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Upgrading from Pre-4.3 NorthStar with Analytics

The special upgrade procedure described in this topic is only necessary if you use NorthStar Analytics and you are upgrading NorthStar from a version of NorthStar earlier than Release 4.3. In all other cases, you can install NorthStar using the procedure described in Installing the NorthStar Controller.

This procedure involves uninstalling and reinstalling NorthStar analytics in addition to upgrading the NorthStar application, and is a little different depending on whether you have analytics installed on the same server as the NorthStar application or not.

Export Existing Data from the NorthStar Application Server (Recommended)

This procedure involves running a utility called es_export_import_util.py on the NorthStar application server to export and save your existing data prior to upgrade.

The utility exports data to a file called exportdata.tar.Z in the /opt/northstar/northstar_bundle_x.x.x/db_migration directory. Ensure that this directory has available space equivalent to at least 10% the size of your Elasticsearch database. For example, a 10GB Elasticsearch database would require 1GB in the /opt/northstar/northstar_bundle_x.x.x/db_migration directory. When you begin this procedure, the script will tell you how much memory is required and give you the option to stop the procedure if you do not have enough space to continue.

The amount of time required for the export utility to complete depends on the number of export days and Elasticsearch cache memory/CPU cores you have. You can use the utility’s -l option to reduce the number of export days.

You can use the following command to see the utility’s full set of supported export options:

To export and save your existing data, use the following procedure:

  1. Log in to the NorthStar application server.
  2. Navigate to the db_migration directory:
  3. Launch the export utility and type yes to continue if you agree with the setup information provided. An example follows:

Upgrade Procedure with NorthStar Application and NorthStar Analytics on the Same Server

Use the following procedure:

  1. Download the NorthStar software and untar the NorthStar_Bundle. See Installing the NorthStar Controller.
  2. Navigate to the NorthStar directory:
  3. Uninstall analytics:
  4. Upgrade the NorthStar application:
  5. Reinstall NorthStar analytics:

Upgrade Procedure with NorthStar Application and NorthStar Analytics on Separate Servers

Use the following procedure:

  1. Download the NorthStar software and untar the NorthStar_Bundle. See Installing the NorthStar Controller.
  2. On the NorthStar application server, navigate to the NorthStar directory and upgrade the NorthStar application:
  3. On each analytics server, uninstall and reinstall NorthStar analytics:
  4. On the NorthStar application server, prepare and redeploy HA analytics data collector settings:

    Select G (Analytics Data Collector Setting) from the main menu, and then B (Prepare and Deploy HA Analytics Data Collector Setting) from the Analytics Data Collector Configuration Settings menu. See Installing Data Collectors for Analytics for more information.

  5. On the NorthStar application server, ensure that analytics data collector connectivity is UP. From the net_setup.py utility main menu, select G (Analytics Data Collector Setting), and then select 9 (Test Analytics Data Collector Connectivity) from the Analytics Data Collector Configuration Settings menu.

Update the Netflow Aggregation Setting

The netflowd process analyzes traffic from the router and displays it in the Demands tab in the network information table. By default, Netflow aggregates traffic by PE, but for some applications (such as EPE), you would want the traffic aggregated by prefix. The Netflow aggregate by prefix setting controls how traffic is aggregated. If the parameter is enabled, Netflow aggregates all traffic from a specific ingress PE router to a specific destination (prefix) within the defined period of time.

Between NorthStar Controller Releases 4.2.0 and 4.3.0, the possible values for the Netflow aggregate_by_prefix parameter changed. If you are upgrading from Release 4.2.0 or earlier, you must modify the setting to reflect a valid value for your post-4.2.0 release. See Table 1

Table 1: Netflow Aggregate by Prefix Values by NorthStar Release

NorthStar Releases Earlier than 4.2.0

NorthStar Releases 4.3.0 and Later

Netflow aggregate by prefix possible values

  • 0 = aggregation by prefix is disabled (this is the default)

  • 1 = aggregation by prefix is enabled

Note:

NorthStar Releases 4.2.0 and earlier: netflow_aggregate_by_prefix parameter maintained in the northstar.cfg file.

  • always = aggregation by prefix is enabled

  • disable = aggregation by prefix is disabled

  • unknown-destination = aggregation by prefix is enabled even though the flow is missing a BGP next hop (BGP_NH) or has a BGP_NH of 0.0.0.0

Note:

NorthStar Releases 4.3.0 through 6.0.0: modify the netflow_aggregate_by_prefix parameter in the /opt/northstar/data/northstar.cfg file.

NorthStar Releases 6.1.0 and later: modify the aggregate-by-prefix setting using the NorthStar CLI set northstar analytics netflowd aggregate-by-prefix command.

Import Existing Data (Recommended)

In this procedure, you run the es_export_import_util.py utility again on the NorthStar application server to import the data you previously exported and saved.

  1. Log in to the NorthStar application server.
  2. Navigate to the db_migration directory:
  3. Launch the import utility:

Related Documentation