There is a new and shiny NetScaler version available – version 12! 
All the news and docs are available here, and you can download the latest bits from here. But, I will not write about them now – there is something else I would like to share.
Unlike with other (minor) upgrades, upgrading to this version… well, there were some “challenges”. If you have used Citrix NetScaler before, it has its nice and simple GUI, through which you can do many things… one of them being a system upgrade.
Upgrade process by using GUI is pretty straight-forward:
- download the latest firmware from Citrix website (.tgz file)
- login to the appliance and save current configuration
- if you are using virtual appliances, you can also do a snapshot or checkpoint (depending on the virtualization platform you are using)
- go to System – System Upgrade and select the firmware file and click Upgrade
- when installation completes, reboot the appliance
- enjoy your shiny, new NetScaler 12 (upgraded in just 6 steps)!
And now about “the other way”…
As I’ve observed, upgrade option through GUI was not working (for me) in any of the major browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge or even Internet Explorer) – upload of firmware finishes and then… nothing really happens. Strange, but… it’s just my luck. No big deal!
What helped in my case:
- download the latest firmware from Citrix website (.tgz file)
- use PuTTY to establish SSH connection to your appliance
- run save config to save all the changes you have made to your existing configuration (but maybe forgot to save it before )
- if you are using virtual appliances, you can also do a snapshot or checkpoint (depending on the virtualization platform you are using)
- type in shell (to enter the shell, where we will work with files)
- create a folder for the new version (I have simply called it 12, as in /var/nsinstall/12/, where I will upload the new firmware)
- use PSCP (PuTTy Secure Copy Client), also a free command-line utility to copy firmware to the appliance, inside the newly created folder:
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pscp.exe C:\NS\build-12.0-41.16_nc_32.tgz nsroot@192.168.1.11:/var/nsinstall/12/ |
- go back to PuTTy and extract the contents of this firmware:
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tar xzvf build-12.0-41.16_nc_32.tgz |
- once extracted, run the ./installns command, which will actually do the upgrade (something that was never triggered in my GUI upgrade attempts, obviously )
- when installation completes, reboot the appliance
- enjoy your shiny, new NetScaler 12 (upgraded in just 11 steps)!
For a longer, better explained… and official version, please check the Citrix docs, available here.
Note that nothing really changes in your usual upgrade routine – those steps are just in case you have trouble with the GUI, as I did (if your GUI works normally, with your browser, use it).
Hope it helps!
Cheers!