This article describes how to upgrade NetScaler using Command Center.

Use Case

Richard is a Command Center (CC) admin and has many NetScaler ADC devices deployed that needs the NetScaler Firmware upgrade. He is looking for a way to be able to upgrade NetScaler without having to go to the NetScaler GUI/CLI and also upgrade multiple NetScaler ADC devices in parallel.

Background

Command Center is a manageability solution that enables administrators to monitor and manage their NetScaler deployments. It acts as an SNMP manager for the devices that are added on it for management purpose. Command Center’s Configuration module helps simplify device management and minimize configuration errors. You can make configuration changes across devices using built-in and custom tasks, replicate a device's configuration to other devices on your network as well as upgrade a device’s firmware.

To make such configuration changes on NetScaler, Command Center uses the command-line interface (CLI) and the Secure Shell (SSH), Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), and Secure Copy Protocol (SCP) protocols. You can see the execution log on Command Center provides to view the status of the tasks executed and also know the details for the success/failure of a task.

Instructions

Upgrading NetScaler via Command Center

Before you execute this built in task, it is essential that you have the Upgrade bundle ready with you. This can be downloaded from Citrix downloads page.

Configuration Steps

Example: You want to upgrade NetScalers from lower versions to 11.0 version.

Steps

Login to Command Center GUI and navigate to Configuration module -> Configuration -> Built-in Tasks. Select the NSSoftwareUpgrade Task and Click on execute.

Select the device(s) on which you want to execute the Upgrade task

Provide the necessary inputs to this Task. Mandatory input is the source file which is essentially the upgrade bundle that you have pre-downloaded from the Citrix download site.

Once you provide the input files and click on ‘Finish’, the files start getting uploaded onto CC.

Once the input files are uploaded the task execution begins.

You can check the execution status and the logs by navigating to Configuration -> execution logs

The NetScaler upgrade via. Command Center is a simple process. By following the steps given in this guide, you can upgrade all your NetScaler ADC device deployments in one go and can also keep a closer look at the execution status/logs.