Upgrade Firewalls When Panorama Is Internet-Connected

1. Log in to the Panorama web interface.
2. Modified your Security policy rule to allow ssl application traffic.

   This applies to firewalls upgraded from PAN-OS 10.1 to PAN-OS 11.0 using Skip Software Version upgrade only.

   This is required to prevent managed devices disconnecting from Panorama after upgrade to PAN-OS 11.0 if traffic between Panorama and managed devices is controlled using the panorama App-ID. Managed devices will disconnect from Panorama if the ssl application is not allowed before you upgrade.

   PAN-OS 11.0 uses TLS version 1.3 to encrypt the service certificate and handshake messages between Panorama and managed firewalls. As a result, the App-ID for traffic from managed firewalls to Panorama is reclassified from panorama to ssl. To continue communication between Panorama and managed devices, you must modify the Security policy rule controlling traffic between Panorama and managed devices to also allow the ssl application.

   Skip this step if the Security policy rule controlling traffic between Panorama and managed devices allows Any application or if you already modified your Security policy rule controlling traffic between Panorama and managed devices.

   1. Select PoliciesSecurityPre Rules.
   2. Select Device Group containing the Security policy rule controlling traffic between Panorama and managed firewalls.
   3. Select the Security policy rule.
   4. Select Application and Add the ssl.

      Do not delete the panorama application. This will cause all managed firewalls to disconnect from Panorama after you push the changes.

   5. Click OK.
   6. Select CommitCommit and Push and Commit and Push your configuration changes.
3. Save a backup of the current configuration file on each managed firewall you plan to upgrade.

   Although the firewall automatically creates a configuration backup, it is a best practice to create and externally store a backup before you upgrade.

   1. Select PanoramaSetupOperations and click Export Panorama and devices config bundle to generate and export the latest configuration backup of Panorama and of each managed appliance.

   2. Save the exported file to a location external to the firewall. You can use this backup to restore the configuration if you have problems with the upgrade.
4. Install the latest content update.

   Refer to the Release Notes for the minimum content release version required for PAN-OS 11.0. Make sure to follow the Best Practices for Applications and Threats Content Updates when deploying content updates to Panorama and managed firewalls.

   1. Select PanoramaDevice DeploymentDynamic Updates and Check Now for the latest updates. If an update is available, the Action column displays a Download link.

   2. Click Install and select the firewalls on which you want to install the update. If you are upgrading HA firewalls, you must update content on both peers.
   3. Click OK
5. Determine the Upgrade Path to PAN-OS 11.0.

   Review the PAN-OS Upgrade Checklist, the known issues and changes to default behavior in the Release Notes and upgrade/downgrade considerations for each release through which you pass as part of your upgrade path.

   If upgrading more than one firewall, streamline the process by determining upgrade paths for all firewalls before you start downloading images.
6. (Best Practices) If you are leveraging Cortex Data Lake (CDL), install the device certificate.

   The firewall automatically switches to using the device certificate for authentication with CDL ingestion and query endpoints on upgrade to PAN-OS 11.0.

   If you do not install the device certificate prior to upgrade to PAN-OS 11.0, the firewall continues to use the existing logging service certificates for authentication.
7. (HA firewall upgrades only) If you will be upgrading firewalls that are part of an HA pair, disable preemption. You need only disable this setting on one firewall in each HA pair.

   1. Select DeviceHigh Availability and edit the Election Settings.
   2. If enabled, disable (clear) the Preemptive setting and click OK.

   3. Commit your change. Make sure the commit is successful before you proceed with the upgrade.
8. (HA firewall upgrades only) Suspend the primary HA peer to force a failover.

   (Active/passive firewalls) For firewalls in an active/passive HA configuration, suspend and upgrade the active HA peer first.

   (Active/active firewalls) For firewalls in an active/active HA configuration, suspend and upgrade the active-primary HA peer first.

   1. Log in to the firewall web interface of active primary firewall HA peer.
   2. Select DeviceHigh AvailabilityOperational Commands and Suspend local device for high availability.

   3. In the bottom-right corner, verify that the state is suspended.

      The resulting failover should cause the secondary passive HA peer to transition to active state.

      The resulting failover verifies that HA failover is functioning properly before you upgrade.
9. (Optional) Upgrade your managed firewalls to PAN-OS 10.1.

   The skip software version upgrade feature supports managed firewalls running PAN-OS 10.1 or later releases. If your managed firewalls are on PAN-OS 10.0 or an earlier release, first upgrade to PAN-OS 10.1 or a later release.
10. (Optional) Export the file to a configured SCP server.

    In PAN-OS 11.0, SCP servers are available as a download source when deploying upgrades to managed firewalls. Export the file before downloading the software and content images in the next step.
11. Validate and download the software and content versions required for the target release.

    In this step, you’re able to both view and download the intermediate software and content images required to upgrade to PAN-OS 11.0.

    Downloading software and content images using multi-image download is optional. You can still download images one at a time.

    1. Click PanoramaDevice DeploymentSoftwareActionValidate.
    2. View the intermediate software and content versions you need to download.
    3. Select the firewalls you want to upgrade and click Deploy.
    4. Select a download source and click Download.
12. Install PAN-OS 11.0.0 on the firewalls.

    (SD-WAN only) To preserve an accurate status for your SD-WAN links, you must upgrade your hub firewalls to PAN-OS 11.0 before you upgrade your branch firewalls. Upgrading branch firewalls before hub firewalls may result in incorrect monitoring data (PanoramaSD-WANMonitoring) and for SD-WAN links to erroneously display as down.

    1. Click Install in the Action column that corresponds to the firewall models you want to upgrade. For example, if you want to upgrade your PA-220 firewalls, click Install in the row that corresponds to PanOS_220-11.0.0.
    2. In the Deploy Software file dialog, select all firewalls that you want to upgrade.

       (HA firewall upgrades only) To reduce downtime, select only one peer in each HA pair. For active/passive pairs, select the passive peer; for active/active pairs, select the active-secondary peer.
    3. (HA firewall upgrades only) Make sure Group HA Peers is not selected.
    4. Select Reboot device after install.
    5. To begin the upgrade, click OK.
    6. After the installation completes successfully, reboot using one of the following methods:

       • If you are prompted to reboot, click Yes.
       • If you are not prompted to reboot, select DeviceSetupOperations and Reboot Device.
    7. After the firewalls finish rebooting, select PanoramaManaged Devices and verify the Software Version is 11.0.0 for the firewalls you upgraded. Also verify that the HA status of any passive firewalls you upgraded is still passive.
13. (HA firewall upgrades only) Restore HA functionality to the primary HA peer.

    1. Log in to the firewall web interface of suspended primary firewall HA peer.
    2. Select DeviceHigh AvailabilityOperational Commands and Make local device functional for high availability.
    3. In the bottom-right corner, verify that the state is Passive. For firewalls in an active/active configuration, verify that the state is Active.
    4. Wait for the HA peer running configuration to synchronize.

       In the Dashboard, monitor the Running Config status in the High Availability widget.
14. (HA firewall upgrades only) Suspend the secondary HA peer to force a failover back to the primary HA peer.

    1. Log in to the firewall web interface of active secondary firewall HA peer.
    2. Select DeviceHigh AvailabilityOperational Commands and Suspend local device for high availability.
    3. In the bottom-right corner, verify that the state is suspended.

       The resulting failover should cause the primary passive HA peer to transition to active state.

       The resulting failover verifies that HA failover is functioning properly before you upgrade.
15. (HA firewall upgrades only) Upgrade the second HA peer in each HA pair.

    1. In the Panorama web interface, select PanoramaDevice DeploymentSoftware.
    2. Click Install in the Action column that corresponds to the firewall models of the HA pairs you are upgrading.
    3. In the Deploy Software file dialog, select all firewalls that you want to upgrade. This time, select only the peers of the HA firewalls you just upgraded.
    4. Make sure Group HA Peers is not selected.
    5. Select Reboot device after install.
    6. To begin the upgrade, click OK.
    7. After the installation completes successfully, reboot using one of the following methods:

       • If you are prompted to reboot, click Yes.
       • If you are not prompted to reboot, select DeviceSetupOperations and Reboot Device.
16. (HA firewall upgrades only) Restore HA functionality to the secondary HA peer.

    1. Log in to the firewall web interface of suspended secondary firewall HA peer.
    2. Select DeviceHigh AvailabilityOperational Commands and Make local device functional for high availability.
    3. In the bottom-right corner, verify that the state is Passive. For firewalls in an active/active configuration, verify that the state is Active.
    4. Wait for the HA peer running configuration to synchronize.

       In the Dashboard, monitor the Running Config status in the High Availability widget.
17. (FIPS-CC mode only) Upgrade Panorama and Managed Devices in FIPS-CC Mode.

    Upgrading a managed firewall in FIPS-CC mode requires you to reset the secure connection status if you added the Dedicated Log Collector to Panorama management while the managed firewall was running a PAN-OS 11.0 release.

    You do not need to re-onboard the managed firewall added to Panorama management while the managed firewall was running a PAN-OS 10.0 or earlier release.
18. Verify the software and content release version running on each managed firewall.

    1. On Panorama, select PanoramaManaged Devices.
    2. Locate the firewalls and review the content and software versions in the table.

       For HA firewalls, you can also verify that the HA Status of each peer is as expected.

19. (HA firewall upgrades only) If you disabled preemption on one of your HA firewalls before you upgraded, then edit the Election Settings (DeviceHigh Availability) and re-enable the Preemptive setting for that firewall and then Commit the change.
20. On the Panorama web interface, push the entire Panorama managed configuration to your managed firewalls.

    This step is required to enable selective commit and push of device group and template stack configuration changes from Panorama to your managed firewalls.

    This is required to successfully push configuration changes to multi-vsys firewalls managed by Panorama after successful upgrade to PAN-OS 11.0 from PAN-OS 10.1 or earlier release. For more information, see the change to default behavior for shared configuration objects for multi-vsys firewalls managed by Panorama.

    1. Select CommitPush to Devices.
    2. Push.
21. Regenerate or re-import all certificates to adhere to OpenSSL Security Level 2.

    On upgrade to PAN-OS 10.2 or later release, it is required that all certificates meet the following minimum requirements. Skip this step if you are upgrading from PAN-OS 10.2 and have already regenerated or re-imported your certificates.

    • RSA 2048 bits or greater, or ECDSA 256 bits or greater
    • Digest of SHA256 or greater

    See the PAN-OS Administrator's Guide or Panorama Administrator's Guide for more information on regenerating or re-importing your certificates.
22. View the software upgrade history of the firewall.

    1. Log into the Panorama interface.
    2. Go to PanoramaManaged DevicesSummary and click Device History.