Upgrade CUCM 9.1 to 10.5 – Procedure (No Prime Collaboration Deployment)

So with the introduction of Cisco Prime Collaboration Deployment, now upgrade any of your UC applications its easier and quicker than before. One of the big advantages that I see with this new product is that the product can have control of the overall infrastructure, starting from VMware all the way to the UC applications.

For a better understanding of this product you can use the following link: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/pcdadmin/10_0_1/CUCM_BK_U9C58CB1_00_pcd-administration-guide-1001.html – The previous is the one for version 10.x – I don’t see too many changes from version to version.

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Upgrading CUCM 9.1 to 10.5 – As one of my previous articles explains there are few things that you need to keep in mind in case you run into those issues, the main ones I had were:

ISSUE 1 – The /common folder did not have enough space and the upgrade was not completing – I added a COP file to CUCM for this one, which did not fix my issue. In order to have access to this one use the following link, make sure you take a look at the ReadMe:

ciscocm.free_common_space_v1.1.cop.sgn – VMware Disk Size Reallocation COP file: This COP file allows UCM VMs to increase the size of their vDisk(s) without requiring a system rebuild. http://software.cisco.com/download/release.html?mdfid=285963825&flowid=50402&softwareid=282204704&release=COP-Files&relind=AVAILABLE&rellifecycle=&reltype=latest

ISSUE 2 – I kept having the same space issue so I noticed that there was another alternative a bit more risky but it was what helped me fix the issue. Here is the link to that one:

ciscocm.vmware-disk-size-reallocation-1.0.cop.sgn – UCM VM Dynamic Disk Size Reallocation COP File. http://software.cisco.com/download/release.html?mdfid=284603137&flowid=47762&softwareid=282204704&release=COP-Files&relind=AVAILABLE&rellifecycle=&reltype=latest

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Note that they are not the same. Well enough with the issues, let’s talk about the process and few recommendations:

The Planning – There are few consideration that you have to make before you start any upgrade:

Having a good DRS back up, this one is a MUST

Upgrade phones in advance, maybe like a previous maintenance window? – I use to do this one migrating from MCS to UCS, it what quite nice because the phones would start in no time at the end of the process, right now it will help depending on the number of CUCM instances and the number of phones in your cluster.

A back out plan – Its very unlikely that will run into this one but its always good to have a plan B, my recommendations, maybe Clon your VM? – Maybe create a Snapshot? – although none of these practices are completely supported on CUCM (IU have never had an issue with them but I have only used them in my lab).

Download your files – You will need the bootable media from Cisco **CCO login required, go to the Cisco PUT (Product Upgrade Tool) and by using your ESW and UCSS contracts order the upgrade. Also you will need this new COP file, make sure you upload this one before the upgrade:

Ciscocm.version3-keys.cop.sgn – http://software.cisco.com/download/release.html?mdfid=285963825&flowid=50402&softwareid=282204704&release=COP-Files&relind=AVAILABLE&rellifecycle=&reltype=latest

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Start the Upgrade – Either if you are a CLI or a GUI type of person, you can use both:

CLI (High Level) – Connecting via SSH start the upgrade utils system upgrade initiate – you will be presented with few more options on how you want to access the ISO or COP files, I always like to upload my files to VMware and then make available to the Guest OS. Process is very self-explanatory from there.

GUI (High Level) – Using the web portion, go to OS Administration – and go to Software and Upgrades – select Local CD or SFTP.

The advantage of doing it with CLI is that you can start logging of the console and then use for any troubleshooting later. In case you have done 2 or more of these, you will end up liking it.

A coffee cup, and a couple of hours break! – after you have completed uploading the file and your upgrade has started you can take a well deserved break.

About the Author:

Andres Sarmiento, CCIE # 53520 (Collaboration)
With more than 13 years of experience, Andres is specialized in the Unified Communications and Collaboration technologies. Consulted for several companies in South Florida, also Financial Institutions on behalf of Cisco Systems. Andres has been involved in high-profile implementations including Cisco technologies; such as Data Center, UC & Collaboration, Contact Center Express, Routing & Switching, Security and Hosted IPT Service provider infrastructures.

You can follow Andres using Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook

9 thoughts on “Upgrade CUCM 9.1 to 10.5 – Procedure (No Prime Collaboration Deployment)”

  1. Hi Andre,

    Howe are you?
    I have a question, i am preparing to upgrade cucm v.9.1 to 10.5.2 for a big customer i am a little bit lost nowe could you help me out please?

    I have downloaded the necessary ISO’s ( CUCM/CUC and IMP)
    I also have CUC and IMP based on version 9.1 and they need to upgrade also to version 10.5.2 right?

    I have downloaded 2 cop files:

    1•Ciscocm.version3-keys.cop.sgn ( recommended before you upgrade)
    Do i need to install this COP file on all the servers ( CUCM/CUC/IMP) before upgrade everything?
    2.Ciscocm.free_common_space_v1.1.cop.sgn ( VMware Disk Size Reallocation COP file: This COP file allows UCM VMs to increase the size of their vDisk(s) without requiring a system rebuild
    ( Is this COP file a mandatory?)

    last question:

    What about my current phones? do i need to upgrade them as well?

    Any help would be very appreciated!

    kind regards,
    Mohamed

    1. Hi Mohamed,
      I hope you are well too, thanks for asking!!
      – You will always need the COP with the 3-Keys on all the servers, if I recall this correctly is based on some vulnerabilities that CUCM had with SSL certificates. Here is a quick document that explains why you need it http://www.cisco.com/web/software/282204704/18582/RSA3ver4.pdf
      – For the common space COP and the VMWare resizer they are not mandatory, unless you are running into issues while upgrading the server. Also those are based on the initial OVA template that was used at the installation of 9.1.
      Using the common space COP, has caveats, which you may want to consider before you apply it. And by that I’m referring to this message “A warning message will be displayed to notify you that the inactive version is deleted and that you will not be allowed to switch back to the inactive version” –
      What I recommend:
      – Create a full system backup of your CUCM environment
      – Make sure your CUCM environment has been backed up on VMWare (Although this is not 100% supported by Cisco, it just works, if you have a clean CLON or snapshot when the machine is completely off you will be good to go) – Don’t take snapshots while the system is powered ON – it will introduce so many issues to your day, trust me I have been there.

      Other than that the upgrade is pretty smooth, I do recommend that after you switch versions you restart the Publisher first and then the subscribers one by one. This will help in case you have issues with replication.

      1. Hi Andres, Thanks for your quick reply! Good to know! I’ll keep this in mind. I’ve already downloaded the necessasry ISO’s and i am preparing the whole bunch for upgrading. I will first start on the CUCM backup already is scheduledupload the COP files.upload the ISO’s ( first publisher, then subscriber)after the upgrade / restart PUB- SUB CUC The same procedure IMP The same procedure Correct me if i am wrong:-) Anyway appreciate your help! Thanks Kind regards, Mohamed Enassiri Date: Tue, 17 Nov 2015 01:45:35 +0000 To: m_enassiri@hotmail.com

        1. That will be right Mohamed, also as the last recommendation, try to upgrade the firmware on the phones prior to the platform upgrade, it will save you time when doing the cut-over. That is not a big deal but will help.
          With IMP there are special considerations as the IMP is now part of the CUCM cluster just like a Subscriber is. But the upgrade is supposed to take care of that. Make sure you read the whitepapers and recommendations on the IMP server.
          Thank you for stopping by!!
          Andres

          1. Hi Andres,

            Thanks for the update, i’ll keep this in mind regarding the firmware update they have many different type of phones.
            So good to know.

  2. Pedro Reforço

    Hi,
    Hope everyone’s well…
    I’ve got an issue about this…I’m getting this error in the file “Name does not match any filter pattern”, I’ve done the installation of the cop file, the backup (snapshot) with the server down.

    Upgrading from 10.5.1.x to 10.5.2.x

    Any thoughts ?
    Best Regards
    Pedro Reforço

      1. Pedro Reforço

        Hi!
        Just got this issue solved, I was trying to install the wrong .iso… switched .iso and it’s allready installing 🙂

        thanks

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