IP Fabric 7.5 Upgrade FAQ
1) General
Q: What’s new in 7.5?
A: IP Fabric 7.5 replaces the ArangoDB backend with PostgreSQL to unlock future scalability, performance, and feature enhancements.
Q: Do we have to upgrade immediately?
A: No. Version 7.3 is maintained until end of March 2026. During this period you’ll continue receiving parsing/mapping fixes and Debian security updates; end‑to‑end path lookup fixes are limited. Upgrade‑process issues and improvements found during 7.3 → 7.5 transitions will be fixed on 7.3 as needed.
2) Pre‑upgrade Readiness
Q: How do we verify our system is ready for 7.5?
A: Run the built‑in pre‑upgrade checker (sudo ipf-checker -d -s). From version 7.3.22 checker contains recommended IOPS values and, from 7.3.23, it runs automatically on every upgrade attempt to version 7.5 and halts the upgrade if any test fails.
Q: What if the pre‑upgrade check fails?
A: Share the sudo ipf-checker -d -s results with your IP Fabric Account Team or Support. They’ll advise on remediation. There exists a bypass, but will be provided only after careful evaluation.
3) Hardware & Storage (IOPS) Requirements
Q: Why did the hardware profile change?
A: ArangoDB is memory‑intensive, while PostgreSQL relies on disk performance (IOPS/latency/throughput). Expect to move to faster storage and adjust CPU/RAM/disk sizing. Use directly attached NVMe/SSD for the VM (avoid network‑attached storage).
Q: Any storage/VM best practices?
A: Use directly attached NVMe (not network‑attached), ensure correct VM drivers.
Q: What are the minimum ipf‑checker baselines?
A: See Minimal IOPS Requirements
Q: What are the recommended ipf‑checker baselines?
A: See Recommended IOPS Requirements.
Q: Do you have example sizing guidance?
A: Example can be found in Hardware Requirements section.
4) Migration Paths
Q: Can we upgrade the existing production instance in place?
A: Yes – if it meets minimum hardware and passes all ipf‑checker tests. Even then, IP Fabric recommends building a new instance (or cloning production instance) on recommended hardware for performance and easier rollback.
Q: How do we stand up a new 7.5 instance?
A: Install the OVA/VMDK/QCOW2 image, run IPF CLI Config, access user interface and install license, then run sudo ipf-checker -d -s to validate disk performance. Share results with your IP Fabric Account/Support team if needed.
Q: How should be the new 7.5 instance licensed?
A: If you are building a new 7.5 instance that you intend to eventually migrate to, you can temporarily use the same license that is currently deployed on the production instance. However, if you intend to build a new instance to serve as a staging or testing environment, please contact your IP Fabric representative to obtain a new complimentary testing instance license.
5) Settings & Snapshot Migration
Q: How do we migrate settings?
A: Use the official configuration export on 7.3.23 and import it on 7.5. Note that not everything is included in the export, see details below.
Q: What isn’t included in configuration export/import?
A: Since version 7.3.23, the export feature includes Settings, Intent Checks, Dashboards & Widgets, Discovery history, Manual links, Saved filters, Saved views/graph positions, Path lookup checks and path lookup advanced options. We strongly recommend using the export feature from version 7.3.23.
Not included: SSO configuration, Configuration Management (saved config files).
Q: How do we move SSO settings?
A: They live in /etc/ipf-dex.yaml and /opt/ipf-api/conf.d/api.json, or re‑run ipf‑sso‑setup‑helper on the new instance. For more information, see Single Sign-On. Ensure that IP Fabric SSL certificates are set correct.
Q: Can Configuration Management be migrated?
A: Not easily – it relies on both files on disk and database content. The simplest path is to migrate the current VM to better hardware and then upgrade it.
Q: How do we migrate snapshots?
A: Because snapshot information need to be present in database as well as on the disk, simply copying snapshot files via cp/scp from 7.3 to 7.5 instance will not work.
- On 7.3: open each snapshot and Download Snapshot (one by one).
- On 7.5: use Load snapshot from file and upload each file (one by one).
At present, multiple selection/download isn’t available.
Q: How do we validate after migration?
A: After settings/snapshots are moved, run an initial Discovery on the new instance. Adjust discovery times between old and new to avoid over‑utilizing your production network. Run both for a few days to confirm parity before deleting previous 7.3 instance.
Q: How should we run discovery during the transition?
A: Run old and new instances in parallel for a few days; adjust discovery times so discovery does not run at the same time. Decommission 7.3 after validating parity.
6) Performance Expectations
Q: Is discovery slower on 7.5?
A: Generally no. The first discovery after a VM restart can be up to ~100% slower if IOPS are low – meeting the recommended (not minimal) baseline IOPS should avoid this.
Q: Why does snapshot time increase with more loaded snapshots?
A: With more loaded snapshots, post‑discovery calculations time increases by approximately ~10% per snapshot. For example, with 5 loaded snapshots, post‑discovery calculations time may increased by ~30-50%. We are actively working on mitigating this slowness.
Q: Any slower API endpoints we should be aware of?
A: For the majority of commonly used endpoints, we have optimized their performance. We are currently working on optimizing the performance of other endpoints. Please actively report any endpoints that exhibit slow performance, and we will promptly address and improve their performance.