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Update VeloCloud Orchestrator with the vendor-supported image workflow, after confirming the release path, VM capacity, firewall rules, backups, and whether the deployment is standalone or an active/standby disaster-recovery pair. For a standalone appliance, place vco_update.tar in /var/lib/velocloud/software_update/vco_update.tar and run sudo /opt/vc/bin/vco_software_update. The process reboots the appliance; the documented image upgrade from 5.4.0 to 6.0.0 has no rollback and requires complete storage backups. Secure the result with named least-privilege accounts, two-factor authentication where supported, managed certificates, restricted management access, correct browser-origin settings, audit logging, and a deliberate FIPS decision. VMware VeloCloud is now covered in Arista Networks’ VeloCloud SD-WAN documentation, so use the guide and release notes for your exact target version.
What should you confirm before updating VeloCloud Orchestrator?
Start with a change record that identifies the running release, target release, deployment topology, hypervisor, replication state, maintenance window, and support contact. The procedure, prerequisites and recovery options differ substantially between a standalone Orchestrator and an active/standby disaster-recovery (DR) pair. Do not treat a command shown for a standalone appliance as a DR upgrade plan.
- Running and target versions: record the complete version strings, not just the major number, and read the release-specific deployment guide and release notes.
- Topology: document whether one appliance runs independently or two appliances replicate as active and standby.
- Virtualization details: record the hypervisor, VM names, datastore locations, snapshots, and virtual network mappings.
- Replication state: for DR, verify that replication is healthy before scheduling an upgrade; an already degraded pair should be repaired first.
- Support entitlement: keep your support contact available, particularly for a major image conversion, a compliance-mode change, or an upgrade that cannot be rolled back.
Use a maintenance window that covers the upload, pre-checks, reboot, service recovery, validation, and a controlled return of administrative changes. Notify teams that depend on Orchestrator APIs, monitoring, diagnostics, certificate services, and edge or gateway management.
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The Arista VeloCloud SD-WAN 6.4 Deployment and Monitoring Guide (2026) specifies the following minimum profile. Treat these as upgrade-readiness requirements, not optional performance tuning.
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| Resource | Minimum documented value | Readiness check |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 8 Intel vCPUs at 2.5 GHz or higher | Confirm the host can provide the required clock rate without sustained CPU contention. |
| Memory | 64 GB RAM | Check the VM allocation and host reservation or policy that could reduce available memory. |
| Storage performance | 5,000 IOPS | Verify the datastore and storage policy can sustain the requirement during upgrade and normal operation. |
| Persistent volumes | Four SSD-backed volumes: 192 GB root, 1 TB store, 500 GB store2, and 1 TB store3 | Confirm each volume is persistent, attached to the intended VM, and included in backup scope. |
| Network | 1 Gbps NIC | Check virtual switch, port group, and uplink capacity. |
| Guest compatibility | Ubuntu x64 compatibility | Validate the supported guest and hypervisor combination for the target release. |
| Addressing | Public IP directly or through NAT | Document the public address, NAT mapping, DNS, and certificate names. |
Measure free space on every relevant volume, not only the root filesystem. The documented 5.4.0-to-6.0.0 image path requires at least 30 GB of free disk space and complete backups of /store, /store2, and /store3.
Which firewall and connectivity rules are needed?
The upstream firewall must allow inbound TCP 80 (HTTP) and TCP 443 (HTTPS) to the Orchestrator, with the required translation if the appliance is behind NAT. Established outbound connections must also be permitted so the appliance can complete upgrade operations and receive security updates.
- Limit inbound management sources to approved administrator, automation, monitoring, and support networks instead of exposing the service broadly.
- Check that NAT preserves the public address and ports expected by the Orchestrator and by users accessing the portal.
- Confirm DNS resolves the public name to the intended address from administrator networks and from any integrated service.
- Test outbound connectivity through the production firewall policy, including the path used for update retrieval and certificate validation.
- Capture the firewall change and its rollback before starting the maintenance window.
Do not close the documented HTTP or HTTPS requirements merely because administrators normally use HTTPS. HTTP may be required for the platform’s operational workflow; enforce redirects or compensating controls only when the release guide and your deployment design explicitly support them.
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Do I need a backup before upgrading VeloCloud Orchestrator?
Yes. Take a recoverable configuration backup and full backups of the persistent storage volumes before changing software. For the image-based 5.4.0-to-6.0.0 path, unsupported binaries may be removed, a system reboot is mandatory, rollback is unavailable after a successful upgrade, and the complete /store, /store2, and /store3 contents are required for recovery.
What to preserve
- Orchestrator configuration, tenant and operator data, certificates, private keys, license information, and integration settings.
- Full images or volume-level backups of the root, store, store2 and store3 volumes, with enough retention to restore the pre-upgrade state.
- Hypervisor metadata, VM hardware settings, network mappings, NAT rules and DNS records.
- Current replication configuration and the last known healthy replication timestamp for a DR pair.
- Exports of important alarms, dashboards, API clients and automation definitions so they can be compared after the upgrade.
How to prove a backup is usable
- Record backup completion, timestamps, volume names and storage location in the change record.
- Verify that the backup can be read from a separate administrative context; a job marked successful is not proof that all volumes are restorable.
- Check that private keys and encrypted configuration data were included and remain protected.
- Document the restore owner, sequence and estimated time before beginning the upgrade.
Do not rely on a hypervisor snapshot as the only safeguard for a major image conversion. A snapshot can be unsuitable for replicated systems, may not capture external backup dependencies, and does not replace the documented volume backup requirement.
How do I update a standalone VeloCloud Orchestrator?
Use the supported image and command for the target release. The following sequence is the documented standalone workflow; confirm that your release guide uses the same artifact and path before execution.
- Complete the pre-checks. Confirm version, VM resources, firewall rules, free disk space, backup status, DNS, certificates and service health. Stop unrelated configuration changes.
- Obtain the supported image. Use the release package supplied through your authorized support channel. Do not substitute an image from another release or alter its contents.
- Upload the artifact. Copy the file named
vco_update.tarto/var/lib/velocloud/software_update/vco_update.tar. - Run the updater. From an administrative shell, execute
sudo /opt/vc/bin/vco_software_update. Monitor the command output and record errors rather than repeatedly rerunning it. - Allow the reboot. The upgrade process requires a mandatory system-level reboot. Do not power-cycle the VM or interrupt storage while the updater is working.
- Wait for service recovery. Allow the operating system, Orchestrator services, databases and integrations to initialize before attempting configuration changes.
- Validate and document. Check the reported version, service health, edge and gateway connectivity, alarms, certificates, monitoring and any external integrations.
An image upgrade can remove binaries that are not supported by the target release. Treat the operation as a conversion with a planned outage, not as a reversible package install. After a successful upgrade, the documented process does not support rolling back to the previous release; recovery therefore means restoring the pre-change backup or following an approved support-led recovery plan.
How is an active/standby DR upgrade different?
A replicated pair requires the guide’s active/standby sequence and controlled failover. Replication changes the order of operations, the node that serves traffic, and the checks needed before and after each step.
| Decision point | Standalone appliance | Active/standby DR pair |
|---|---|---|
| Upgrade command | Use the supported image and vco_software_update workflow. |
Use the release-specific DR procedure; do not improvise a one-node sequence. |
| Service continuity | Expect an outage during reboot and service recovery. | Follow the prescribed active/standby handoff and failover order; continuity depends on healthy replication and tested procedures. |
| Pre-check | Validate local services, storage and backups. | Validate replication health, roles, peer reachability and failover readiness in addition to local checks. |
| Recovery planning | Restore the appliance and volumes if the upgrade fails. | Preserve both nodes’ state and follow the vendor’s recovery and re-synchronization instructions. |
| Change control | One VM and one maintenance sequence. | Two coordinated node changes, role transitions and explicit confirmation before returning to normal operation. |
DR safeguards
- Confirm the standby is current and can assume service before touching the active node.
- Record which node is active, which is standby and which public address clients use.
- Follow the documented failover order; an unscheduled role switch can create split-brain or stale data.
- After each node is upgraded, verify replication catches up before proceeding to the next transition.
- Run a controlled failover test after both nodes report healthy, then return roles according to the operating procedure.
What should I verify after the reboot?
Post-upgrade validation should prove both software correctness and operational reachability before normal changes resume.
- Sign in through the approved administrative path and confirm the exact Orchestrator version shown by the system.
- Check that all expected services are running and that database, CPU, memory, disk and I/O health are normal.
- Confirm edge and gateway connectivity, tunnel status, control-plane alarms and event processing.
- Verify the active/standby role and replication state, if DR is configured; investigate any lag or resynchronization warning.
- Check certificate validity, chain presentation, private-key association and expiration alerts.
- Test browser access, API authentication, automation clients, monitoring, remote diagnostics and WebSocket-based functions.
- Review system and audit logs for upgrade errors, denied processes, failed logins, storage faults and certificate warnings.
- Make a small, reversible configuration change only after the preceding checks pass, then verify that the change propagates as expected.
Keep the old backup, command output, screenshots, health reports and validation results with the change record. These records make a later incident or support escalation substantially faster.
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How do I secure VeloCloud Orchestrator after updating it?
Security is a set of controls rather than a single setting. Apply identity, transport, browser-origin, network, cryptographic, audit and resilience controls in that order, testing each change through the administrative path you actually use.
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- Create a named account for every operator; avoid shared administrator credentials.
- Assign the least privilege needed for each job and separate security administration from routine operations.
- Enable two-factor authentication where the supported release and identity integration provide it.
- Enable login lockout and set the failed-attempt behavior using the documented
operator.user.lockout.enabledproperty and associated settings. - Review dormant accounts, API clients, tokens and service credentials on a scheduled basis.
- Use a controlled break-glass account with monitored access and a tested recovery procedure.
How should certificates and TLS be managed?
Replace self-signed certificates with a certificate chain issued and managed according to your organization’s policy. For on-premises Orchestrators, the guide supports integration with an external certificate authority. Keep the private key under organizational control, protect it during import and backup, and make renewal ownership explicit.
- Use names that match the public portal address and any documented alternate address.
- Install the complete required chain, not only the leaf certificate.
- Test administrator browsers, API clients, monitoring agents and automation after renewal.
- Set expiration monitoring well before the certificate’s end date.
Why does the public address matter for browser security?
Set network.public.address to the address users and integrated services actually use. VeloCloud uses browser-origin validation for WebSocket-based remote diagnostics; when an alternate portal address exists, configure it explicitly as the guide requires. A mismatch can appear as a failed diagnostic session even though ordinary portal pages load.
How should management exposure be restricted?
Use firewalls, security groups and administrative jump hosts to restrict management access to required sources. Retain inbound TCP 80 and 443 and established outbound connectivity needed for operation and updates, but remove unnecessary Internet exposure, broad source ranges and unused administrative paths. Re-test from an approved network after every policy change.
Should I enable FIPS mode?
Choose non-FIPS, compliant or strict mode based on the cryptographic policy that applies to the deployment, not as a generic hardening toggle. FIPS mode enables approved cryptography and an application security system with allowlisted core applications, denied processes and audit logging.
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What changes when FIPS is enabled?
- The appliance may reboot while the mode is enabled.
- Cryptographic material can be rekeyed, affecting certificates, keys and integrations that depend on them.
- The application security system controls which core applications are allowed to run and records relevant events.
- Compatibility must be checked for API clients, certificates, remote access, automation and monitoring before production activation.
Strict mode limits regular security updates to non-cryptographic packages. That restriction can affect patch timing and compliance operations, so decide the mode before production where possible, obtain an approved maintenance window, and test the complete integration set in a representative environment.
How do I configure warnings and audit logging?
Configure a security administrator warning banner with login.warning.banner.message if your policy requires a notice before login. The message should identify authorized use and monitoring without exposing sensitive architecture or credentials.
Retain and forward relevant audit and system logs to a protected logging platform when available. In FIPS mode, audit logging is associated with the application security policy and can be managed through aa-logprof. Set retention, time synchronization, access permissions and alert ownership so logs remain useful during an investigation rather than merely being collected.
- Alert on repeated failed logins, lockouts, privilege changes, certificate changes and unexpected process denials.
- Protect logs from alteration by ordinary Orchestrator operators.
- Correlate Orchestrator events with firewall, hypervisor, identity-provider and backup records.
- Review logs after upgrades, failovers, FIPS changes and certificate renewals.
How should I build resilience and disaster recovery?
Maintain active/standby replication where the service-level objective requires it, schedule backups, monitor resource and database health, and keep a written restore procedure. Replication is not a substitute for backups: corruption or an administrative error can be copied to both nodes.
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- Test failover on a schedule and after major version changes.
- Measure replication lag and alert before the standby becomes unusable.
- Back up configuration and all required persistent volumes with defined retention.
- Monitor CPU, memory, disk capacity, IOPS, database health, service state and certificate expiry.
- Document who can declare a failover, who performs it and who validates the result.
- Exercise restoration on isolated infrastructure so the team knows the actual recovery time.
The platform documentation also records a service limit of 25,000 Google Maps loads per day for more than 90 consecutive days. Treat that figure as an operational limit for the documented service, not as a capacity benchmark for every Orchestrator function; monitor usage if map rendering is part of your deployment.
What commonly goes wrong during an update?
The updater refuses to start
Check the artifact name, exact destination path, file integrity, permissions, free disk space, running version and target support path. Confirm that the VM meets the documented CPU, memory, storage and network profile before escalating with command output.
The appliance reboots but services do not return
Do not repeatedly power-cycle it. Check the hypervisor console, volume attachment, filesystem health, service logs, DNS, firewall reachability and certificate configuration; then use the documented recovery process or support channel.
Users can load the portal but remote diagnostics fail
Check network.public.address, alternate portal settings, NAT, browser-origin expectations and WebSocket handling through intermediate firewalls. A successful page load does not prove that the diagnostic WebSocket path is correctly published.
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Stop further role transitions, identify the active node, preserve logs and confirm peer reachability, time synchronization and storage health. Follow the release-specific re-synchronization and failover procedure rather than applying standalone commands to either node.
FIPS activation breaks an integration
Review cryptographic algorithm support, certificate chains, key sizes, client libraries and denied-process events. Restore service using the approved mode-change or recovery procedure; do not weaken firewall or identity controls to mask a cryptographic incompatibility.
What is the safest practical rollout plan?
- Plan: identify release, topology, owners, support contact, outage window and rollback-by-restore strategy.
- Prepare: meet VM and firewall requirements, stage the supported image, verify DNS and certificates, and complete tested backups.
- Execute: use the standalone command only for a standalone appliance; use the DR sequence for replicated systems.
- Recover: allow the mandatory reboot, monitor services, and avoid ad hoc power cycling.
- Validate: check version, services, storage, connectivity, replication, alarms, certificates, APIs, diagnostics and logs.
- Harden: apply named accounts, least privilege, two-factor authentication, lockout, managed TLS, browser-origin settings, restricted exposure, FIPS policy and audit controls.
- Close: retain evidence, update diagrams and runbooks, schedule the next backup and failover test, and reopen normal change activity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I upgrade VeloCloud Orchestrator without an outage?
The documented image workflow requires a system-level reboot, so a standalone appliance has an interruption while it restarts and services recover. A DR pair may reduce user impact when replication is healthy and the prescribed failover sequence is followed, but it still requires coordinated maintenance and validation.
What should I do if I no longer have the original Orchestrator backup?
Pause the upgrade and involve your authorized support contact before changing the appliance. Reconstructing configuration from a running system may not preserve encrypted data, certificates, or all persistent-volume content required for recovery.
Does enabling FIPS automatically make every integration compliant?
No. FIPS changes the cryptographic providers and application-security policy, but each certificate, API client, automation library and monitoring connection still needs compatibility testing and documented approval.
How often should VeloCloud Orchestrator failover be tested?
Set the interval from your service-level objective and change policy, then test after major upgrades, topology changes and certificate or cryptographic-mode changes. Record elapsed time, replication behavior, client impact and restoration steps so the exercise improves the runbook.
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