Migration Guide for LoadMasters

This is a guide for migrating from an old LoadMaster(s) to a new LoadMaster(s). This can be used for Hardware to Hardware, Hardware to Virtual, Virtual to Hardware or Virtual to Virtual migrations.

Product: LoadMaster

Version: Any

Platform: Any

Application: Any

How to migrate the configuration from an old LoadMaster(s) to a new LoadMaster(s)?

The steps to replace an old LoadMaster configuration with a new LoadMaster are as follows:
 
Note: We recommend performing any type of migration during a scheduled maintenance period as downtime is required in most cases. Please take note of any differences between your current LoadMaster and the new LoadMaster such as platform (hardware or virtual), model, number of network ports/interfaces, firmware version differences etc before the migration as this may lead to a change of functionality post-migration.
 
1. Take a Configuration/SSL Certificate backup of your current VLMs. Steps on how to perform a backup/restore can be found here.
 
2. Proceed to power down the old LoadMaster(s).
 
3. Configure the new LoadMaster(s) with the same IP addresses as the old LoadMasters, and proceed to license them.
 
4. If relevant, proceed to pair your new LoadMasters in High Availability mode (HA mode). Our documentation regarding configuring HA can be found here. See Note 3 below.
 
5. Now restore the configuration backup and SSL certificate backup taken from the old LoadMaster(s) to the new LoadMaster(s). For HA setups, the backup can be restored via the Shared IP address.
 
6. When performing the configuration restore, choose VS Configuration. GEO and ESP SSO Configuration can be selected also if applicable. The Base configuration could be restored also to ensure the same full configuration from the old LoadMaster(s) is migrated to the new LoadMaster(s). A reboot is required for a Base Configuration restore. Please see notes 1 and 2 below.

1. If the new LoadMaster has fewer network interface ports than the current old LoadMaster, a Base configuration restore is not possible. Any configuration usually restored from the Base will have to be manually migrated/configured.
2. If Access Control Lists (ACL) are configured on any Virtual Service or globally, a Base Configuration restore would be needed also in step 6 above. The Base Configuration will restore all IP addresses, network configuration, HA parameters (if applicable) and any global configurations.
3. For HA setups, the Base Configuration could be restored during step 4 above to assist with creating HA and to ensure the correct HA parameters are migrated.
4. For more information on the limits of backups, please see this document.