HAProxy ALOHA Documentation 15.5

Firmware Updates

In this section, you will learn how to check which version of the firmware you currently have and how to download and install a newer version.

Before you update

Before continuing, perform these steps:

  • If you run two HAProxy ALOHA instances in active-standby mode, ensure that your current load balancer configuration has been pushed to the standby instance. Go to the Services tab and click the push button next to each service where it is shown.

  • When updating to version 11.0 and beyond, first update the firmware to version 10.5. That version allows you to upload larger firmware packages, up to 25MB.

  • When updating to version 14.5 and beyond, first update the firmware to the latest 13.5.x version (no lower than 13.5.16). That version raises the temporary partition to 64MB and prevents a filesystem size issue.

    Alternatively, raise the partition size to 64MB with the root mount command:

    $ root mount -o remount,size=64M /var

    Failure to increase the partition size before the update can result in errors like Request Entity Too Large or No space left on device. If such errors occur, see Firmware Update Troubleshooting.

Check your firmware version

To obtain the current version of the firmware that you have installed:

  1. In the web user interface, go to the Setup tab and find the firmware version number in the System section, where it is labeled Version.

Alternatively:

  1. Log in to the HAProxy ALOHA command-line interface.

  2. Read the file /usr/share/factory/version to see the Version.

    $ cat /usr/share/factory/version
    
    Product: aloha
    Model: albva
    Branch: 13.0
    Version: 13.0.4
    Build: 1312
    Date: 2021-05-17 08:32:31
    URL: http://www.haproxy.com/download/aloha/13.0

Download the latest firmware

Follow these steps to download the latest version of the firmware.

  1. Obtain your credentials for accessing HAProxy ALOHA downloads. You can create a new support ticket in the HAProxy Technologies Customer Portal to request your credentials.

    For virtual appliances, when updating to a new major version (for example 13.0, 14.0, 15.0), you will be given a new license key to install prior to the update. This will prevent the appliance from starting in evaluation mode. The new license will appear as invalid until you update the firmware. Licenses for hardware appliances are valid for all firmware versions.

  2. Browse to the website https://www.haproxy.com/download/aloha/15.5. Enter your credentials to access the folder.

  3. Go into the folder with the highest number and download the .bin file for your appliance model:

    appliance type

    file to download

    virtual appliance

    file with albva prefix

    hardware appliance

    file with alb<MODEL> prefix

You can update the HAProxy ALOHA firmware via user interface or the command line.

Install the firmware in the UI

If you run two HAProxy ALOHA instances in active-standby mode, then updating one at a time is preferable to avoid downtime. Start with the standby instance, then once completed switch it into active mode so that you can update the current active instance.

To update the standby instance:

  1. Go to the Setup tab, and in the Firmware section, click Browse to upload the .bin file.

  2. Click Update.

  3. Click Reboot.

  4. Promote the standby instance to be the active instance:

    1. From the Services tab, click the setup_icon Setup icon on the network service line.

    2. Update the vrrp prio number to be greater than the current primary instance's value. This will configure the VRRP group so that the system with the higher priority number will become the new primary instance, avoiding network disruptions during the firmware update process.

    3. Click OK then Close.

      The standby becomes the new active instance and handles the traffic. We recommend monitoring HAProxy ALOHA until you are confident that it is functioning correctly.

      You can still swap the active and standby back by lowering the instance's vrrp prio number to its original value. You can also revert by following the steps in the Roll back section below.

To update the other HAProxy ALOHA instance:

  1. Go to the Setup tab, and in the Firmware section, click Browse to upload the .bin file.

  2. Click Update.

  3. Click Reboot.

  4. If you are running two HAProxy ALOHA instances, you can change the original standby instance to be on standby again:

    1. On the standby instance, go to the Services tab, click the setup_icon Setup icon on the network service line.

    2. Lower the vrrp prio number to the value before the update.

    3. Click OK then Close.

Install the firmware in the CLI

If you run two HAProxy ALOHA instances in active-standby mode, then updating one at a time is preferable to avoid downtime. Start with the standby instance, then once completed switch it into active mode so that you can update the current active instance.

  1. Once you have downloaded the updated firmware as outlined above, copy it to /tmp using scp:

    $ scp firmware-file.bin admin@ALOHA_IP:/tmp
  2. Type sudo su to complete the steps as root user:

    $ admin@ALOHA1:~$ sudo su
  3. In the file /etc/config.rc update the vrrp prio number to be greater than the current primary instance's value. For example:

    service network eth0
       ######### Interface eth0
       ip autoconfig
       ip address 192.168.0.200/255.255.255.0
       ip route default 192.168.0.1
       vrrp inst default prio 100
  4. Apply changes:

    $ bash-3.00# service network restart
  5. Install the firmware using update-boot-image; replace firmware-file.bin with the name of the file:

    $ bash-3.00# update-boot-image /tmp/firmware-file.bin
  6. Ensure the changes are saved:

    $ bash-3.00# config save
  7. The standby becomes the new active instance and handles the traffic. We recommend monitoring HAProxy ALOHA until you are confident that it is functioning correctly. You can still swap the active and standby back by lowering the instance's vrrp prio number to its original value.

  8. To update the other (now standby) instance, repeat the same steps.

  9. Once done, you can change the original standby instance to be on standby again by editing the /etc/config.rc file and lowering the vrrp prio number to the value before the update.

Update additional modules

If you previously installed any additional modules, then you should update them too to be compatible with version 15.5 of the firmware. Module updates may also contain new features and bug fixes.

Follow these links to find instructions for updating each of the modules:

Module

Data Plane API (Management package)

Web Application Firewall (Security package)

Roll back an update

By default, HAProxy ALOHA stores two firmware images:

  • the current running firmware

  • the firmware that was running before the last update

Follow these steps to revert to the firmware that was running before the last update:

  1. On the Setup tab, scroll down to the Firmware area.

  2. Look for the Next boot image field. The box checked indicates the currently running firmware.

  3. Check the other box pointing to the old image.

  4. Click Update.

  5. Click Reboot.


Next up

Additional Modules Partition