Upgrade IPOffice with ease

The 4 steps to a successful implementation

By the end of this post ‘Upgrade IPOffice with ease’  you will gather the principal component to perform a successful IP Office software upgrade. Avaya publishes a new IP Office software, service pack almost every six months, and a dot release a few months after that.

Depending in the stability of the IP Office system you need to perform upgrades or software patches in order to solve known problems related to a particular version or release. We as service engineers have to keep these systems optimized by following up with Avaya Support, and visiting the IP Office Knowledgebase/Caveats. Look for any particular fix(es) related to your IP Offie software version.

These are the 4 steps to an IPO software upgrade

• 1.- Investigate and compare
• 2.- Functions and availability
• 3.- Getting ready
• 4.- Upgrade process

1.- Investigate and compare

The first step that you need take is to verify the IP Office software version, and compare it to any bugs found in the knowledgebase/caveats website. The Caveats search tool will provide the version that the bug was found, and which version was developed to fix it.

If the problem hasn’t been fixed by any of the patches available, you might want to load the latest service pack before contacting Avaya SME Tier 3.

2.- Functions and availability

IP Office Offerings – The newer IP Office software offers new features that might be beneficial for your clients, presenting the opportunity to offer patches, service packs, and software upgrades.

Some of the new features found in the IP Office 9.1 platform release is the ability of integrating with LDAP and Microsoft Active Directory, SRTP for secure voice transmission, as well as the increase of Hunt-Group, SCN VCM channels, Voicemail Pro ports capacity, and more. For a list of these features visit the knowleagebase site or see the references below.

3.- Getting Ready

You need the following apps in place for a successful upgrade=

IP Office Manager – The release must match the IP Office Manager application.

Bin Files – Avaya releases the system bin files to allow the technicians to upgrade without the need of the latest IP Office Manager application. Bin files don’t include embedded voicemail.

IP Office Light – Because the full version will take longer to download the IP Office Light is a good option, the caveat is that there is no Embedded voicemail files included. Manager, Monitor, and SSA is included.

It is important to mention that if you are running an earlier version of Manager, you won’t be able to connect to the newer IP Office Control unit. This mostly happens when a dot release is different between the Manager app and Control Unit running software.

For Server Edition upgrades are done straight from the WebManager.

Licensing – This is one of the most important component, that will allow the software to be validated and allow the system to run it.

Pre 8.1 IP Office Releases – There are various steps that you must take in order to get the IP Office software updated. For early IP Office versions, you want to upgrade them in steps. Bring the Control Units from 6 -> 7 -> 8 -> 8.1 -> 9. When using the DTE Port to upgrade the CU, you will be able to go straight to 9.1 if the PCS or memory is big enough.

Legacy equipment – IP406V2 and IP412 can be upgraded to 6.1. For the rest of the IP400 modules they can go up to the latest 9.1 following the upgrade step procedures or expanding the RAM by running the .99 bin file.

Dealing with licenses – The upgrade are available through ADI or your Avaya CAM (Channel Account Manager). These licenses can allow the system to go up to 9.1. Avaya also had another license available that will allow you to perform future upgrades by purchasing a single upgrade license with 2 through 5 upgrade instances. and they used to allow multiple future upgrades, I am not sure if Avaya still have those available. You can check with your BP or AE.

It is important to know that Avaya used to delivered the licenses via a serial/USB PC connection or connected straight to the IP400 control unit via the Serial Console connector located in the back of each CU. The IP500V1 also carries the licenses in a flash card not SD. These three type of license delivered is now obsolete and you must transfer any licenses to a new SD card.

License upgrade – Some licenses might transfer as dormant if the features are no longer supported in the new version of IP Office. Another reason is that Avaya has bundle features into a single license, eliminating the need of the single license transfer method.

PCS number is another factor to consider. SD Cards will come with different PCS numbers attached to them, as well as the IP Office Control Units and Modules. Always refer to the release notes to follow the correct steps.

4.- Upgrade Process

The IP Office gets upgraded via the SD Card File Management or the Manager application.

SD Card – When adding new hardware to an existing IP Office the SD Card will send the most recent files out to it, and force an upgrade automatically. This is one of the reasons why the SD Card needs to have the latest software loaded on it.

The IP Office Manager will be the main application use to send the files to the modules, acting as a TFTP Server, and BootP server in case L3 communication fails. The TFTP and File server address need to be specified in the IP Office CU. The IP Office Upgrade Wizard performs an IP Office system discovery and walks the system administrator through upgrading the units.

Resources

IP Office Knowledgebase/caveats

http://marketingtools.avaya.com/knowledgebase/businesspartner/caveats/index.php

9.1 IP Office Platform Feature Release

http://marketingtools.avaya.com/knowledgebase/businesspartner/index.html