12.0-41.16_nc.gz ...
...
Installation has completed.
Reboot NOW? [Y/N] Y

Troubleshooting Upgrading issues. 

I was initially having issues seeing latest update uploads, the upgrade was running through its process but wouldn’t reboot. I end up using  with upgrading the MPX then I tried the following steps.

1.  Install/Open WinSCP
2. Place Netscaler IP to connect along with credentials
3. Open the following path under NetScaler : /var/nsInstalls/ create a new folder per NS Install version/build/